LESTER C. MADDEN
SEPT. 24, 1931—June 7, 1983
Yesterday, June 20th, was the 49th anniversary of the release of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster movie Jaws. That movie, based on the Peter Benchley novel of the same name, spawned three sequels and so many knock-offs that there is an entire week devoted to shark movies for fans’ viewing pleasure. Movies that include the original movie and sequels as well as Sharknado, Shark Night, Raiders of the Lost Shark, and Two-Headed Shark Attack, among many others.
Jaws also spawned a huge fan—Lester C. Madden. In fact, he loved the movie so much that his wish was to have a gravestone that paid tribute to the movie. His gravestone, in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a black granite replica of the original shark on the Jaws movie poster—with the shark’s open mouth bearing its deadly teeth.
Now that is a true fan!
Gravely Speaking 
Ha! I made my first trip to Allegheny just last week (we live in Pittsburgh now), though I didn’t see Madden’s monument. But I photographed and wrote about the Winter mausoleum, which I know you know, in my latest essay. I like Jaws, too, and remember seeing it in the summer of 1975.
I love the Allegheny Cemetery–it is so beautiful with so many different gravestones. The Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh is worth the trip, too, but not as lush as Allegheny.
I wrote about the Winter Mausoleum too: https://gravelyspeaking.com/2019/06/15/double-take/
Oh yes! I think you have been everywhere I’ve been, and many more besides, especially in the midwest. I was occupied full time with other things when I lived in Omaha, alas. I was looking at your two essays with versions of Story’s Grieving Angel the other day: I found an astonishing variant in Sewickley Cemetery just north of Pittsburgh. If I had a way to send you a photo I think you’d be wondering about it, too.
You can email the photo to me at douglas.rife@solutiontree.com I’d love to see it. I have never been to Sewickley Cemetery–I’ll have to stop there sometime!
That is so great! Thanks for posting that.
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My local cemetery where I do my most research and lead tours! My students love this headstone!