In Memoriam

Our place for remembering those whose lives have touched us, especially those whose writing has impacted us.

Didn't even make it 24 full hours before we lost the first author. Belovèd of many 75ers, Edith Pearlman has died. She was the author of Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories, which introduced her to many of us. She was 86.

>2 richardderus: Bad start to the new year in terms of losing the Good Ones, Richard.

I have Binocular Vision on the shelves and would not have heard of it, quite possibly, without the benefit of this group.

>2 richardderus: Have had two collections of short stories including Binocular Vision TBR for a while.

Should try and get to those some time this year.

>2 richardderus: Sadness. I loved Binocular Vision. It was actually my very first book bullet here on LT back in 2012, and I read it that same year.

>5 Crazymamie: It somehow seems fitting, Mamie. I don't think many of us around here at that time escaped the AR-15 that Mark and Co. were spraying about it!

>4 elkiedee: Indeed, Luci, it's a great gift to an author to honor their legacy by reading their work.

I just learned that Eric Flint died last July, aged 75. I'll miss him, and the books in his ongoing series that either won't happen now, or will be written by others and so not quite what I'm expecting and wanting.

It was a sad loss indeed, Arlie. A cyberfriend of mine, "The Alternate Historian," did a video review-cum-farewell to Eric Flint in September: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKcyqH0mZnk

I know, since he's a judge for the Sidewise Awards, that they interacted and were on a friendly footing. What a loss this was to a very large community.

>7 ArlieS: He was so open and kind with my father's endless questions about an early series he collaborated on. And my dad printed out and kept copies of the Gazette.

Author Fay Weldon, who is probably most famous for writing the 1983 classic The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, has died at the age of 91.

I read She-Devil while at university (it was part of the curriculum) and immediately fell in love with it. I will definitely re-read it in her honour.

>10 PawsforThought: Oh, how very sad. Thanks for bringing the news, Paws.

Habits of the House was my first Weldon read. She was a really powerful storyteller.

>10 PawsforThought: My favorite Weldon was the 1980 TV series adaptation she wrote of Pride and Prejudice. Very true to the book, with most lines directly from the novel.

Suzy McKee Charnas died on January 2.

https://locusmag.com/2023/01/suzy-mckee-charnas-1939-2023/

>13 amanda4242: Terribly sad. Holdfast was a really interesting series.

Sorry to hear about Fay. Though at 91 she had a hood innings.

>12 kac522: That's my all time favorite Austen adaptation!

>16 quondame: I have a soft spot for the 1995 Ehle/Firth series, but Weldon's adaptation is the most faithful to the novel of anything brought to the screen. I also enjoyed her little book Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen, which combines notes on being a writer with an homage to Austen.

>17 kac522: you got me with that one Kathy.

>17 kac522: You got me, too.

>18 Caroline_McElwee:, >19 Crazymamie: It's a fun little book--although be warned that these letters and "Alice" are completely made-up. Weldon's book is composed of these imagined letters, sort of copying the way Austen wrote letters to her niece Fanny. But it's still delightful.

>17 kac522: Book bullet here too. . .

Author Cai Emmons reached the end of her journey on the second of January. She was ten days short of her seventy-second birthday. My review of her novel Livid will come out tomorrow.

>23 laytonwoman3rd: Ah, nuts. I just read his Cloudsplitter last year.

>17 kac522: I think I may read that this month or next then.

>22 richardderus: I saw your review and noted to keep an eye out for the book but I didn't see the sad news of her passing.

>23 laytonwoman3rd: Barely a week into the new year and we have lost Pearlman, Emmons, Weldon and Russell Banks already!

>24 alcottacre: Cloudsplitter was amazing, wasn't it? I read that one pre-LT, and wish I'd held onto it.

>25 PaulCranswick: People need to stop getting old enough to die.

>23 laytonwoman3rd: A friend of mine just posted this on her FB page about Banks, who was a friend.

"In the 1980s when our lives were in relative turmoil, Russell Banks and I began carpooling to Princeton where we both worked. Actually Russell drove and I contributed to gas and tolls. On those car rides over several years we talked about literature, the writing life, our romantic upheavals, and the usual gossip about life in academia. I loved our rides and was sorry when they came to an end. But our friendship endured for decades, including an insane journey to Disneyworld. It rained the whole time we were there. We had a wonderful time. I loved Russell and have read probably everything he published in the years I knew him. It was Russell who brought me to my current agent. It was Russell who, when I met Larry, said, "I never thought Mary would settle down. Until now." He was a literary giant whose vision was huge and whose understanding of race and class and all that supposedly defines us was immeasurable. The world is diminished. It is hard for me to envision it without him in it."

This struck me as a great personal and literary tribute.

Banks was 82 years old.

