2016 Obituaries

Joe Garagiola dead at 90.



Hall of Fame sportscaster, MLB catcher Joe Garagiola dead at 90.....

Joe Garagiola, a Major League Baseball legend who successfully moved from the field to the broadcast booth, has died at the age of 90, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced Wednesday. The cause of his death was unclear.

Garagiola entertained audiences for 58 years with a sharp sense of humor and a seemingly endless trove of stories. Popular with those who followed sports and those who didn't, his personality transcended games and landed him a pair of stints on the "Today" show, a slot as a guest host in Carson's seat on "The Tonight Show," spots as a game show host and almost a decade on Westminster dog show telecasts.

A 20-year-old rookie with the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in 1946 — he had more hits and RBIs in the seven-game matchup against Boston than Ted Williams — Garagiola spent nine seasons in the majors as a catcher. He was a career .257 hitter, then really became a star once he stopped playing.

Garagiola's first broadcast job was alongside the famed Harry Caray with the Cardinals. He later with Curt Gowdy and Vin Scully on NBC broadcasts, mixing in keen insights gleaned from his playing days along with funny stories he picked up along the way.

Garagiola said his fondest memory was the 2001 season when the Diamondbacks, with his son, Joe Garagiola Jr., as the team's general manager, beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. "Baseball, it hasn't changed that much," Garagiola said. "You still have to hit the ball and you still have to catch it. Good players will win and bad players will lose. Winners win and losers make excuses. It's as simple as that."....snip~

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/03/2...ter-mlb-catcher-joe-garagiola-dead-at-90.html

R.I.P. Joseph Henry Garagiola.

 

Johan Cruyff: Netherlands great dies of cancer aged 68



http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35892775

 

Gary Shandling @ 66.
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4680...00.jpg?w=620&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&

Story @ http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...6/mar/24/garry-shandling-comedy-sitcom-legacy

 

Ronnie Corbett dead: Comedian and entertainer dies, aged 85

 

Down in the west Texas town of El Paso, a man went to sleep and he never woke up.
Larger than life was this man named Scalia, zestfully drafting from life's frothy cup.
Born into a family from far-off Sicily
raised in old Brooklyn, born in New Jersey.
He served on the Supreme Court 30 years, pushing his far-right ideaaaaaaas.
Ev'ry court season,
He'd render his reason
Why we should not do the things some wanted done.
In case after case he expounded his reasons for wishing
folks should see it his way, then he'd head out for fishing.
Abortion is murder for all life is sacred. This he believed. 'Twas the Cath'lic ideal.
As he grew older that opinion diminished to a minority thought. That's for real.
He was the court's top conservative leader, e'en when Rehnquist the gavel did hold.
His decisions binding,
Read some, you'll be finding
His passions sincere and his statements quite bold.
Gore versus Bush, eminent domain, fracking, and most of all issues of church and state,
You'll see that in these things he was quite consistent. Read them right now. There's no reason to wait.
Now that he's dead there's no one can replace him, but like ev'ry legend it soon had to ennnnnnnnnnnd.
Hate me, berate me, abuse me or shoot me, for the rest of my life his career I'll defend.

 

Billy Pauls dies, recorded Me an' Mrs. Jones...

'Me and Mrs. Jones' singer Billy Paul dead at age 80
Apr. 24, 2016 — Billy Paul, a jazz and soul singer best known for the No. 1 hit ballad and "Philadelphia Soul" classic "Me and Mrs. Jones," died Sunday.

 

I never understood the link between that song and the sequel Mr. Jones and Me. Can someone explain it?

 

World's oldest person dies at 116...

World's oldest person, Susannah Mushatt Jones, dies at 116
May 13, 2016 -- Susannah Mushatt Jones, the world's oldest person, has died in New York at age 116.

See also:

Country's Oldest WWII Veteran, Richard Overton, Turns 110
May 12, 2016 | Over the last few months, Richard Overton has had to give up a few things. First, he gave up driving the Ford pickup he had owned for years. Then, after a bad bout with pneumonia in November, he eased up on drinking his beloved whiskey -- which, along with cigars, he calls his secret to long life.

 

The oldest man in the world died at 110 just last week also. That's sad for a man who just turned 55.
Also the producer of the Pianist passed away, but unfortunately not the director.
The producer of the Ghost Whisperer died recently too. does anyone expect him to start whispering now?
The biggest one for me though is William Schallert, just 40 days after smallscreen daughter Patty Duke.

