Who was Jessica Mitford and why was she disliked by a certain American industry?

Mitford's descriptions were so gruesome that her first publisher decided to terminate their contract. She had paid particular attention to the process of embalming - describing in exquisite detail how each body is "sprayed, sliced, pierced, pickled, trussed, trimmed, creamed, waxed, painted, rouged and neatly dressed - transformed from a common corpse into a Beautiful Memory Picture". In her book The American Way of Death, Mitford detailed the processes that transformed the common corpse into a 'memory picture' It was ostensibly a sanitary measure, to prevent further decay and to present the mourners with a poignant last glimpse of their loved one. In practice, it amounted to extensive post-mortem cosmetic surgery. The embalmer would drain the blood from the veins - the sooner the better, to avoid cellular damage, before refilling the arteries with embalming fluid. This came in a number of separate tints, allowing the funeral director to colour with a brown suntan or a healthy rosy glow or simply to regain the "natural undertones", and helped to firm up the skin with youthful plumpness. Following that, the mortician would then nip and tuck the tissue across the body with implants, pins and fillers to mask blemishes and swellings that come with age and illness, before sewing the face into the most attractive (and youthful) expression possible. Finally, the teeth were whitened, make-up applied, and the corpse was dressed in its final outfit. Mitford was surprised to find an enormous range of clothes marketed specifically for the departed; her particular favorite was a special brand of bra designed for "post-mortem form restoration". She argued that mourners were also encouraged to pay exorbitantly for the most expensive coffins, ostentatious flowers and sentimental memorabilia (such as commemorative, heart-shaped ash-trays), with the underlying message that it would be disrespectful to buy anything but the best.
Mitford questioned the dignity and utility of these invasive procedures. She was dismayed that morticians would sometimes discourage an essential medical autopsy because it would make it harder to beautify the body and she objected to the fact that the they often veiled their services in pseudo-psychology, arguing that a lavish funeral, with a pimped and plucked and polished corpse, was essential for the grieving process - despite little evidence this was the case. The vulnerable families would have done far better to see a qualified psychoanalyst, she thought, than to be encouraged to pay for a luxury satin-lined casket and more roses in their funeral wreaths.
Bodies often are made up with cosmetics, among other, more invasive procedures, before being laid to rest More than anything, she baulked at the fact that death was being prettified and sanitized, masking the brutal facts about our mortality. Mitford decided now was time for the public to look death in the face.