Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Rubem Alves

Writer, philosopher, and theologian -- via sbs.com.au. A major proponent of liberation theology.

Alex Angulo

Actor -- via the Hollywood Reporter.

Manfred Sexauer

Radio and television host -- via t-online.de.

Kadhal Dhandapani

Actor -- via International Business News.

Fred Brookfield

Stuntman -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

Edward Clay "Tap" Canutt

Stuntman and actor; son of Yakima Canutt -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

John Fasano

Yehuda Nir

Psychiatrist -- via the New York Times.

Tom Tierney

Paper-doll book maker -- via the New York Times.






Hans Funck

Film editor -- via the Hollywood Reporter.

Lionel Ferbos

Trumpeter -- via the New Orleans Times-Picayune.






Leopoldo Verona

Actor -- via El Dia.

Vilma Ferran

Actress -- via Primicias Ya.

Szymon Szurmiej

Actor and director -- via rp.pl.





Abdukadir Osman aka Abdukadir Oromo

Writer -- via Raxanreeb.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Thomas Berger

One of America's most underrated novelists -- via the New York Times. Best known for writing "Little Big Man," he could write in any genre with ease, making sardonic points about society and mankind in general along the way. His Carlo Reinhart novels, "Sneaky People," "The Feud," "Regiment of Women," "Killing Time," and on and on . . . superb work. Pick up anything of his and you will enjoy it.

Great quote from him in the New York Times obituary: "I should like the reader to be aware that a book of mine is written in the English language, which I love with all my heart and write to the best of my ability and with the most honorable of intentions -- which is to say, I am peddling no quackery, masking no intent to tyrannize, and asking nobody's pity. (I suspect that I am trying to save my own soul, but that's nobody else's business.)"

Claudine Bouche

http://www.criterion.com/films/218-jules-and-jim

Film editor of such classics as "Jules et Jim," "Shoot the Piano Player," and "The Bride Wore Black" -- via A'voire A'lire. Declared dead after disappearing in early April.

Lennie Sogoloff

Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro

Writer --via Fox News Latino.

J Sasikumar aka N Varkey John

Film director -- via NDTV.

Cashmere Jackson

Former champion boxer -- via the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

OBIT READER: Our weekly roundup of stories on death, dying, and more

A photo from the collection of the Museum of Mourning Photography and Memorial Practice, courtesy the Cult of Mac website.
TOP STORIES

David Pierini of the Cult of Mac visits the Museum of Mourning Photography and Memorial Practice in Chicago

Zachary T. Sampson and Martin Finucane of the Boston Globe report on an unlicensed funeral director who possessed 12 bodies in a storage unit. And the New York Daily News adds that the same individual had 40 sets of cremated remains in another storage unit.

A tribute to a man not well-known reminds us that actions, not renown, are how a life should be measured – written by Soo Ewe Jin of the Star of Malaysia

DEATH

From Still Standing magazine, Loni H.E. describes life after the death of an infant

Richard Harris on Forbes magazine investigates the growing call for the legalization of assisted death

Postmortem digital existence – the possibilities debated, from Jeff Stone at the International Business Times


MOURNING


Grandpa’s funeral – a very beautiful and loving tribute from just a couple of regular folks. Via paigeandchris.com.

OBITS

Jack Know of the Alberni Valley Colonist examines obits – good, bad, and indifferent


FUNERAL HOMES

Does the funeral industry need tighter regulation? Roddie Burris of Columbia, SC’s The State reports on widely differing charges for the same services

Annie Pilon of Small Business Trends tells us about a mortician who’s also a magician

Evicting landlord finds decomposing bodies in funeral home – via Mitch Mitchell of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

MISC


Tom Rolf

Oscar-winning film editor -- via the Hollywood Reporter. Among his films: "The Right Stuff," "Taxi Driver," "Heat," and "Jacob's Ladder."

Jerry McNeeley

Dietmar Schönherr

Actor and TV personality -- via corabuhlert.com.

Otto Piene

Painter and sculptor -- via the New York Times.




Alan Stanbrook

Film critic -- via the Telegraph.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Elaine M. Brody

Sociologist and expert on aging, she championed the 'women in the middle' -- adult children of aging parents -- via the New York Times. 

Ustad Aqeel Ahmed Khan aka Mohan Piya

Singer -- via IBN Live.

Gerallt Lloyd Owen

Poet -- via the BBC.

Skye McCole Bartusiak

Actress -- via USA Today.

Madhukar Singh

Writer -- via the Times of India.

James Garner aka James Bumgarner

Actor -- via Variety. One of TV's acting icons for his roles in series such as "Maverick" and "The Rockford Files," he also did outstanding work, comedic and dramatic, in films and TV works such as "The Great Escape," "The Americanization of Emily," "Support Your Local Sheriff!", "Skin Game," "Victor/Victoria," "My Name is Bill W." and others. A quintessential American leading man who combined an easy, underplayed acting style with likability, self-deprecating humor and a hint of melancholy seriousness. As has been said of leading men before -- if you were a woman, you wanted to sleep with him; if you were a man, you wanted to buy him a beer. One of the best.



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Friday, July 18, 2014

Joep Lange . . . and 297 others on Flight MH17

Prominent AIDS researcher . . . and as many as 100 other AIDS researchers bound for a conference in Kuala Lampur . . . along with passengers and crew, leading to a total loss of all on board -- 298 people. All these were killed when separatist rebels, armed with Russian weapons, shot this civilian jet airliner out of the sky. This tragic incident only highlights what happens when lives are taken in combat. In Judaism, it is stated that "He who saves one life, it is as if he saves an entire universe." Conversely, a life lost is a universe snuffed out. Think of all the good these medical experts were doing to alleviate suffering. How many years will this slow down the fight against AIDS? Not to mention the inherent worth of every life on that plane.


Paul MacLeod

Proprietor of Elvis Presley museum Graceland Too -- via the Memphis Clarion-Ledger.





Sulekha Hussain

Writer -- via The Hindu.

Judith McCulloh

Scholar, folklorist, and folk art advocate -- via the National Endowment for the Arts.

Alison Bielski

Poet -- via the Independent.

Kay Hurwitz

Violist -- via the Guardian.