>26 laytonwoman3rd: That would be an ideal solution, Linda. x

>27 Chatterbox: How very lovely.

Im sorry to say Ive not read his books, looks like I need to do that. He touched many lives in his long life. May his name be for a blessing

>27 Chatterbox: Thank you for sharing such a lovely personal tribute from someone who knew him. I've only read a couple of his books, but will certainly read more.

deleted

>27 Chatterbox: How nice to hear that he seems to have been a good person as well as a wonderful writer. He is one of my favorite authors and I have read many of his books over the years, including most recently last year Foregone, in which a dying man looks back over his life (wonder if Banks himself was ill?). In December I was surprised to see he had a new book out The Magic Kingdom, which I immediately purchased, but have not yet read.

>33 arubabookwoman: I don't know whether or not Banks was unwell, but I suspect that in one's 80s, it's inevitable to start casting eyes back over how one has lived one's life... I'm already starting to do it, nearly 20 years ahead of schedule!!

>33 arubabookwoman: and >34 Chatterbox: Wikipedia says that Russell Banks died at home of cancer.

>35 elkiedee: That is also mentioned in the article linked to in >23 laytonwoman3rd:.

In Foregone the main character was dying of cancer--there were passages about the pain and the indignities suffered with a terminal illness, as well as the effects of the narcotic drugs. That did cause me to wonder whether these were personal experiences of Banks.
And then I was surprised to see a new book by him published a few months ago.

A sad loss: The Yardbirds co-founder and 100 Greatest Rock Guitarists, Jeff Beck, died on the 10th of bacterial meningitis. He was 78.

>38 richardderus: Oh, no, how sad. His music has been played a lot in my family.

>26 laytonwoman3rd: I really enjoyed Cloudsplitter when I read it too, Linda. I need to get to Continental Banks, the only other one of his books that is in my personal library.

>27 Chatterbox: This struck me as a great personal and literary tribute I agree, Suzanne.

>38 richardderus: And the world diminishes just that much more.

Lisa marie Presley https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lisa-marie-presley-singer-songwrit...

I am very glad that she was able to see the actor who played her father win a Globe award . She had a rough life, cant imagine the pressure. May her name be for a blessing

Very sad to lose someone so young. She had much tragedy in her short life, but seemed to be quite buoyant despite it. It's not easy being the child of a legend (the list that supports that is long). RIP Lisa-Marie.

Jonathan Raban has left the building. RIP. Such an inspired writer.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/18/jonathan-raban-his-travel-writing-...

>44 Caroline_McElwee: I have one of his books sitting here unread, Hunting Mr. Heartbreak. I will have to see if I can find it.

>44 Caroline_McElwee: I could swear I read several of his books 2-3 decades ago, but the only one I have on hand is Bad Land.

oh my ive read several of his travelogues including coasting and hunting mr heartbreak always appreciated traveling vicariously with him . He lived a good long life. may his name be for a blessing

Musician David Crosby.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/legendary-singer-songwriter-david-crosby-di...

>48 amanda4242: I was about to post on this too, Amanda. Considering his lifestyle it was a remarkable achievement that he got to 81 years old! Love the harmonies he perfected with Graham Nash and Stephen Stills.

seems like everyday part of my childhood slips away.
Loved his music with the Yardbirds,and of course with Stills Nash and Young. His music touched so many lives May his name be for a blessing

>50 cindydavid4: Of course Cindy you meant to type 'The Byrds' but you are right in every other respect. x

>48 amanda4242: David Crosby had children in the school my daughter attended and MC'd a lovely concert given in honor of the school's director. And performed Teach Your Children.

>51 PaulCranswick: Hey, I just finished haven for the "our feathered friends" RTT theme, which has lots of birds in it, so birds were on my mind. Of course you are right, But I think I can be excused this time

>52 quondame: Oh man that mustve been wonderful!

>53 cindydavid4: Well, also we've just lost Jeff Beck of the Yardbirds, so there's another justification. You are most definitely excused.

>55 laytonwoman3rd: thanks

"I read a quote in this morning’s paper attributed to composer Gustav Mahler that stopped me for a moment:
'Death has, on placid cat’s paws, entered the room.'
I shoulda known something was up.
David and I butted heads a lot over time, but they were mostly glancing blows, yet still left us numb skulls..
I was happy to be at peace with him.
He was without question a giant of a musician, and his harmonic sensibilities were nothing short of genius.
The glue that held us together as our vocals soared, like Icarus, towards the sun.
I am deeply saddened at his passing and shall miss him beyond measure.”

>54 cindydavid4: It was a delightful show with Reba McEntire and Gene Simmons along with several other names, though the absolute most wonderful bit was when Gene Simmons' extra tall son started taking cues from a large wheelchair bound black performer and upped his game amazingly right in front of us.

