Interesting, overlooked, and significant obituaries from around the world, as they happen, emphasizing the positive achievements of those who have died. Member, Society of Professional Obituary Writers.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Carol Clerk
UK music writer Carol Clerk wrote a great tome about The Pogues, among other works -- via The Quietus, Music That I Like and Facebook
Lesley Duncan
Singer/songwriter Lesley Duncan wrote one of the best love songs ever -- titled, appropriately, "Love Song." She recorded it with Elton John on his "Tumbleweed Connection" album. She sang backup on "Dark Side of the Moon" as well. Via NME
Patrick O'Connor
It's a bit late, but here's someone with no formal education or special advantages who by sheer dint of will became an excellent writer and connoisseur of the arts -- via the Times of London and the Guardian. Bravo, sir!
Peter Graves
The iconic 60's actor was unafraid to spoof his own image -- via the New York Times and the L.A. Times
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Kissinger death watch: is this headline inflammatory?
Henry Kissinger, Nobel Peace Prize winner and/or unindicted war criminal, diplomat par excellence, advior to Presidents . . . the fact that he went to the hospital in South Korea with a sore tummy made all the major news outlets run a few paragraphs this morning.
However couched in concern it may be, reports such as this are signals the media sends to tell the home office to update the obituary summaries, dust off the photos, and reedit the timelines. Kissinger is a major historical figure (and a character in John Adams' opera "Nixon in China"), and there is something inherently vulturous about both the original report -- and this post.
Why this fascination with the impending deaths of the famous and powerful? We will of course keep you posted.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Dorothy Janis
Dorothy Janis with Ramon Navarro in the 1929 film "The Pagan."
One of the last surviving silent-film actresses -- via Alt Film Guide
Watch Ramon #1 - "The Pagan" (1928) in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Watch Ramon #1 - "The Pagan" (1928) in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Corey Haim
The adjectives in obits for this actor will be "troubled," "teen heartthrob" -- via the L.A. Times and KTLA
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Karl Malkames
This amazing man first made his name as a cameraman and cinematographer (he shot the car chases for "Thunder Road"); then, he saved hundreds of films as a pioneer of restoration and preservation -- including "Tillie's Punctured Romance," "Tumbleweeds," "The Iron Horse" and "The Big Trail." -- from NitrateVille
Sir Kenneth Dover -- a life measured three ways
Sir Kenneth Dover (left) awarding a honorary Doctor of Music degree to a Mr. Robert Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota.
A renowned scholar of ancient Greece -- depending on which obituary you read, he was either a beloved academic, a bold analyst of the birth of homosexual culture . . . or a guy who wished an employee would just drop dead.
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