Comedy writer best known as part of the original crew at MAD magazine -- via legacy.com.
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.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Buddy Elias
Actor, comedian, skater; last direct living relative of Anne Frank, and administrator of her legacy -- via legacy.com. AKA Berndt Elias.
Shaw Taylor
TV and radio host and actor -- via the Daily Mail. The iconic face of Police 5, an early crime-stopping segment. His tag line: "Keep 'em peeled!"
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Robert Rosenblum
Writer -- via legacy.com. AKA Nicholas Condei, Johanna Kingsley, Jessica March, Jeanne Day Lord, and other nom de plumes.
Bob Anderson
Former MLB player -- via Tulsa World. He was involved in the crazy play on June 30, 1959, when Stan Musial was put out by two baseballs, perhaps the first and only time this has happened in major league history.
Ib Melchior
Novelist, short-story writer, director, producer, and screenwriter -- via the Hollywood Reporter. A fascinating life. He was the son of famed Danish heldentenor Lauritz Melchior. He was a decorated counterintelligence officer in World War II; he helped liberate the Flossenburg concentration camp, discovered a Nazi gold hoard, and captured a German Werwolf unit.
He wrote many adventure novels, but it's his work in film that made the biggest impact. After some work in American television, he started writing sci-fi scripts -- "The Angry Red Planet," "Robinson Crusoe on Mars," "Reptilicus," "Journey to the Seventh Planet," and "The Time Travelers." He also wrote the English translation of Bava's "Planet of the Vampires."
Most importantly, his story "The Racer" became the film "Death Race 2000"; his idea for a "Space Family Robinson" was stolen by Irwin Allen and became "Lost in Space."
While many of his films may be regarded as cheesy, Melchior's imagination fueled my own as a child. These crude space operas and monster stories, many of them adaptations of classic literary sources, helped give sci-fi some momentum as it moved from being merely "kiddie fare" to a gerne that could handle adult, complex themes.
He wrote many adventure novels, but it's his work in film that made the biggest impact. After some work in American television, he started writing sci-fi scripts -- "The Angry Red Planet," "Robinson Crusoe on Mars," "Reptilicus," "Journey to the Seventh Planet," and "The Time Travelers." He also wrote the English translation of Bava's "Planet of the Vampires."
Most importantly, his story "The Racer" became the film "Death Race 2000"; his idea for a "Space Family Robinson" was stolen by Irwin Allen and became "Lost in Space."
While many of his films may be regarded as cheesy, Melchior's imagination fueled my own as a child. These crude space operas and monster stories, many of them adaptations of classic literary sources, helped give sci-fi some momentum as it moved from being merely "kiddie fare" to a gerne that could handle adult, complex themes.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Andy Fraser
Bassist, singer, and songwriter; co-founder of Free -- via Classic Rock. He started playing with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers when he was 15; a year later he helped found Free. He co-wrote "All Right Now" and wrote "Every Kinda People."
Monday, March 16, 2015
Deathcetera: The week in death, mourning, and more
DEATH
Video: how to
you talk to your parents about death? – from Caitlin Doughty at the Order of
the Good Death
Are you lonely?
That means you’re going to die sooner – via the National Health Service
Pat
Johnson’s ‘Dead of Winter’ series in the Vancouver Courier, on death, mourning,
and ritual:
How the White
House decides which deaths to acknowledge – via Juliet Ailperin at the
Washington Post
New opera:
‘Death with Interruptions’ – via Carol Ness at UC Berkeley News Center
American
Airlines, will you refund our dead daughter’s ticket price? No? Yes? – from Ashlee
Kieler at the Consumerist
Firing squad v.
lethal injection: which one’s the best? – by John Sanburn at TIME magazine
Social Security
keeps paying benefits, even after you die – via Jamie Dupree at WSB
25 significant
books on death, dying, and mourning – via Elizabeth Donnelly at Flavorwire
MOURNING
Cabinet
commemorates Civil War dead – from Allison Meier at Hyperallgeric
Recovered WWII
dog tags help bring closure – from Kim Reishling at KATC
FUNERALS
Facebook sends
funeral director ads to cancer patient’s feed – via Victoria Woolaston at the
Daily Mail
Goin’
all cray-cray with the innovatively designed funeral urns (aka ‘party jars’?)
– by Allen G. Breed at AP
OBITS
A
lovely tribute to former Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer – by Garrett
Epps in the Atlantic
Family speaks
out about addiction in son’s obituary – from Yahoo Health
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Gene Patton
Stagehand and dancer -- via the Hollywood Reporter. AKA Gene Gene the Dancing Machine. Best known for his impromptu performances on "The Gong Show."
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