Obituaries

[Odin]

(02-16-2017, 08:15 AM)Marypoza Wrote: RlP Clarence Wolf Gut, the last of the WW2 code talkers.

Oh no!!!

[Marypoza]

(02-16-2017, 08:18 PM)Odin Wrote:

(02-16-2017, 08:15 AM)Marypoza Wrote: RlP Clarence Wolf Gut, the last of the WW2 code talkers.

Oh no!!!

-- l know. The code talkers are all together now

[pbrower2a]

Robert Henry "Bob" Michel (pronounced "Michael"; March 2, 1923 – February 17, 2017) was an American Republican Party politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives for 38 years. He represented central Illinois' 18th congressional district, and was the GOP leader in Congress, serving as Minority Leader for the last 14 years (1981–1995) of a decades-long era of Democratic Party dominance of the House.

He was also Minority Whip for 6 years (1975–1981). A graduate of Bradley University in Illinois, he was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois.


During his 38 years in the House, although Michel was never part of the majority party, he nonetheless was noted for his bipartisanship in striking bargains. Michel was well respected across the aisle and was good friends with Democrats such as Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill and Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski.[3]

He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1956 and served until his retirement on January 3, 1995.[4] Michel served as Minority Whip from 94th Congress through the 96th Congress.[5] Michel served from 1959 to 1980 as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, including 12 years as the ranking Republican on the Labor, Health, Education and Welfare Subcommittee. Later, he served as Minority Leader from the 97th Congress through 103rd Congresses.[6]

His toughest re-election was probably during the 1982 midterms, when he was in a tight race due to dissatisfaction over President Ronald Reagan's economic policies and the 1982 recession.[7] Reagan travelled to Peoria to campaign for him successfully.[8]
Michel stirred a controversy in 1988 when he recalled enjoying and participating in blackface minstrel shows as a young man, and said he missed the shows.[9][10] He also compared the removal of racially offensive words in songs such as "Ol' Man River" to the Soviet re-writing of history.[9] He later apologized for having given offence, explaining that he was honestly attempting to understand and accept changes in U.S. culture.[9]

In the early 1990s, Michel was criticized by Newt Gingrich and other young, aggressive conservative congressmen for being too easy-going and not fighting hard enough for Republican goals in the House. Supporters said Michel's practice of socializing with Democrats over a game of golf or card resulted in deals that moved bills through the legislative process.[11] It was also noted that Michel's voting was nearly as conservative as Gingrich's.[11]

In 1993 Michel gave the rebuttal to President Bill Clinton's first State of the Union speech, criticizing the economic policies of the newly inaugurated president. "The Clinton spin doctors have even given us a new political vocabulary, if you will – investment now means big government spending your tax dollars. Patriotism now means agreeing with the Clinton program. The powerful evocative word, sacrifice, has been reduced to the level of a bumper sticker slogan", he said.[12] He was later criticized for obstructing Clinton's economic stimulus plan.[11]

As a result of Gingrich's rising prominence which gradually attracted support from the caucus, Michel decided not to seek re-election in the 1994 mid-term elections.[13] Had Michel run in the 1994 elections and won, he would have served in a Republican-controlled House for the first time in his entire Congressional career. However the caucus would have likely favored Gingrich over Michel as Speaker of the House, due to Gingrich's central role in the Republican Revolution. In announcing his retirement, Michel complained that some of his fellow congressmen were more interested in picking fights than in passing laws.[11]

Gingrich had a confrontational style, which contrasted sharply with Michel's bipartisanship, but Republicans retained the majority during his term. Gingrich's successor as Speaker, Dennis Hastert, had stated his desire to return to Michel's style.[14]

Several years after Michel retired from Congress, his successor, Ray LaHood, praised him. Michel "knew warfare first hand", he said. "That is the reason he never used the macho phrases like 'warfare' and 'take no prisoners' when discussing politics with his staff. To Bob, the harsh, personal rhetoric of ideological warfare had no place in his office, no place in the House, and no place in American politics."[15]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Michel

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How different was the GI generation in politics from what we have now -- even among Republicans!

(Sure, there were Joe McCarthy, Strom Thurmond, and Jesse Helms).

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Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, filmmaker, screenwriter, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for Time magazine from 1965–2010, and has also written for Life magazine and the Los Angeles Times Book Review. He currently reviews films for Truthdig.

