Journalist -- via Rolling Stone. A very funny and vibrant writer! Here's a link to his classic story about the Sex Pistols, "Rock is Sick and Living in London," from Rolling Stone of Oct. 20, 1977.
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.
Friday, August 22, 2014
FRIDAY BOOK REVIEW: 'The Long Goodbye'
The Long Goodbye: A Memoir
Meghan O’Rourke
2011
Riverhead Books
New York
“If the condition of grief is universal, its transactions
are exquisitely personal.” This statement, with its somewhat Tolstoyan echoes,
perfectly captures the spirit of the author’s narrative of her mother’s decline
and death, and the year following it, in “The Long Goodbye.” This painfully
honest and eloquent account is well worth reading on its own merits.
This is not expiation, or a dispassionate self-observation.
As O’Rourke observes, mourners enter a special kind of separate reality, one
that often makes others uncomfortable and awkward. Her prodigious and detailed
collection of memories, reactions, reflections – self-destructive, enlightened,
baffled, supportive, and combative – it’s all here.
Given that I lost my mother almost two years ago to a
debilitating cancer similar to that suffered by O’Rourke’s mother, the
parallels are striking. Hearing from a writer whose feelings echo mine
validates them immensely. The author’s clear and direct voice brings new
insights, explodes myths that make mourners feel inadequate (the Five Stages of
Grief? Real life is not so orderly), and makes human a process that is usually
conceptualized as elevated and somehow sacred.
It’s particularly interesting to be given access to the
unique challenges of losing a same-sex parent – the overlap and transmission of
identity. “The Long Goodbye” is no therapeutic exercise, but a patch of
biography, a passage that is endured but not conveniently completed by book’s
end. That O’Rourke has the sense not to impose an artificial sense of closure
is one of the book’s many virtues.
O’Rourke’s assessment of “Hamlet” in the book describes him
as “radically dislocated, stumbling through the days while the rest of the
world acts as if nothing important has changed.” Likewise, “The Long Goodbye”
gives us an unflinching look at the derangement that a family death imposes . .
. and how one person struggled through, back to the life of every day.
Madeleine Collinson
Model and actress -- via Brutal As Hell. With her twin sister Mary, was the centerpiece of the Hammer horror film "Twins of Evil." It's an absolutely ridiculous movie, and of course one of my favorites.
Helen Bamber
Psychotherapist and human rights campaigner -- via the Guardian. In 1945, she was one of the first to enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in aid of its survivors. She went on to be a founder of Amnesty International; her work included helping victims of torture, rape, genocide, kidnapping, slavery, and oppression.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Jean Redpath
Folk singer and musicologist -- via the BBC. A peerless exponent of Scottish song, she was very familiar to listeners of "A Prairie Home Companion," and did much more, saving thousands of songs from oblivion.
Ralph Morman
Lead singer for Savoy Brown, and later the Joe Perry Project; songwriter -- via the Daily Independent.
Billy Rath
Bassist who replaced Richard Hell in Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers -- via Ultimate Classic Rock. Later became an addictions counselor and minister.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Brian G. Hutton
Director and actor -- via Variety. After many years as a an actor on film and TV, primarily in Westerns, Hutton directed nine films -- including two of my favorite guilty pleasures, "Kelly's Heroes" and "Where Eagles Dare."
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Alan Landsburg
TV director, producer, and writer -- via the Hollywood Reporter. Created films such as the Emmy-winning "Bill," and shows such as "That's Incredible!" and "In Search Of . . . "
Monday, August 18, 2014
Don Pardo
Announcer; best known as the original voice of "Jeopardy!" and "Saturday Night Live" -- via the New York Times.
WEEKLY READER: Our roundup of stories on death, mourning, and more
TOP STORIES
GWAR’s
Dave Brockie gets a flaming Viking funeral – a report from Miriam Coleman
at Rolling Stone
From Modern Loss: Mark Liebenow on losing his wife
INFOGRAPHIC: Cremation: it's the way to go, from Macrina Cooper-White on Huffington Post
INFOGRAPHIC: Cremation: it's the way to go, from Macrina Cooper-White on Huffington Post
“We
Don’t Know Death: 7 Assumptions We Make about Dying”, from Pallimed
DEATH
James
Brown’s body has been dismembered, moved 14 times – via Black America Web.
An
unattended, unnoticed death: Andy Park of the Sydney Morning Herald reports
Death
selfies from Izismile
Medical
examiner writes memoir, Dennis Kelly of USA Today reports
Native American tribes want ancestors' scalps from German Old West museums -- via Melissa Eddy at the New York Times
Native American tribes want ancestors' scalps from German Old West museums -- via Melissa Eddy at the New York Times
MOURNING
In Boulder, Colorado, the homeless are dying -- and a recent ceremony honors their memories -- via Erica Meltzer of the Boulder Daily Camera
In Boulder, Colorado, the homeless are dying -- and a recent ceremony honors their memories -- via Erica Meltzer of the Boulder Daily Camera
In Tablet Magazine, Sarah Ivry is not
so fond of viral mourning
From Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk of Newsday, a
debate over the mourning of celebrity deaths
Funeral
foods from Epicurious
Grief-support
charity to close due to lack of funding – via the Desert Sun
Via Bob Garrison at KUSA: Robin
Williams mourning post used as “click bait”
Cybermemorials,
‘Living Headstones,’ and other digital mourning practices – from Kyle
Chayka at Newsweek
OBITS
How prominent will your obituary be? It's all in the timing, per Thomas Vinciguerra of the New York Times
How prominent will your obituary be? It's all in the timing, per Thomas Vinciguerra of the New York Times
Get it right: ESPN
posts wrong photo, headline for dead race car driver – Robert Littal of
Black Sports Online reports
FUNERALS
Sociologists
see big changes in funeral industry, per Longwood University
Tunde Ra Aleem
Singer and keyboardist -- via Soul Tracks. With his brother Tarharqa, formed the duo GhettoFighters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)