Friday, August 1, 2014

Rick Mittelman

Emmy-nominated, long-time TV comedy writer -- via the Hollywood Reporter. Here's a short list of some of the shows he wrote for" Red Skelton. "The Flintstones." Dick van Dyke. "I Spy." "Gomer Pyle." "Bewitched." "That Girl." Mary Tyler Moore. "The Odd Couple." "Remington Steele." "MacGuyver." 56 shows!!!


Saaed Saleh

Comic actor -- via the Bahrain News Agency. Got his start in the cast of the classic 1973 Egyptian comedy, "Madraset el-Moshaghbeen" (School of the Mischievious). It was adapted from the 1967 British film, "To Sir, with Love," and started many an Egyptian comedy career.






Jan Roar Leikvoll

Novelist -- via nrk.no.

Margaret Rau

Writer -- via legacy.com.

Giorgio Gaslini

Jazz pianist and composer -- via La Repubblica.



FRIDAY BOOK REVIEW: Backstage at the funeral home, and lookee-loo syndrome

By BRAD WEISMANN


Mortuary Confidential: Undertakers Spill the Dirt
Kenneth McKenzie and Todd Harra
2010
Citadel Press
New York

“ . . . the dead don’t complain, but their families sure can.”

We are fascinated by the forbidden. Sex, graphic violence, personal secrets and indiscretions revealed all put us off . . . but draw us in as well.

This is no truer than about the subject of death – how we die, what happens to us, the repercussions for the living – and all the possible misadventures our abandoned bodies can suffer. This compulsion to slow down and gawk at tragedy, known to rush-hour commuters as the “lookee-loo” syndrome, is part of the reason for this blog, and part of the reason for the writing of “Mortuary Confidential.”

“Mortuary Confidential” is a book of funerary anecdotes. It is an illuminating compendium, and it does go far beyond what a reader might expect. It is not merely a grotesquely comic retailing of death-ritual mishaps and bungles, although there are heavy handfuls of them listed among the 50 stories given here. Wisely, the authors go over many aspects of the profession, including dealing with the idiosyncratic bereaved and uncomprehending officiants. There are also stories about patient spouses who deal with the 24/7 demands of the trade, and poignant, life-changing moments that funeral directors experience in the presence of mourners, and much more.

If there is a flaw here, it is that all the anecdotes have been written in one authorial voice. It’s as though the authors compiled the raw data and then pressed out each story from the same mold – the tone becomes monotonous after a while. And the most interesting observations come in Harra’s introduction, when he notes that his profession is a “hidden” one, not lauded or even thought of until necessity intervenes, that it represents “a failure to our scientific/medical-oriented society.”


That we fixate on the morbid details of life at times is indicative of our voyeuristic impulses. However, our peering over the gates of the funeral home also demonstrates the seriousness with which we invest it. Per Harra, “ . . . we, as a society, must uphold a basic principle of humanity, the sanctity of life, through reverence for the dead.” Well said.

Philip Marshak

Film director -- via the Hollywood Reporter.



Bill Renna

Former MLB outfielder -- via baseballhappenings.net.

Sally Farmiloe

Actress -- via the Independent.

Kay Cooper

Singer, dancer, and actress -- via northnewjersey.com.

Ik-Hwan Bae

Violinist -- via oregonlive.com.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Manny Roth

Founded and ran Cafe Wha?, one of the musical centers of the folk and rick scenes in New York City in the 1960s -- via Rolling Stone.




Dick Wagner

Guitarist and songwriter -- via Rolling Stone. Worked on such great albums as "Berlin" and "Welcome to My Nightmare"; wrote "Only Women Bleed."





Len Belzer

Producer and writer -- via the New York Post.

Robert Halmi Sr.

TV producer -- via Variety.

Richard Larter

Artist -- via the Sydney Morning Herald.


Dick Smith

Master of makeup for film and television -- via Variety. Among his amazing projects: "Mark Twain Tonight!", "The Exorcist," "The Godfather," "Amadeus," "Death Becomes Her," "Altered States," "The Hunger," "Scanners," and "Little Big Man."








Robert Drew

Harun Farocki

Filmmaker -- via artnet.com.





Colpan Ilhan

Actress -- via aa.com.tr.

