THE OBIT PATROL: 2018-08-12

Friday, August 17, 2018

Ted Petry

Last witness to the world's first controlled nuclear reaction -- via the Chicago Sun-Times.

Count Prince Miller

Singer and actor -- via the Jamaica Gleaner. AKA Clarence Miller.

Marisa Porcel

Actress -- via newseuropa.es. AKA Marisa Luisa Porcel Montijano.

Stepan Pushyk

Writer and literary critic -- via mignews.com.ua.

Alan Rabinowitz

Conservationist -- via the New York Times.

Eduard Uspensky

Writer -- via the Moscow Times. Creator of great children's lit characters such as Gena the Crocodile, Cheburaska, and Uncle Fyodor.

Alberto Tosca

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist -- via ABC Cultura.

Blue Miller

Singer, songwriter, musician, and producer -- via the Tennessean. AKA William Mueller.

James Quill 'Smitty' Smith

Musician and songwriter -- via Wages Funeral Home.

Randy Rampage

Singer and bassist -- via Consequence of Sound. AKA Randall Archibald.

Helen Burns

Actress -- via Legacy. AKA Helen Burns Langham.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Annie Ali Khan

Model and journalist -- via the Independent. AKA Quratulain Ali Khan.

Mark Baker

Actor -- via Playbill. He excelled in the title role of the best adaptation of Candide to date.

Morgana King

Singer and actress; best known for playing Mama Corleone in the first two Godfather movies -- via the Washington Post.

John Calder

Publisher who battled censorship and championed edgy greats -- via the Washington Post.

Deb Note-Farwell

Actress and director -- via the Coloradoan.

Georges Hausemer

Writer and illustrator -- via chronicle.lu.

The Queen of Soul; one of the great voices of the century -- via the New York Times. She had a naturally glorious voice -- full and textured, resonant and vibrant. But it takes much more to be a great singer. She had the fire that animated that talent, turning her into a huge cultural icon, a presence evoked with a single name. She manifested herself as a comforting force of nature, an Everywoman who could articulate with precision and depth the meanings of being alive, having a breakable heart, having the strength to go on.

Her great spirit was capable of channeling the divine -- her first recording was of her at age 14 singing gospel in her father's church in Detroit. She chose to sing secular music, thank God. She made her exuberance palpable, and her tenderness, and her resolution. I saw her once, at JazzFest, decades ago -- of course, she was great. It takes great genius to sustain this openness, to bridge the gap between her mind and the ear of the listener. It felt like she was singing just for you.