He is featured in For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. In this 2009 documentary film he discusses early film critics Frank E. Woods, Robert E. Sherwood, and Otis Ferguson, and tells of how, in the 1960s, he, Pauline Kael, and Andrew Sarris, rejected the moralizing opposition of the older Bosley Crowther of The New York Times who had railed against violent movies such as Bonnie and Clyde. In addition to film, Schickel has also critiqued and documented cartoons, particularly Peanuts.[1]

More here

From Variety:

Richard Schickel, the longtime film critic for Time magazine who also wrote 37 books, mostly on film, and directed a number of documentaries on film subjects, died on Saturday in Los Angeles of complications from a series of strokes, his family told the Los Angeles Times. He was 84.

“He was one of the fathers of American film criticism,” his daughter, writer Erika Schickel, told the Times. “He had a singular voice. When he wrote or spoke, he had an old-fashioned way of turning a phrase. He was blunt and succinct both on the page and in life.”
He wrote and/or directed more than 30 documentaries, mostly for television.


Schickel shared a 1977 Emmy nomination for the documentary “Life Goes to the Movies” and received two nominations in 1987 for the documentary “Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente,” which he directed.

Schickel wrote film reviews for Life magazine from 1965 until the magazine folded in 1972, after which he started reviewing for Time magazine, remaining on his perch there until 2010 (longtime fellow Time critic Richard Corliss died in April 2015). More recently he wrote film reviews for the blog Truthdig.

In a 2007 op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, Schickel responded to an article in the New York Times whose author had written, “Some publishers and literary bloggers” view the shrinkage of book reviewing in many of the nation’s leading newspapers “as an inevitable transition toward a new, more democratic literary landscape where anyone can comment on books.”

An angry Schickel retorted: “Let me put this bluntly, in language even a busy blogger can understand: Criticism — and its humble cousin, reviewing — is not a democratic activity. It is, or should be, an elite enterprise, ideally undertaken by individuals who bring something to the party beyond their hasty, instinctive opinions of a book (or any other cultural object). It is work that requires disciplined taste, historical and theoretical knowledge and a fairly deep sense of the author’s (or filmmaker’s or painter’s) entire body of work, among other qualities.”

In 2005 he told the Hedgehog Review: “Obviously a critic — a very endangered species in a nation that wants indulgence more than a criticism that questions its fatuity — is obliged to seek out and encourage anything that offers nuance. I continue to do that — not knowing any better — but I also know that the movies I generally like best are aimed at niche markets, elite markets.”

Much earlier, in a deliberately provocative 1973 piece in the Atlantic deriding “Gone With the Wind,” the critic said that “one measure of a movie’s quality is to ask yourself what you retain from it years after seeing it”; for him, when it came to “GWTW,” the answer was “not much.”

“Nor,” he continued, “does it satisfy my other rule of thumb about popular art (we do understand, don’t we, that we are not discussing Capital A Art?), which is the strength of one’s desire to see the thing again. In my case, it is minimal.”

Schickel started his moviemaking career in 1971 by writing the BBC documentary “The Movie Crazy Years”; no director was credited.
Soon thereafter he wrote and directed a series of PBS documentaries under the banner “The Men Who Made Movies”; the individual entries were on Golden Age directors William Wellman, Vincente Minnelli, Raoul Walsh, King Vidor, Howard Hawks, George Cukor, Frank Capra and Alfred Hitchcock.

In 1976 he wrote and Mel Stuart directed the docu “Life Goes to the Movies”; the pair reprised their duties on “Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond” in 1987.

In 1977 Schickel wrote and Robert Guenette directed “The Making of ‘Star Wars,'” and the pair reprised their duties on 1980’s “SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back.” Schickel also wrote “From ‘Star Wars’ to ‘Jedi’: The Making of a Saga” in 1983.

