The RIP Famous Person Thread

[Storekeeper]

Folksy Ex-Senator and 'Law & Order' Actor Fred Thompson Dies at 73

Thought he was a decent actor and a decent human being.

RIP

[bobo746]

[panama hat]

Thought he was a decent actor and a decent human being.

Seemed to be, though it was tough seeing which persona he was portraying at any given time.

Saw a lengthy interview with him a while ago - he seemed a genuinely nice man

[Humbert]

Thought he was a decent actor and a decent human being.

I remember watching the Watergate hearings every day on my little 14 inch portable black and white TV up in my attic studio. Fred Thompson was minority counsel. The respect that all the members, both Democrat and Republican, had for each other and the level of civility is a far cry from the level of vitriol we have today in our politics.

[harrybarracuda]

No brownie points from me for trying to exploit the elderly on Fox News, which used to run this ad constantly.

An Open Letter to Fred Thompson About Those Reverse-Mortgage Ads - Punchnels

http://gawker.com/5574904/fred-thomp...erse-mortgages

Founded in 2004, and approved by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, AAG is one the nation's leaders in reverse mortgages.

However, here's what your grandma needs to know: Fred Thompson, the former United States Senator and fictional New York City Prosecutor (Law & Order) and rear admiral (Hunt for Red October) is the spokesman for AAG's line of reverse mortgages. And he clearly hates old people. A lot. Otherwise, why else would he endorse such a fiscally damaging investment instrument? Here's how a reverse mortgage works. If you're over 62, seniors can access the equity in their home - and they do not have to make any interest or principal payments for as long as they live in the house. They can get a lump sum payout or get cash in monthly installments. That's the good news. Now, here's the bad news.

• In a reverse mortgage, just like a regular mortgage, borrowers have to pay points, origination fees, etc up front. So, getting the money is expensive. Which will be a hardship on senior citizens who are already cash strapped.

• The interest rate on a reverse mortgage is most often higher than that of a conventional mortgage. Plus, it's compounded monthly. Meaning, every month -- since seniors are not paying down the principal -- they are paying interest on more and more money.

• If if becomes necessary for an elderly person to move into an assisted living facility - at least 25% will need this between ages 62 & 95, while 50% over 95 will need assisted living care -- the loan must be paid back, in full, first. This could leave the borrower with no money what-so-ever -- if they lived longer than they budgeted for -- and an inability to afford the extra care they need. It also shifts the burden of caring to children... or the state.

[harrybarracuda]

Thomas Blatt, Who Escaped Death Camp During Revolt, Dies at 88
By SAM ROBERTS
NOV. 2, 2015




Thomas Blatt, one of the few survivors of a rare revolt and mass escape from a Nazi death camp in occupied Poland during World War II, died on Saturday at his home in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 88.

The cause was complications of dementia, his daughter Rena Smith said.

Mr. Blatt was 16 on Oct. 14, 1943, when he and several hundred other prisoners staged an uprising against Nazi SS officers and the Ukrainian guards at the Sobibor extermination camp. His parents and younger brother had been gassed there six months earlier.

Searchers captured and killed about 150 of the escapees. Mr. Blatt, who was shot in the jaw by a Polish farmer after his escape, was one of only about 50 who survived for nearly a year, until advancing Russian troops routed the Germans.

A half-century later, he testified in Germany at the war crimes trial of John Demjanjuk, a retired Ohio autoworker who was prosecuted as a former death camp guard, accused of willingly participating in the killing of Jews at the Treblinka, Majdanek and Sobibor camps.

He was convicted in 2011 as an accessory to murder, but insisted that he had never been a camp guard. He died in 2012 before his appeal was resolved.

At the trial, Mr. Blatt bore witness to the brutal behavior of the 150 or so Ukrainian guards at Sobibor who reported to about 30 German SS officers. But he said he was unable to identify Mr. Demjanjuk specifically. “I don’t remember the faces of my parents right now,” he told The Associated Press at the time. “How could I remember him?”

Tomasz Toivi Blatt was born in Izbica, a largely Jewish shtetl in the Lublin district of Poland, on April 15, 1927, the son of Leon and Masha Felicia Blatt.

His family was sent to a ghetto in 1942 after the Germans invaded, then deported to Sobibor, southeast of Warsaw, where his parents and 10-year-old brother, Henryk, were immediately killed.