Lloyd Morrisett co founder of Sesame Street

https://apnews.com/article/lloyd-morrisett-sesame-street-obit-4b908914021d5a0e12...

Just learned that Ronald Blythe died on January 14. I have and have read much of his work over the years.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/15/ronald-blythe-obituary

>59 Caroline_McElwee: Sad news indeed. I received a lovely addition of Akenfield from Laura at Christmas and I will definitely read it soon.

>53 cindydavid4: Of course excused, Cindy. I have made more typographical slips in my time than anyone in the group probably. xx

>59 Caroline_McElwee: >60 PaulCranswick: From the weird coincidences department, reading about Blythe and Akenfield yesterday really piqued my interest. I wrote it down as a book to seek out this year. Today I pull out a literary magazine from my shelf, Granta 90, Summer 2005, to read a Richard Powers story for the American Author challenge. The first entry in the digest is "Return to Akenfield" by Craig Taylor, 'England's classic village, forty years on.'

>61 RBeffa: I love those kind of coincidences Ron.

>61 RBeffa: Does sometimes make you wonder. I was reading a book a few days ago about a lady a guy was madly in love with had a birthday on Christmas Eve. It pulled me up short because a lady I loved very much and who passed tragically a few years ago due to an injected embolism would have celebrated her 40th birthday on Christmas Eve. My blood ran cold for a second or two.

I just heard that Burt Bacharach died. He was the soundtrack of my youth.

NPR reports Burt Bacharach's death.

Many an adolescent boy was kept awake at night dreaming of Raquel Welch in my day as an adolescent boy. She has sadly passed away at 82.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64657781

tom whitlock writer of Top Gun songs Danger Zone and Take my breath away

Sorry to hear of the passing, at age 69, of mystery novelist, Christopher Fowler, who has written the long-running Bryant & May series.

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

I've just seen this on Twitter.

David Lindley, great muscian, loved the work he did with James Brown. A great loss, but we have his music to listen to still. may his name be for a blessing

David Lindley

Olivia's creator, Ian Falconer has left us much too soon. He also did many excellent covers for The New Yorker, and designed stage sets.

Kenzaburō Ōe died on March 3.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64938314

John Jakes, author of the historical sagas of the North and South books as well as the Kent family Chronicles, has died. He was 90.

I read his North and South and liked it; never read much else; maybe should try reading a few more.

>74 cindydavid4: They're...interesting...if not precisely beautiful and waaay too forgiving and nicey-nice about the Southerners he writes about. It's a trope of his to play "opposite day" with his characters, too, so sometimes they're all good, others they're all bad. Not deft prose but solidly entertaining suds, if that's what you're looking for at that moment.

oh ok, I read that series many decades ago and probably wouln'd have noticed. Thanks

>76 cindydavid4: It's always down to time and place, at least for me it is...I tried reading a book I *loved * in 1985 a few years ago, and was astonished at how awful it was to 60+me.

>73 richardderus: here's a nice write-up too:

https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/john-jakes-1932-2023-north-and-sout...

Actor Lance Reddick.

https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2023/03/17/Lance-Reddick-dies-John-Wick/5...

>78 fuzzi: What a career he had, such amazing diverse styles united by his need to tell a story. He's going to be missed.

Dubravka Ugrešić, author of the scathing The Age of Skin, has died. Translated by Ellen Elias-Bursać. She was 73. Her angry (male) critics hounded her out of newly independent Croatia in 1993 for her feminism and staunchly anti-war writings in the time after Yugoslavia's collapse, when as we all remember there was a massive flare-up of sectarian violence.

>80 richardderus: at least he left a list to read.

I recall my mother reading The Bastard but I've not yet delved into his works.

Rupert Heath, founder of Dean Street Press, including the Furrowed Middlebrow imprint - a reprint publisher - has died of a heart attack at the age of only 54, a few weeks after his wife died of cancer.

http://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.com/

Rupert Heath, founder of Dean Street Press (website), died suddenly of a heart attack on March 6th. It was only a little over a month after the sudden death of his beloved wife Amanda. Rupert's sister Victoria has written a wonderful obituary for him here: https://www.thebookseller.com/obituaries/rupert-heath-founder-of-eponymous-liter... (one free article per month, and well worth using it to read about Heath), which is uplifting and devastating in equal parts. Rupert was only 54. Disgustingly young to go if you ask me!

>83 elkiedee: Great minds, Luci...it's a horrible loss to the entire bibliophile world.

English SF writer Eric Brown, author of the delightfully dark and weird Bengal Station series, has died at the revoltingly young age of 62. Try Necropath sometime if you like very twisty private-eye books.

So saddened to learn about Dubravka Ugresic and Rupert Heath. I've loved the former's writings, and Furrowed Middlebrow (especially) is a delight.

bobbie ercoline

"I came upon a child of god he was walking along the road......"

