How About An Obituary Forum? (Today's Obit - James Garner)

[Old Moparz]

Up until C. Everett Koop was appointed Surgeon General, it seems that anybody that held that position did nothing more than have their "title" on a pack of cigarettes warning people that they shouldn't smoke.  

Anyway, he was pretty vocal about letting people know what was bad for you & definitely rocked the boat & doing a lot of good in the process.

RIP Everett.

----------------------------------------------------

(The story is too long to fit here, but worth reading.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/us/c-everett-koop-forceful-surgeon-general-dies-at-96.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

C. Everett Koop, Forceful U.S. Surgeon General, Dies at 96

Dr. C. Everett Koop, who was widely regarded as the most influential surgeon general in American history and played a crucial role in changing public attitudes about smoking, died on Monday at his home in Hanover, N.H. He was 96. His death was confirmed by Susan A. Wills, an assistant at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, which has an institute named after Dr. Koop. In 1981, Dr. Koop had never served in public office when President Ronald Reagan appointed him surgeon general of the United States. By the time he stepped down in 1989, he had become a household name, a rare distinction for a public health administrator.

Dr. Koop issued emphatic warnings about the dangers of smoking, and he almost single-handedly pushed the government into taking a more aggressive stand against AIDS. And despite his steadfast moral opposition to abortion, he refused to use his office as a pulpit from which to preach against it.

These stands led many liberals who had bitterly opposed his nomination to praise him, and many conservatives who had supported his appointment to vilify him. Conservative politicians representing tobacco-growing states were among his harshest critics, and many Americans, for moral or religious reasons, were upset by his public programs to fight AIDS and felt betrayed by his relative silence on abortion.

As much as anyone, it was Dr. Koop who took the lead in trying to wean Americans off smoking, and he did so in imposing fashion. At a sturdy 6-foot-1, with his bushy gray biblical beard, Dr. Koop would appear before television cameras in the gold-braided dark-blue uniform of a vice admiral — the surgeon general's official uniform, which he revived — and sternly warn of the terrible consequences of smoking.

"Smoking kills 300,000 Americans a year," he said in one talk. "Smokers are 10 times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers, two times more likely to develop heart disease. Smoking a pack a day takes six years off a person's life."

When Dr. Koop took office, 33 percent of Americans smoked; when he left, the percentage had dropped to 26. By 1987, 40 states had restricted smoking in public places, 33 had prohibited it on public conveyances and 17 had banned it in offices and other work sites. More than 800 local antismoking ordinances had been passed, and the federal government had restricted smoking in 6,800 federal buildings. Antismoking campaigns by private groups like the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association had accelerated.

Dr. Koop also played a major role in educating Americans about AIDS. Though he believed that the nation had been slow in facing the crisis, he extolled its efforts once it did, particularly in identifying H.I.V., the virus that causes the disease, and developing a blood test to detect it.

When he stepped down as surgeon general, however, Dr. Koop had won over many of his original detractors.

"The skeptics and cynics, this page included, were wrong to fear that Surgeon General C. Everett Koop would use his office only as a pulpit for his anti-abortion views," an editorial in The New York Times said in 1989, as he was leaving office. "Throughout he has put medical integrity above personal value judgments and has been, indeed, the nation's First Doctor."

Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.

[nh_mopar_fan]

Bonnie Franklin has taken her last one day at a time.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/actress-bonnie-franklin-one-day-at-a-time-dies-425556

[TUFCAT]

Its horrible when a woman "dies at 69".  

[Old Moparz]

The show she had was "okay" but there was a better show on at the same time, I just forget which one. (I know there was a better one because I argued with my sister over it...LOL)

RIP Bonnie.

[Old Moparz]

This guy was one of my favorites. 

RIP Alvin.


Alvin Lee Is Going Home: "Ten Years After" Guitarist Dies

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/06/173630819/alvin-lee-is-going-home-ten-years-after-guitarist-dies

Guitarist Alvin Lee, whose incendiary performance with the British band Ten Years After was one of the highlights of the 1969 Woodstock festival, has died. He was 68. Lee's website says he "passed away early this morning [Wednesday] after unforeseen complications following a routine surgical procedure." An assistant to his daughter also confirmed the news to NPR.

His band's biggest hit — "I'd Love to Change the World" — came a couple years after Woodstock. We'll embed a clip from that.

But for those of us of a certain age who wished they could play a guitar well, it's Lee's furious fretting on "I'm Going Home" — famously memorialized in the Woodstock movie — for which he'll be most remembered. Some have called it "guitar excess." This blogger can tell you that many, many teenage guys thought it was great.