But mostly, Schickel both wrote and directed his documentaries. They include the following: “The World of Willa Cather,” a documentary about the Nebraska novelist, in 1977; the Walter Matthau-hosted CBS docu “Funny Business,” highlighting the best in movie comedy, in 1978; “The Horror Show,” a history of horror movies hosted by Anthony Perkins (1979, CBS); “James Cagney: That Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1982, PBS); 1987’s “Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente”; “Cary Grant: A Celebration” (1988, ABC); “Gary Cooper: American Life, American Legend” (1989, TNT);  “Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To” (1990, TNT); the Sally Field-hosted “Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire” (1991); the Clint Eastwood documentaries “Eastwood & Co: Making Unforgiven” (1992, ABC), “Eastwood on Eastwood” (1997, TNT) and “Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story” (2013); “Hollywood on Hollywood” (1993, AMC); the Emmy-nominated “Elia Kazan: A Director’s Journey” (1994, AMC); “Arthur Penn” (1995); “The Harryhausen Chronicles” (1998, AMC); the Emmy-nominated “Shooting War: World War II Combat Cameramen” (2000, ABC);  “Woody Allen: A Life in Film” (2002, TCM); “Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin” (2003); “Scorsese on Scorsese” (2004, TCM); “Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us” (2005, TCM); “Spielberg on Spielberg” (2007, TCM); “Ron Howard: 50 Years in Film” (2008, TCM); and the three-part series “You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story,” which aired in 2008 as part of PBS’ “American Masters.”

Schickel also wrote books on a wide range of subjects. There were tomes on Golden Age movie stars including Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, James Cagney, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando; books on directors Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen, Elia Kazan and D.W Griffith, the last of which won the British Film Institute Book Prize in 1985; meditations on the nature of celebrity including “Intimate Strangers: The Culture of Celebrity” (aka “Common Fame: The Culture of Celebrity”); a book on Walt Disney; a monograph on the film “Double Indemnity”; two books on Carnegie Hall; several books on fine art; a book on tennis; and 1978’s “Another I, Another You: A Novel.”

He also co-authored Lena Horne’s autobiography “Lena,” and most recently served as editor of 2006’s “The Essential Chaplin: Perspectives on the Life and Art of the Great Comedian” and wrote 2011’s ” Conversations With Scorsese.”

In his 2003 memoir “Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip: Movies, Memory and World War II,” Schickel looked back at his childhood fondness for movies.

Schickel also did the commentary track for the DVDs of about two dozen classic films.

Richard Warren Schickel was born in Milwaukee. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1955. He began his career in journalism while in college, where he wrote for the school paper — and also starting writing articles for magazines including the Progressive, the New Republic and the Nation. That led to a job with Life magazine in New York.
Long fascinated with the movies, he wrote his first movie review about what he called “quite a good little movie,” 1963’s “Sammy Going South,” starring Edward G. Robinson and directed by Alexander Mackendrick. Eventually he started reviewing films regularly for Life magazine.

He was involved in the restoration of 40 minutes of material cut from Samuel Fuller’s 1980 film “The Big Red One,” for which he received awards from the Los Angles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics.

Schickel received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964. He received the National Board of Review’s William K. Everson Film History Award in 2004, and the Maurice Bessy Award for film criticism in 2001.

He lectured at Yale University and at USC’s School of Film and Television.

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/richar...201992265/

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Jørgen Kieler (23 August 1919 – 19 February 2017[1]) was a Danish physician, remembered primarily for his participation in resistance activities under the German occupation of Denmark in the early 1940s. Together with his sister, Elsebet Kieler, he published Frit Denmark or Free Denmark, an illegal newspaper. As a member of the Holger Danske resistance group, he helped hundreds of Danish Jews to escape to Sweden and avoid extermination.[2]

On 21 May 1944 Jørgen Kieler smuggled the last letter written by condemned resistance fighter Georg Quistgaard out of prison.[3]
Despite capture by the Germans and time in a concentration camp, he returned to Denmark after the war and then completed his studies in the United States. In 1980, he became director of research at Kræftens Bekæmpelse (the Danish Cancer Research Institute).
Kieler wrote a number of books about the German occupation and about concentration camp syndrome.

On 19 February 2017, Kieler died at age 97.[1]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B8rgen_Kieler

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Fox News Channel's Alan Colmes has passed away at age 66 after a brief illness.

Colmes leaves behind his wife, Jocelyn Crowley, who issued the following statement:

   Alan Colmes passed away this morning after a brief illness. He was 66-years-old. He leaves his adoring and devoted wife, Jocelyn Elise Crowley. He was a great guy, brilliant, hysterical, and moral. He was fiercely loyal, and the only thing he loved more than his work was his life with Jocelyn. He will be missed. The family has asked for privacy during this very difficult time.

Bill Hemmer announced the sad news this morning on "America's Newsroom," which then aired a tribute package from Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity, his former co-host on "Hannity & Colmes."

In a statement this morning, Hannity called Alan Colmes "one of life's most decent, kind and wonderful people you'd ever want to meet."

"When Alan and I started 'Hannity & Colmes,' there wasn't a day that went by where we didn't say we were the two most fortunate men in all of television," said Hannity.