>88 cindydavid4: nice write up here, not behind a paywall:
https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/bobbi-ercoline-1949-2023-half-of-wo...

I was very sad to learn today of Nancy Zafris's death from complications of breast cancer on 1 August 2021. She was 67. She edited the Fiction section of The Kenyon Review for many years, and authored stories and novels in her own right: The Home Jar, a collection I liked but never got around to reviewing, and a posthumous novel Black Road among others.

Another SFF talent passes: Michael Reaves, whose authorship includes many strands including TV shows, has died at 72. His fantasy novel The Shattered World was fascinating in its ideas if tediously predictable in its characters' interactions. His screenwriting was more vivid, and even won him an Emmy.

Oh dear...The White Hotel author D.M Thomas has died at 88.

>92 richardderus: An extraordinary writer, but a contentious old git at times.

Ryuichi Sakamoto has died. Literally I cut an advert out of the paper yesterday for a concert he was doing in Manchester this Summer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65155073

I saw the 2017 documentary about his work last year 'Coda'.

I loved Coda, do you have a link to that doc?

>93 Caroline_McElwee: "At times?" Uou're feeling very kindly towards the disagreeable old sod. Treated his wives poorly, in fact seems to have been thoroughly unkind to many, if not most; and, having read The White Hotel, I don't imagine I would've liked having a meal with him for fear I'd be turned into some sort of ugly-hearted caricature. Ew, as a person; but what a writing talent.

>95 cindydavid4: I can't remember what platform I saw it on Cindy, I will go on a hunt to rewatch it.

ETA: It was on Curzon Home Cinema here in the UK.

>96 richardderus: The White Hotel was a rare book I threw across the room a couple of times RD, despite acknowledging it was a masterpiece. It's been maybe 25 years since I read it.

>97 Caroline_McElwee: wait, which coda are you talking about, the new one about the DEAF family?

Another sad, though hardly surprising, loss: Helen Barolini, author of the wonderful, magisterial Aldus and His Dream Book, lived ninety-five eventful years.

>98 cindydavid4: No, the documentary about Ryuchi Sakamoto Cindy.

>100 Caroline_McElwee: ok thanks

Anne Perry has passed away at the age of 84.

Fashion designer Mary Quant, whose designs defined 1960’s fashion, has died at the age of 93.

Peter Usborne, creator of Usborne Publishing, non-fiction books for children, died March 30 in England. There was a wonderful obit in The Guardian. I can't seem to post a link from this tablet but I can try once I get back to my laptop.

>104 jessibud2: Link here to Peter Usborne obituary from the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/apr/14/peter-usborne-obituary

>105 elkiedee:- Thanks

Cartoonist Edward Koren

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/04/18/edward-koren-new-yorker-car...

>107 jessibud2: thanks for the gift article! I recall reading The New Yorker years ago in my grandmother's apartment. She was an artist.

Sad to hear that the author of books for adults and children, Kate Saunders, has died of multiple sclerosis a few days short of her 63rd birthday. As well as writing a number of historical sagas and contemporary commercial novels, a crime series about Laetitia Rodd, a series of books about The Belfry Witches, a sequel to E Nesbit's Five Children and It, Five Children on the Western Front, she reviewed books, edited a short story anthology and wrote a couple of introductions to Virago Modern Classics, and was an Orange Prize judge (in the year when Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun won.

Rest in peace Harry Belafonte, one of the most remarkable men of our times.

The Guardian: Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and tireless activist, dies aged 96

>110 kidzdoc: Awww.... that was a "life well-lived", as they say.

>110 kidzdoc: I'd say Oh No but 96... that is a full life.

>110 kidzdoc: - Oh, this makes me so sad. My dad loved his music and I grew up with his songs as the soundtrack as I fell asleep. Belafonte was a great man on so many levels. Yes, a life well-lived.

>110 kidzdoc: wow. What a life he led.

My grandmother was a huge fan of his music, so I heard his records long before Beetlejuice brought his banana boat song "Day O" to the attention of the general population!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5dpBWlRANE

I took my mother-in-law to see a Harry concert for her birthday in 1995. I am not sure who enjoyed the show more.

>109 elkiedee: I read the obituary for Kate Saunders, so sad that she lost her son when he was only 19.

>116 avatiakh: Indeed, especially as he took his own life - I can't imagine a greater heartbreak, and unhappily I have a few friends who have experienced this. I remember reading about it soon after his death. Five Children on the Western Front is beautiful and one of the best "sort of" sequels by another writer, but it is as you might imagine very sad and I think it might have been infused with the author's grief.

My mum used to sing this to me when I was a small child, along with Leaving on a Jet Plane.

