Bring Out Your Dead! The celebrity death thread....
ridski said:
RIP Doris Day, 97. https://apnews.com/b9a04d9ab2ce4276b2f6bdb6b39af585
Que será, será
She started as a big band singer. She transitioned well to comedies.
People also forget she stepped into the role left behind by the death of Marilyn Monroe in the unfinished “Somethings Gotta Give.” They renamed it “Move Over Darling” with Doris Day as the new lead and a new cast. Love that movie!
dave said:
Navajo Code Talker Fleming Begaye Sr., one of more than 400 Navajo Code Talkers who developed a secret military code during World War II, died on Friday at age 97
This article wouldn't open for me, kept crashing and reloading then Safari gave up on it. I'm not sure if that's partly because we have a weird storm system hanging around, or if there's something in the coding around the paywall.
It's a pity; I wanted to read more on the gentleman and that chapter of history.
FWIW on MOL, a few hours ago Australia learnt we lost a brilliant and astute former Prime Minister, whose leadership in the '80s established social icons we still depend on. Bob Hawke was a Rhodes scholar and the leader of our national Trade Unions council before he became PM. Under his watch, as a nation we finally learned to appreciate our built heritage (the Green Bans era), took action against apartheid in South Africa, introduced fairer legislation against discrimination for racism and sexism. Universal healthcare changed for the better, in the form we know. I think the Family Court also changed or was introduced in his era. The America's Cup wins!! 
So much to go back and look at... Our federal election is this Saturday and some are predicting the new Prime Minister will be from Bob's party. A shame he didn't live to see a change of government.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-16/bob-hawke-legacy-nine-things-he-got-done-in-office/6514794
Navajo Code Talker Fleming Begaye Sr., one of more than 400 Navajo Code Talkers who developed a secret military code during World War II, died on Friday at age 97.
Jonathan Nez and Myron Lizer, president and vice president of the Navajo Nation respectively, announced Begaye's death in a Facebook post on Friday.
“The Navajo Nation has lost another brave and selfless Diné warrior, who sacrificed more than we’ll ever know to defend our country,” Nez wrote in the statement. “We offer our heartfelt appreciation to the family for sharing his life with us. May the Creator bless you and your family with strength and comfort.”
Begaye died in Chinle, a census-designated place with several thousand residents in Apache County.
His funeral is scheduled for May 17, at the Potter's House Church in Chinle at 10 a.m.
A man of generosity
Theodosia Ott, Begaye's granddaughter, said he was one of the smartest and kindest people she had ever known.
He was born in Red Valley, a small, unincorporated community in Apache County roughly one mile west of the New Mexico border in 1921. He enlisted, was wounded in battle and returned to Arizona where he became a businessman, parlaying a gas station into several stores.
"Every decision I made, I really had to run it by him because he always gave the best advice," Ott said. "He was always a person that would give you the last penny he had in his pocket."
She said Begaye played a significant role in her life after her father left following her parents' divorce.
Ott recalled her grandfather's generosity after Thanksgiving when homeless people would approach their doorstep asking for food.
"Every Thanksgiving that we had — we've always had, like, three turkeys," Ott said. "And so he would always tells us, 'Go fix them a plate so they have something to eat. They're somebody's children too.'"
Haunted by the past
Ott said she didn't know her grandfather served in World War II until she was about 12 or 13-years-old and saw pictures of him in uniform.
She said her grandfather was initially hesitant to tell her about his time in the war, as Code Talkers were prohibited from doing so until the program was declassified in 1968.
Many were tight-lipped even after the declassification — Begaye included.
"Some Code Talkers chose to tell their families what happened," Ott said. "For him, he kind of took a while."
Ott said her grandfather became interested in joining the Marine Corps when someone from the military spoke to him and other Navajo men at their high school in Fort Wingate near Gallup, New Mexico.
Begaye told her how he dropped out of high school to enlist, where he and other Code Talkers attended classes to develop a code that referred to ships as various kinds of animals in the Navajo tongue over the radio and telephone.
The Japanese were never able to break it.
Ott said she learned about Begaye's time in the Marines — between 1943 and 1945 — in bits and pieces, as her grandfather suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Begaye was one of three Code Talkers honored at the White House in 2017 for their service in World War II.
Former Navajo Code Talker Peter MacDonald was with Begaye at the White House and recalled Begaye surviving the Battle of Tarawa, swimming to the beach after his landing craft was destroyed.
He also spoke of how Begaye was badly shot in another battle and had to be hospitalized at a naval hospital for a year. Ott, however, said Begaye was hospitalized because of a nearby landmine that exploded.
When Ott asked her grandfather if he was ever afraid, Begaye said "yes" but his duty to his country superseded any fear he harbored.
"There was no other choice," Ott recalled her grandfather telling her. "We had to make sure that everyone in the U.S. was safe."
Pursuing his dream at home
After returning from the war, Ott said her grandfather reunited with his high-school girlfriend, Helen, who waited for him while he was fighting in the war. The two married in August 1945, after which Begaye performed various odd jobs.
