Bayview grave marker quietly reveals nature of poet laureate Ella Higginson

If you designed your own grave marker, what would it say?

And what would that say about you?

Ella Higginson, the once-famous Bellingham writer and Washington state poet laureate who died in obscurity, did just that for the stone bench at her burial site in Bayview Cemetery.

"It was very elaborate for the time," said Laura Laffrado, the English professor at Western Washington University who is researching Higginson's life and writings. "I think it's poignant designing your own gravestone."