"But I'm sad to say, I'm on my way
Won't be back for many a day
My heart is down, my head is turning around
I had to leave a little girl in Kingston Town"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch4ckcyjzKE
(I think this one isn't really a video, it's a sound recording with a record cover picture)

>117 elkiedee: That is the first Book Bullet that ever hit me on this thread, Luci, what a marvelous idea for a book.

>117 elkiedee:, >119 PaulCranswick: Ditto on the book bullet. I've read novels by Saunders for adult readers, and am planning to read one of her historical mysteries this week, actually. MS, cancer and losing a son to suicide. Amazing that she had enough resilience to keep writing.

I kinda thought Anne Perry was immortal. Et bien...

And Aldus and His Dream Book -- great fabulous tribute to one of my historical idols, Aldus Manutius (he invented the paperback book circa 1500, as well as the dolphin & anchor colophon that Doubleday went on to use in our era.)

Robert Patrick, whose roman à clef Temple Slave was a commercial flop but a hilarious joy to drama fag me, has died at 85. His play Kennedy's Children is probably the only thing of his most will know as it's a staple of little theater groups everywhere.

>120 Chatterbox: I know what you mean about thinking someone's immortal. I don't think I had a conversation with Anne Perry, but when I went to the crime fiction conference at St Hilda's College, Oxford each year for a few years (before babies, so the last time I attended was 2006), she used to get driven down from Scotland by a young man who also used to come to the events with her.

Michael Denneny, co-founder of the late and lamented Christopher Street literary magazine, as well as a ground-breaking gay fiction editor at several major houses, died at 80. His assistant in the 1980s is now the executive editor of St. Martin's Press, and was once a friend of mine. Michael was memorialized in the NYT. The Stonewall Generation is passing fast

Jerry Springer has died.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/legendary-talk-show-host-jerry-springer-dead-a...

Dennis Reid- Canadian Art Historian, author and curator died today.

Rabbi Harold S Kushner, author of when bad things happen to good people has died. My father had dies three years before the book was written and I was still in a world of grief and anger. My rabbi gave the book to me, and It opened up a world of new understanding of our belief in God, a way of looking at the world and a way of living that I still follow. Im sure I was not the only one touched by his writing. He lived a long and full life, one of service to others. May his name be for a blessing. baruch dayan ha-emet"

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/books/rabbi-harold-s-kushner-dead.html

Rabbi Harold S Kushner has died, author of when bad things happen to good people and many other books. At the time I had been mourning the death of my father, and was having a hard time of it. My rabbi suggested I read it. It opened up an understanding of death, of gods role, of the way of the world and a way to live that I still follow. Im sure Im not the only one whose lives he touched with this book. He led a long and full life, May his Life be for a Blessing Baruch Dayan HaEmet

<127 I hit a paywall with the Times obit, but his life was definitely a blessing for many, and will surely continue to be so through his writings. NPR may ask for money, but they'll let you read or listen regardless.

yeah I know sorry about that. Let me see if I can find a better obit without the wall

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/29/1172903236/rabbi-harold-kushner-author-of-when-ba...

Here is a link to an interview from several years ago with him. It's long but very worth the listen:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/tapestry-25-life-advice-from-rabbi-harold-kush...

Very sorry to hear that Gordon Lightfoot has left us at 84 years of age. One of my favorite singer-songwriters, esp his early 70's albums.

One of my favorite songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTu_Uu0TgTQ

>131 RBeffa: - I was just about to post this. I remember my dad bought me his very first album, before he was actually a Canadian icon. I now own around 6 or 7 albums of his and have seen him live in concert 3 times. The first time, was when I was around 12 or 13 and my friend and I managed to find our way backstage afterwards. We wanted an autograph. He was very drunk and didn't want to oblige us but one of his backstage people convinced him to just sign our papers. I was a bit stunned and as a petulant teenager, told my friend I'd never buy another Lightfoot album or go to another concert of his. That boycott didn't last too long, though.

There is a small folk venue here in Toronto called Hugh's Room. Every year, for many years now, they do a Lightfoot Tribute where local artists perform 2 songs each from the Lightfoot catalogue. Lightfoot himself used to sometimes show up, just as part of the audience, never going on stage. It was always great fun.

I don't think I can narrow it down to one favourite song, but I really do love Song For a Winter's Night, and of course, the Canadian Railroad Trilogy, among countless others.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/gordon-lightfoot-dead-1.6828991

There was also a very good documentary that came out in 2020, called Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftmy3xjup8c

I was introduced to Gordon Lightfoot by an old boyfriend, who is also no longer walking among us. He has long been a favorite, and it's been very sad to see his decline in recent years. RIP, Gord, and say hello to Eddie if you cross paths.

"If You Could Read My Mind" was a big radio hit when I was young enough to have an a.m. radio but no car. I heard it a jillion times and still hear it in my head often.