 

Guy Clark died.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/18/a...g-of-the-texas-troubadours-is-dead-at-74.html

 

60 Minutes:

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/19/media/morley-safer-death/index.html

Morley Safer, CBS news legend, dies at 84

by Brian Stelter [MENTION=1047]brian[/MENTION]stelter
May 19, 2016: 5:24 PM ET


Your video will play in 00:09
Morley Safer, an intrepid storyteller and interviewer whose name became synonymous with the newsmagazine "60 Minutes," has died. He was 84.
Safer was the longest-serving correspondent in "60 Minutes" history. He joined the CBS program in 1970, just two years after it launched, and worked there ever since, contributing 919 reports over the years. He filed his last report in March.
CBS announced Safer's retirement last week and televised a special hour-long retrospective about his career on Sunday. The timing of the announcement was partly due to Safer's poor health.
Jeff Fager, the executive producer of "60 Minutes," visited Safer after the retirement announcement and said Safer, a "humble man who never expects attention," soaked up all the recognition of his achievements.
Safer was one of the last links to the original core of "60 Minutes." That included Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace, Dan Rather and Ed Bradley and producer Don Hewitt. Only Rather is still alive.
Not only was "60 Minutes" a ratings hit, but it provided a tutorial about investigative journalism. And it opened executives' eyes to the fact that, when packaged right, news could even become a profit center.
Safer, a native of Canada, wrote for Canadian newspapers in the 1950s before joining the CBC as a television correspondent. From there, he moved to CBS, first as a London-based correspondent, quickly relocating to Saigon to cover the Vietnam War.
"He was an extraordinary writer and reporter, and a true gentleman," said CNN anchor and "60 Minutes" contributor Anderson Cooper. "From his work during the War in Vietnam to his completely unique and evocative pieces for 60 Minutes, he set the standard for what we all want to be as journalists. His kind shall not pass this way again."
morley safer past
His work as a war correspondent was legendary.
As recounted in the "Encyclopedia of Television News," Safer's "1965 film report showing a marine at Cam Ne setting a hut on fire with a cigarette lighter almost single handedly ushered in the era known as 'the living room war.' President Lyndon Johnson was irate over the negative publicity Safer created concerning the Vietnam War and unsuccessfully pressured CBS to censor him."
Safer wrote a book, "Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam," in 1990.
After his tours of journalistic duty in Vietnam, China and elsewhere, he returned to London in 1968, this time as bureau chief for CBS. Then he joined "60 Minutes" two years later.
Related: People we've lost in 2016
Safer's insatiable curiosity was a perfect fit for the newsmagazine. He investigated wrongdoing, profiled tycoons and celebrities, and told offbeat tales that were rarely seen elsewhere on TV.
"They were works of art almost," Fager said in Sunday's hour-long tribune. "What makes a story a Morley story is his original voice. And by that I mean not just the timbre, but [also] the quality of the storytelling, his writing."
In a statement last week, when his retirement was announced, Safer said, "It's been a wonderful run, but the time has come to say goodbye to all of my friends at CBS and the dozens of people who kept me on the air."
--CNNMoney's Brian Lowry contributed to this report.
CNNMoney (New York)
First published May 19, 2016: 12:09 PM ET

 

Mr Ed's pal Alan Young passes away at age 96.

 

It's hard to believe Mr. Ed ran from 1961-66.
What's easy to believe is that the poor man who played second fiddle to a horse for 5 years has not bees seen since,

 

Fairport Convention's Dave Swarbrick dies at 75



"Folk musician Dave Swarbrick has died at 75, his family have announced. Best known for his work with the hugely influential folk group Fairport Convention, Swarbrick was a virtuosic violin player and one of the most highly regarded musicians of the 1960s folk revival. He also wrote, arranged and sang, and performed on the viola, mandolin and mandola, and guitar."

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/03/dave-swarbrick-dies-at-75-fiddler-fairport-convention

Full obituary here:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/03/dave-swarbrick-obituary

On a personal note, I met him briefly a few years ago at one of his gigs - seemed like a really nice guy, as well as being an incredible performer and musician. His contribution to modern music, folk, folk-rock (and all that stemmed from that) is incalculable.

RIP Swarb.

