Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Richard C. Hottelet

Journalist; the last of "Murrow's boys" -- via CBS News. One of the Voices of God on our radios and TVs, Hottelet was the last of that first extraordinary generation of news and broadcasting talent developed at CBS -- first via radio, then TV -- for 41 years. He began reporting for UP in 1938. Thought by the Gestapo to be a spy, he was imprisoned for four months until FDR helped spring him. He covered D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge. Later in his career he focused on election work, civil rights coverage, and wound up as the U.N. correspondent for 25 years. A very good reporter and writer!

Booth Colman

Actor -- via boothcolman.com. An instantly recognizable TV character actor, Colman was the go-to guy for worried scientists, anxious villains, and comic bosses -- although he did a much broader range of work than this in film and on stage.

Norman Bridwell

Writer and illustrator; creator of Clifford the Big Red Dog -- via the New York Times. Great quote from him: "Sometimes you'll do something that you really like and no one else does. You'll feel horrible, but you've got to just press on and keep trying. If you like doing it and keep working at it, then someday you will succeed."

Irene Dalis

Olivia Barker

Journalist -- via USA Today.

Chakri

Film composer -- via the International Business Times.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

DEATHCETERA: A weekly roundup of stories worldwide on death, mourning and more

TOP STORIES

‘Death is always the best career move’ – the Telegraph on celebrity’s digital afterlife

Livestreaming funerals: innovation or abomination? – from Lex Berko via the Atlantic

‘Second-Hand Grief’ – Laura Leigh Abby on how mourning affects life for a partner, at Modern Loss


DEATH

More on the cult of Santa Muerte – from Oriana Gonzalez and Alasdair Baverstock at the Daily Mail

Stephen Colbert’s last guest will be Death – via Patrick Kevin Day at the L.A. Times



MOURNING

Digital mourning – by Adam Wernick at PRI

‘How to Survive the Mourning After’ by Monique Minahan in Elephant Journal


FUNERALS

A mass funeral for the unclaimed dead in Los Angeles – from John Schleuss, Taylor Goldenstein, and Maloy Moore at the L.A. Times

What’s a pauper’s funeral like? – from Jenan Taylor at the Australian


This is definitely not the funeral director for you – via Barry Smythe at the Mirror



OBITS


‘6 Things Obituaries Can Teach Us about Living Better’ – via Catherine Pearson and the Huffington Post

Raoul J. Cita

Songwriter, arranger, pianist, and singer; best known for his work with the Harptones; one of the unsung (pardon) progenitors of doo-wop -- via the New York Daily News. He wrote the standard "Life is But a Dream," sang on "Sunday Kind of Love," and had an immense influence on the sound of a cappella groups.

Dawn Sears

Country music performer -- via radio.com.

John Hampton

Albert Gonzales

Rockabilly and Tejano music pioneer -- via the Orange County Register. AKA Al Reed.

Martha Goldman Sigall

Animator -- via indiewire.com.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Phil Stern

Photographer -- via L.A. Times.

Sy Berger

Invented the modern baseball trading card -- via the New York Times. Hey, don't act like it's not a big deal -- he added color, stats, a facsimile autograph, all elements that made these little cards so fascinating and fun to collect and trade.

Ray Davis

Radio host specializing in bluegrass music -- via bluegrasscountry.org.




Koichi Kawakita

Sunna Jarman

Comedian and actress -- via the Huffington Post.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Friday, December 12, 2014

FRIDAY REVIEW: 'Working Stiff' -- Diagnosing the Dead

Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the making of a Medical Examiner
Judy Melinek, M.D. and T.J. Mitchell
2014
Scribner
New York


What happens to the dead? I don’t mean their souls, I mean their bodies. Our squeamishness about death, decay, and corpses is a perfectly reasonable aversion, but in every society, somebody has to deal with it.

This most taboo subject is the pith of Judy Melinek’s memoir. She takes us along with her from her student days as an aspiring surgeon to her introduction to forensic pathology, moving on to cover her fellowship at the New York Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Throughout her training, she encounters deaths accidental and natural; homicides and suicides; and the horrors of 9/11 and the crash of Flight 587 in Queens two months later.

Throughout the work, and her co-author Mitchell leaven the gruesome details with a broader portrait of Melinek and her growing family, giving us insights into the workaday world of people who make a career out of examining the dead. There is a strong through-line here, too, as Melinek relates her father’s suicide when she was young -- and surmises that part of her calling is an attempt to heal that wound. There is plenty of (grim) humor, too, and deflation of the myths that TV has instilled in us – no, not all medical examiners are hot, full of witty repartee, instant and accurate judgments, and sporting deep décolletage.

The faint-hearted need not pick this book up. “Working Stiff” is a clinically precise, no-holds-barred description of the profession and case histories that will make you gasp. However, this is far more than a catalog designed to satisfy morbid curiosities. Medical examiners provide closure for families, provide answers for criminal investigations, and add to our knowledge base about mortality and disease.


For those who would like to know facts about the stories our bodies tell after our deaths, this text is absolutely invaluable. 

The best movie obit reel is TCM's

Per the excellent writer and historian Eve Golden, a reminder that Turner Classic Movies' end-of-year Remembers reel is the best summation of the film industry's departed for the year. Exquisite and evocative. It takes tremendous amount of time and discernment to winnow someone's essence to a few seconds on screen. Watch the video -- the edits and production are top-notch.

Kathleen O'Keefe

Journalist and publisher -- via the New York Times. Pioneered independent journalism in Cambodia in 1992.

Michel du Cille

Pulitzer-winning photographer -- via the New York Times.

Russ Kemmerer

Former MLB pitcher -- via legacy.com.

Jose Feghali

Pianist -- via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Stephanie Moseley

Actress and dancer -- via legacy.com.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Jane Freilicher

Artist -- via the New York Times. I like her. She did what she thought was right. A quote from her from the NYT obit: "To strain after innovation, to worry about being on the 'cutting edge' (a phrase I hate), reflects a concern for a place in history or one's career rather than the authenticity of one's painting."

Lark Galloway-Gilliam

Activist -- via the L.A. Times.

Margaret Aston

Historian -- via the Telegraph.

Ralph Giordano

Writer -- via focus.de.

Delbert "Demz" Rodriguez

Graffiti artist -- via the Miami New Times.