I nominated "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" as my senior class song. Got booed for it...irony is lost on teens.

>134 richardderus: "If You Could Read My Mind" is one of a handful of songs that inspired me to learn to play guitar. Never did get it down, though.

>135 drneutron: I would guess it's a bear to replicate with its complexity, Jim. Even trying is admirable.

Early Morning Rain was the perfect song for a teenager in a lot of agnst. No longer that person but still have always been moved by it any time I hear it. Also loved Did She Mention My Name, For Loving Me (see a pattern here) and Song for a winters night. I do mix him up with Daniel Folgerberg (and did not realize he passed in 2007)

Lots of his music sounds the same to me so Im not a big fan of some of his work, but appreciate it.He lived a good long life and touched many peoples lives. May his name be for a blessing

>137 cindydavid4: - Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFJ5Bj_put0

Thanks!

>132 jessibud2: That's an excellent obit put out by the CBC Shelley. Thank you.

>138 jessibud2: I can't help but cry whenever I hear that song.

I will miss knowing that he's still with us.

A few more of Lightfoot. As one of the comments stated, it's tragic and criminal that the last one is still so relevant today.

Home From the Forest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mATZznY7H_Q

Song For a Winter's Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRIlTvYp0ok

Black Day In July: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCQmx_wJH6o

A Canadian storyteller is gone. And we are the poorer for it.

Sad news from Scotland: Carl Macdougall, author of a 1986 story collection Elvis is Dead that I ate up when I stumbled across it at The Strand. He was 86.

Sad to report that Martin Amis has died of cancer at 73. His obituary in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/may/20/martin-amis-era-defining-british-n...

Oh no. I'm off to bed sad to learn of M. Amis's death. 73 feels too young to me.

>145 richardderus: That eclectic assortment of British Authors who blossomed in the 80s Barnes, McEwan, Rushdie, Ishiguro, Mo et al lost their most shining light in Martin Amis yesterday.

>146 LizzieD: Hard to even realise he was 73.

I did not care at all for a collection of Amis's short stories I tried a few years ago, and was therefore never tempted to pick up anything else of his. I will probably give him another chance, given >145 richardderus:, >146 LizzieD:, and >147 PaulCranswick:. I just don't recall seeing him praised around here before.

I read one of his books for a former online bookgroup and didn't care for it (cant remember the name, but about a woman who looses her house) But I am sorry he passed, he obviously touched many lives with his books. May his name be for a blessing

Rock legend Tina Turner died. Another great departed, but how much she has left for us.

!!!!!!!! Oh my, still listen to her music. What a giant in music. May her name be for a blessing

>150 Caroline_McElwee: - A true legend, in every sense of the word. RIP, Tina

>150 Caroline_McElwee: Depressing news...another piece of the past gone. I'll miss her presence but still enjoy her music.

John Dunning, author of the Cliff Janeway mysteries (eg Booked to Die), has died at 81. Obituary: https://denvergazette.com/obituaries/john-dunning-bibliophile-bookseller-antiqua...

>154 richardderus: Damn. I bought a title or two from his Old Algonquin Books website long ago. And I liked Janeway.

Excellent obit; how sad that he suffered for so long. I read the first few in the series and liked them; not sure why I stopped. Guess it was because there werent any more He led a long full life, touched many lives. May his name be for a blessing

That really was so sad and I often wondered why he hadn't written more of the Janeway series. One of the few series I've kept on my shelves through various moves and down-sizings.

>155 laytonwoman3rd: Janeway appealed to me, too, Linda3rd. It's been so long since there was a new one that I figured he was in trouble, but the story is so saddening.

>156 cindydavid4: It really is very sad. In a funny way I feel relieved that he's gone. Not suffering is a good thing, but I am sad that he couldn't write anymore. That's torture to a Writer.

>157 dudes22: I was always curious as to why the stories never got a TV adaptation. Something like MURDER, SHE WROTE seemed like a natural to me.

>160 richardderus: - Yeah - me too!

The Girl from Ipanema has left us.

Astrud Gilberto, bossa nova singer of "The Girl from Ipanema", dies aged 83

>162 kidzdoc: my parents had Bossa Nova records, and I still enjoy the music genre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWGRO9KH8Mc

>163 fuzzi: The album Getz/Gilberto was a massive crossover hit in the US in 1965, and my parents and practically everyone else I knew owned and played it heavily. I was 4 years old at the time, and I loved that album, especially The Girl from Ipanema.

>162 kidzdoc: I loved her music.

>164 kidzdoc: this was one of my parents' albums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s4Z0_ayXH8&list=PLDW0TBtbwM022UoA6fJHJAaLjW...

Still love that kind of music.

Cormac McCarthy has died.