“There were our last steps in life,” he wrote in a memoir, “Sobibor: The Forgotten Revolt — A Survivor’s Report.” “The sun was still high in the sky, birds were singing. It was such a beautiful spring day. I didn’t want to die.”

Exactly why he was singled out for survival by a guard was unclear. He was fair and blue-eyed, energetic and determined, and he was put to work fixing fences, burning documents, sorting victims’ belongings, cutting women’s hair before they were herded into the gas chamber, and sorting victims’ belongings.

“I recognized my mother’s clothes, and I realized my parents were no longer alive,” he said. “Sobibor was a death factory.”

He moved to Israel in 1958 and then to the United States a year later, eventually settling in Santa Barbara, where he owned several electronics stores.

He wrote two books (the second was “From the Ashes of Sobibor: A Story of Survival,” with Christopher R. Browning) and a manuscript that became the basis for a television film, “Escape From Sobibor,” starring Alan Arkin and Rutger Hauer.

Mr. Blatt interviewed the former camp commander as part of his research, working with Richard Rashke, an author, to find other survivors in a campaign to preserve the Sobibor site as a memorial to the Jews from Poland, the Soviet Union and the Netherlands who died there. He frequently traveled to Poland to visit a daughter, Hanna Stankiewicz, from a second marriage.

In addition to Ms. Stankiewicz and Ms. Smith, he is survived by a son, Leonard; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

“Witnessing genocide is overwhelming; writing about it is soul shattering,” Mr. Blatt said.

But a friend from Warsaw, Alan Heath, told The Associated Press that while Mr. Blatt had suffered from nightmares and depression, he never harbored feelings of revenge.

“Despite what had happened to his family,” Mr. Heath said, “he constantly repeated that one should not hate, and he certainly bore no malice toward Germans — and urged others to do the same.”

[david44]