Despite their political differences, Hannity said the two "forged a deep friendship" over the years.

"Alan, in the midst of great sickness and illness, showed the single greatest amount of courage I've ever seen," he said.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/02/23/al...es-dies-66

[gabrielle]

Bill Paxton, actor who starred in Aliens and Titanic, dies at 61

Quote:The actor Bill Paxton has died at the age of 61.

The star of films including Aliens, Titanic and Apollo 13 died after complications from heart surgery, according to a statement released by his family.

“It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery,” the statement said.

“A loving husband and father, Bill began his career in Hollywood working on films in the art department and went on to have an illustrious career spanning four decades as a beloved and prolific actor and filmmaker.

“Bill’s passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable. We ask to please respect the family’s wish for privacy as they mourn the loss of their adored husband and father.”

As an eight-year-old, Paxton was in the crowd when John F Kennedy emerged from his hotel on the morning of his assassination. Photographs of him being lifted above the crowd are on display at a museum in Texas. He later narrated a documentary about the day for the National Geographic channel and produced the film Parkland, set during the president’s final day. “I was probably about 20 feet in front of him,” he said in an interview. “His hair was red and he was in a blue suit and he couldn’t have been more charming.”

The actor’s first notable performance was in The Terminator in 1984 and was swiftly followed up with roles in Weird Science, Aliens and Near Dark. He developed a close working relationship with director James Cameron, also starring in True Lies and Titanic. “We’re just good friends, and he’s been incredibly loyal to me,” Paxton said in a 1998 interview. “I guess I always fantasized about hooking up with a director and doing a series of films with him. You think of the great actor/director teams, like Scorsese and De Niro …”

The actor starred in a number of other big hits in the 90s, including Twister, Apollo 13 and Tombstone. He was also known for his small screen work, scoring three Golden Globe nominations for his role in HBO’s drama Big Love.

Paxton’s directorial debut came in 2001 with the dark thriller Frailty which starred himself and Matthew McConaughey. He also directed Shia LaBeouf in the golfing drama The Greatest Game Ever Played in 2005.
Paxton was most recently seen in the CBS adaptation of the hit movie Training Day and films including Nightcrawler, Million Dollar Arm and Edge of Tomorrow. His final big-screen role will be in the thriller The Circle, alongside Emma Watson and Tom Hanks.

“I’ve had a career that is kind of under the radar, but it sure is varied, and I’ve been so blessed to be able to get paid to do something I love to do,” Paxton once said.

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"Three minutes to Wapner!" -- not any more.


Joseph Wapner, the retired judge who literally changed television as the judge on "The People's Court," has died ... TMZ has learned.

Wapner became an instant sensation when the show debuted in September, 1981. "The People's Court" was the first TV reality show, and it opened the door to many more, including a slew of TV court shows.

He was opinionated, passionate and irascible as he heard thousands of cases during his 12-year run.

The show became a touchpoint for pop culture. It was parodied on "Saturday Night Live" and many other shows. Dustin Hoffman's "3 minutes to


Wapner" in "Rain Man" became an iconic expression.

Before becoming a TV judge, Wapner served as an L.A. County Superior Court judge for 20 years.

He was hospitalized last week with breathing problems and his condition worsened, to the point he was taken to his West L.A. home Friday under hospice care. He died Sunday morning.

Judge Wapner was married to wife Mickey for 70 years. He had 3 kids.

Joseph Wapner was 97.

http://www.tmz.com/2017/02/26/joseph-wap...les-court/

[Marypoza]

RlP Bill Paxton from Aliens & Titantic

[linus]

Who knew that the theme to People's Court was over four minutes long? (Parts of it would fit nicely into a 70s blaxploitation score.)

[Bad Dog]

Game over, man! Game over!

You forgot Bill Paxton in Twister.

[Marypoza]

(02-27-2017, 10:09 AM)Bad Dog Wrote: Game over, man! Game over!

You forgot Bill Paxton in Twister.

-- didn't see that one

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GULF BREEZE, Fla.

Mississippi editor Stanley Dearman, who pushed for justice in the murders of three civil rights workers, died on Saturday in Florida. The death of the 84-year-old was announced by the newspaper in Philadelphia, Mississippi, that he once published.

Dearman wrote articles and editorials in The Neshoba Democrat that helped lead to conviction of a former Klansman in the 1964 killings. His funeral and burial will be Tuesday in Philadelphia.