The couple had three children. Ott's mother, Veronica Walter, is the only surviving child.
Begaye eventually started up and ran a gas pump in Chinle in 1960 that evolved into a variety of different shops and businesses collectively called Begaye's Corner until it closed in 1988.
Ott said Begaye and his wife donated much of their money to community programs and the local school.
Ott said her grandfather focused on his farm after his shops closed, where he grew fruit trees, corn, watermelon and squash. He also herded cows and sheep on the farm until about 10 years ago when caring for them became too physically exhausting.
But his old age never kept him from tending to his plants — or reading the local papers during his spare time.
"Up until the day he died, he read a newspaper — Arizona Republic!" Ott said. "Everyday. Everyday he read the newspaper."
Ott said her grandfather would walk a local store to pick up that day's issue of The Arizona Republic and The Navajo Times until her mother and Begaye's daughter — Veronica Walters — said she didn't want him to walk to the store on his own, fearing a car might hit him.
Begaye and Helen lived their life together until she died in 2008.
"He always called her 'my little sweetheart,'" Ott said.
Ott said Helen could always lift Begaye's spirits, and her grandfather's health quickly deteriorated to the point he needed a pacemaker placed after her death.
She said her grandfather continued to live on, but began saying how much he missed his wife several days before his death.
"He kept saying 'I miss my sweetheart — I miss Mrs. Begaye,'" Ott said. "'I miss Mrs. Begaye and I can't wait to see her.' I think in a way he knew that he was leaving."
Dave, thank you very much for posting this in full.
Rain began falling heavily as I read - the morning's rain had finally cleared a couple of hours ago, but now it's like Nature is welcoming back someone in tune with her rhythms.
It's absolutely extraordinary these days to see how respected and moved we all are over Bob Hawke, especially given that this is the day before a critical election. No-one cares a fig for election news: the governing party's been found out doing yet more scandalous deeds we'd suspected over the past term, and a couple of shifty minor party candidates have revealed more of their shiftiness. Such things stand out in greater contrast to a man and an era when you could say 'you know, I've got my faults, I'm sorry and I'll do better from now', and he did.
He wrote beautiful letters to children on kinds of topics. He recently challenged unknown 2 fans driving past (he was waiting for a courtesy bus, taking forever) 'if you're such a fan, give me a lift!'. They did, to his hotel, ringing their mothers on the way 'guess who's in the car??'! He chatted to the mums, too.
He spoke with people, he listened, he laughed with. He celebrated Australian achievement. And he cried, publicly.
I'm sorry for going on and on. As someone said today, it's hard to imagine a US or UK politician getting into a car with strangers, no security, knowing he'd be safe.
Formerlyjerseyjack said:
Grumpy Cat of internet fame.
Wait... what??
<- Well, I guess Grumpy Cat still lives on in memes.
So sad. The original "Grumpy Cat" went over the rainbow bridge. She was an Internet meme to many but my daughter actually got to meet and hold her.http://mentalfloss.com/article/53217/16-fun-facts-about-grumpy-cat?fbclid=IwAR0_tXlOFBMmrsWt_Od6jJcADvpI2FhS2M7kgV9pcrbYR9pX-CN3e68XeQA
HERMAN WOUK DEAD AT 103
Known primarily for his books about war but my favorite was Marjorie Morningstar
I loved the movie for Caine Mutiny. I read the book as well at some point.
Working as a polling official for today's Australian federal election (issuing ballot papers, and ensuring voters were enrolled/hadn't already voted), I must have had at least half-a-dozen voters 'of a certain age' named for certain wellknown Wouk characters.
Doris Day and Herman Wouk. People I thought had died a long time ago!
joanne said:
Working as a polling official for today's Australian federal election (issuing ballot papers, and ensuring voters were enrolled/hadn't already voted), I must have had at least half-a-dozen voters 'of a certain age' named for certain wellknown Wouk characters.
How's the Election going?
LOST said:
Doris Day and Herman Wouk. People I thought had died a long time ago!
joanne said:How's the Election going?
Working as a polling official for today's Australian federal election (issuing ballot papers, and ensuring voters were enrolled/hadn't already voted), I must have had at least half-a-dozen voters 'of a certain age' named for certain wellknown Wouk characters.
Today I mourn the future of my nation. I’m in total shock.
New thread.
Gosh, Niki Lauda is dead, aged 70 years.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-21/niki-lauda-dies-formula-one-legend-age-70/11133734
Jake Black, who wrote “Woke Up This Morning,” the indelible theme song for the groundbreaking HBO drama “The Sopranos,” with a bandmate in the group Alabama 3, died on Tuesday in London. He was 59.
I guess he didn't wake up this morning.
(Too soon?)
Leon Redbone - Age 127 R.I.P.
https://variety.com/2019/music/news/singer-leon-redbone-dies-at-69-1203229012/
ridski, have you heard John Tidmarsh has died? Of the BBC World Service’s Outlook:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/may/31/john-tidmarsh-obituary
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I'm just stunned. Was so sure she would live to see her century.
What a life, indeed.