>168 laytonwoman3rd: What a loss. Brilliant writer.

Wow, definitely a loss!

>168 laytonwoman3rd: Very sad.

>169 PlatinumWarlock:, >170 drneutron:, >171 Caroline_McElwee: Indeed. As I've said on another thread, I am probably finished with McCarthy, although I certainly haven't read everything he wrote. I admire his brilliance, and have enjoyed several of his novels, but have less tolerance for the darkness than I used to.

>168 laytonwoman3rd: I am very saddened by that news, Linda. Thankful though that he left us with two more additions to his canon last year.

Rest in peace creative and politician Glenda Jackson.

>175 Caroline_McElwee: I used to adore Glenda Jackson. Very sad.

Also lost Gordon McQueen yesterday who played for my club Leeds United in the 1970s. I remember when Jimmy Armfield was our manager I used to regularly go and watch the team train when they were training on Fullarton Park right next to the ground. Gordon McQueen was recovering from injury and my brother and I spent a couple of hours with him and it was really wonderful that he took the time to talk to two young (and doubtless annoying) fans.
Was devastated when he upped and left to our biggest rivals Manchester United but he was always a favourite of mine.

>175 Caroline_McElwee: I recall her in Elizabeth R (50+ years later) but loved her in Hopscotch, an unpretentious little film from 1980.

>175 Caroline_McElwee: - I saw her as King Lear on Broadway a few years ago and she was mesmerizing.

>175 Caroline_McElwee: I so wanted to see that! I remember her in touch of classand turtle Diary Pretty sure I saw all of her Mary and Elizabeth movies.

>178 katiekrug: She was a brave and challenging actor and eventually politician. I attended a few meetings where she was present but I never really had the courage to go over and engage her in conversation.

Her momentous love scenes in Women in Love where she apparently actually went all the way with Oliver Reed (it certainly looked like it!) were groundbreaking and she was simply a very, very accomplished actress.

>178 katiekrug: So lucky Katie. I saw her last production before she became a politician, Phaedra, and took my bro to the stage door to get his programme signed. She was very gracious.

Carol Higgins Clark, mystery author and daughter of Mary Higgins Clark, died at age 66 of appendix cancer.

https://www.northjersey.com/obituaries/ber116516

Daniel Ellsberg https://www.npr.org/2023/06/16/1162158609/daniel-ellsberg-obituary-pentagon-pape...

>182 lindapanzo: - I never heard of appendix cancer. Yikes

>183 cindydavid4: Oh dear. He was my mother's cousin. I've met him a couple of times, once before the PP - he was on his way to Vietnam at the time, and I recall he was wearing a naval uniform - or that might have been another guest as we lived on a naval base.

>184 jessibud2: Right? Sneaky useless little organ...

ETA: I just read (and I'm sure I hadn't heard this before) that appendix cancer is what Sue Grafton died of as well. Apparently it's a professional hazard for mystery authors?

RIP Alan Arkin Frightened the wits out of me and Audrey Hepburn way back when.

oh my , little miss sunshine and argo are among my fave great actor

from the obit "Noting that a lot of actors “are better at pretending to be other people than they are at being themselves,” he wrote, “When things get tense, when I start taking my work a bit too seriously, I remind myself that I’m only pretending to be a human being.”

RIP Milan Kundera

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/12/milan-kundera-the-unbearable-light...

>190 FAMeulstee: Very sad to see two of the writers who really ought to have won the Nobel Prize passing within weeks of each other. First Cormac McCarthy and now Milan Kundera.

Coco Lee marvelous singer So sad, way too young

https://globalnews.ca/news/9814448/coco-lee-dead-mulan-crouching-tiger/

Oh, my. Tony Bennett has died.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tony-bennett-dead-1123737/

never cared for his music, or sinatras or any of those crooners, but there is no question he touched many fans lives

>193 atozgrl: And at a fine age. A legend.

>195 Caroline_McElwee: and they could sing without artificial means, like autotune.

Sinéad O'Connor has died, at 56 :'(

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/2023/07/26/sinead-oconnor-acclaimed-dub...

Just saw that. So awful. I loved her singing, and she was a real, brave fighter.

So sad. The article didn't say what she died of. 56 is awfully young.

Oh no, had a long time love for her music. rest in peace may her name be for a blessing

Once an Eagle, Randy Meisner has died.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/27/entertainment/randy-meisner-death/index.html

>201 RBeffa: I used to love The Eagles. May he be flying high now.

Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman, died on Sunday.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/pee-wee-herman-actor-paul-reubens-dies-from...

>203 amanda4242: I used to watch Pee Wee's Playhouse with my kids.

Not mentioned in the article was he had a bit part in a movie, playing a stand up comedian.

He also was a waiter in The Blue Brothers.

