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.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Jimmy Sangster
Screenwriter, filmmaker -- via Twitch. Really, one of my horror heroes -- one of the prime movers in the history of Hammer horror, along with Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis, Roy Ashton, Bernard Robinson, James Bernard, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Barbara Shelley. With no experience, faced with the strictures of reinventing classic horror icons, he wrote the screenplays for "The Curse of Frankenstein," "The Horror of Dracula," "The Mummy," "The Crawling Eye," "Paranoiac," and many other Second Wave horror greats. He even directed cheesy delights such as "Lust for a Vampire" and "The Horror of Frankenstein." Here's a wonderful profile of him from Cinema Retro. Cheers to him -- he took a well-worn genre and helped revitalize it!
Akiko Futaba
Singer -- via Kyodo News. One of the top three female vocalists in Japan after World War II. A native of Hiroshima, she narrowly escaped annihilation on Aug. 6, 1945, when the train she was riding went into a tunnel moments before the atomic bomb exploded, destroying her city.
From the Kitsap Sun: "A tribute to a worthwhile habit"
A lovely think-piece by Rob Woutat on the power, utility and beauty of well-written obituaries -- via the Kitsap Sun.
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Filmmaker -- via the New York Times. Best known as the father of the shockumentary, with his 1962 hit "Mondo Cane." It spawned a subgenre of film that purported to focus on true-life, gruesome and strnage aspects of world culture, life and death. It also brought us the Oscar-winning theme/love song, "More," strangely enough.
Robert Breer
Avant-garde animator - via the New York Times. His influence extended to talents as diverse as Stan Brakhage and Terry Gilliam.
Betty Thatcher aka Betty Thatcher Newsinger
Lyricist -- via Renaissance blog. A vital contributor to '70s prog-rock band Renaissance, whose sound and philosophy entranced us during the period, and contributed mightily to the marijuana intake of the time's teenage population.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Sif Ruud aka Sif Einarsdotter Ruud Fallde
Actress -- via svd.se. Her career began on stage in 1934; she appeared most memorably in the Bergman films "Wild Strawberries," "The Magician," "Face to Face" and the Bergman-scripted "The Best Intentions."
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
George C. DeVol
Inventor of the robot arm -- via the New York Times. He also invented an early microwave oven, called the "Speedy Weeny."
Nicholas Val Napolitano
He gave his life to save someone else's -- via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Daniel D. McCracken
Computer scientist and writer -- via the New York Times. For decades, he was easily the widest-read "how-to" author on computers, computing and computer language.
M. Kenneth Oshman
Electronics executive -- via the New York Times. He pioneered the management style that I have found to be most productive -- a supportive and informal atmosphere that encourages vital engagement and camaraderie.
Monday, August 15, 2011
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