2018 Obits--Gone, but not forgotten

CharlasLiterary Snobs

Únete a LibraryThing para publicar.

2018 Obits--Gone, but not forgotten

Este tema está marcado actualmente como "inactivo"—el último mensaje es de hace más de 90 días. Puedes reactivarlo escribiendo una respuesta.

1CliffBurns
Ene 3, 2018, 9:09 am

Rick Hall, founder of Muscle Shoals music studio:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-me-rick-hall-20180102-story.html

If you haven't seen the documentary on Rick, you don't know what you're missing.

2CliffBurns
Ene 4, 2018, 12:03 pm

Fred Bass, who made New York's Strand Bookstore the institution it became:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/obituaries/fred-bass-strand-bookstore-dies-at...

4mstrust
Ene 12, 2018, 12:22 pm

Guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke, last of the original Motorhead line-up:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jan/11/fast-eddie-clarke-motorhead-guitar...

5jldarden
Ene 15, 2018, 1:27 pm

Dolores O'Riordan, singer for the Cranberries, at only 46.

6Cecrow
Ene 16, 2018, 7:27 am

>5 jldarden:, I'm waiting for some clue what cause of death was. Not illness, apparently.

7anna_in_pdx
Ene 16, 2018, 11:43 am

Does anyone have a word for that Irish vocal effect, sort of a catch in the throat, that O'Riordan used in several of her songs? Someone on another site suggested "keening" but that looks like a different effect used at funerals.

8varielle
Ene 16, 2018, 12:43 pm

No, but I can hear it still. Unique.

9bluepiano
Ene 16, 2018, 6:04 pm

'Catch in the throat' sounds like 'sob' of operatic singing though little doubt that's not what you mean. Don't mind O'Riordan's singing being meh, don't overmuch mind her airplane tantrum, do mind her having had the arrogance to sing with Pavarotti--a ridiculous imbalance cringey to hear, that was.

10Cecrow
Ene 17, 2018, 7:39 am

>9 bluepiano:, I wouldn't call it arrogance when the big P did a whole series of "Pavarotti and Friends", did he not? Anybody who took him up on that was arrogant? For charity?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavarotti_%26_Friends

11.Monkey.
Ene 17, 2018, 10:12 am

>10 Cecrow: The group is called "snobs" for a reason. ;) (Which may happen to be why I never took to hanging out here much, lol)

12CliffBurns
Ene 17, 2018, 10:14 am

They say you should never look down on someone, but where does that leave tall people...and book snobs?

13Jargoneer
Ene 19, 2018, 6:06 am

>1 CliffBurns: - the bizarre thing about that documentary is that there is a moment when Rick Hall is relating yet another tragedy that I found myself having to stifle a laugh because it seemed more parody than reality. Through the sixties his FAME studio produced an avalanche of great material, he may have subsequently sold more records in the 1970s when he crossed over to pop but it was never the same after The Swampers left him.

14Jargoneer
Ene 19, 2018, 6:16 am

Also passed away recently -

John Young, the 9th man to walk on the moon - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jan/17/john-young-obituary

Cyrille Regis - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jan/15/cyrille-regis-obituary - he won't mean anything to most people on here but he was a black British footballer from the 1970's on. He was a bit of cultural icon at the time, although that didn't stop him getting a torrent of abuse from the stands.

15RobertDay
Editado: Ene 19, 2018, 7:45 am

>14 Jargoneer: Regis had a great reputation as a true gentleman and in his later years did a lot of work for the UK water industry charity Wateraid, which works to bring clean water and sanitation to communities in the developing world. When I worked for the UK water regulator Ofwat, we supported that charity and a number of colleagues worked with him on particular campaigns.

I took particular note of his passing because he was a year younger than I am.

16BookConcierge
Ene 23, 2018, 1:50 pm

Peter Mayle passed away. I love his books.

18Cecrow
Ene 24, 2018, 7:14 am

>17 CliffBurns:, a giant of genre fiction, not just for her creativity but also for her style, themes, etc.

19varielle
Ene 24, 2018, 9:39 am

She has just transmogrified into another being.

20CliffBurns
Ene 24, 2018, 10:11 am

I always admired Ursula's stance on free speech, her defense of literacy.

In an essay I wrote about SF years ago, I paid her the compliment of being "trippier than Dick and more brainy than Delaney".

Great gal.

21dukedom_enough
Editado: Ene 24, 2018, 10:23 am

I think I knew this, but was reminded yesterday that Le Guin and Dick went to the same high school - but didn't know each other then.

22CliffBurns
Ene 24, 2018, 4:47 pm

24CliffBurns
Ene 25, 2018, 9:49 am

26jldarden
Feb 5, 2018, 10:07 pm

Actor John Mahoney, dad on ‘Frasier’ and numerous movie roles, good and bad guys.

28supercell
Editado: Abr 19, 2018, 7:38 am

Este mensaje fue borrado por su autor.

29Cecrow
Feb 14, 2018, 7:49 am

>28 supercell:, I'm missing something. It says Prince Henrik was the guy who died, age 83. Lower down, there's a photo of Princess Mary of Denmark and someone named Prince Henrik as they "celebrate his 60th Birthday in 2006". (83-60) > (2018-2006)?

30.Monkey.
Editado: Feb 14, 2018, 8:45 am

According to Wiki his birthdate was 11 June 1934 so, he was 60 in 1994. Someone else's 60th? Whatever it is, the site has clearly bungled the caption.

LOL I just scrolled through the whole thing looking at all the images, near the bottom is another one from that same day (well two, actually, but the first just says it's them in 2006), captioned "Princess Mary is mourning the loss of her father-in-law." Clearly whatever idiot works at that site does not understand either research or photo captions.

31cindydavid4
Feb 24, 2018, 4:21 am

Nanette Fabray
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nanette-fabray-tony-emmy-award-winning-actress-dead...

I never saw anything she was in, which I should correct soon. Except for Hollywood Squares loved her on that show! Knew she had a hearing loss, didn't realize she had surgery to 'correct' (wonder if that was a cochlear implant; if so thats one of the really early ones)

32DugsBooks
Editado: Mar 14, 2018, 5:12 pm

And Stephen Hawking, surprised it was not already posted. Passed at age 76 when he was only expected to live a few years when diagnosed with ALS as a young teen in college I believe.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/obituaries/stephen-hawking-dead.html

Quote:
Dennis W. Sciama, a cosmologist and Dr. Hawking’s thesis adviser at Cambridge, called Hawking’s thesis in Nature “the most beautiful paper in the history of physics.”

34Jargoneer
Mar 28, 2018, 3:31 pm

Another writer, Philip Kerr - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/25/philip-kerr-obituary - well-known for his Berlin Noir novels.

35Maura49
Mar 29, 2018, 1:15 pm

Yes, I posted about this sad loss on the Crime and Mystery Group . Happily we lovers of these stories have one more to come, Greeks bearing Gifts due out in April. The original trilogy to which you refer are particularly worth reading.

36Matke
Editado: Abr 13, 2018, 9:53 pm

Anita Shreve, aged 71, died of cancer on March 29th. Some of her books were wonderfully well-written.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/obituaries/anita-shreve-best-selling-novelist...

37Taphophile13
Editado: Abr 13, 2018, 9:56 pm

38BookConcierge
Abr 13, 2018, 10:33 pm

>37 Taphophile13:
Oh .. I recently read her memoir Love, Life and Elephants

40anna_in_pdx
mayo 11, 2018, 5:24 pm

Scott Hutchison of the Frightened Rabbits (band from Scotland)
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/frightened-rabbit-singer-scott-hutchison...

41Cecrow
mayo 15, 2018, 8:05 am

Margot Kidder, Canadian actress. Played Lois Lane in the original Superman movies, opposite Christopher Reeve
http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/obit-kidder-margot-1.4662062

42CliffBurns
mayo 15, 2018, 11:45 am

I just heard rumbles that Tom Wolfe has died.

43jldarden
mayo 15, 2018, 3:13 pm

Just saw an article on that as well.

44justifiedsinner
mayo 16, 2018, 9:38 am

Tom Murphy, Irish playwright best know for Whistle in the Dark.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44135978

45CliffBurns
mayo 23, 2018, 2:23 am

47iansales
mayo 28, 2018, 5:49 am

And Gardner Dozois passed last night. http://locusmag.com/2018/05/gardner-dozois-1947-2018/

48Cecrow
mayo 28, 2018, 7:38 am

>47 iansales:, ah, that's sad. Frequent George R.R. Martin collaborator and one of his close friends, George will have something heartfelt to say about that.

49iansales
mayo 31, 2018, 3:29 am

>48 Cecrow: I remember when Gardner Dozois was better known than George RR Martin...

50Taphophile13
Jun 6, 2018, 7:18 pm

Jerry Maren, 98, the last Munchkin
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44386487

51justifiedsinner
Jun 8, 2018, 8:25 am

Anthony Bourdain, dead at 61 by his own hand. Very sad especially from a man who seemed to so enjoy life.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/08/us/anthony-bourdain-obit/index.html

52cindydavid4
Jun 8, 2018, 11:05 am

He was my age. I loved reading his books and watching his travel show. Like Robin Williams he seemed good at hiding his pain. Rest in Peace now.

53justifiedsinner
Jun 8, 2018, 5:22 pm

>52 cindydavid4: He grew up in the town I currently live in.

54CliffBurns
Jun 12, 2018, 12:23 pm

A lovely piece by David Simon on his old pal, Anthony Bourdain:

http://davidsimon.com/tony

(Thanks, Gord)

56Cecrow
Editado: Jun 15, 2018, 7:39 am

>55 justifiedsinner:, read a bit of him, definitely 2nd tier in his genre but I liked the humour. It's well reflected in this obituary, almost like he wrote it himself (but I suspect it was an acquaintance).

Corrected touchstone: Christopher Stasheff

57justifiedsinner
Jun 15, 2018, 9:14 am

>56 Cecrow: Yes, very nice obit.

58DugsBooks
Jun 21, 2018, 3:59 pm

Koko The Gorilla Dies; Redrew The Lines Of Animal-Human Communication Sad to hear, fascinating story - I did not realize she was still alive at this recent time.

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/21/622160278/koko-the-gorilla-dies-redrew-the-lines-...

59Taphophile13
Editado: Jun 24, 2018, 11:57 pm

60CliffBurns
Jun 25, 2018, 10:45 am

Ah, terrific poet. Truly gifted and insightful.

Bye, Don...

61jldarden
Jun 28, 2018, 6:21 pm

No..... Harlan Ellison

62CliffBurns
Jun 28, 2018, 8:01 pm

#61 It really is the passing of an era.

I read one obit that said Ellison's literary legacy will be tarnished by his personal shenanigans.

We shall see...

63cindydavid4
Editado: Jun 28, 2018, 8:48 pm

oh my goodness so many of his stories are among my top favs. The first one I ever heard was I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream read to me by a college boyfriend. Scared me to death, but went to find everything he ever wrote. Amazing. All I know about his personal shenanigans is that the character in Bimbos of the Death Sun was supposedly based on him.....well RIP. You will be missed,

65jldarden
Jun 28, 2018, 11:35 pm

#62 In these times his shenanigans might seem tame...

66iansales
Jun 29, 2018, 3:45 am

>65 jldarden: Not the episode at the 2006 Hugo ceremony where he groped Connie Willis. He'll be remembered for that.

Personally, I never rated his fiction, and his most popular stories read extremely dated. I also thought he was an arsehole after an article he wrote in Asimov's about fans. I see he now apparently created and popularised the New Wave, which is complete bollocks. The New Wave was British and the US version of it was kicked off by a Judith Merril anthology, England Swings.

Oh, and 45 years later, still no sign of the third Dangerous Visions anthology...

67RobertDay
Jun 29, 2018, 3:58 am

My immediate reaction to the death of Harlan Ellison was to paraphrase a famous Fredric Brown short-short story:

"Is there a God?"

And Harlan said, "There is NOW!"

68RobertDay
Jun 29, 2018, 4:29 am

Having said that, Cory Doctorow has set down his personal reactions on BoingBoing:

https://boingboing.net/2018/06/28/rip-harlan-ellison.html

The comments are quite interesting, too.

69justifiedsinner
Jun 29, 2018, 9:21 am

>68 RobertDay: I loved the Talese piece about Ellison and Sinatra. A meeting of assholes as opposed to a meeting of minds.

70cindydavid4
Jun 29, 2018, 11:08 am

>62 CliffBurns: unfortunately so true.

71CliffBurns
Jun 29, 2018, 11:14 am

As I wrote on BOINGBOING:

"Personally, I’ll miss Ellison’s personality, as much as many may disparage it. We need writers who are prickly, opinionated, demanding, unwilling to play nice with readers and editors. Thirty+ years of professional writing have taught me that fans of a genre aren’t particularly smart or discerning (“fan-dumb”) and most editors I’ve encountered shouldn’t be running a photocopied class newsletter, let alone a major publication (or publishing house).

Authors these days are boring, lacking distinguishing characteristics and quirks, and when it comes to invective, Scalzi and Stross can’t touch Ellison with a 10-foot barge pole.

Log on to a SF/fan forum and if the idiots aren’t talking about the latest popular TV or movie franchise, they’re exchanging fucking recipes and holding circle jerks for their favorite semi-literate scribe with a degree in astrophysics but absolutely no affinity for the English language (and certainly no ear for it).

I talked to Harlan a few times on the phone–it wasn’t always pleasant but when I’d touch on a favorite person or notion, he warmed considerably (especially once he realized I wasn’t a complete idiot). I particularly remember a brief chat we had about his old friend–and one of my literary heroes–Charles Beaumont.

I doubt he’s 'resting in peace' or any of that other nonsense. He was a pain in the ass, a prankster, a man who treated the printed word with the reverence it deserves.

Fuck all the naysayers, we need more people like him in this world."

72cindydavid4
Editado: Jun 29, 2018, 11:21 pm

>68 RobertDay: From the Docotrow article: I have discovered some place inside me where two things can be true: that someone did something bad, and that someone did something good. Importantly, I can have these two views without the need to balance them ("the good outweighs the bad, so we can still be friends"), because balance is so often erasure ("with all the good he's done, why dwell on the bad?").

I have been fighting this conundrum for most of my adult life. Saying I'll never watch a Polanski film was probablyl the first time I considered it, but there have been many others - Elia Kazan and others from that time stand out. And now its hard to justify my love as a child for Bill Cosby's work with my disgust with him now. And there is Marion Zimmer Bradly, an old fav of mine, to discover the allegations about her and screaming ' but I loved those books, why can't I still do so?' This quote says it all, and gives me some piece*. Thankful for that.

edit - peace

73CliffBurns
Jun 29, 2018, 11:55 am

Contemporary SF authors are non-entities, indistinguishable widgets, few veering from the sensibilities and tastes of the herd.

Ellison wasn't like that and as maddening as he could be, he was far better company than the monotonic, personality-deficient bunch that succeeded him.

74CliffBurns
Jul 4, 2018, 1:50 pm

76anna_in_pdx
Ago 11, 2018, 10:08 pm

V.S. Naipaul, great writer from what I’ve heard but also islamophobic as heck.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/11/obituaries/vs-naipaul-dead-author-nobel-prize...

77CliffBurns
Ago 12, 2018, 11:29 am

Not, apparently, a very nice human being.

But...should that matter to readers?

Trust the tale and not the teller, as they say.

Then again, I haven't seen a Woody Allen film in years...

78iansales
Ago 13, 2018, 2:44 am

>77 CliffBurns: My own rule of thumb is, if they're dead it doesn't matter. If they're living, and they use their fame or their fiction to push their odious views, then I'll have nothing to do with them. won't read Orson Scott Card, Frank Miller or Dan Simmons, for that reason.

79CliffBurns
Ago 13, 2018, 11:45 am

Really, Ian? I thought good writers didn't read those guys because they excrete drivel, book after book.

We've had this discussion before--can we enjoy writing by creeps like Celine, Pound, even Naipaul, without feeling a queasy sense of guilt.

Do we have to wait for them to die before we can read them without squirming?