Another Canadian music icon, gone: Robbie Robertson, of The Band, has died.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/robbie-robertson-obit-1.6931772?cmp=newsle...

>205 jessibud2: Awww...

Nick Hitchon, of *7-Up* series fame, has passed away at 65.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/movies/news/nicholas-hitchon-dies-british-farm-boy-who...

The 7-Up films was intended as a one-off documentary by a young director, Michael Apted. He talked to a bunch of 7-year-olds from a wide variety of British backrounds (ie, classes) and asked them questions. He continued to meet and talk with them and follow their life stories every 7 years until they were 63 years old. Some dropped out of the series, some were reluctant but continued, some were successful and some had sad stories. Much like life itself. And there was, of course, a book, 42 Up.

I saw the first in the series while still in university, studying to be a teacher. After that first one, I was hooked and have, of course seen every installment since. Apted passed away a few years ago so there will be no further episodes. This was a brilliant and unique, if unintentional insight into, and study of, social class and expectations. If you have never seen it, I highly recommend it. Highly.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/movies/news/nicholas-hitchon-dies-british-farm-boy-who...

>207 jessibud2: I was sad to see this. We really enjoyed the 7-Up films. If I remember correctly, in the last film Hitchon revealed he had cancer and the prognosis was not good. That doesn't make it any less sad.

The series is truly brilliant and well worth watching. Britbox has the complete collection, billed as the Up Series.

>208 lauralkeet: - Yes, Laura, he did. I was tearing up at the time when he did. He isn't the first of the participants to pass away and I was truly stunned and weepy when the first one did, was it Sue? But let's face it, they are all in their 60s now and this is the stage of life when this is no longer shocking. Apted did a spectacular job with this series and if you google the series, there are a number of very good articles about it, him, them.

>207 jessibud2: I am the same age he was, and loved watching the subsequent episodes in college and as an adult (think the last one I saw was 42 up not sure why I stopped but the last one was 63up so may want to catch up

Sorry for to hear this. Jimmy Buffett, singer and author, dead at age 76. Attributed his lifelong love of reading to his mother who wanted him to be a writer.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jimmy-buffett-legendary-escape-margaritavil...

oh no not jimmy!!!! oh man of all the ones weve lost over the last few years, this hurts the most. Saw him a couple of times when he rolled into the desert in Phx, and once in San Diego, great shows all.

we could have lost him a long time before. apparently his plane, with Bono, bonos wife and two daughters, was shot at by Jamaica police thinking it was smuggling drugs. (they did apologize, but really?)Thank goodness he had so many more years left. got his music streaming now, may be listening to it for the next day or so . He lived a long good life. May his name be for a blessing

And former governor and ambassador, Bill Richardson has died. Too young, too young, too young.

Open channel D. David McCallum has left us. But 90 is a good run. https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/david-mccallum-dead-ncis-man-from-uncle-1235734...

oh I had such a crush on him in man from uncle, Lived a long good life, may his name be forever a blessing

For the baseball fans, we've lost Brooks Robinson. Orioles remembered him by winning the game last night with a lead-off hime run after a moment of silence.

>216 drneutron: One of my all-time favorite players, Jim, though I was very young at the time he was playing. The Human Vacuum Cleaner and supposedly one of the nicest guys to ever play the game.

>217 lindapanzo: Like Linda said, Brooks Robinson was one of my all-time favorite players. Very sad to hear of his passing yesterday.

>216 drneutron: >217 lindapanzo: >218 alcottacre: He was also one of my favorite players when I first started watching baseball. What a great third baseman! From what those who knew him say, he was an even better human being. It is indeed sad news.

Spoiler Alert! Dumbledore is dead. Again. RIP, Michael Gambon.

>221 Caroline_McElwee: Sad loss. I had the pleasure of seeing him in stage a couple of times, including Beckett's Endgame, which was brilliant.

Senator Dianne Feinstein has died.

she lived a good long life; her legacy is the ceilings she broke for other women to follow May her name be for a blessing

>220 laytonwoman3rd: Memories from Gambon's fellow actors:

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/oct/03/michael-gambon-daniel-craig-penelo...

I saw this on the Kirkus Reviews website and thought I would pass it along:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/childrens-author-eve-bu...

I am afraid I am not familiar with Bunting's work.

>225 alcottacre: I read her Sing a Song of Piglets and enjoyed it, though the illustrations didn't hurt!

>226 fuzzi: My local library has quite a few of Bunting's books - but not that one, of course :)

Louise Glück died.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/oct/13/louise-gluck-prize-winning-america...

>228 FAMeulstee: I was sad to read this Anita.

>228 FAMeulstee: Also very sad to see this news. I have read a lot of her work since she was awarded the Nobel and a fine body of work it was too. She will be sorely missed.