Rolling Obituary Thread 2023

RIP Onimo

That truly fucking sucks, he always seemed like a properly sound guy and it was heartening when he'd manage to pop up here to update while still battling on.

Condolences to aldo and Ailsa and those closest to him

Harry Belafonte, 96.

Outlived Sidney Poitier, RIP HB

He wan go home

very sad to hear about Onimo, my condolences to all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE-BCvGovAo

(Animal is still alive btw, ^ this is about Harry Belafonte)

i did not until v recently properly appreciate at all belafonte's huge civil rights role/contributions. To me he was more in mind as calypso guy. what a loss, such a life. RIP.

If you haven't seen Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), do so ASAP.

He’s pretty spectacular in OAT

great movie

RIP belafonte, my dad used to wake us up on the weekends by coming in the bedroom and singing the beginning of day-o at the top of his voice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sVSuxw9qZg

RIP Onimo. That is shite to hear.

RIP to Belafonte - he was definitely a regular in the 'still alive?' thread

+1 for Odds Against Tomorrow, terrific film

Sad to hear about Onimo. Many moons ago now, but one of the few ilxors I'd met in real life, if my hazy memories are surfacing correctly. Thinking of his family and friends, including those here.

Memory guy Harry Lorayne:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/04/08/harry-lorayne-memory-magic-dies/

I've got one of Lorayne's books, and tried to get down one of his memory stunts as a party trick. Almost got there. The book is one of those showbiz small press hardcovers that looks like it manufactured in the 1930s, though it's probably from about 1970s. Such an artifact from another time, it never even occurred to me to wonder if he was still alive.

"The world's foremost memory-training specialist," now largely forgotten.

^ironing

The 39 Steps strike again.

Fumio Demura, 84, Pat Morita's stunt double in The Karate Kid, one of the best-known Japanese karate teachers in the United States and author of many books on karate and Okinawan weapons arts

Jerry Springer, 79

https://www.tmz.com/2023/04/27/jerry-springer-dead-dies/

*throws chair*

did not realise he was so old, but makes sense that he was in his 50s in the 90s.

cincinnati residents...was he a good mayor?

dead dies?

url SEO

The chair throwing was on Geraldo I think, as per the Beastie Boys. We taped it live because a friend of my sisters was one of those anti-nazi skinheads on the panel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpxPu3PCeLY

oh there was plenty of chair throwing on Springer too, just wasn't confined to his show. he also did bring neo-Nazis on a few times, one time going off on a Nazi who had to be restrained from coming after Jerry.

I made the mistake of trying to look up that moment on my work computer today, and then lead a meeting where I screenshared and forgot to minimize Google first, so my learners all saw "jerry springer fights nazi" as one of my tabs

One of 10,000 roads to Trump.

if u give a nazi screen time
he's gonna wanna throw a chair

Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman whose false, racist accusation got Emmet Till lynched has died.

She belonged in prison but I also won't be mourning her death!https://t.co/cUQPp65mOy

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 27, 2023

Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman whose false, racist accusation got Emmet Till lynched has died.

She belonged in prison but I also won't be mourning her death!https://t.co/cUQPp65mOy

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 27, 2023

oops soz

Before this, the most recent news item I'd seen was in Feb. (but think there was a more recent follow-up, like maybe last week):

Emmett Till relative’s lawsuit seeks to serve white woman’s arrest warrant
Cousin of murdered Black teenager tries to compel sheriff to enforce 1955 warrant against Carolyn Bryant Donham, now 89

Quite Toronto-centric: Frank Vetere (96 years old).

https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2023/04/frank-vetere/

Ralph Humphrey, drummer for Don Ellis and Frank Zappa, a few days ago.

oh damn, RIP

Jerry Mander, ad man for non-profits and author of Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television. 86
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/obituaries/jerry-mander-dead.html

Tim Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive Member. 71
https://people.com/music/bachman-turner-overdrives-tim-bachman-dead-at-age-71/

That's a picture of Fred Turner on the People site, Tim is 2nd from right in the photo below.

There were some accusations of abuse against him in the last few years that don't appear to have been resolved one way or the other.

In high school science my teacher asked a dumb hockey player what BTU stood for and he offered Bachman Turner Underdrive as a suggestion which 30 years later is still the first thing I think about when they come up.

lol

Gordon Lightfoot, following recent bad health:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/gordon-lightfoot-dead-1.6828991

oh no :(

rip gord :(

wow. just the other week I had to confirm that he was still with us. what a songwriter.

He was the greatest. I’ve been on a kick recently, what an amazing body of work