Guitar Aficionado put it this way in a piece published last year:

"For a full-on blues-rocking experience, there's no beating Ten Years After's adrenaline-fueled reading of 'I'm Going Home.' The performance, an intense nod to vintage blues and '50s rock and roll, featured the lightning-fast fretwork of Ten Years After frontman Alvin Lee. 'The solo on the movie sounds pretty rough to me these days,' Lee told Guitar Aficionado late last week. 'But it had the energy, and that was what Ten Years After were all about at the time.' "

If you haven't heard "I'm Going Home" in a while, click here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGV-CBhnC1w

According to the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, a good source for Woodstock history, Ten Years After's set on Aug. 17, 1969, came right after the performance by Country Joe and the Fish and right before The Band.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Damn, he was good!

On a related note, Valerie Harper also won't be down for breakfast. Soon.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/valerie-harper-diagnosed-terminal-brain-cancer-article-1.1280675

[nh_mopar_fan]

Chavez kicking before Castro has royally screwed up my bracket.

[Old Moparz]

Comic Legend Jonathan Winters Dies at 87.

I've like this guy ever since I was a kid. 

RIP Mr. Winters


http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/04/12/comedian-jonathan-winters-dies-at-age-87/2077723/

The world of comedy has lost a legend.

Jonathan Winters, who was known for his improv work that inspired many a contemporary stand-up comic including Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and others, has died. He was 87.

Longtime family friend Joe Petro III says Winters died Thursday evening at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes, reports AP.

A note on his website adds, "Rest in Peace, Mr. Winters."

Winters' career began when he won a talent contest in Dayton, Ohio, which led to radio gigs and appearances at comedy clubs, along with comedy albums.

He was a favorite guest on the late night TV circuit for decades, often appearing with Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Steve Allen. And he often performed in character. One one of his best known was Maude Frickert, an old lady with a quick and acid wit. He had his own TV show in the 1950s.

Winters also appeared in nearly 50 movies, including a particularly notable role in the 1963 film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Eileen Schauder Winters, his wife of more than 60 years, died on Jan. 11, 2009. Jonathan is survived by two children and five grandchildren.

[TruckDriver]

I totally agree Bob. One of my all time favorite comedians.

RIP Mr. Winters 

[Old Moparz]

This one is funny.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hcgXXJk_nw

[TruckDriver]

  Adlibbed comedy is the best since no one knows what the other is going to say.

[Budnicks]

RIP JON

[69rtse4spd]

That was great, one of my favorites, R.I.P.  JON. . 

[TruckDriver]

Pat Summerall dead at 82

http://www.paradisepost.com/sports/ci_23037964/pat-summerall-dead-at-82-reaction-from-sports

[Budnicks]

Pat Summerall dead at 82

http://www.paradisepost.com/sports/ci_23037964/pat-summerall-dead-at-82-reaction-from-sports

RIP Pat

[moparstuart]

http://www.tmz.com/2013/06/19/james-gandolfini-dead-dies-italy/

[moparstuart]

also the worst singer ever      

  Slim whitman has passed 

   http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/showbiz/slim-whitman-obit/index.html

[General_01]

The author Vince Flynn also died today at 47 from cancer. He wrote the Mitch Rapp series of books.

[Old Moparz]

http://www.tmz.com/2013/06/19/james-gandolfini-dead-dies-italy/

I was pretty shocked reading that, very sad.   

He was a good actor & the Sopranos was one of the few shows I watched regularly. The age of 51 is pretty young to croak, he was only a year older than me.   

[BB1]

I like Slim Whitman   RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FhQxZnSqc0



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MhgnMX73Pw

[moparstuart]

I like Slim Whitman   RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FhQxZnSqc0



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MhgnMX73Pw

you would 

[Todd Wilson]

also the worst singer ever      

  Slim whitman has passed 

   http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/showbiz/slim-whitman-obit/index.html

Slim Whitman kicked ass!


Todd

[moparstuart]

also the worst singer ever    

 Slim whitman has passed  

  http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/showbiz/slim-whitman-obit/index.html

Slim Whitman kicked ass!


Todd

must be something with Train guys  someones been working on the railroad too long   

[Old Moparz]

Pete Seeger died early this morning. I got to see him play more than once, but my wife knew him & had played music with him several times. He lived locally to us & was an active member of the local music scene. His music was not the type that I listen to, but he was a good person & will be missed.  


Pete Seeger, Songwriter and Champion of Folk Music, Dies at 94

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/arts/music/pete-seeger-songwriter-and-champion-of-folk-music-dies-at-94.html?_r=0

Pete Seeger, the singer, folk-song collector and songwriter who spearheaded an American folk revival and spent a long career championing folk music as both a vital heritage and a catalyst for social change, died Monday. He was 94 and lived in Beacon, N.Y.

His death was confirmed by his grandson, Kitama Cahill Jackson, who said he died of natural causes at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.




(This painting is in The Town Crier Cafe in Beacon, NY.)

[Mopar Nut]

R.I.P.  Pete