Thursday, January 10, 2013

Evan S. Connell

Novelist, poet, biographer, and short-story writer -- via the Kansas City Star. This criminally under-read writer composed at least two brilliant novels, "Mr. Bridge" and "Mrs. Bridge," as well as the brilliant Custer book, "Son of the Morning Star."



Ledo Ivo

Poet -- via the Latin American Herald Tribune.

Kveta Legatova aka Vera Hofmanova

Writer -- via Radio Prague.


Emidio Greco

Director and screenwriter -- via lastampa.it.



Jarl Borssen

Actor -- via aftonbladet.se.

Boyd Bartley

Former MLB player -- via legacy.com.


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Thelma Reston

Actress -- via oglobo.globo.com.


Robert Juniper

Artist -- via The Australian.

George O'Donnell

Former MLB pitcher -- via legacy.com.

Keiji Nakazawa

Manga artist and writer; survivor of Hiroshima -- via the L. A. Times. His best-known work, "Barefoot Gen," is a terrifying and graphic autobiographical work.


Patrick "Paddy" "Pecker" Dunne

Musician,storyteller, and activist -- via the Belfast Telegraph.



Paul Crauchet

Actor -- lci.tf1.com. Performed in many key French films of his era, including "Army of Shadows," "My Father's Glory/My Mother's Castle," and "Le cercle rouge."

Chinwe Ifeoma Chukwuogo-Roy

Artist -- via Nigerian Watch.


Sheila McKinley

Singer -- via scotsman.com. With sister Jeanette (r.), pop duo who recorded "Sweet and Tender Romance."

Andrzej Dłużniewski

Sculptor -- via dzieje.pl.


Olga Zubarry aka Olga Adela Zubarriaín

Actress -- via clarin.com. Her big breakthrough came in the 1946 film "El Angel Desnudo" (The Naked Angel), in which her bared her back -- a shocking development in Latin American cinema at the time.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

David R. Ellis

Stuntman and director -- via the L.A. Times. His big hit? "Snakes on a Plane"!




Sammy Johns

Singer/songwriter -- via the Charlotte Observer. His big hit? "Chevy Van," 1975.

Richard Ben Cramer

Journalist -- via the New York Times.

Ada Louise Huxtable

Architecture critic -- via the New York Times.

Huell Howser

TV host -- via the L.A. Times.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Carl Hughes

Driving force behind Kennywood amusement park -- via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Beate Sirota Gordon

Feminist heroine who drafted women's rights into the Japanese constitution -- via the New York Times.

Carl Woese

Biophysicist and evolutionary microbiologist -- via the New York Times. He discovered the "third domain" of organisms, archaea.

John Sheardown

Diplomat who saved several would-be American hostages in Iran -- via the New York Times. Sounds like a heck of a guy, and this incident from his NYT obit is impossible not to reprint -- 

"At 18, he joined the Canadian Air Force and flew a bomber in World War II, once crash-landing near an English village after limping back from an attack on Germany. He broke both legs, but was able to crawl to a pub door at 3 a.m. and rouse the owner. He asked for a glass of Scotch, which the owner gave him. The owner then asked for payment while Mr. Sheardown waited for an ambulance — a story Mr. Sheardown relished."

Christopher Martin-Jenkins aka CMJ aka 'The Major'

Cricket journalist -- via the Guardian.