Friday, July 18, 2014

Joep Lange . . . and 297 others on Flight MH17

Prominent AIDS researcher . . . and as many as 100 other AIDS researchers bound for a conference in Kuala Lampur . . . along with passengers and crew, leading to a total loss of all on board -- 298 people. All these were killed when separatist rebels, armed with Russian weapons, shot this civilian jet airliner out of the sky. This tragic incident only highlights what happens when lives are taken in combat. In Judaism, it is stated that "He who saves one life, it is as if he saves an entire universe." Conversely, a life lost is a universe snuffed out. Think of all the good these medical experts were doing to alleviate suffering. How many years will this slow down the fight against AIDS? Not to mention the inherent worth of every life on that plane.


Paul MacLeod

Proprietor of Elvis Presley museum Graceland Too -- via the Memphis Clarion-Ledger.





Sulekha Hussain

Writer -- via The Hindu.

Judith McCulloh

Scholar, folklorist, and folk art advocate -- via the National Endowment for the Arts.

Alison Bielski

Poet -- via the Independent.

Kay Hurwitz

Violist -- via the Guardian.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Carin Mannheimer aka Karin Birgitta Jacobson

Kodali Kamalamma

Sheila McCullagh

Writer -- via the Telegraph.

Philip G. DeWilde

Actor -- via Dignity Memorial.

Barry Cole

Writer -- via the Guardian.

Earl Bennett aka Sir Frederick Gas

Isabel de Madariaga

Historian -- via the Guardian.

Howard Siler

Bobsledder and first coach of the Jamaican bobsled team -- via NBC Sports. Please note that, in contrast to his portrayal in "Cool Runnings," Howard was neither a washed-up alcoholic nor a gold-medal winner. Just a good guy who knew how to coach!

Louis Herman "Red" Klotz

Basketball player, team owner, coach, and comic foil for the Harlem Globetrotters -- via the New York Times. His team, largely known as the Washington Generals, was the usual opponent of the famous tricksters. It pleases me no end to note that they actually won one game on Jan. 5, 1971.




James MacGregor Burns

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Valeriya Novodvorskaya

Dissident -- via Radio Free Europe.



Nestor Basterretxea

Phil Stephens

Pioneering soccer photojournalist -- via Soccer America.


Abshir Hassan

Teacher -- via the CBC.


Robert F. Cawley

Police officer, skater, and actor -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.


Juby Bustamante

Journalist and writer -- via El Mundo.

Yann Andrea

Writer -- via France TV Info.

Ahmed Shiekh Jama

Poet and scholar -- via the Somaliland Press.

On Kawara

Artist -- via the Huffington Post.

Chris Grier

Musician -- via Spin.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Ramai Te Miha Hayward

Ray Lonnen

Actor -- via the Guardian.






Harry Whittaker

Child actor -- via The Daily Mirror.


George Morrison

Michael Henry Wilson

Filmmaker and writer -- via Variety. Did a great job on "A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese through American Movies," as well as many other projects.








OBIT READER: Our weekly roundup of stories on death, dying, and more

TOP STORIES

From Confessions of a Funeral Director, "The Ultimate List of Mortician Themed License Plates" -- http://www.calebwilde.com/2014/07/the-ultimate-list-of-mortitian-themed-license-plates/

Via Katharine Q. Seelye of the New York Times, death on a island sheds light on a changing funeral industry http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/us/even-on-nantucket-a-funeral-home-is-a-luxury.html

R.I.P. T-shirts? Memorial casual wear is the thing in Baton Rouge; the story by Donna Britt of WAFB http://www.wafb.com/story/25991707/rip-shirts-have-changed-how-people-mourn-in-south-louisiana

DEATH

Mike Pleming on Modest Money talks about preparing for death, enotionally and financially http://www.modestmoney.com/prepare-financially-emotionally-death/

Is he dead? Wait just a minute, per ghanaweb.com http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=316513

A dying skill: film program cancelled due to projectionist's demise -- from Meredith Moss of the Dayton Daily News http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/projectionists-death-results-in-cancellation-of-fi/ngZ8D/

Per H5N1, a million-deaths study in India almost complete http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2014/07/india-the-million-deaths-study.html

There's a story here. Urn abandoned. Why? Via the Arizona Daily Independent http://www.arizonadailyindependent.com/2014/07/10/funeral-urn-ditched-at-phoenix-business/

 MOURNING

'Mourning in the age of Skype': Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig in The Atlantic  http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/07/figuring-out-how-to-mourn-in-the-age-of-skype/374044/

Finding meaning in loss, by Emily Lauren Townsend in Whole magazine http://www.wholemagazine.org/2014/07/death-as-way-to-life-finding-meaning-in.html

Lodro Rinzler in Elephant Journal reports on meditation and mourning http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/07/meditation-and-mourning-3-obstacles-to-successful-grieving/


OBITS

Um. Tom Hawthorne of the Vancouver Times Colonist reports on a unique anti-obit: http://www.legacy.com/news/stories-to-share/lovable-con-man-says-goodbye/2477/ and











P.N. "Nick" Furbank

Lou Nigro

Musician, and one of the country's most expert piano tuners -- via legacy.com. Father of Laura Nyro.

Marsha Mehran

Novelist -- via the L.A. Times.

Frank Mumford

Marionettist -- via the Telegraph.

John Leach

Musician and composer -- via the Telegraph.

Nadine Gordimer

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Ignacio García-Valiño

Writer -- via abc.es.


Alan Alan aka Alan Rabinowitz

Escapologist and magician -- via This is Cabaret.



C.J. Henderson

Writer -- via Locus Online News.

Jini Dellaccio

Photographer -- via the Seattle Times.

Frank Cummings

Cartoonist -- via The Daily Cartoonist.


Horst Bollman

Actor -- via Abendzeitung.