Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Eileen McKenna

Ad exec and child actress -- via Ad Age. The first pre-teen to be a Breck Girl, she also featured in Xerox's very first TV commercial.



Jack Eagle

Comic, actor, and trumpeter -- via the L.A. Times. Best remembered as Brother Dominic in an iconic Xerox commercial.




George "Shotgun" Shuba

Former MLB player -- via the New York Times. Remembered for his congratulatory handshake with Jackie Robinson after Jackie hit his first big homer in pro ball (playing for the Montreal Royals farm team against the Jersey City Giants in the old International League, on April 18, 1946). At the time, it was a groundbreaking act of racial acceptance.


Tuula Nyman

Actress -- via mtv.fi.

Jean Phillipe Auclair and Carl Andreas Fransson

Fransson, left, and Aucliar died together.
Extreme skiers; killed in avalanche -- via the Independent.



Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Maggie Stables

Actress -- via Big Finish Audio.

Raymond "Big Al" Brownley

Plumber -- via legacy.com. A humorous obituary.

Justin McCowan

Research volunteer -- via NPR.

Zhang Xianliang

Writer -- via english.eastday.com.

http://english.cntv.cn/2014/09/28/VIDE1411902604487710.shtml

Abdelmajid Lakhal

Actor and director -- via tunisie14.tn.

Eugie Foster

Writer, columnist, and editor -- via Boing Boing.

Petr Skoumal

Musician and composer -- via blesk.cz.

Sam Hall

John McIlwaine

Forensic archaeologist -- via the Guardian.

Gerald Larue

Right-to-die activist -- via the New York Times.

WEEKLY READER: An international roundup of stories on death, dying, mourning and more

TOP STORIES

An interview with New York Times obituarist Margalit Fox – from Alex Ronan of the Paris Review

Bourree Lam interviews celebrity mortician Caitlin Doughty in the Atlantic

From Caleb Wilde in Confessions of a Funeral Director: “Why Funeral Directors Become Narcissists: Seven Reasons”


DEATH

A pagan perspective on death and burial – from Cara Schulz at The Wild Hunt

What can you do when someone dies on a plane? – by Laura Begley Bloom of Yahoo Travel




MOURNING


Looking at the dynamics of grief and mourning for the “suicide-bereaved” – via Counseling Connection

“The Jewish Mourning Tradition of Shiva” from Zoe Byrne at Seven Ponds

Mourning on social media by Jennifer Golbeck in Psychology Today


FUNERALS


Woman to have Philadelphia Eagles-themed funeral – from David Chang at NBC Philadelphia.

In praise of funeral slide shows: from Sheryl at Being Fifty-Something


Randy Hutchinson of the Better Business Bureau, in the Jacksonville Sun, tells us about the FTC consumer-protection funeral rules


New funeral customs in Uganda – from Carol Kasujja of New Vision


Funeral co-ops grow in Canada to reduce costs – via Justina Reichel at the Epoch Times

From Confessions of a Funeral Director, another green burial idea

A funeral for the Corcoran Gallery of Art – via Maura Judkis of the Washington Post


OBITS

On Catholic Sports Net, Billy Reed eulogizes his mentor, the late Larry Van Hoose

When an obituary is written to make the writer look good, by Joan King in the Gainesville Times

Obituary reveals man’s five-year affair – via Sam Rkaina in The Mirror

In TIME magazine, Helen Shulman memorializes her cousin David


HUMOR





Jaak Joala

Singer -- via postimees.ee. AKA "The Kremlin's Nightingale" for his many Soviet-era performances in Russia.

Walter Josef Fischer

Graffiti artist -- via artnet.com. AKA Oz. Responsible for more than 120,000 tags; spent a cumulative eight years in prison for his activities.


Ailo Gaup

Shaman and writer -- via nrk.no.

Karl Miller

Editor, writer, and critic -- via the Guardian.

Anatoly Eiramdzhan

Monday, September 29, 2014

Seref Tasliova

Poet and storyteller -- via CNN Turk.

Jan Berdyszak

Artist -- via poznan.gazeta.pl.


Tom Tombrello

Physics professor -- via the L.A. Times.

Irit Levi

Actress and screenwriter -- via legacy.com.

Muhammad Shakeel Auj

Islamic scholar -- via the Independent.

Pati Hill

Writer and artist -- via the Tampa By Telegraph.


Guntram Brattia

Actor -- via tirol.orf.at.

Zdenek Horinek

Alastair Reid

Essayist, poet, and translator -- via the Guardian.

John Moat

Poet, novelist, and painter -- via the Telegraph.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Don Keefer

Great character actor -- via the New York Times. Instantly recognizable to my generation, Keefer racked almost 200 film and television credits between 1947 and 1997. First on stage, he played Roderigo in a revival of the Robeson/Hagen/Ferrer "Othello," and was the firstBernard in "Death of a Salesman." On film, he was in everything. He played a dcotor in "Sleeper," and in "Candy Stripe Nurses." His most indelible appearance was on the "It's a Good Life" episode of "The Twilight Zone," in which Billy Mumy turns him into a horrifying jack in the box before killing him.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/440799



Peggy Drake

The psychological implications of this publicity photograph are stunning.
Dancer and actress -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com. AKA Peggy Akers AKA Liselotte Mayer. She debuted in "Too Many Girls," a film old enough to have a Rodgers and Hart score -- introducing Desi Arnaz, who brought us the conga and fell in love with Lucille Ball.



Her big hit came as the leading lady in the wartime "Rocky" Lane serial, "King of the Mounties," in which our hero fights one evil Japanese admiral, a German marshal, and an Italian count, and Douglas Dumbrille. (Take note, character-actor lovers: in this serial you get Duncan Renaldo, Francis Ford, Jay Novello, and the fabulous "King Kong," Kashey, the Syrian wrestling phenom turned thespian.



Somebody had to make these programmers, full of "mirth and melody" or mindless action. Peggy Drake was one of them, and she did it well.



Michael McCarty

Actor on stage and screen -- via the Hollywood Reporter.


Galina Kolonvalova

Actress -- via mk.ru.

Jim Deva

LGBT activist -- via the Advocate.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/BC/ID/2527244751/

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Gilles Latulippe

Madis Koiv

Writer -- via Postimees.

Cecilia Cenci

Actress -- via tn.com.ar.

Daniel Reynek

Photographer -- via aktualne.cz.


Rodney Milgate

Painter, playwright, and broadcaster -- via the Sydney Morning Herald.