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.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
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.
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.
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
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.
(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.
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
Oh
dear. The misadventures of famous people’s bodies after death – from Jef
Rouner at Cracked
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
Interview with
Margalit Fox, long-time obit writer for the New York Times – via Lourdes
Garcia-Navarro at NPR
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.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
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."
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."
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.
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