Two-time TEDxABQ speaker, Certified Thanatologist, author and pioneering death educator
How do you get people to talk about something they would rather avoid?
Make it interesting. Make it useful. And whenever possible, make them laugh.
Gail Rubin, CT, known as The Doyenne of Death®, is a pioneering death educator who uses humor, film and television to start conversations about mortality, grief, funeral planning and end-of-life issues. Her upbeat, unconventional programs help audiences tackle serious subjects without making the experience gloomy or depressing.
A two-time TEDxABQ speaker, Gail is the author of 98.6 Mortality Movies to See Before You Die: Remarkable Films and TV Shows to Discuss Death and Plan Ahead, host of the Mortality Movies television series and The Doyenne of Death podcast, and one of the pioneers of the Death Cafe movement in the United States.
Her presentations combine solid information, memorable stories, audience participation and carefully selected film and television clips. The result is death education people actually enjoy.
As Gail likes to say, “Talking about sex won’t make you pregnant, and talking about funerals won’t make you dead.”
Who Gail Speaks To
Gail presents keynotes, conference sessions, professional education programs, employee training and community events for a wide range of audiences, including:
- Funeral service and cemetery professionals
- Hospice, palliative care and healthcare organizations
- Social workers, grief professionals and death educators
- Financial and estate planning professionals
- Colleges and universities
- Faith communities and community organizations
- Employers seeking programs on end-of-life planning, caregiving, grief and bereavement
- General audiences who could use a little encouragement to talk about mortality before there’s a death in the family
Programs can be customized for professional education, community outreach, employee education, conferences and special events.
Two-Time TEDxABQ Speaker
2025: We Offer Our Pets a Good Death, Why Not Our People?
In her second appearance on the TEDxABQ stage, Gail explores Medical Aid in Dying and the choices available to terminally ill people at the end of life.
2015: A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die
Gail’s signature humorous introduction to why talking about death and planning ahead can make an enormous difference for the people we love.
Watch Gail’s 2015 TEDxABQ talk.
NEW: Mortality Movies Programs
Based on Gail Rubin’s 2026 book, 98.6 Mortality Movies to See Before You Die, these entertaining multimedia presentations use familiar films and television programs to illuminate grief, funeral traditions, medical decisions, end-of-life planning and the many ways we respond to mortality.
Programs include:
- Laughing in the Face of Death: Funny Films for Funeral Planning
- Ashes to Ashes, Dust in Your Face: Cremation, Comedy and Creativity
- The Many Faces of Grief: Mourning in the Movies
- Movies, Medicine and Mortality
- The Funeral Director on Film
- Jewish Funeral Traditions on Film
- A Fractured, Funny History of Funerals on Film
- Lessons from Six Feet Under
- Mortality Movie Nights: Full-length feature films followed by lively, thought-provoking discussion
Gail also offers presentations on funeral planning, cremation, grief, estate planning, new trends in death care and creative approaches to getting people to plan ahead.
Download Gail Rubin’s complete list of presentations.
Looking for a program tailored to your organization? Call Gail at 505.265.7215 to discuss the possibilities.
Trusted by Professional Organizations Nationwide
Gail has presented for national, state and regional organizations including:
- National Funeral Directors Association
- International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association
- National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association
- Association for Death Education and Counseling
- Selected Independent Funeral Homes
- Texas Funeral Directors Association
- Ohio Cemetery Association
- New Hampshire Funeral Directors Association
- Alabama Funeral Directors Association
- Funeral Consumers Alliance, at both the national and state level
- American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys
- American Psychosocial Oncology Society
- California Hospice and Palliative Care Association
Gail has also presented at colleges and universities and for community organizations, churches, synagogues and Jewish Community Centers.
As a Certified Funeral Celebrant, Gail brings firsthand experience creating personalized memorial services for families to her presentations on funerals, ritual and remembrance. She speaks about funeral traditions across religions and cultures as well as the practical decisions families often don’t consider until a death occurs.
She also conducts Mortality Movie Night events for funeral homes and other organizations, combining full-length films with facilitated discussions for engaging community outreach and education.
See Gail in Action
Want to see more? Visit Gail’s YouTube channel for additional speaking and television examples.
Read testimonials from organizations and audience members.
Bring The Doyenne of Death® to Your Audience
Whether you’re planning a national convention, professional training, employee program or community event, Gail can tailor a presentation to your audience and objectives.
Expect useful information, memorable stories, thought-provoking film clips and something you might not expect from a program about death: