Obituaries - Gone but not forgotten.

[seacoaster]

Another of the giants of American letters, W.S. Merwin:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/ob ... 40e9af6520

"The night the world was going to end
when we heard those explosions not far away
and the loudspeakers telling us
about the vast fires on the backwater
consuming undisclosed remnants
and warning us over and over
to stay indoors and make no signals
you stood at the open window
the light of one candle back in the room
we put on high boots to be ready
for wherever we might have to go
and we got out the oysters and sat
at the small table feeding them
to each other first with the fork
then from our mouths to each other
until there were none and we stood up
and started to dance without music
slowly we danced around and around
in circles and after a while we hummed
when the world was about to end
all those years all those nights ago"

[Brooklyn]

Dick Dale, King of Rock N Roll guitar:


https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/ ... lp-fiction



Tremendously influential on Rock music.

[njbill]

I saw him in the summer of 2017 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He performed a rip roarin’ version of Misirlou. That alone was well worth the price of admission. Thought about going to see him again this past summer, but didn’t. Sure wish I had now. RIP Dick. Ain’t gonna be another one like you.

[Brooklyn]

I saw him in the summer of 2017 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He performed a rip roarin’ version of Misirlou. That alone was well worth the price of admission. Thought about going to see him again this past summer, but didn’t. Sure wish I had now. RIP Dick. Ain’t gonna be another one like you.

In my youth I had no idea that Turkish belly dance music had such a big influence over surf music (I believe that is Miki Dora on the cover of that album.). But you can hear some of it in this classic gem.

[njbill]

Brooklyn, thanks for posting. When I saw him, needless to say, he played LOUD. So loud that about 20-30 kids (teens, 20s) listened to the concert outside the venue (Wonder Bar) on the boardwalk.

[Matnum PI]

Not sure if you all know him but Bill Gertz passed. Annapolis guy, worked in DC, played club and pick-up even as a (relatively) old man.

[Brooklyn]

Brooklyn, thanks for posting. When I saw him, needless to say, he played LOUD. So loud that about 20-30 kids (teens, 20s) listened to the concert outside the venue (Wonder Bar) on the boardwalk.

This is what inspired Mr Dale:






and it immediately reminds me of the greatest belly dancer who ever lived, Serena Wilson:








Funny thing how a Californian guitarist was inspired by Middle Eastern music while a Bronxite was inspired by a dance form from the same region.

[CU88]

https://www.profootballhof.com/forrest-gregg-1933-2019/

[seacoaster]

John Havlicek of the Celtics (this one makes me feel really old):

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/spor ... e=Homepage

"Havlicek stole the ball...it's all over...."

"John Joseph Havlicek was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, on April 8, 1940, the second son of Frank Havlicek, who had emigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia at 12, and Mandy (Turkalj) Havlicek, who was of Croatian descent but born in the United States. His parents ran a general store, and the family lived above it, on U.S. 40 in nearby Lansing, an Ohio Valley town of a few hundred residents near Wheeling, W.Va.

Fearing traffic on the busy roadway, Havlicek’s parents refused to let John have a bicycle as a youngster, so he tended to sprint everywhere to keep up with friends."

[Brooklyn]

Great work ethic. The ultimate team player.

[dislaxxic]

Chewbacca

..

[dislaxxic]

Doris Day, 97

..

[Brooklyn]

Miss Doris ~ quite a singer in the 1940s.





Her movies in the 1960s were mildly entertaining but not everyone liked them, most of which had basically the same plots and characters. I recall a 30-ish female college professor of English lit who hated the roles she played. How could a "40 year old virgin" possibly be a heroine in this rough-and-tumble world? That got quite a few laughs in our class back in the day.

[Brooklyn]

Harold Lederman, 79, one of pro boxing's greatest spokesmen:


https://sports.yahoo.com/boxing-hall-of ... 10578.html




https://nyfights.com/latest-boxing-news ... -lederman/

''No single personality in the sport evinced a more obvious enthusiasm for the sport. His passion was overwhelming, his adoration for the sweet science unflagging.

Bronx-born Harold Lederman, a boxing lifer, succumbed to cancer, at age 79, we learned on Saturday, May 10th.

And the sport is now burdened with a hole that cannot and will not be filled, because there was not another being like Harold, who fashioned for himself a legacy that will be as close to eternal as most of the practitioners of the trade ... He ate, drank, and slept boxing, and would spend hours talking about the sport to anyone who would listen.''




more at link




The guy was truly all class. His great enthusiasm for boxing was so obvious when he spoke on TV. He loved every minute of every bout. Amazing that he worked full time as a pharmacist and as a boxing judge/writer/commentator.

I regularly post in a boxing chat room during live matches. Folks in the chat always took note that my comments & scores always matched his. In almost every fight that we watched together Mr Lederman's scorecard and mine were precisely the same - down to the last point! Everybody loved to work with him because of his great enthusiasm and friendly manner. He was also reputed to be a great husband and father.

Never had the privilege of meeting him but almost feel like I lost a good friend.

[cradleandshoot]

One of my favorite comedians... a truly funny man
Tim Conway gone at 85

[DMac]

Rough week, Tim Conway...such a funny guy.
https://people.com/tv/tim-conway-dies/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qqE_WmagjY&t=212s

[dislaxxic]

Never saw my mother laugh out loud so much as when she was watching The Carol Burnett Show...with Carol, Tim and Harvey Corman...just absolutely terrific variety show TV. When i told mom (she's 91) that she could dial up some old Carol Burnett shows on YouTube, she jumped at it.

RIP Tim

..

[Brooklyn]

Ensign Parker always gave me a big laugh.

[seacoaster]

Herman Wouk:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/ob ... 482f1e85f7

I read the Winds of War and War and Remembrance in my late teens and early 20s, and it was a revelation about the long historical causes of WW2.

[6x6]

Niki Lauda, one hell of a driver and a man with grande juevos.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/46781936