Art Schult

Former MLB player -- via baseballhappenings.net.


Louise Shivers

Writer -- via the New York Times.

Martin Tahse

Roland Verhavert

Film director -- via VRT Nieuws.



James "Little Otis" Govan

Singer, percussionist, and guitarist -- via the Memphis Commercial Appeal.







Don "Dirt" Lanier

Songwriter, guitarist, and music publisher -- via songwritingandmusicbusiness.com.




Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Vanna Bonta


Poet, novelist, essayist, actress, and inventor -- via the Los Angeles Times.


John Hoover

Former MLB pitcher -- via the Fresno Bee.

George Riddle

Musician and songwriter -- via USA Today.






Peter Marquardt

Actor and video game producer -- via Deadline Hollywood. Best known for playing El Moco in Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi" and "Desperado."




Augustin Rodriguez

Mambo dancer -- via the New York Times.




Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Karen Walter Goodwin

Innovative theater producer -- via the New York Times.

Peter Marler

Yoo Chae-young

Singer, actress, and radio host -- via The Korea Times.

Sushilarani Patel

Singer -- via the Times of India.

Christian Falk

Music producer -- via Pitchfork.

WEEKLY READER: a compendium of stories on death, mourning and more


TOP STORIES

From Agence France-Presse: Who counts the dead in Gaza?

On the Wellness Web, clinical psychologist Rosemary Stauber talks about her own grief and mourning

Stephen Cave in Aeon Magazine talks about the momentousness – and insignificance – of death

DEATH

From Chez Oswell, Death 101: A Checklist


Anger over an adventurous death from Darlene Ensor of the Mail Tribune

The death of adventurer Harry Devert by Louise Stewart in Newsweek

In Scope, Jacqueline Genovese reports on physicians discussing death and their patients

Ciara Kelly of the Irish Independent on opening the dialogue about death

Kerrie Noonan of Mama Mia on talking to kids about death

Harvesting organs from the dead: Danielle McCrea reports for the Las Vegas Sun

Oldest medical report of near-death experience found, from Bahar Gholipour in Signs of the Times

From National Geographic, a new book about “the stories and science of life after death”

MOURNING

Startup intends to connect family, friends, and funeral services, according to Chris Rauber of the San Francisco Business Times


An exhibit of memorial art reported on by Elissa Barnard of the Halifax Herald

Gordon Boyd of Wave3 News reports on “Death 101: Courses in Coping”

A contestant in isolation on a reality TV show mourns his grandfather on camera – from Hollywood Life

New funeral museum opens in Virginia, per Susan Worley in the Chatham Star-Tribune

In The Toast, Lindsey Palka writes about “Victorian Hair Art and Mourning Traditions”

OBITS

From jimromanesko.com – How truthful should any obituary be?

FUNERALS


From Alltop, a link to a Telegraph article about a new service that will launch your remains into space

Funeral home loses license again, six months after ‘leaky bodies’ complaints – via Jesse McLean and Joel Eastwood in the Caledon Enterprise.

MISC


Norman Leyden

Conductor, composer, arranger, and clarinetist -- via the Oregonian. Worked with Glenn Miller, Disney, Arthur Godfrey, and dozens of Golden Age vocalists. He co-wrote "I Sustain the Wings" with Miller.



Mohan Nadkarni

Musicologist and music critic -- via the Times of India.

Bill Thompson aka Wallace Snead

Kids' TV show host -- via KSAZ-TV.

Anatoly Solin

Animator -- via jumifra.com.



Bob Chase

Artist -- via the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Monday, July 28, 2014

James Shigeta

Actor -- via Variety. An exemplary leading man who could sing and dance, he did great work in a significant number of good films and with some great directors: Fuller's "The Crimson Kimono," "Flower Drum Song," Pollack's "The Yakuza," Vice Admiral Nagumo in "Midway," and of course Mr. Takagi in "Die Hard."

Margot Adler

Iconic radio reporter -- via NPR.



Sunday, July 27, 2014

Carlo Bergonzi

Tenor -- via the New York Times. While not often ranked with the Big Three tenors of the mid-20th century -- Corelli, di Stephano, and Del Monaco -- he was a supreme interpreter of Verdi.