Thursday, January 28, 2010
J.D. Salinger, 91
When I was around six so Santa brought me a record player and a bunch of Disney LP’s to play for Christmas. Of course my parents weren’t as generous as Santa and those were the only two records I owned for a long time. I started pulling stuff from my Dad’s old collection like Alan Sherman, Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass Band and (now) one of my all time favorites The Beatles 'Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band' and on it, the last song on the second side, “A Day In the Life” is one of my all time favorites. I remember listening to that very last cord fade out into nothing… so awesome.
I was in third grade when Lennon got shot. I brought the Sgt Pepper album in and Lori G. colored John Lennon’s face in with red crayon. I was sooooo mad. Years later that album, with Lori’s artwork, disappeared out of the family stereo record rack my Mother had No idea where it went to . Years later, right before vinyl became extinct, I bought another copy. I went looking for it before I went away to college and that to was gone (along with my Led Zeppelin ‘Houses of the Holy’ but not my two Poison LP’s) again my Mother had No clue where it went to.
OK rant over… The point of all of this is that I really liked The Beatles so in seventh or eighth grade after hearing all about Mark David Chapman I went out and bought Catcher In The Rye just so I could find out for myself why this asshole would want to shoot Lennon… I didn’t get it… not sure if I even do now.
One of J.D. Salinger was a published author before he was drafted in the army in 1942 some of his works appeared in magazines such as The New Yorker and The Saturday Evening Post. He wrote his most famous and controversial novel Catcher in Rye in 1951. He received a lot of unwanted attention after Catcher was released and in 1953 fled Manhatten to New Hampshire and became somewhat of a recluse and was seen rarely in public but often riding his Jeep on his Cornish, NH compound. He married his second wife in 1955 and they had two children a son and daughter. At this time he continued to write for a few hours a day but not specifically for publication but just because he loved to. One of the few novels he published after (which was actually a bunch of previous released short stories) Catcher was ‘Franney and Zooey’ (funny I lent that novel out and it to disappeared… seems to be a reoccurring theme).
He was approached by Hollywood numberous times to make Catcher into a movie but rejected them all (one of the letters can be read here).
Salinger passed away of natural causes at his home in Cornish.
January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010
R.I.P.
Sources
I was in third grade when Lennon got shot. I brought the Sgt Pepper album in and Lori G. colored John Lennon’s face in with red crayon. I was sooooo mad. Years later that album, with Lori’s artwork, disappeared out of the family stereo record rack my Mother had No idea where it went to . Years later, right before vinyl became extinct, I bought another copy. I went looking for it before I went away to college and that to was gone (along with my Led Zeppelin ‘Houses of the Holy’ but not my two Poison LP’s) again my Mother had No clue where it went to.
OK rant over… The point of all of this is that I really liked The Beatles so in seventh or eighth grade after hearing all about Mark David Chapman I went out and bought Catcher In The Rye just so I could find out for myself why this asshole would want to shoot Lennon… I didn’t get it… not sure if I even do now.
One of J.D. Salinger was a published author before he was drafted in the army in 1942 some of his works appeared in magazines such as The New Yorker and The Saturday Evening Post. He wrote his most famous and controversial novel Catcher in Rye in 1951. He received a lot of unwanted attention after Catcher was released and in 1953 fled Manhatten to New Hampshire and became somewhat of a recluse and was seen rarely in public but often riding his Jeep on his Cornish, NH compound. He married his second wife in 1955 and they had two children a son and daughter. At this time he continued to write for a few hours a day but not specifically for publication but just because he loved to. One of the few novels he published after (which was actually a bunch of previous released short stories) Catcher was ‘Franney and Zooey’ (funny I lent that novel out and it to disappeared… seems to be a reoccurring theme).
He was approached by Hollywood numberous times to make Catcher into a movie but rejected them all (one of the letters can be read here).
Salinger passed away of natural causes at his home in Cornish.
January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010
R.I.P.
Sources
Wikipedia
New York Times
Labels: 1919 births, 2010 deaths, military, natural causes, writer
Friday, November 10, 2006
Jack Palance, 87
Doesn't seem to be a good year for the stars of 'City Slickers'. First Bruno Kirby and now Jack Palance. Hopefully Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern & Helen Slater are all still taking their vitamins. When I was a kid I didn't know that Jack Palance was a film star. I just thought he was that creepy guy from 'Ripleys Believe it Or Not'. I used to love watching that show on Sunday nights wasn't too fond of his daughter, Holly, co-hosting but it definitely jumped the shark when she was replaced by Marie Osmond.