80Taphophile13
Ago 13, 2018, 2:10 pm

81iansales
Ago 14, 2018, 1:54 am

>79 CliffBurns: Well, yes, Card is shite. But Simmons has done some good stuff in the past. And Miller is a big name in comics, although I think I've only read his famous Batman one, and that was decades ago.

If an artist uses the money I give them by purchasing their works to promote their offensive causes, then I won't buy or read their books. I don't care how good they are. I'm not contributing to something that is offensive.

82Cecrow
Ago 14, 2018, 7:55 am

I know what Card's deal is, but I don't know what Simmons has been promoting?

83CliffBurns
Ago 14, 2018, 9:58 am

#82--I recall the reaction to Simmons' FLASHBACK:

https://www.npr.org/2011/07/28/137621172/one-rant-too-many-politics-mar-simmons-...

I've never been a fan, his stuff is overlong and more padded than an 800-poound man...

84iansales
Ago 14, 2018, 1:50 pm

>82 Cecrow: Turns out he's Islamophobic.

86Cecrow
Editado: Ago 16, 2018, 12:18 pm

>85 mejix:, that makes one less living legend, one of the biggest.

87cindydavid4
Ago 16, 2018, 9:14 pm

Her tribute to Carole King a few years back when she sang Natural Woman gave me goosebumps. Just listened to it again, still does. Loved all of her music, hers are the type of songs that I never get tired of hearing. Thank you for your gift of music. RIP

88jldarden
Ago 26, 2018, 2:32 pm

Ah, Neil Simon

89cindydavid4
Ago 26, 2018, 9:15 pm

gawd, Barefoot in the Park was done at my HS when my sister was there, it was one of the first plays I remember watching. Loved Sweet Charity, Odd Couple. Goodbye Girl, with his wife Marsha Mason and one of my fav actors Richard Dreyfus. Sad how many of my favs are going

90cindydavid4
Editado: Ago 26, 2018, 9:19 pm

Oh and then there is John McCain, esteemed Sentaor from my fair state. Had a lot of respect for him, and then I didn't. Probably disagreed with him on most things, but he could run circles around Trump. Glad he stood up to him. Be interesting who is taking his place - I worry about that a lot. But I do know how much he has accomplished, and Im glad he is no longer in pain. RIP

91Cecrow
Editado: Ago 27, 2018, 1:17 pm

Robin Leach, host of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/obit-leach-robin-1.4797791

Lowbrow show, sure, but that voice was unmistakable. Champagne wishes and caviar dreams, Robin.

92jldarden
Editado: Sep 6, 2018, 3:13 pm

Legendary actor Burt Reynolds of 'Deliverance' and 'Smokey and the Bandit'.

93bluepiano
Editado: Oct 3, 2018, 5:23 am

97Taphophile13
Nov 12, 2018, 8:42 pm

98supercell
Editado: Ene 19, 2019, 5:53 pm

Este mensaje fue borrado por su autor.

99guido47
Nov 16, 2018, 8:08 am

Thanks >98 supercell:,

That was really interesting. I would have thought they would have used something more simple,
like Avagadro's Number.

Though posting it on this group, rather than say, the Science Group, I also find a bit strange :-)

Guido.

100justifiedsinner
Nov 16, 2018, 9:49 am

>99 guido47: I think they have defined the mole as Avogadro's number, previously it was defined in terms of Avogadro's constant.

102Cecrow
Nov 16, 2018, 10:21 am

>101 CliffBurns:, so, definitely no Princess Bride sequel. :(

103cindydavid4
Nov 16, 2018, 2:39 pm

Oh man - didn't realize he did Butch Cassidy as well, but I'll always remember Princess Bride. Seen in many times, including most recently in a theatre filled with college student who were reciting the famous lines! He lived a long and successful life, and has left the world laughing. RIP

104DugsBooks
Nov 16, 2018, 3:13 pm

>96 CliffBurns: Stan Lee made his mark - now for one last cameo appearance.

105varielle
Nov 16, 2018, 3:31 pm

>96 CliffBurns: and >104 DugsBooks: - I noticed on last night's episode of the Big Bang Theory instead of the normal vanity card at the closing credits they had a photo of the cast on the couch with Stan Lee and Katie was giving him a kiss. :'(