Jazz great
Don Rendell RIP

Don Rendell, the saxophonist, who has died aged 89, was a leading figure in British jazz for more than half a century.
An inspiring teacher as well as a superb saxophonist, Rendell was remarkable for his restless pursuit of originality and openness to new ideas. He recorded regularly throughout his career, many of his albums being reissued and discovered by successive generations of jazz lovers.
Donald Percy Rendell was born in Plymouth on August 14 1926. His father, Percy Rendell, was an organist, conductor and composer of church music, his best known work being the anthem Jesu, Our Hope. For a while, during Don’s early childhood, Percy Rendell held the post of musical director with the Carl Rosa opera company.
His son, however, preferred football to music, although he did sing in the choir of St Michael’s, Chester Square. His singing gained him a choral half-scholarship at City of London School. When war broke out, the entire school was evacuated to Marlborough College and it was here, away from parental influence, that the young Rendell heard jazz for the first time. “It was like a light being switched on,” he recalled. He acquired a saxophone and was soon playing in a band of fellow jazz enthusiasts.
Don Rendell playing the saxophone
Don Rendell playing the saxophone Photo: National Jazz Archive/Heritage Images/Getty Images
His father died when Rendell was 16. He left school and started work at the Southgate branch of Barclays Bank. By this time, however, he had become a competent saxophonist. He left the band and joined Hal Moss and his Mayfair Swingtet in Scarborough, followed by stints with the Gay Cuban Serenaders, the Rhythm Racketeers (motto: “Rhythm is our Business”), and numerous others. In later life he loved reeling off the list of improbably named bands in which he had spent his later teenage years.
A conscientious objector, Rendell served in Ensa (the Entertainments National Service Association) and played for a while in a show staged for American servicemen starring James Cagney. He was delighted by the plentiful supply of GI food, but shocked by the overt racism among all ranks.
His break into the elite corps of “name” bands came in 1947, when he joined Oscar Rabin and his Orchestra, with whom he made his first featured recording, a modern jazz version of the song Cherokee.
Rendell left Rabin in 1949, “to play jazz and hang about in jazz clubs”, in particular Club Eleven, the home of a cell of musical revolutionaries devoted to the new jazz of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. From this was launched the Johnny Dankworth Seven, Britain’s first full-time band dedicated to playing modern jazz. Rendell joined it in 1950. “There were constant headlines about us in the music papers, tours abroad, regular recording sessions,” he recalled. “It was all very exciting.”
He formed his own band, the Don Rendell Sextet, in 1954. It was among the finest European bands of its day, and with its cool, mellow sound, witty arrangements and imaginative soloists it appealed to the more discerning jazz lovers. Unfortunately, there were not enough of these to sustain a professional band. With mounting debts, Rendell was forced to call a halt within a year. Shortly afterwards, he joined Britain’s most popular band, Ted Heath and his Music, and paid off his debts in a few weeks.
In 1956 he toured Europe with the American bandleader Stan Kenton, replacing a musician whom Kenton had fired, and at the end of the tour recorded in Paris with a small group of Kenton musicians.
In 1958 Rendell experienced a religious conversion and became a Jehovah’s Witness. “It occurred to me,” he later said, “that I had been a self-indulgent man and a selfish husband, having an exciting time with no thought for others.” To embody this change of life, he joined the BBC Show Band, directed by Cyril Stapleton – a position in which the prospect of exciting times was virtually nil. “For the first time in years I felt like an ordinary person.”
He toured with an Anglo-American band under the leadership of Woody Herman in 1959 and formed a new quintet at the end of that year. It included Graham Bond, an explosive and mercurial alto saxophonist, and together they struck out in a new stylistic direction, moving from the cool, smooth sound to a rougher, more passionate approach. The New Don Rendell Quintet secured a contract with Jazzland Records, the first British modern jazz group to be signed directly by an American label. It lasted until 1962.
In that year Rendell met the trumpeter Ian Carr, a largely self-taught player with drive and initiative and a fresh, lyrical style. The band they formed together, the Rendell-Carr Quintet, proved to be the most successful of Rendell’s career. The combination of his experience and Carr’s innovative instincts enabled them to reach the kind of young audience which otherwise might have written jazz off as old-fashioned. Through its albums, particularly Shades of Blue (1964) and Dusk Fire (1966), the quintet met with international acclaim. It appeared at the Antibes Festival and was voted Band of the Year three years in succession by readers of Melody Maker.
While Carr went on to lead Nucleus, an even more successful jazz-rock band, Rendell continued to enjoy working with the younger generation of British musicians, such as Neil Ardley, Michael Garrick and Barbara Thompson. He also found a new career as a teacher, first in London schools and on summer courses, and later at Goldsmiths College, the Royal Academy and the Guildhall.
Among his private pupils was the actor Warren Mitchell, a jazz lover and amateur saxophonist. Rendell claimed that his stock with neighbours rocketed when Alf Garnett began turning up on his doorstep.
Advancing age obliged him to cut back on performing and teaching, but Rendell was musically active into his eighties.
He is survived by his wife and daughter.
Don Rendell, born August 14 1926, died October 20 2015

[harrybarracuda]

Prominent Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi dead: state TV, MPs



BAGHDAD - Ahmed Chalabi, the smooth-talking Iraqi politician who played a role in persuading the United States to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, died on Tuesday of a heart attack, state television and two parliamentarians said.

Haitham al-Jabouri, secretary of parliament's financial panel, which Chalabi had chaired, said attendants had found him dead in his bed in his Baghdad home. REUTERS

[harrybarracuda]

Actor and Oscar-winning writer Colin Welland dies aged 81
03/11/2015 - 14:04:30



Oscar-winning writer and actor Colin Welland has died aged 81, his family has announced.
Colin, a Lancashire-born father-of-four who acted in everything from Kes to Z Cars, won his Academy Award for the screenplay of Chariots of Fire in 1981 – famously waving his statue and announcing in his acceptance speech: “The British are coming!”
His family said in a statement that he had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for several years, but died peacefully in his sleep.

In a statement released via his literary agent Anthony Jones, his family said: “Colin will be desperately missed by his family and friends.
“Alzheimer’s is a cruel illness and there have been difficult times but in the end Colin died peacefully in his sleep.
“We are proud of Colin’s many achievements during his life but most of all he will be missed as a loving and generous friend, husband, father and granddad.”
Colin, who died last night, is survived by his wife Patricia, four children and six grandchildren.

