2023 Obits: Going, going...gone

Russell Banks:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/08/russell-banks-novelist-dies

Charles Simic

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/09/books/charles-simic-dead.html

Jeff Beck too:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/01/11/guitarist-jeff-beck-dead/

(Simic was one of my favrotie contemporary poets.)

David Crosby of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Tom Verlaine:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64442824

Lori Loring, the original Wednesday Addams: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/lisa-loring-wednesday-actres...

Burt Bacharach

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/arts/music/burt-bacharach-dead.html?action=cl...

Lifelong hottie Raquel Welch.

>8 jldarden: Heart-broken--she was a huge crush of mine.

Another old time hottie, Stella Stevens.

The flames of my youth are burning out...

Sigh.

Wayne Shorter
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/arts/music/wayne-shorter-dead.html

British author Christopher Fowler has died. Witty, original writer--if you haven't read his book ROOFWORLD, rush out and get it, it's a great treat:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/03/bryant-may-novelist-christopher-fo...

Actor Chaim Topol, who played the lead role in "Fiddler on the Roof". So many iconic lines that roll through my mind in his distinct voice, especially the one about money being a curse. "A curse! May God strike me with this curse, and may I never recover!"
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/obit-topol-fiddler-1.6772981

>14 Cecrow: Also Dr Zarkov in Flash Gordon

Kenzaburo Oe 88: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/books/kenzaburo-oe-dead.html

Lance Reddick, Charon's last boat ride.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/-wire-star-lance-reddick-dies-natural-cause...

Just heard today that Eric Brown died this week. I first met him back in the early 1990s, and we would meet up and correspond regularly. I've read most of his books, and always bought new ones when they were published. He once offered me a co-writing gig, but I wasn't in a position to accept. I last heard from him in October last year, when he said he'd responded well to treatment. But subsequent emails went unanswered. Sad to see him go. He was a good friend and a good writer. UK sf is poorer for his loss.

Here's a link to works by Eric Brown.

Ryuichi Sakamoto--I remember his soundtrack for "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" with affection:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65155073

Musician Gordon Lightfoot.

Barry Humphries, aka Dame Edna: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65328507

>21 jldarden:, I came late to my Lightfoot appreciation, but not too late fortunately.

>22 mstrust:, ah, Humphries was so good. Possibly my favourite moment was among the last: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r3S5UKP7ME

>23 Cecrow: Also Sir Les Patterson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FwWmLQB61k

Mezzo-Soprano Grace Bumbry
https://operawire.com/obituary-legendary-trailblazing-mezzo-soprano-grace-bumbry...
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/08/grace-bumbry-obituary

Author Martin Amis
https://www.cbc.ca/books/british-novelist-martin-amis-who-brought-rock-n-roll-se...

Will Self on Amis:

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/martin-amis-the-poet-of-sex-and-death/

Another classic; Tina Turner at age 83.

>28 jldarden:, she was simply the best. Already an icon when I discovered her as a kid in the 80s.

Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. No need to be polite.
https://apnews.com/article/ted-kaczynski-unabomber-dies-federal-prison-95fdd4f39...

Actor Treat Williams in a motorcycle accident. He was 71. Really enjoyed him in 'Why Would I Lie?"

A tough one for me, Cormac McCarthy:

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/cormac-mccarthy-dead-no-country-author-123564...

That is a tough one.

The list of our greatest living authors just grew a little shorter.

Daniel Ellsberg was a true hero:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65932944

Glenda Jackson, actress turned MP turned actress:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-26234103

Great piece on Cormac McCarthy by director John Hillcoat. Very heartfelt:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jun/16/cormac-mccarthy-the-road-john-hill...

Alan Arkin--a one-off, truly unique. Whatever he did, no one did it better:

https://variety.com/2023/film/obituaries-people-news/alan-arkin-dead-little-miss...

Sad to hear, so many great roles.

Francoise Gilot, French painter and writer, passed away on June 6th.

Although she authored several books, including poetry, her most famous book was entitled Life With Picasso.

She lived with him for 10 years and had two children with him, before walking out on him to forge her own career. She continued writing and painting for decades. She was 101 years old.

Ukrainian novelist/journalist Victoria Amelina, in a Russian missile strike:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-war-writer-amelina-1.6895258

>41 Cecrow: I’ve been wondering if she was targeted.

Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/obit-writer-kundera-1.6904218

The Great Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett was one of the last living connections to the “Sinatra Era”, and certainly the most important one left. He hadn’t faded into the woodwork, but maintained connections with younger musicians and fans. Everybody loved the guy, for good reason. His sense of how to project the meaning of a lyric was rightly renowned. Musicianship, he practically defined it.

Just noticed that the crime / noir novelist Russell H. Greenan passed away on July 22 at the age of 97. He is something of a cult writer, especially for his first novel, It Happened in Boston? (1968). He published about a dozen novels altogether, including a couple that appeared initially in French translation. He has been on my to-read list forever, so I just ordered a copy of It Happened in Boston?

>48 supercell: Annie Lennox got it right: "fierce and fragile". Beautiful voice, a great loss.

A sad goodbye to the oft troubled Sinead O'Conner.

Actor Paul Reubens, 70.

Guitarist and founder of 'The Band' Robbie Robertson. 80 yrs old.

No one has mentioned Jimmy Buffet?!

>53 jldarden: He was mentioned in the Written in Stone group. I think everyone else has been too grief stricken.

>54 varielle: Thanks; I was unaware of that group. watching it now.

Farewell, David McCallum:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66919863

>56 CliffBurns:
RIP Illya Kuryakin.

>57 Taphophile13: Exactly! He was always Illya Kuryakin in an undercover role to me no matter what show he was in. I always wondered how the writers of shows like NCIS resisted having episodes where he reveals his true identity.

>53 jldarden: Great loss, I wore a “tropical “ shirt for a couple of days to mark the event.

I think I met him in Key West back in the 1970’s while on a diving trip visiting a friend who lived there. We pestered him to play a song until he told us to bug off & the bartender behind the empty bar he was sitting at threatened to throw us out. He said he was writing/working & didn’t want to be bothered! (We were being jerks, my suggestion to have a beer at a table on the other side of the room to see if he might play later was shot down)

>58 DugsBooks: There was a tribute to his most famous part I seem to recall in an early seriesof NCIS with a younger actor playing him in quite a James Bond way.
some of us older brits may recall childhood TV watching of 50's movies in which he would pop up. He was one of the wireless operators in ' A Night to Remember', one of the best films about the Titanic disaster.

>60 Maura49: There's a line in one episode of NCIS where someone asks what Ducky Mallard looked like when he was younger, and Gibbs answers, "like Ilya Kuryakin".

>61 iansales: I came across a tribute to him by Mark Harmon in which he says that the cast were rather overawed initially by having such a famous actor in the show.
Another snippet- at the height of his 'Uncle' fame he was said to receive more fan mail than Elvis- really!

>61 iansales: >62 Maura49: Yep, I was glued to the TV set for every possible episode of the "Man from UNCLE". It just really hit the right spot for me as a youth.

Albus Dumbledore (1940-2023), best remembered for driving a reasonably priced car around the last corner of Top Gear's test track (later known as "Gambon") on two wheels.

Only McKellen left of that generation.

I remember how terrifying Gambon was in "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover", how vulnerable and human in "The Singing Detective". And he could also be wonderfully comedic and light as well.

A truly great actor.

>66 CliffBurns: I was so shocked when I realized the “new” Dumbledore had played that evil Thief. The man had some range.

That is certainly true. The obits have understandably concentrated on Gambon's cinema and TV work- he was a notably humane and funny Maigret back in the 90's tv show. However he was also a great theatre actor, one of his notable parts being that of Eddie Carbone in Miller's 'A view from the bridge.'

I think I last saw him in David Hare's Skylight for which he won an Olivier and a Tony. Amazingly powerful performer, he dominated the stage.

😢Phyllis Coates the actress who played Lois Lane in the original Superman tv series has died at the age of 96 on October 11. 🪦 She’s probably responsible for me wanting to be a journalist in my next life, if there’s still such a thing by then.

The great Louise Gluck:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67108592

Martti Ahtisaari (1937-2023), honorary citizen of Namibia

Actor Burt Young of Rocky fame. Also in Chinatown and Once Upon a Time in America plus a run on the Sopranos. He was 83.

I recall him fondly as the gang boss in "The Pope of Greenwich Village", a brilliant film that never got the praise it deserved.

Some of her colleagues reflect on the life of Louise Gluck:

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/louise-gluck-remembered-by-writers

Frank Borman (1928-2023), head honcho of Eastern Air Lines

I'll always remember Borman for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLIq9Amyizo

...and, also, being violently ill with stomach flu during the flight and toughing it out.

Michael Bishop is dead, alas.
Let's all line up and kick God's ass.

>77 CliffBurns: Great clip, thanks!

A. S. Byatt nee Drabble. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/17/books/as-byatt-dead.html

>80 justifiedsinner: I had two degrees of separation from Antonia Byatt, as I once worked for her first husband. It always intrigued me that she wrote using the name 'Byatt' rather than 'Drabble'. I always assumed that this was down to her feud with her sister (though it must be said that you don't see many other authors called 'Byatt', giving her advantages in marketing her books).

She could have used Duffy since her first novel of note The Virgin in the Garden wasn't published until 1978.

Marty Krofft, Who Created Fantastical TV Shows With Brother, Dies at 86

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/25/obituaries/marty-krofft-dead.html

Henry A. Kissinger (1923-2023), American peacemaker

This is one of those instances where I'm dumbfounded the guy was still around. I had no idea.

Peacemaker? I think not. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-kissinger-war-criminal...

>86 iansales: Other terms and conditions may apply...

Shane McGowan, lead singer and songwriter of the Pogues, aged 65. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/30/shane-macgowan-pogues-singer-dies

Actor Frances Sternhagen, 93.

>88 tallpaul: Sinead and Shane. A heavy day for Irish music. But on the bright sight Bono is still boring the shite out of everyone.

Elliott Erwitt, photgrapher, aged 95. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/nov/30/elliott-erwitt-dead-photogr...

Norman Lear, television writer, director and producer, age 101:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/television/norman-lear-dead.html

>92 Taphophile13: I loved his episode on Henry Gates’ Finding your Roots.

Benjamin Zephaniah, poet: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67646607

>92 Taphophile13:, hard to pick a favourite among the many shows he created. Jefferson? All in the Family? I still quote stuff that earns me funny looks from my kids.

Notable literary deaths of 2023:

https://lithub.com/notable-literary-deaths-in-2023/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_...

Antonio Negri, radical political philospher and sociologist. Aged 90. https://www.repubblica.it/politica/2023/12/16/news/toni_negri_morto_parigi_auton...

Tom Smothers--comic genius and fiercely principled man:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/tom-smothers-dead-smothers-b...

John Pilger, journalist and activist:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-67853392

Phil Niblock, composer and film maker, aged 90. https://thequietus.com/articles/33718-phill-niblock-obituary

Time we started up a 2024 topic. 2023 is waaay too full.