Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Book review: "How They Croaked"


How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous
Georgia Bragg, illus. Kevin O’Malley
Walker and Company, 2011

O death where is thy sting . . .and whence comes our fascination with thee? Who knows. We are often drawn to the unknowable; mysteries frustrate us.

As someone who has made a hobby of blogging obituaries of the obscure but worthy, I can testify that studying death, dying, memory, and reputation is a way of controlling and channeling the fearful impulses that range around the prospect of demise.

Georgia Bragg’s first non-fiction title for children tackles that very topic – introducing us to the deaths and postmortem fates of the corpses of 19 historical figures. Bragg’s sardonic, informal prose keeps the tone light, as do Kevin O’Malley’s gleefully grim illustrations. They allow young readers to absorb the gruesome details with fascination without boring them with technical talk.

“How They Croaked” is not just a book (extremely late) celebrity gossip. Bragg succeeds in contextualizing each person in his or her historical context; relates information about medicine and health in different historic ages; includes useful sidebars on everything from “What to do with Old Mummies,” “Cupping,” “Gout,” and “Cremation 101.”

Is this book too morbid for kids? Actually, it’s pitched perfectly at them (I found it first at a school book fair), giving insights and offering a friendly yet scientifically sound approach toward thanatology.

Georgi Kaloyanchev

Actor -- via focus-fen.net.

Avraham Mor

Actor -- via via ynetnews.com.

Alida Chelli

Actress and singer -- via ilsole24ore.com.

N.M. Mohan

Journalist, children's story and comics writer -- via The Hindu.

Ed Grady

Actor -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Mike Triay

Radio host; lyricist, producer of the "Macarena" -- via the Miami Herald.

Axel Anderson aka Axel Levy

Actor -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

Jessie "Jet Set" Hudson

Actor -- via tmz.com.

Denny Steinmann

Director -- via destroythebrain.com.





Inez Andrews

Gospel singer -- via the New York Times.

Ray Colllins

Original vocalist for the Mothers of Invention -- via Variety. He started off as a falsetto back-up singer for doo-wop groups. In 1964, he formed the Soul Giants with Zappa, Jimmy Carl Black, and Roy Estrada. They quickly became the Mothers. Roy sang lead on "Freak Out!", "Absolutely Free," and my personal fave, "Cruising with Ruben & the Jets." Zappa's comic focus rubbed Collins the wrong way and he split the band.





Shana Dowdeswell

Actress -- via legacy.com.

Judith Maria Sternberg Piepe

Social worker and songwriter -- via alt.obituaries.

Jerri Bird aka Jerine Bettybea Newhouse Bird

Peace activist and facilitator -- via the Washington Post.

Frederica Sagor Maas

Screenwriter from the silent era -- via the New York Times.


Victor Merzhanov

Pianist -- via artsjournal.com.



Charles Durning

Honored actor in film, on TV and on stage -- via the Washington Post. A former boxer, he survived both D-Day and the massacre at Malmedy in World War II. Greatest stage work includes "That Championship Season," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Death of a Salesman," and "Inherit the Wind." TV: "Evening Shade," "Rescue Me," "Attica," "Queen of the Stardust Ballroom." Film: "The Sting," "Home for the Holidays," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Tootsie," "The Muppet Movie," "Hudsucker Proxy."






Monday, December 24, 2012

Jack Klugman

Actor -- via the New York Times. A stronger precis than you might expect; he appeared in "Days of Wine and Roses," "12 Angry Men," and "Gypsy"; and he did his share of anthology television, including "Playhouse 90," "Kraft Television Theatre," and "Naked City"; and he tied Burgess Meredith for the most starring roles on "The Twilight Zone" (4). He will still be typed as TV's Oscar Madison on "The Odd Couple" and Quincy, M.E.







Richard Adams

Activist and gay marriage pioneer -- via the L.A. Times.


Bharath aka Yasho Sagar

Actor -- via rediff.com.


Alex Moulton

Inventor of a revolutionary bicycle design -- via the New York Times.

Alice S. Thompson

Garden store owner -- via eastgreenwich.patch.com.

Frank Beardsley

Chief warrant officer; patriarch of large family noted in "Yours, Mine, and Ours" -- via the New York Times.

Saturday, December 22, 2012