Chariots of Fire told the story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice.
On winning the award for Best Original Screenplay for the film at the Academy Awards in 1982, Welland warned the American audience: “The British are coming!” – a famous quotation attributed to US revolutionary war hero Paul Revere.
His writing credits also include Yanks (1979), which starred Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Gere, and the screenplay for Twice in a Lifetime (1985).
As well as screenwriting, Welland had an acting career, appearing as Pc David Graham in BBC series Z-Cars and as a villain in The Sweeney. He also starred the films Kes in 1969 and Sweeney! in 1977.
Born Colin Williams in Lancashire, he considered Liverpool his home town.

Actor and Oscar-winning writer Colin Welland dies aged 81 | BreakingNews.ie

[harrybarracuda]

It seems it's the screenwriters' turn.

ET The Extra Terrestrial screenwriter Melissa Mathison dies, aged 65

By WMNJBayley | Posted: November 05, 2015

By WMN reporter



Melissa Mathison, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” and Martin Scorsese’s “Kundun,” died on Wednesday of neuroendocrine cancer. She was 65.

Her sister, Melinda Johnson, confirmed the news to The Associated Press.

Mathison was an accomplished writer whose career in film spanned over 30 years. She penned screenplays for movies like “The Black Stallion” (1979), “The Escape Artist” (1982), “The Indian in the Cupboard” (1995) and “Kundun” (1997).

Her most recent work was the screenplay for “The BFG,” an upcoming Spielberg film based on the beloved Roald Dahl children’s book of the same name. The movie, due to be released in 2016, is currently in post-production.

But for all her achievements, Mathison is probably best remembered for her role in the creation of 1982’s “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial,” for which she earned an Oscar nomination for original screenplay. Mathison also served as an assistant producer on the film.

On a DVD special edition of “E.T.,” Spielberg said Mathison’s script was key to the movie’s success.

“Melissa delivered this 107-page first draft to me and I read it in about an hour,” Spielberg said, per The Guardian. “I was just knocked out. It was a script I was willing to shoot the next day. It was so honest, and Melissa’s voice made a direct connection with my heart.”

Spielberg remembered his former colleague as having “a heart that shined with generosity and love and burned as bright as the heart she gave E.T.”

Mathison, who was married to actor Harrison Ford for 21 years before they divorced in 2004, had two children, Variety reports.

She was also a long-time friend of the Dalai Lama, and an advocate for Tibetan independence.

In the wake of Mathison’s death, fans and celebrities took to social media to express their gratitude and appreciation of the talented writer.

[Storekeeper]

^ Sad. The older I get the younger 65 seems.

RIP

[misskit]

^True. A 66-year-old friend died this week. Was shocking to me. So young!



Batmobile Creator George Barris Dies at 89



George Barris, the car designer who created the iconic 1966 Batmobile for the Batman television series, has died, according to a Facebook post written by his son, Brett Barris. He was 89.

"Sorry to have to post that my father, legendary kustom car king George Barris, has moved to the bigger garage in the sky," Brett Barris wrote. "He passed on peacefully in his sleep at 2:45 am. He was surrounded by his family in the comfort of his home. He lived his life they way he wanted til the end. He would want everyone to celebrate the passion he had for life and for what he created for all to enjoy."

Barris was born in Chicago in 1925 but he moved to Northern California as a child, graduating from San Juan High School in Citrus Heights (near Sacramento).

Barris began building model cars and customizing at an early age. The first car he and his brother Sam (who was later his business partner) made was from a 1925 Buick and in high school he created his first full custom using a 1936 Ford convertible as the base. Barris made a name for himself when he moved to Los Angeles after World War II, launching Barris Kustom Industries with Sam. His first shop was on Compton Avenue but for a long time his shop has been located in North Hollywood.

The popularity of his cars caught the eye of Hollywood, and his first film assignments included work on cars for Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, 1958's High School Confidential and 1960’s The Time Machine.

His biggest impact occurred when ABC asked him to create a signature vehicle for Batman. Barris rolled out a Lincoln concept car called the Lincoln Futura that he had kept in storage for about decade and used that as his base, constructing the car in just 15 days.

It was built for $15,000, though Barris purchased the Futura for $1. Barris kept the car in his personal collection and in 2013 sold the car at auction for $4.6 million.

