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.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Nigel Terry
Actor -- via the Guardian. Best known for his roles in films such as "Excalibur," "The Lion in Winter," and "Caravaggio."
Grace Lee Whitney
Actress -- via the New York Daily News. AKA Mary Ann Chase. Best known for her role as Yeoman Rand on the original "Star Trek" series, she would prefer to be remembered as someone who overcame some serious addictions. (And in the Star Trek universe, she eventually role to the rank of Commander!)
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Stuart Archer
World War II bomb disposal officer -- via the Telegraph. He dismantled more than 200 bombs successfully; awarded the George Cross. Either the luckiest man in the world or the one with the biggest balls, I'm not sure which. The truth I believe lies somewhere between and is termed bravery. Some of his experiences were related in James Owen's "Danger UXB."
Maria Elena Velasco
Actress, comedian, singer, songwriter, dance, film producer and director -- via the Huffington Post. Best known for her comedic person, La India Maria.
Patachou
Singer and actress -- via Le Figaro. AKA Henriette Ragon. Played Yvette Guilbert in Renoir's "Can Can."
Alex Stevens
Actor, stunt coordinator, and stuntman -- via Facebook. Best known for his work as the Werewolf in the TV horror/soap series "Dark Shadows," and as the comic, pratfalling baker in a taped bit that appeared often in early episodes of "Sesame Street."
Friday, May 1, 2015
Bill Valentine
Umpire and later long-time GM of the Arkansas Travelers baseball team -- via talkbusiness.net.
Colin Sauer
Violinist -- via the Telegraph. His recording of the Douglas Coates violin concerto, long thought lost, resurfaced to acclaim in 2006.
Richard LaSalle
Film and television composer -- via legacy.com. Born in Louisville, Colorado on January 18, 1918, he attended the University of Colorado. LaSalle began writing for local radio, then performed around the region as a pianist and an orchestra leader from 1940 to 1955. His film credits include "Tank Battalion" (1958), "Deadly Duo" (1962), "40 Guns to Apache Pass" (1967), "Piranha" (1972), TV movies such as "The Amazing Captain Nemo," "Fire!", and "Back to the Planet of the Apes"; and TV shows such as "F Troop," "Land of the Giants," "Room 222," and "Wonder Woman."
Too soon: on not listing some of the young deceased
I've recently passed on posting obituaries on 22-year-old Peter Cronkite and 19-year-old Sawyer Sweeten. In general, I try to focus on obituaries overlooked by the mainstream media. This is not to say that these young men, and others who die tragically, such as recent progeria victim Hayley Okines, did not make significant and lasting contributions to humanity in their short lives. However, their stories are told far more eloquently on sites and via journalism that can adequately foreground and emphasize the issues involved with their deaths. They deserve better and more thorough attention than I can give them. Thanks for listening.
Ben E. King
Legendary soul and R& B singer and songwriter -- via the BBC. AKA Benjamin Earl Nelson. As the lead singer of the Drifters, he had hits with "There Goes My Baby," "This Magic Moment," and "Save the Last Dance for Me"; as a soloist, he recorded more classics, including "Stand by Me," "Spanish Harlem," and "Don't Play That Song."
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Weekly reader: a collection of news worldwide on death, mourning, and more
MOURNING
Mourning
the lost monuments of Nepal – don’t forget the people who died – via Sandip
Roy at the Huffington Post
Mourning the
migrants killed at sea – via Christopher Miller at Mashable
Palestinians and
Israelis mourn together on Israeli Remembrance Day – via Lily
Galili at i24 News
Gallipoli centenary observances
overcome historic sites; Anzac Day becoming Australian Day of the Dead, ‘military
Halloween’ – via Wendy Frew at the BBC
Canada
observes National Day of Mourning for workers who die on the job – via Vinh
Tien Trinh at the Huffington Post
“Saying goodbye” – via Nation
Hahn at Medium
University of
Virginia plans reconstruction of memorial garden – via Catherine
Griesedieck at the Cavalier Daily
California
seeks to tax memorial DVDs – via Steve Rubenstein at SFGate
DEATH
Armenian
genocide solemnly commemorated on 100th anniversary of outbreak –
via Crystal Boulware at The Public Slate
Death
and mourning in India – via Amrapali Maitra at Scope
Video:
Lovely London, City of . . Death? – via Caitlin Doughty at the Order of the
Good Death
Doughty
gets TV deal to develop her ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ memoir – via Joe
Otterson at The Wrap
Postmortem
bioluminescence – via Esther Inglis-Arkell at io9
‘Edison’s
Last Breath’ – via Dylan at Atlas Obscura
Thrill-seeking
bicyclists love Bolivia’s “Death Road” – via John Otis at the Wall Street
Journal
Digital
immortality: a practical guide – via Jeff Reifman at tuts+
Conversely, how
to get dead relatives OFF line – via Modern Loss
FUNERALS
Cremations
line river in wake of Nepal quake deaths – via Julie Makinen at the L.A.
Times
China nixes
funeral strippers
– via CNN
Cesar
Chavez receives military honors at graveside 22 years after his death – via
Scott Smith at AP
A history of
changing Jewish burial rites – via Elon Gilad at Haaretz
Family sues
after funeral home switches corpses, cremates wrong guy – via Levi
Pulkkinen at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
More on
Lincoln-death anniversary rites – via Joan Dittmann at the Chicago
Tribune
OBITS
Cancer victim
writes her own obituary – via Melissa Chan at the New York Daily News
Hoping to help
others, family posts honest obituary concerning daughter’s overdose death – via Doug
Stanglin at USA Today
The late Richard
Corliss’s top 10 obituaries – via TIME Magazine
‘Find
the Good’: New memoir from small-town obit writer – via Susan Richmond at On
magazine, and the Yakima Herald
Oh dear –
obituary requests for political action on the rise – via Hunter
Schwarz in the Washington Post
Betsy von Furstenberg
Actress, writer, and baroness -- via the New York Times. AKA Elizabeth Caroline Maria Agatha Felicitas Therese, Freiin von Furstenberg-Hedringen.
Marty Napoleon
Great jazz pianist -- via legacy.com. He worked with the greats -- Armstrong, Goodman, Krupa, Venuti, Hawkins, Torme . . .
Tony Drake
Great session guitarist; one of the fabled Funk Brothers -- via legacy.com. Can be heard on such classics as "Mr. Big Stuff" and "River Deep, Mountain High."
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Wladyslaw Bartoszewski
Activist, historian, writer, and journalist; Holocaust survivor and Resistance fighter -- via the New York Times.
Jack Ely
Singer and guitarist; the singer of the classic "Louie, Louie" -- via AP and USA Today. Kicked out of the band shortly after the recording, Ely's life was a tangle of litigation and drug abuse, which led to eventual recovery ad spiritual peace.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
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