[video=youtube;oeLDg-KWWQk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeLDg-KWWQk[/video]

[video=youtube;gnOxEHEI0Sg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnOxEHEI0Sg[/video]

 

The Voice singer shot and killed in Orlando...

'Voice' singer Christina Grimmie fatally shot after Florida show
Jun 11 2016 - A man thought to be a deranged fan fatally shot Christina Grimmie, a rising singing star who gained fame on YouTube and as a contestant on television's "The Voice," while she was signing autographs after a concert in Orlando, Florida, police said on Saturday.

See also:

Singer Shot and Killed at Concert in Orlando
June 11, 2016 - Singer Christina Grimmie died early Saturday after being shot inside the Plaza Live concert venue in Orlando Friday night, police said.

 

[video=youtube;_UvwDfiSXsI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UvwDfiSXsI[/video]

 

Also 'The Third Wave':

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/30/books/alvin-toffler-author-of-future-shock-dies-at-87.html?_r=0

Alvin Toffler, Author of ‘Future Shock,’ Dies at 87
By KEITH SCHNEIDERJUNE 29, 2016
Continue reading the main storyShare This Page
Alvin Toffler’s prophetic 1970 book, “Future Shock,” sold millions of copies and catapulted the author to international fame. Credit Susan Wood/Getty Images
Alvin Toffler, the celebrated author of “Future Shock,” the first in a trilogy of best-selling books that presciently forecast how people and institutions of the late 20th century would contend with the immense strains and soaring opportunities of accelerating change, died on Monday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by his consulting firm, Toffler Associates, based in Reston, Va.

Mr. Toffler was a self-trained social science scholar and successful freelance magazine writer in the mid-1960s when he decided to spend five years studying the underlying causes of a cultural upheaval that he saw overtaking the United States and other developed countries.

The fruit of his research, “Future Shock” (1970), sold millions of copies and was translated into dozens of languages, catapulting Mr. Toffler to international fame. It is still in print.

In the book, in which he synthesized disparate facts from every corner of the globe, he concluded that the convergence of science, capital and communications was producing such swift change that it was creating an entirely new kind of society.

His predictions about the consequences to culture, the family, government and the economy were remarkably accurate. He foresaw the development of cloning, the popularity and influence of personal computers and the invention of the internet, cable television and telecommuting.

“The roaring current of change,” he said, was producing visible and measurable effects in individuals that fractured marriages, overwhelmed families and caused “confusional breakdowns” manifested in rising crime, drug use and social alienation. He saw these phenomena as very human psychological responses to disorientation and proposed that they were challenging the very structures of communities, institutions and nations.

He continued these themes in two successful follow-up books, “The Third Wave” (1980) and “Powershift” (1990), assisted by his wife, Heidi Toffler, who served as a researcher and editor for the trilogy and was a named co-author in subsequent books. She survives him.

Mr. Toffler popularized the phrase “information overload.” His warnings could be bleak, cautioning that people and institutions that failed to keep pace with change would face ruin. But he was generally optimistic. He was among the first authors to recognize that knowledge, not labor and raw materials, would become the most important economic resource of advanced societies.

Critics were not sure what to make of Mr. Toffler’s literary style or scholarship. The mechanical engineering scholar and systems theorist Richard W. Longman wrote in The New York Times that Mr. Toffler “sends flocks of facts and speculation whirling past like birds in a tornado.” In Time magazine, the reviewer R. Z. Sheppard wrote, “Toffler’s redundant delivery and overheated prose turned kernels of truth into puffed generalities.”

Mr. Toffler’s work nevertheless found an eager readership among the general public, on college campuses, in corporate suites and in national governments. Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the House, met the Tofflers in the 1970s and became close to them. He said “The Third Wave” had immensely influenced his own thinking and was “one of the great seminal works of our time.”

Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang of China convened conferences to discuss “The Third Wave” in the early 1980s, and in 1985 the book was the No. 2 best seller in China. Only the speeches of the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping sold more copies.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment...olocaust-survivor-author-elie-wiesel-40304812

Reaction to Death of Holocaust Survivor, Author Elie Wiesel
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Jul 2, 2016, 9:53 PM ET
The Associated Press
ARCHIVO - En esta foto del 12 de septiembre del 2012, Elie Wiesel es visto en su oficina en Nueva York. Wiesel, ganadore del Nobel de Paz y sobreviviente del Holocausto, ha fallecido. Tenía 87 años.(AP Foto/Bebeto Matthews)more +
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Reaction to the death of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, 87, author of "Night." His death was announced Saturday by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

"The state of Israel and the Jewish people express sorrow over the death of Elie Wiesel. Elie, a master of words, gave expression to the victory of the human spirit over cruelty and evil with his unusual personality and captivating stories. In the darkness of the Holocaust when our brothers and sisters perished — the six million — Elie Wiesel served as a ray of light and an example of humanity that believes in the goodness of man. Elie's prolific creations do not just reflect the Holocaust but also the hope and optimism against the darkness of Auschwitz. Jerusalem — the eternal capital of Israel — represented to him our ability to rise from the bottom and reach new heights."— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

———

"Tonight we bid farewell to a hero of the Jewish People, and a giant of all humanity. Elie Wiesel, of blessed memory, embodied the determination of the human spirit to overcome the darkest of evils, and survive against all the odds. His life was dedicated to the fight against all hatred, and for the sake of man as created in the image of God —he was a guide for us all. One of the Jewish people's greatest sons, who touched the hearts of so many, and helped us to believe in forgiveness, in life, and in the eternal bond of the Jewish people. May his memory be a blessing, everlastingly engraved in the heart of the nation." — Israeli President Reuven Rivlin

———

"Wiesel left his mark on humanity through preserving and upholding the legacy of the Holocaust and delivering a message of peace and respect between people worldwide. He endured the most serious atrocities of mankind — survived them and dedicated his life to conveying the message of 'Never Again.' I had the honor and privilege to personally thank him for his numerous years of work and for saving the world from apathy when I gave him the Presidential Medal on behalf of the State of Israel. May his memory be a blessing to us all." — Former Israeli President Shimon Peres

———

"Elie (Wiesel) was not just the world's most prominent Holocaust survivor, he was a living memorial. After we walked together among the barbed wire and guard towers of Buchenwald where he was held as a teenager and where his father perished, Elie spoke words I've never forgotten — 'Memory has become a sacred duty of all people of goodwill.' Upholding that sacred duty was the purpose of Elie's life. Along with his beloved wife Marion and the foundation that bears his name, he raised his voice, not just against anti-Semitism, but against hatred, bigotry and intolerance in all its forms. He implored each of us, as nations and as human beings, to do the same, to see ourselves in each other and to make real that pledge of 'never again.'" — President Barack Obama

———

"Elie Wiesel was a loyal son of the Jewish people. He did much in his life to strengthen the continued existence of the Jewish people and the development of the Jewish creation. As a Holocaust survivor he dedicated his life to bearing witness to it and he did so through his extraordinary talent as a writer and speaker. Elie believed till his final day that the Holocaust must be studied and remembered as a unique event to the Jewish people that has a universal message to the entire world." — Chairman of the Yad Vashem Avner Shalev

———

"Elie (Wiesel) shouldered the blessing and the burden of survival. In words and deeds, he bore witness and built a monument to memory to teach the living and generations to come the perils of human indifference. As he often said, one person of integrity can make a difference. For so many, he was that difference—including at the dedication of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 when he urged me to stop the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia; at the White House Millennium Lecture Hillary invited him to give; and in all his wonderful books and lectures." — Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

———

"Elie Wiesel spent his life in service to humanity, keeping the memory of the Holocaust's horror alive. It is for us all to carry this torch." — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

———

"Sadness over the death of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel. Witness of the Holocaust and chronicler of the indescribable." — German Justice Minister Heiko Maas

———

"Deeply saddened by the passing of Elie Wiesel, who remained optimistic in the darkest days and pushed us to see beauty in humanity." — Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair Melinda Gates

———

"So sorry to hear of Elie Wiesel's passing. I knew him well. He was a great man and a wonderful writer. Rest in peace." — Television and radio host Larry King

———

"We have lost the most articulate witness to history's greatest crime. Without Elie Wiesel in the world, it is up to every one of us now to stand up to the deniers. With his passing, we will all have to work a little harder because we will no longer have Elie to remind us of what happens when the world is silent and indifferent to evil. It is now our job, and that of our children and grandchildren, to pick up the baton and to relay Elie's message of hope and peace to the world." — World Jewish Congress' Ronald S. Lauder

