Writer -- via The State.
Interesting, overlooked, and significant obituaries from around the world, as they happen, emphasizing the positive achievements of those who have died. Member, Society of Professional Obituary Writers.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Robert V. Hine
Historian, novelist, and memoirist -- via the L.A. Times. His book "Second Sight" tells his story of regaining his eyesight after 15 years.
Betty Willis
Graphic designer; created the iconic "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas Nevada" sign -- via the New York Daily News. Erected in 1959, it is a prime example of Googie-era degisn, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. (She also created the less well-known Blue Angel Motel statue.)
Richard Anthony
Singer -- via The Univers News. AKA Ricardo Anthony Btesh. Best known for his French covers of American hits, he was a Gallic pop star of the likes of Johnny Halliday.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Deathcetera: the week in death, mourning and such
UNICEF's singing Grim Reaper. |
DEATH
UNICEF campaign enlists singing Grim Reaper – via John Young at Design Taxi
Man makes
mission of fighting fear of death – via Jonathan Fisher at Business
Insider
Tax Day (and
Election Day and Super Bowl Sunday) can kill you – via Karen
Kaplan at the L.A. Times
Lincoln’s tomb
is in terrible shape
– via Kerry Lester at AP
The causes of
musicians’ deaths, by genre – via Ana Swanson at the Washington Post
Learning how to
talk to one’s children about death – from Zsophia McMullin
Parent brought
to mourning hall, despite being not quite dead – via Focus
Taiwan
MOURNING
Social media
helps gather minyans for the Jewish dead – via Jodi Rudoren at the New York
Times
Visiting a house
of mourning
– via Elana Mizrahi at The Jewish Woman
FUNERALS
‘Pre-mortem’
funeral for mother with Alzheimer’s – via Johnny Dodd in People
Baby Boom set to
hit funeral industry
– via Steve Doughty in the Daily Mail
Oh, dear – bad
Yelp reviews of funeral homes – via Anna Merlan at Jezebel
Widow hires
strippers for husband’s funeral – via Kara O’Neill at The Mirror
Funeral home
branches out into venue for concerts, bingo – via Linda Murphy in the Herald
News
3 ways to plan
for your funeral expenses – via Maryalene LaPonsie in the U.S. News &
World Report
Robert Rietti
Actor and voice actor; "the man of a thousand voices" -- via the Hollywood Reporter. AKA Lucio Rieti, Robert Rietty. One of the great dubbing artists, he voiced Le Chiffre in "Thunderball," many screen appearances for Jack Hawkins, and more than 90 characters in "Waterloo."
Mike Mincieli
Singer, founder and original first tenor of the Capris -- via Peter Lemongello, Jr.'s Swingin' Soiree. AKA Mike Minceli. The group's big hit -- "There's a Moon Out Tonight."
James "Little Jimmy" Mastrangelo
Actor and entertainer -- via the New York Daily News. Best known for his yearly Uncle Sam appearance at Coney Island, Mastrangelo was one of the Oompa Loompas in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
Sol Abrams
Huckster; promoter of the iconic Palisades Amusement Park -- via northjersey.com. An amazing promoter. Hey, he got an elephant to water-ski down the Hudson. So there!
George Cooper
Actor and artist -- via legacy.com. Best known for his role as Mitchell in the 1947 noir "Crossfire."
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Jonathan Crombie
Actor -- via the New York Times. Best remembered for his role as Gilbert Blythe in the "Anne of Green Gables" television series.
Kent Lindsey
Musician, actor, and producer; long-time kids's how host "Safari Sam" -- via the Florida Times-Union.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Herb Trimpe
Comics illustrator and writer -- via the Hollywood Reporter. One of the greats, he was the first to draw Wolverine, was the defining artist of the Incredible Hulk, and co-created the Phantom Eagle. (A personal favorite -- I grabbed the first issue off the stands in September 1968. I was not disappointed.)
Charles H. "Chuck" Sagle
Trumpeter, bandleader, and arranger -- via legacy.com. Oh my gosh! He created some of the classics of Space Age pop -- see this link from Space Age Pop. In his own name and as Carl Stevens, he gave the world the likes of "Ping Pong Percussion," "Splendor in the Brass," "Music for Baton Twirlers" and, most ominously, "African Sounds." Every soundtrack from every ice-cold grocery store or the inside of your Ford Galaxie 500 is here. Part of the Great Assimilating Wave of Caucasian-ness that crested in the mid-'60s. These monuments to squareness are breathtaking. I feel as though I just found Tut's tomb!
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