The civil rights workers — Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael "Mickey" Schwerner — disappeared on June 21, 1964. A deputy sheriff in Philadelphia had arrested them on a traffic charge and released them, but not before alerting a mob. Their bodies were dug up 44 days later under a dam, after Mississippi's then-governor claimed their disappearance was a hoax.

The murders inspired the 1988 film "Mississippi Burning."

In 1967, the federal government charged 18 people with depriving the workers of their civil rights. Only seven were convicted.

Dearman purchased the Democrat in 1966 and ran it for 34 years. After his retirement, he became a founding member of the Philadelphia Coalition, a multiracial citizens' group that pushed for further prosecutions in the killings.

"Come hell or high water, it's time for an accounting," Dearman wrote in a 2000 editorial in the Democrat.

Susan Glisson, former head of the University of Mississippi's William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, said Dearman had tears in his eyes as he walked into a 2004 news conference when coalition members first called for justice in the case.

"He said 'I never thought I would live to see this day,'" Glisson wrote in a remembrance on Facebook . "I told him how much he had done to make it happen."

Eventually, Klansman Edgar Ray Killen, who had been charged in the 1967 trial but went free after the jury couldn't come to a verdict, was charged with murder. He was convicted of manslaughter in 2005 by a state court jury — exactly 41 years after the killings. Killen remains confined at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

Dearman told a reporter from The Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada that he was haunted by the case. At the time of the killing, he had been a reporter in nearby Meridian, where Chaney lived and Schwerner had been based.

"More than anything else, it is a personal thing," he told the Canadian newspaper in 2001. "At some point, it entered into my psyche and started working. I don't fully understand it. I have replayed every minute of it."

Dearman said he took up the cause in part because he didn't feel he initially did enough when he bought the Democrat in 1966.

Carolyn Goodman, the mother of Andrew Goodman, came to Philadelphia for Dearman's 2001 retirement party.

"You gave to me and my family an understanding and warmth that we needed so desperately at a time when it seemed our wounds would never be healed," she told Dearman then.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics...rylink=cpy

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Beloved host of Turner Classic Movies and Oscar historian Robert Osborne died on Monday in New York, according to the cable network. The cause of death was not immediately announced. He was 84.

For more than 23 years, Osborne hosted screenings of classic films such as “Gone with the Wind” and “Vertigo” on TCM, serving as the preeminent expert on all things Hollywood, including films of the golden era and the history of the Academy Awards. He also regularly enlisted A-listers like Carrie Fisher, Drew Barrymore and Alec Baldwin for co-hosting duties and interviews.

“All of us at Turner Classic Movies are deeply saddened by the death of Robert Osborne. Robert was a beloved member of the Turner family for more than 23 years,” TCM general manager Jennifer Dorian said in a statement. “He joined us as an expert on classic film and grew to be our cherished colleague and esteemed ambassador for TCM. Robert was embraced by devoted fans who saw him as a trusted expert and friend. His calming presence, gentlemanly style, encyclopedic knowledge of film history, fervent support for film preservation and highly personal interviewing style all combined to make him a truly world-class host. Robert’s contributions were fundamental in shaping TCM into what it is today and we owe him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/turn...2buik9&

Those like me who love great old American movies will truly miss him.

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Kurt Moll (11 April 1938 – 5 March 2017)[1] was a German operatic bass singer who enjoyed an international career and was widely recorded.[2]

His voice was notable for its range, a true infra-bass (or oktavist bass, lower than basso profondo), including full, resonant low and very-low notes with relaxed vibrato; also for its unusual combination of extreme range and a purring, contrabassoon-like timbre.[a][3] Although he had a powerful voice he never performed Wagner's parts Hagen, Hans Sachs, nor Wotan. His interpretations tended to be restrained and intelligent, even in roles like Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier.



Moll was born in Buir, near Cologne, Germany.[2] As a child, he played the cello and hoped to become a great cellist. He also sang in the school choir, the conductor of which encouraged him to concentrate on singing. He studied voice at the Musikhochschule Köln with Emmy Müller. He joined the Cologne Opera at age 20 and remained a member of the ensemble until 1961. He then sang for three years at the Mainz Opera and five years at the Wuppertal Opera. In 1969, he accepted an engagement with the Hamburg State Opera, and then performed in major opera houses of Europe.[4]

He made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in 1968, Nachtwächter in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and sang there for several years Fafner in Der Ring des Nibelungen, Marke in Tristan und Isolde and Pogner in Die Meistersinger.[3]

He made his US debut with the San Francisco Opera as Gurnemanz in Wagner's Parsifal in 1974, a role he reprised with the company in 2000. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera on the opening night of the 1977/78 season, appearing as the Landgraf in Wagner's Tannhäuser. He sang there also Rocco in Beethoven's Fidelio and Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto.

