Friday, August 22, 2014

Charles M. Young

Journalist -- via Rolling Stone. A very funny and vibrant writer! Here's a link to his classic story about the Sex Pistols, "Rock is Sick and Living in London," from Rolling Stone of Oct. 20, 1977.

Candida Lycett Green

Writer and journalist -- via the Guardian.

Samīħ al-Qāsim

Poet -- via Asharq al-Awsat.





Imogen Bain

Actor -- via The Stage.


Jerome Ehlers

Actor and writer -- via Film Link.

FRIDAY BOOK REVIEW: 'The Long Goodbye'

The Long Goodbye: A Memoir
Meghan O’Rourke
2011
Riverhead Books
New York

“If the condition of grief is universal, its transactions are exquisitely personal.” This statement, with its somewhat Tolstoyan echoes, perfectly captures the spirit of the author’s narrative of her mother’s decline and death, and the year following it, in “The Long Goodbye.” This painfully honest and eloquent account is well worth reading on its own merits.

This is not expiation, or a dispassionate self-observation. As O’Rourke observes, mourners enter a special kind of separate reality, one that often makes others uncomfortable and awkward. Her prodigious and detailed collection of memories, reactions, reflections – self-destructive, enlightened, baffled, supportive, and combative – it’s all here.

Given that I lost my mother almost two years ago to a debilitating cancer similar to that suffered by O’Rourke’s mother, the parallels are striking. Hearing from a writer whose feelings echo mine validates them immensely. The author’s clear and direct voice brings new insights, explodes myths that make mourners feel inadequate (the Five Stages of Grief? Real life is not so orderly), and makes human a process that is usually conceptualized as elevated and somehow sacred.

It’s particularly interesting to be given access to the unique challenges of losing a same-sex parent – the overlap and transmission of identity. “The Long Goodbye” is no therapeutic exercise, but a patch of biography, a passage that is endured but not conveniently completed by book’s end. That O’Rourke has the sense not to impose an artificial sense of closure is one of the book’s many virtues.


O’Rourke’s assessment of “Hamlet” in the book describes him as “radically dislocated, stumbling through the days while the rest of the world acts as if nothing important has changed.” Likewise, “The Long Goodbye” gives us an unflinching look at the derangement that a family death imposes . . . and how one person struggled through, back to the life of every day.

Simin Behbahani

Poet -- via the New York Times.






Madeleine Collinson

Model and actress -- via Brutal As Hell. With her twin sister Mary, was the centerpiece of the Hammer horror film "Twins of Evil." It's an absolutely ridiculous movie, and of course one of my favorites.

Edward G. Leffingwell

John Blake Jr.

Outstanding jazz violinist -- via the New York Times.





Dick Teed

Former MLB player -- via legacy.com. Had one at-bat for the Dodgers in 1953!

Helen Bamber

Psychotherapist and human rights campaigner -- via the Guardian. In 1945, she was one of the first to enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in aid of its survivors. She went on to be a founder of Amnesty International; her work included helping victims of torture, rape, genocide, kidnapping, slavery, and oppression.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Jean Redpath

Folk singer and musicologist -- via the BBC. A peerless exponent of Scottish song, she was very familiar to listeners of "A Prairie Home Companion," and did much more, saving thousands of songs from oblivion.








Joseph 'Powda' Bennett

Musician -- via Yahoo News.



Ralph Morman

Pierre Vassiliu

Singer and songwriter -- via Le Monde.




Billy Rath

Bassist who replaced Richard Hell in Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers -- via Ultimate Classic Rock. Later became an addictions counselor and minister.



Nery Soto

Journalist -- via Fox News Latino.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Brian G. Hutton

Director and actor -- via Variety. After many years as a an actor on film and TV, primarily in Westerns, Hutton directed nine films -- including two of my favorite guilty pleasures, "Kelly's Heroes" and "Where Eagles Dare."





B.K.S. Iyengar

Pioneer yoga educator in the West -- via the New York Times.



Francine Beers

Actress -- via sephintazarka.net.


Hashim Khan

Master of the sport of squash -- via the Washington Post.

Joanie Spina

Marta Bohacova

Opera singer -- via lidovky.cz.

Simone Camilli and Ali Shehda Abu Afash

Afash (left) and Camilli.
Journalist and translator -- via the Washington Post.

Phil Mottram

Cinematographer and teacher -- via the Guardian.

William J. Brennan

Priest and activist -- via the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.


Dorothy Schwieder

Historian and writer -- via the Argus Leader.

Charles Bracelen Flood

Writer -- via the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Alan Landsburg

TV director, producer, and writer -- via the Hollywood Reporter. Created films such as the Emmy-winning "Bill," and shows such as "That's Incredible!" and "In Search Of . . . "







James Foley

Journalist -- via the Huffington Post.

Laurence Mee

Marine scientist -- via the Scotsman.

Harry Mead Coley Jr.

Restaurateur; founder of Wild About Harry's -- via the Dallas Morning News.

Nicolau Sevcenko

Scholar; expert on Brazilian cultural history -- via the Harvard Gazette.

Harutoshi Funabashi

Anti-nuclear activist -- via jiji.com.

Jack Shallcrass

Educator and writer -- via 3news.co.nz.

Vsevolod Nestayko

Childrens' author -- via korrespondent.net.

Gen Kida

Philosopher -- via The Asahi Shimbun.

Menie Gregoire

Radio host -- via Liberation.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Don Pardo

Jan Ekier

Pianist and composer -- via thenews.pl.





Rick Parashar

Music producer -- via Billboard.

Marjorie Stapp

Actress -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

Peter McAlevey

Writer, promoter, film producer; was a roadie for the Dolls! -- via Variety.

Jerry Lumpe

Former MLB player -- via the Springfield News-Leader.

WEEKLY READER: Our roundup of stories on death, mourning, and more

TOP STORIES

GWAR’s Dave Brockie gets a flaming Viking funeral – a report from Miriam Coleman at Rolling Stone

From Modern Loss: Mark Liebenow on losing his wife

INFOGRAPHIC: Cremation: it's the way to go, from Macrina Cooper-White on Huffington Post


DEATH


An unattended, unnoticed death: Andy Park of the Sydney Morning Herald reports

Death selfies from Izismile

Medical examiner writes memoir, Dennis Kelly of USA Today reports

Native American tribes want ancestors' scalps from German Old West museums -- via Melissa Eddy at the New York Times


In Tablet Magazine, Sarah Ivry is not so fond of viral mourning

From Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk of Newsday, a debate over the mourning of celebrity deaths

Funeral foods from Epicurious




OBITS

How prominent will your obituary be? It's all in the timing, per Thomas Vinciguerra of the New York Times

Get it right: ESPN posts wrong photo, headline for dead race car driver – Robert Littal of Black Sports Online reports

FUNERALS


Criminally neglectful funeral home story of the week – from KSAT-TV

Steve Furmanski

Guitarist -- via the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice.

Jay Adams

Pioneering skateboarder -- via the New York Times.



Leonard Fein

Writer and activist -- via the New York Times.




Tunde Ra Aleem

Singer and keyboardist -- via Soul Tracks. With his brother Tarharqa, formed the duo GhettoFighters.

Mydin Ibrahim

Comedian -- via the New Straits Times.