———

"This universal man had a special relationship with France, where he studied after the war, where he published the first edition of 'The Night' thanks to Jerome Lindon, where he created the Universal Academy of Cultures in 1992. France honors the memory of a grand humanist, tireless defender of peace." — French President Francois Hollande

———

"We had a champion who carried our pain, our guilt and our responsibility on his shoulders for generations. Now he's gone. It's hard to fathom. So I guess it's up to us now. To fight for the disenfranchised. To speak truth to power and to never forget how cruel man can be to man. In memory of Elie (Wiesel) it's the least we can do." — Actor and filmmaker George Clooney

———

"Boston University is losing an iconic teacher who brought an incredible intensity to every encounter with students and colleagues. It was a privilege to know and work with him." — Michael Zank, director of Boston University's Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36696560

Deer Hunter film director Michael Cimino dies
56 minutes ago
From the section Entertainment & Arts
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Director Michael Cimino receives the Pardo D'Onore Swisscom( (09 August 2015)Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
The director of the 1978 Vietnam War film The Deer Hunter has died, his friend and former lawyer has confirmed.
Double Oscar winner Michael Cimino's body was found at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, Eric Weissmann said.
Cimino, 77, who directed a total of eight films, will be remembered for a career of highs and lows.
While The Deer Hunter has been hailed as one of the best movies in Hollywood history, his next project, Heaven's Gate, was derided as a flop.
Mr Weissmann said Cimino's body was found after friends had been unable to contact him. No cause of death has yet been determined.
The Deer Hunter with its famous Russian roulette scene starred Robert de Niro and Christopher Walken and won five Oscars including the award for the best film in 1979.
It chronicles the lives of a group of friends from a Pennsylvania town and the devastating effect of the Vietnam War, both on those who fought in it and those who stayed at home in small-town America.
"Our work together is something I will always remember. He will be missed," De Niro said in a statement.
Based on the success of The Deer Hunter, Cimino wrote and directed Heaven's Gate, loosely based on the Wyoming Johnson County war of 1889-93.
It was a financial disaster that went four times over budget and a year behind schedule, It nearly bankrupted the United Artists studio.
But the film, starring Christopher Walken and Kris Kristofferson, has more recently been hailed as a masterpiece.
Cimino in his earlier career was an advertising executive who moved into film with the Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges crime caper, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, in 1974.
He also directed Desperate Hours (1990), starring Mickey Rourke and Anthony Hopkins, and the gangster film The Sicilian (1986), adapted from a novel by Godfather author Mario Puzo.
Correspondents say Heaven's Gate led to the demise of director-driven productions in the late 1970s and the imposition of tighter controls on film budgets.

 

Sydney Schanberg, Killing Fields author, passes on...

Sydney Schanberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, dies at 82
July 9, 2016 - Memoir on Cambodian translator inspired “The Killing Fields”; Was New York Newsday columnist for 10 years

 

I remember that song - but like most songs back then, ya couldn't make out the words...

'Sukiyaki' lyricist Rokusuke Ei dies
\Mon, 11 Jul 2016 - Prominent Japanese lyricist Rokusuke Ei, who composed the 1963 worldwide hit Sukiyaki, dies aged 83.

 

We need more guns, because obviously she could have saved herself had she only been packing.

 

Former Indiana Congressman, NYU President John Brademas Dies



John Brademas, a longtime Indiana congressman and former president of New York University, died Monday at age 89, according to the university.

Brademas' wife, Mary Ellen Brademas, told the university her husband died in New York City, where the couple lived, NYU spokesman John Beckman said. The cause of death was not yet available.

Brademas was a Democrat and served 11 terms in Congress. He rose to majority whip, the No. 3 position in the U.S. House, before losing his seat in the 1980 Republican landslide when Ronald Reagan was elected to his first term as president.

Less than two months after leaving office, Brademas became NYU's 13th president. He held the position from 1981 to 1992, leading NYU from a regional school to a research university with a global reputation.

more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/indiana-congressman-nyu-president-john-brademas-dies-40503713

 

Hey Luigi, go getta the boss a cannoli, he lookin' piqued ...

Notorious Italian mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano dead at 83
July 13, 2016 - Italian mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, one of the most notorious crime figures of his time, has died in a Milan hospital at the age of 83, prison authorities said on Wednesday.

 

I did a doubletake when I read Couerleone Crime Family, but that's really the name.