He had an incredible striking face, which I just found out, was partially due to his boxing career and from bailing out of a burning B-24 during a training excersize. Even with plastic surgery he was left with distinct features.
His acting career started in 1947 with a stint on Broadway and he moved up to film roles by 1950. In 1991 he played Curly Washburn in the movie City Slickers for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. That year the host of the Awards show was Billy Crystal, his co-star in City Slickers. He started out his acceptance speech with "Billy Crystal...I crap bigger then him". He followed it up by doing some one arm pushups.
Mr Palance died at his home in California of natural causes.
February 18, 1919 - November 10, 2006
RIP
Labels: 1919 births, 2006 November deaths, actor, natural causes
Friday, October 14, 2005
Richard Stone Reeves, 85
In the summer of 1982, because of a serious ‘dysfunctional family moment’, my mom decided to send me to summer camp rather then drop me off at G&G B’s house. At the time I thought it was the absolute worst thing a parent could have done to a child, how dare they dump me off in the middle of god-knows-where Michigan for 8 weeks while they get to have the entire house to themselves for the summer. After being there for two weeks I couldn’t understand how I was going to go back home. Summer camp was a blast. Over the course of the next 6 years I did so many things during those 8 weeks a year that would make my parents cringe that they spent that much money.
One of the more legal things I did was learn how to ride horses, English Style, thank you very much. The first horseback riding class of the day were for the advanced riders, I moved up to that class after my first summer & half and never looked back. I think I could spend the rest of my life on the back of a horse, cantering through the woods, jumping over downed trees, giving a loose rein over a cold brook. The stable was fairly new structure, clean and study. There were two things hanging from the wall: a diagram of a horse and a piece of fly paper. I always dreamed of having my own stable with a couple of horses with a small office off to the side done up in greens, blues and brown leather and a bunch of riding trophies on one wall and paintings of my horses on the other. Assuming that this dream came true that would mean I would have a boat load of money to spend on painting, which would mean that I would have asked Richard Stone Reeves if he would honor me with portrait of my precious animals.
Richard Stone Reeves was the premier horse painter. He’s career started in 1947 by painting a portrait of the Horse of the Year, Armed. This portrait appeared in Life magazine in 1948 and commissions and a career followed from there. (Couldn't find Armed but here's Kelso)
Mr Reeves passed away on October 7th in Greenport, NY
November 6, 1919 - October 7, 2005
Labels: 1919 births, 2005 October deaths, artist, undisclosed causes
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Abe Hirschfeld, 85
The world is full of eccentrics. My Grandma was one of those people. She would hoard away bread, cans of beans, matchbooks, and money in all sorts of odd places when they were still alive and living in Detroit (near Cadiuex Cafe). My family hardly visited her, not because we were mean or disrespectful, but because she was nuts. I have a real obsession with eye boogers that I directly attribute to her...when I would spend nights over her house she would come after me first thing in the morning with a wash cloth and get every piece of crusty snot out of the corner of my eyes - nothing else mattered - I was less then human if I had pieces of green stuff out of there....and heaven forbid if I got more during the day - that's when the kleenex, with a touch of spit, would make an appearance like it did when we were shopping at Eastland, right in front of the Hudsons entrance (you know the one next to Olga's).
Abe was an eccentric too but on a much grander scale. In 2000, at the tender age of 80, he was sent to prison for hiring someone to kill his business partner. Even prison couldn't hold him down. He gave jailhouse interviews and held had long rambling phone interviews with Howard Stern (where's Gilbert).
So long Mr. Hirschfeld, I wonder how much publicity your going to get in heaven.
1919 - August 9, 2005
Labels: 1919 births, 2005 August deaths, criminal, personality, undisclosed causes
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Myron Floren, 85
When I was a my parents both worked back then so I spent A LOT of time with my Grandparents and in the days before Cable TV or Channel 20's ON there was a whole hell of a lot of TV programs that we could chose from which meant I was at the mercy of their old school tastes. There was a ton of variety shows to choose from back then: The Osmonds, my favorite, the Sonny & Cher show, One of the programs that they absolutely loved was the Lawrence Welk show...god did I hate that shit. It was too hard on the eyes - the pastels the bubbles the damn polka music with the Lawrence Welk dancers. I would rather spend my time playing Monopoly solo...but I could hear that music down the hall of their East Detroit bungalo.
Myron Floren was the main guy on the Welk show, I don't remember him though. Something about accordians makes my ears bleed. But
RIP
November 5, 1919 - July 23, 2005
Labels: 1919 births, 2005 July deaths, musician, television, undisclosed causes