"Growing up I wanted to fight crime just so I could drive George's Batmobile," said DC Entertainment co-publisher Jim Lee. "It was my great honor to get to meet him in person recently and to thank him for his contributions to the world of Batman, and there was no greater thrill than getting to sit in that Batmobile from my childhood."

DC issued a statement calling Barris "a true creative genius," adding "George's design contributions to the legendary 1966 Batmobile thrilled fans of the classic Batman TV show, left an indelible mark on Batman legacy and lore and is still recognized as one of the most iconic vehicles of all time."

The success of Batman and the Batmobile led to more work, including Mannix, The Beverly Hillbillies, Knight Rider and designing the Munster Koach for The Munsters, among others. He also designed novelty cars or performed customizations for celebrities ranging from Bob Hope to John Wayne to Elton John.

Barris was also a savvy marketer. From early on he traveled the country showing off his custom (or Kustom as he liked to spell it) cars, always being sure to display the Barris name prominently. In the late 1950s, he teamed with toy model company Revell to produce kits of some of his custom cars, which were a huge hit (and a lucrative revenue stream for Barris).

Barris married Shirley Nahas in 1958. They had two children, a daughter Joji and a son Brett. Shirley passed away in 2001. Sam died in 1967. His two children survive him. Complete information on other survivors is not known.

George Barris Dead: Batmobile Creator Was 89 - Hollywood Reporter


Do I pass? Is he famous? His death made world news....

[harrybarracuda]

Do I pass? Is he famous? His death made world news....

I'm sure even Cujo has seen Kit or the Batmobile.

[harrybarracuda]

This one might get a round of applause.

Former West German Leader Helmut Schmidt Dies, Aged 96
November 10, 2015Posted by Kevin CoyPublished in World New

Former Chancellor of West Germany, Helmut Schmidt has died at the age of 96.

Schmidt served as German Chancellor for the Social Democratic party (SPD) for eight years, between 1974 and 1982.

Prior to that, he served as the Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance.

Schmidt is credited with laying the foundations for the European Monetary Union, which would later spawn the Euro currency, and the European Central Bank.

Despite increasing deafness in later years, Schmidt remained politically active, regularly commenting on European affairs, having beein a strong supporter of a closer European Union during his time in office.

In September, Schmidt underwent surgery to remove a blood clot in his leg, however his condition deteriorated at the beginning of November.

Hmmmm

"Despite increasing deafness in later years, Schmidt remained politically active, regularly commenting"


I'm guessing his comments ranged from "EH?" to "WHAT?".

[ChiangMai noon]

Why talk bad of the dead?

Especially when your comments are spurious political nonsense.

Seems a bit of a sad thing to do, don't you agree?

Then again.....

[harrybarracuda]

Why talk bad of the dead?

Especially when your comments are spurious political nonsense.

Seems a bit of a sad thing to do, don't you agree?

Then again.....

I'll let history be the judge.

Oh, it already has.

[Takeovers]

Helmut Schmdt was highly regarded in Germany by people from all parties.

His rise to fame and becoming Chancellor began in 1962 when he handled the flood desaster in northern Germany. He brilliantly managed the whole rescue effort exceeding his limited authority with almost everything he did. He was politically in charge of police in Hamburg, no more. But without authorization he built up the disaster response, managing police in Hamburg and other regions affected. He called in the german armed forces, the Bundeswehr, and every other group of people who could do anything. He even called in the US forces, just because he had met a top US general at a party before, so he phoned him and asked him to send help. Everybody did what he asked, just because it made the most sense. Nobody questioned his authority, not then and not later. When the mayor of Hamburg told him to come in and report on his activities, he rejected the command saying he was too busy for reporting.

[harrybarracuda]

Helmut Schmdt was highly regarded in Germany by people from all parties.

So was Hitler at one point.

[david44]

Till Death do us part star Warren Mitchell, inspiration for Archie bunker in USA

Warren Mitchell dies aged 89
Actor known for starring in Till Death Us Do Part and In Sickness and in Health has died after long period of illness, says his family
Warren Mitchell dies aged 89 | Television & radio | The Guardian
Actor Warren Mitchell, best known for starring as Alf Garnett, has died aged 89.

A statement from the Till Death Us Do Part star’s family said: “Sadly we can confirm Warren Mitchell died in the early hours of Saturday 14 November surrounded by his family.

