When wandering thru a cemetery, most of the headstone are rectangular blocks of granite and stone, interspersed with the occasional more exotic designs. Sometimes there are carvings of specific items that meant something to the deceased, like a football or religious statuary. You might see images engraved on stones, but its unlikely you will see a headstone quite like this one.
Found in Hazelwood Cemetery in Rahway, the headstone of Bruce Berman has his face carved in to it, but he is emerging from it. As such, it has been dubbed the Han Solo headstone, a reference to when Han Solo was frozen in carbonate.
Berman was a special effects animator and was an adjunct graphics/animation professor at both Seton Hall University and William Paterson College. Berman was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig disease) in 1996 and eventually passed away in 1998. In his memory, the Bermanimation Award is given out every spring at Seton Hall University to a student in the field of computer animation.
Berman came up with the idea before he died, and had his head scanned by a computer, from which a bust was made. With the help of his friend, Rob Dressel, his wife had the headstone designed and it was installed a year after his death. He thought it was amusing and she felt it was important to see his wish fulfilled.
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