He made many recordings of opera, sacred music, and lieder with notable conductors and accompanists. He was awarded several prestigious European record awards; he also won a 1990 Grammy Award for his participation in James Levine's 1988 recording of Wagner's Das Rheingold. Moll can be heard as Ochs in no fewer than seven complete recordings of Der Rosenkavalier, as Sarastro in six recordings of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, as Marke in six sets of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, and as the Archangel Raphael in three recordings of Haydn's Die Schöpfung. His recording for the Orfeo label of Schubert's philosophical "Lieder für Bass" set a new standard for these songs. He can be seen in many roles on DVD, including Sarastro (twice), Osmin, the Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Bartolo in his Le nozze di Figaro, Hunding in Wagner's Die Walküre (three times), Gurnemanz in his Parsifal, and Ochs (three times).

Kurt Moll retired from the stage in 2006, after singing the Nachtwächter at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.[3] He gave a master class in January 2011 at Carnegie Hall.[5]

Moll lived in Cologne with his family.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Moll

(Here he is as the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, returning from the dead to give the rake an offer that the rake can neither take nor refuse.... what exquisite drama in my favorite opera, thank you Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Leonardo da Ponte):

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Eligio “Kika” de la Garza, II (September 22, 1927 – March 13, 2017) was the Democratic representative for the 15th congressional district of Texas from January 3, 1965, to January 3, 1997.

De la Garza grew up in Mission in Hidalgo County. At the age of seventeen, he entered the United States Navy and served for two years. De la Garza chose to continue his education at Edinburg Junior College and the United States Army Artillery School at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. For two years beginning in 1952, he was a lieutenant in the Army served in the 37th Field Artillery Regiment deployed in the Korean War. After returning home, he completed his law degree at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio. After having practiced law for several years in the Rio Grande Valley, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives; he served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1953 to 1965.

While in the state House, de la Garza was famous for sponsoring much legislation in the fields of education and the environment. He authored bills to protect wetlands, create state-sponsored preschools, and more international bridges to Mexico. From 1955 to 1957, he was the only Hispanic member of the Texas House. He was joined in 1957 by a second Mexican American member, Oscar M. Laurel of Laredo, the seat of Webb County.
In 1965, de la Garza, a strong supporter of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, assumed his seat in Congress. From 1981 to 1994, he was the chairman of the Agricultural Committee, leading the way in passing bills that reorganized the agricultural lending system, the farm insurance system, the United States Department of Agriculture, and pesticide laws.

De la Garza was also a civil rights supporter and called for smoother relations between the U.S. and Mexico. He worked to improve trade between the two nations and was critical in passing the legislation that enacted the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

De la Garza's nickname was made famous by Andy Rooney in the early days of his TV show as he referred to “Kiki de la Garza” as one of the names that stuck with him most. He resided in McAllen, Texas with his wife Lucille until he died on March 13, 2017.[1][2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kika_de_la_Garza

[gabrielle]

Chuck Berry (1926-2017)

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He was that old?

Yes.

[gabrielle]

Apparently he was planning to release another album in 2017, his first in 38 years.  http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/c...rs-w445376

A flawed individual, but no one can deny his talent and influence.

Quote:Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans,
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood,
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode
Who never ever learned to read or write so well,
But he could play a guitar just like a ringing a bell.

Quote:Last time I saw Marie she's waving me good-bye
With hurry home drops on her cheek that trickled from her eye 
Marie is only six years old, information please
Try to put me through to her in Memphis Tennessee

Quote:The engine with blood was sweaty and damp
And brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp
And imps for fuel was shoveling bones
While the furnace rang with a thousand groans

The boiler was filled with lager beer
The devil himself was the engineer
The passengers were most a motley crew
Some were foreigners and others he knew
Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags
Handsome young ladies and wicked old hags

Quote:You know my temperature's risin'
And the jukebox's blowin' a fuse
My hearts beatin' rhythm
And my soul keeps a singing the blues
Roll over Beethoven
And tell Tchaikovsky the news