“He has been in poor health for some time, but was cracking jokes to the last.”



Family member Jerry Barnett tweeted: “Just got the news my great uncle Warren Mitchell (aka Alf Garnett) died last night. The last of his generation, wonderful and funny man RIP.”

Many people paid tributes to the TV star on social media following news of his death.

Comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted: “Alf Garnett was one of the most influential and important characters and performances in comedy history. RIP Warren Mitchell.”

Theatre director Rupert Goold wrote: “RIP Warren Mitchell. A deeply soulful and erudite man who genuinely loved the theatre.”

Another fan wrote: “Sad to hear of the death of Warren Mitchell. Socialist through and through, terrific actor and inspiration RIP”

Born Warren Misell in Stoke Newington, north London, he served in the Royal Air Force and then went on to study physics at University College, Oxford.

He did not finish the course, instead taking up acting in 1951 at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

His role as Alf Garnett was his big break, and the controversial character came to be much-loved by the British public.

Off-screen, Mitchell was an ardent Tottenham Hotspur supporter, but his character Garnett was a West Ham United fan.

[kmart]

Phil Taylor of Motorhead (known as "Philthy Animal Taylor").

Fantastic drummer defined Motorhead's sound during their early (and best) 3-man line-up. 61 yo is a good old age for a bloke who lived and played that fast, tbh.
Phil 'Philthy Animal' Taylor, drummer - obituary - Telegraph

RIP.

[harrybarracuda]

Britain's best-known madam Cynthia Payne dies aged 82
SEBASTIAN MANN



Britain's most famous madam Cynthia Payne - best-known for hosting a sex party in the 1970s where old men paid with luncheon vouchers for lewd entertainment - has died aged 82, her family said.

"Madame Cyn", as she was nicknamed, was immortalised by films in the 1980s, including one starring Julie Walters.

Family friend Kevin Horkin described her as "a national treasure" and an "extremely colourful archetypal English eccentric".

Mr Horkin added: "She was a person with a very big heart. She is someone who epitomised the phrase 'what you saw is what you got'.

"Her beliefs however, shone through strongly in the campaigning activity she was involved with in order to change Britain's sex laws, publicising the issue when she stood for Parliament on two occasions in the Kensington and Chelsea by-election of 1988 and in the General Election of 1992 in Streatham.

"She is someone who will be very sorely missed by all who knew her."

Payne first hit the headlines in 1978 when police raided a sex party at her home to find elderly men paying luncheon vouchers for lewd entertainment.

She stood trial in 1980 and was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, reduced to six months and a fine on appeal, for running a brothel.

The films "Wish You Were Here" and "Personal Services" told the story of her life.

Additional reporting by the Press Association

Britain's best-known madam Cynthia Payne dies aged 82 | UK | News | London Evening Standard

[harrybarracuda]

P.F. Sloan – the songwriter behind “Eve Of Destruction” and “Secret Agent Man” – has died aged 70.



Sloan signed his first record deal when he was 13 and went on to write songs for artists including the Turtles, Jan & Dean, the Searchers and Herman’s Hermits.

His biggest hit, though, was Barry McGuire’s “Eve Of Destruction“.


A statement issued by his American publicist confirmed the news of Sloan’s death.

“It is with deepest sadness that we are announcing that P.F. Sloan (Phil) passed away on the evening of November 15, 2015, at his home in Los Angeles. Phil had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer several weeks before and was fighting it valiantly. The world has lost one of its great talents.

“Phil was a key element on the music that became the sound of the Sunset Strip. Phil was a true prodigy, signing his first record deal with Aladdin Records when he was thirteen. He recently published his memoirs, What’s Exactly The Matter With Me? with S.E. Feinberg, and his latest album, My Beethoven has recently been released on Foothill Records.

“P.F. Sloan’s ‘Eve Of Destruction‘ was an anthem for a generation. It is as relevant now as it ever has been.”


The statement also quoted from a 1965 interview with Bob Dylan, who said, “If you want to find out anything that’s happening now, you have to listen to the music. I don’t mean the words, although ‘Eve Of Destruction’ will tell you something about it.”






