Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Yolande Donlan

Actress -- via the Guardian.

Janos Zsombolyai

Matthew Cogley

Singer, guitarist, and songwriter -- via Digital Spy.

Rene Vautier

Filmmaker -- via Ouest France. He was sentenced to prison for making anti-colonialist films, one, "Afrique 50," was banned for 40 years. See it below.

Janet Halliday Ervin

Writer -- via legacy.com.

The Charlie Hebdo killings

12 are killed at Paris satirical weekly -- via the Telegraph. The dead include several staffers from Charlie Hebdo and two police officers. This post will update periodically as more information comes in.

Here is a complete lit of victims:

Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier, artist and publishing director

Jean "Cabu" Cabut, lead cartoonist

Bernard "Tignous" Verlhac, cartoonist

Georges Wolinski, cartoonist

Bernard "Uncle Bernard" Maris, economist and columnist

Phillipe Honore, cartoonist

Michel Renaud -- former journalist

Mustapha Ourrad -- copy editor

Elsa Cayat -- columnist and analyst

Frederic Boisseau -- building maintenance worker

Franck Brinsolaro -- police officer

Ahmed Merabet -- police officer

They were humorists. They were telling jokes, provoking thought, for crying out loud. Proof positive that the people who can't take a joke are dangerous. Without humor, there's no freedom. It's ironic, but not funny, that one of the slain officers was a Muslim.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Steve Wiley

Music-store owner and music writer -- via the Arizona Republic.

Joyce Lamont

Radio host -- via KARE-TV.

Ahuti Prasad

Actor -- via the Sakshi Post.

Upendra Trivedi

Actor -- via zeenews.india.com.

Lewis Rudolph

Jeff Golub

Guitarist -- via Billboard.

Lam Po-chuen

Voice actor -- via Young Post.

Abdullah Hussain

Novelist and writer -- via the Malaysia Chronicle.

Deborah Bone

Mental health nurse -- via the BBC. The inspiration for Pulp's "Disco 2000."

Stu Miller

Former MLB pitcher -- via ESPN.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Ninon Sevilla

Actress and dancer -- via El Universal. AKA Emelia Perez Castellanos. A great star in Mexico and Cuba, who did much to popularize the rhumba.







Miller Williams

Poet, translator, and editor -- via the New York Times.



(William) Patrick Gowers

Composer best known for his film and choral scores -- via Slipped Disc. He was the music director for the groundbreaking production of "Marat/Sade," and scored several film and TV works. He may be best remembered for his work on the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series.





Alvin Jett

Blues guitarist -- via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Tom LaBrie

Waterbed pitchman and late-night TV host -- via the Sacramento Bee.




DEATHCETERA: A weekly roundup of mortality-related news

Not many stories about death this week -- which, ironically, is just fine by me. Sometimes grief and thoughts of mortality must ebb.

DEATH

Do you mind if we broadcast your husband’s death? Really? Too bad – from Charles Ornstein via ProPublica and the New York Times


Man seeks to reunite cremains with dead man’s survivors – via Rachel Southmayd at heraldonline.com.


MOURNING

Second slain NYPD officer buried; some police protests continue – via Ashley Fantz, Ben Brumfield, and Holly Yan at CNN


FUNERALS

Rising funeral costs are crippling – from Lucy Berry at al.com



OBITS



Shelly Bordas

Actress and teacher -- via John Moore at the DCPA. Once again, here's a prime example of a life that might be overlooked by big media, but one that made a lot of impact. Shelly's grit was incredible; another huge component of the story is the fact that a creative community of, quite literally, hundreds got on the same page and pitched in to help her and her son -- not just with money, but with time and care and support. I feel very lucky to be even a weensy, tangential part of the scene.

Bob Usher

Former MLB player -- via legacy.com.

Melvin Jackson

Blues musician -- via Yahoo News.

Michael Kennedy

Classical music writer and critic -- via the Telegraph.

J.B. Moraes

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Jerzy Semkow

Conductor -- via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Hidetoshi Nakamura

Voice actor -- via narinari.com.

Bernard Kay

Actor -- via the Daily Mail.

Krzystof Krauze

Madhu Kaithapram

Film director -- via the Times of India.

Barbara Jones

Reggae and gospel singer -- via the Jamaica Gleaner. AKA Barbara Nation.




Gino Pelligrini

Set designer and artist -- via La Stampa.

Robert D. San Souci

Children's writer -- via the Fort Bragg Advocate-News. He is best known for writing the story for the Disney film "Mulan."


Stanley Neufeld

Earl Clark


Skiing pioneer -- via the Denver Post.


Stuart Scott

Sports anchor and journalist -- via the Huffington Post. His speech about his struggle with cancer is true, inspiring, and heartbreaking.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Little Jimmy Dickens

Country music star -- via WKYC . AKA James Cecil Dickens. In addition to being the oldest surviving member of the Grand Ol' Opry and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, he discovered Marty Robbins.






Donna Douglas

Actress; best known for playing Elly May Clampett on the TV series "The Beverly Hillbillies" -- via the New York Daily News. AKA Doris Smith. Also known for her emblematic appearance in the "Twilight Zone" episode "The Eye of the Beholder," and co-starred with Elvis in "Frankie and Johnny."



Debbie Purdy

Journalist and end-of-life activist -- via the Independent.

Tomaz Salamun

Poet -- via radiosi.eu.

Roberta Leigh

Writer, artist, and TV producer -- via the Telegraph. AKA Rita Shulman Lewin, Rachael Lindsay, Janey Scott, Rozella Lake, and Roumelia Lane. Best known for creating the British puppet sci-fi series "Space Patrol."



Dave Parsons

Theater owner, comedian, and magician -- a very nice story y Bill Trotter in the Bangor Daily News.

Dave Comer

Photographer and location scout -- via stuff.co.nz.

Ellen Ross

Actress -- via the Muncie, IN Star Press. AKA Mary Ellen Nelson, Ellen Anderson.


Leopoldo Federico

Al Belletto

Saxophonist and bandleader -- via the Baton Rouge Advocate.

Francisco Curiel Defosse

Composer -- via El Universal.

Ulises Estrella

Poet -- via El Comercio.