Rolling Obituary Thread 2023

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

Oh, my mom'll be bummed. Gord's Gold got a lot of play in our house when I was a kid.

I’ve said it elsewhere but set aside Gord’s Gold and spin the UA originals and you will never be the same, some of the greatest music ever recorded

Back Here on Earth from the UA era is maybe his best record.

can't rank 'em with Sit Down Young Stranger, Sundown, and Don Quixote but yeah they're super good. find the CD not the vinyl because the originals sound terrible!

Gordon Lightfoot's first greatest hits album was one of the six albums that made the jump from 8-track to cassette tape in my dad's cars through the 70s (Moody Blues' Days Of Future Past, Aretha's greatest hits, Chicago's Chicago IX, an Artie Shaw comp I can't remember, & Deutch Gramophone's Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" 6th Symphony were the other five). On a lot of cross-country driving, Gordon's slow, steady twelve string was the soundtrack to a lot of looking out the car window.

The If You Could Read My Mind documentary is totally worthwhile - especially when he breaks down songwriting and putting in the hard work to make it right. Mandatory viewing for anyone who claims to be a songwriter - especially if you need a motivating image of a fearsome Gordon Lightfoot ready to kick your ass if you do slipshod work. Sundown is all-time, all-time

yeah he was apparently a real perfectionist...I read some article talking a lot about how even in his 80's he was incredibly meticulous about everyone staying in tune. I saw him a few times around here and indeed, while Gord himself didn't sound so great the band was always very sharp

Ah shame, RIP.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/may/02/the-bedrock-of-my-life-michael-palin-announces-the-death-of-his-wife-helen

Michael Palin's wife Helen. If you've devoured his diaries, as I have, this is a bit of a heartbreaker.

Ah man, a bummer. That was a partnership, and after Jones being gone for a while too, my heart goes out to him.

And as mentioned in the piece, East of Ipswich is a lovely little film based on when they met.

World champion sprinter Tori Bowie, 32.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/03/tori-bowie-dies-age-32-olympic-world-athletics-championships-100m-champion

Linda Lewis

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/04/linda-lewis-death-british-singer-and-famed-backing-vocalist-dies-aged-72