Plain box

PLAIN BOX: Ruth Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, was buried last month in a casket made by Richard Liggett, a convicted murderer in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Made of birch plywood with a cross on the top and brass handles on the sides and lined with a fabric-covered foam mattress, the casket cost a mere $215.

Liggett, who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, found God while in prison. He often made caskets for other prisoners. He died of cancer in March and was buried in one of the last caskets he made (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 18).

COPYRIGHT 2007 The Christian Century Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning