Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Francisco "Paco" Valladares

Actor -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.


Rudy Ricci

Writer, filmmaker and actor -- via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

John Bisom

Actor -- via Broadway World.

Medill Barnes

Co-founder of the Straight Creek Journal -- via the Denver Post.

Michel Duchaussoy

Actor -- via the Independent.

Jerry Albert

Amusement park owner -- via the L Magazine. He co-founded Coney Island's Astroland with his father Dewey in 1964.

Dave Philley

Former MLB outfielder -- via MLB.com. Great on defense, and still holds the AL record for pinch-hits in a season -- 24 in 1961. Philley was on the Indians team that played the Giants in Game One of the 1954 World Series, during which Willie Mays made his famous over-the-shoulder catch.




Melva Niles Barborka

Singer, dancer and actress -- via the Salt Lake Tribune.

Louise Burke

Environmental activist and preservationist -- via the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Cris Alexander

(From left) Cris Alexander, John Battles and Adolf Green in the original production of "On the Town."
Actor and photographer -- via TheaterMania.


Saturday, March 17, 2012

Friday, March 16, 2012

Michael "Big Mike" Hossack

Drummer for the Doobie Brothers -- via the Hollywood Reporter.

Pierre Schoendoerffer

Oscar-winning filmmaker, and novelist -- via the New York Times.

F. Sherwood Rowland

Nobel Prize-winning chemist who discovered that some aerosol compounds degraded the Earth's vital ozone layer -- via the New York Times.

Jerome Eisner

Jazzman -- via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Vincent C. LaGuardia Jr.

Conductor - via the Denver Post.

Encyclopedia Britannica (print edition)

One of the thousands of pictures of Encyclopedia volumes shot to illustrate the rash of stories about the demise of the printed version of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Thanks to Doug Turley for requesting this obit!
More ink has been shed on this story than seems possible. I have selected four stories out of the avalanche that seem to best represent the spread of opinion about the demise of this once-ubiquitous resource. Owning it was a sign of prestige. Cribbing out of it for school reports was common. Leafing through it on a rainy day was immensely rewarding. And the jokes and cartoons about its salesmen can now go sit beside those concerning blacksmiths, lamplighters and switchboard operators.

There is something unbeatable about the illusion of having all the knowledge of the universe compiled tidily between the covers of these multiple volumes. Their wonderful heft and tactile reward, the wonderful musty book-smell of them, the bland assurance of their prose -- so reassuring.

Now, of course, we can harbor the illusion that we have all the knowledge of the universe compiled digitally, at the beck of our typing fingertips. That illusion has yet to be supplanted.

Anyway, here are your posts:

Christian Science Monitor -- the basic facts.

Huffington Post -- memories of an encyclopedia salesman.

Slate -- the author hated the Encyclopedia Britannica, and tells us why.

The Guardian -- going bravely onward into the Information Revolution.

Worse than death: its paperwork

Here's an enlightening post from Paula Span via the New York Times on the frustrations of all the bureaucratic machinations that must take place when a death occurs.

Leonardo Cimino

Actor -- via the New York Times.

Ian Turpie

Entertainer and TV game-show host -- via www.news.com.




Jean Giraud aka Moebius

Illustrator -- via the San Francisco Chronicle. His distinctive style and vision was revolutionary, especially in the depiction of science fiction, fantasy and adventure.



James Trager

Encyclopedist, chronologist, and writer -- via the New York Times.


Andrij Dobriansky

Bass-baritone -- via the New York Times.


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sol Schiff

Table tennis champion -- via the New York Times.

Benedict Freedman

Writer -- via the New York Times. He co-wrote 11 novels with his wife Nancy, including the popular "Mrs. Mike."