A name that has been appearing in my dead pool the past few years (although not in my "select" list this year). He was 94. I grew up with Pete Seeger. He may have been the first singer I could identify. A good old-fashioned "red", he was the father of folk music, inspiring everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Peter, Paul … Read More
RIP Nelson Mandela
This is one of those passings when all the superlatives coming out of the radios and TV and on the Intertubes are fitting. Not only did Nelson Mandela live an incredible life (although 27 years of it were in prison), but he touched literally billions. I was one of them. In my college years, there were two political issues which … Read More
RIP Jack Germond
The key word to describe him is "irascible". An old school reporter and solid liberal. Good guy. Here's an Esquire tribute.
RIP Doghouse Riley
Douglas Case aka "Doghouse Riley" is dead at the age of 59. No, you probably never heard of him. He was a blogger, and a damned good one at that. A must-read for may bloggers who write about politics. A touch of Twain in that one.
RIP Toshi Seeger
Toshi-Aline Ohta Seeger, wife of folk music icon Pete Seeger, passed away overnight on Tuesday, July 9th. She was a mother, an organizer, an activist and filmmaker … and an essential part of all of her husband’s work. She was 91. As much as Pete is a consummate dreamer and optimist, Toshi had a strength and brilliance that was at … Read More
RIP Slim Whitman
I never heard of him until those ads in the 1980s, which spawned countless jokes. He was a serious musical influence on early rock. In the British Isles, he was known as a pioneer of country music for popularizing the style there. Whitman also encouraged a teen Elvis Presley when the young singer made his professional debut. He died today … Read More
RIP Dr. Joyce
Waaaaay before Dr. Phil and other "advice" shows, there was Dr. Joyce Brothers. She was the pioneer of that genre and occupied it alone for decades. She was a regular staple on Johnny Carson and other talk shows throughout the sixties, seventies and eighties. Interestingly, her TV debut was on a game show before she had her own show. She appeared … Read More
RIP Richie Havens
Met him once. He had a unique voice that was unmistakable. Best known for improvising "Freedom" at Woodstock in 1969. He was 72.
RIP Margaret Thatcher
Well, put me down as "not a fan", but you can't deny her impact. I lived in England for a year under her reign, and boy did that woman polarize her people. The mother of modern conservatism, she deregulated the hell out of the country and fostered in a decade of selfishness, which took root here in the United States … Read More
Suicide Tweet
Read from the bottom up. This is the suicide of rapper Freddy E. What strikes me as odd is that he would twitter "*puts finger around trigger*", and then continue tweeting. One wonders what role drugs played. I sense he was playing around with the idea of killing himself, and probably didn't decide to do it until after his last … Read More