Friday, December 19, 2014

Herb Plews

Former MLB player -- via the Helena, MT Independent Record.

Larry Henley

Songwriter and singer -- via Hollywood.com. He started off as one of the Newbeats, singing the falsetto part in "Bread and Butter." He is best known for writing "Wind Beneath My Wings."

Harold M. Schulweis

Rabbi -- via Yahoo News. He popularized the concept of chavurah -- the Jewish concept of a small group of families who study, celebrate Shabbat, and look out for each other. I'm in one, and it works great! He was one of the first Conservative rabbis to welcome LGBT people to his congregation.

Loren Ewing

Actor -- via legacy.com. AKA William Ewing. 

Joe Carr

Robert Taylor

Animator -- via Variety.

Mary Dawne Arden

Actress and model -- via legacy.com. Best known for her role in Mario Bava's "Blood and Black Lace."

Yusuf Burgess

Youth leader -- via the Albany Times-Union.

Stanley "TC" Edwards

Musician -- via KFSM Little Rock.

P.J. Sarma

Actor and voice actor -- via The Hindu.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Virna Lisi

Actress -- via Variety. AKA Virna Lisa Pieralisi. Originally styled as an Italian variant on blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe, Lisi made her way through several 1960's sex comedies, but redefined herself as a serious actress later in her career, winning awards for her ruthless Catherine De Medici in "Queen Margot."


Wendy Rene

Singer and songwriter -- via soul-source.co.uk. AKA Mary Frierson, Mary Cross. Best known for "Bar-B-Q," she just missed being on the fatal flight that killed Otis Redding.

Janis Martin

Soprano -- via Limelight Magazine.

Treadwell Covington

TV producer -- via legacy.com. One of the key players in Total Television, which produced Saturday-morning cartoon shows such as "Tennessee Tuxedo," "King Leonardo," "The Beagles," and "Go Go Gophers." One of the creators of "Underdog."


Millie Kirkham

Back-up singer best known for her work with Elvis -- via the Nashville Scene. AKA Mildred Eakes. She can be heard on classics such as "Blue Christmas," "I'm Sorry," "Pretty Woman," and "She Stopped Loving Him Today."

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