Read more at P.F. Sloan, songwriter, dies aged 70 - Uncut

[palexxxx]

All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu dead at 40



Tom Decent

• inShare

RIP Jonah Lomu: All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu has passed away, aged 40. Photo: Craig Golding

The rugby world is in mourning following the tragic death of All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu.
The former New Zealand winger, the star of the 1995 World Cup, was 40.
The All Blacks team doctor said it was an unexpected death, according to a report from New Zealand television station 3News.
Lomu played 63 Tests for the All Blacks in a glittering career cut short by kidney disease.


All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu dead at 40

[harrybarracuda]

Jaysus that's young, fellah.

What a shame.

[panama hat]

Helmut Schmdt was highly regarded in Germany by people from all parties.

So was Hitler at one point.

Umm, no. He wasn't . . . and your comment is quite off the mark -he was a great politician in the positive sense of the word


As for Lomu:

A fitting tribute by Fitzi:

Jonah Lomu's death so sad – How can such a force of nature no longer be with us?

Still so young, at just 40, and such a force of nature, such a giant of rugby.
For all of us, the memories crowd back.
When he burst upon the rugby scene at the Rugby World Cup in 1995, none of us had ever seen anything like him. In an age when wingers tended to be built like thermometers, here was a bloke built like a rampaging second-rower, who could nevertheless run the 100 metres in about 11 seconds, with a football in his hands!

The All Blacks played in seven matches in South Africa, Lomu played in six of them and I saw them all – covering it for the Sydney Morning Herald – with, impossibly, each performance more stunning the last, right up until the final. In the early pool game, under lights at Ellis Park, Lomu got the ball just two metres out from his own line in the corner, and started off up field.
Lomu!
The Irish threw everything at him, including their entire forward pack. He bumped, he weaved, he shimmied, he shook, he outpaced, he slowed down and then accelerated once more, as the crowd leapt to its feet. I kid you not, by the time he put the ball down at the other end of the field, of course between the posts, I counted seven still prone Irish players, dotted around the field, marking the course he had taken!
It is a part of rugby folklore that, so impressive was Lomu in that tournament that, as it went on, an eight-year-old boy living just out of Christchurch, wrote a fax in his childish scrawl to the All Blacks, saying: "Dear All Blacks, Remember, rugby is a team game. All 14 of yers, pass the ball to Jonah."
And so they did, and never more so than in the semi-final against England in Cape Town. By now, the whole rugby world was watching Lomu, and from the kick-off the ball was quickly passed to him out on the left wing. Lomu jigged, jagged, weaved and went straight over some Englishmen – a "freight-train in ballet shoes," I described him. Finally, there was only the English fullback, slender Mike Catt, between him and the line. Catt, to his great credit, did not back off, and actually managed to get himself tangled in the wheels of the said freight train and tried to hold on to Lomu's shorts for dear life. No matter, Lomu continued to the line, bumping Catt out of the way, and scored, just 30 seconds into the game. By match's end, he had got his hands on the ball seven times, scored four tries, and set up two.
It was the Catt try, however, that remained one of rugby's most famous and significant moments. Watching the match from London, Rupert Murdoch turned to his lieutenant Sam Chisholm, and said, "I have to have that player." Murdoch's commitment to professionalising rugby was stronger than ever, and would commit $US555 million to doing exactly that.

Some try! And yet, in a measure of the man, when, years later, Lomu was offered a great deal of money to do an advertisement for Pizza Hut, using the footage, the gentle winger declined, on the grounds it would unnecessarily humiliate the Englishman.
True, in the World Cup Final, Lomu, like the whole All Blacks side, came off a bit, but it didn't dent the Lomu legend for a minute. As the years went by he continued to put in stunning performances, amassing 37 tries, in 63 Tests, and such was his stature it even outshone the All Blacks.
In Australia, his most stunning performance came in the famed 2000 Test, at the Olympic Stadium. The All Blacks got off to a stunning 18-0 lead after just eight minutes, only for the Wallabies to fight their way back to a stunning 35-34 lead with just 30 seconds to go.
In the hands of the All Blacks, the action was so fast and furious, and the roar of the crowd so shattering, no one was actually watching Lomu until . . . just seconds to go, a spiralling pass hit a player in the chest, out on the left wing. Who is it?
LOMU! On the burst.
Three Wallabies hit him, and hit him hard, with the game in the balance. Of course he scored. The All Blacks won the match 39-35.
I always fancied, somehow, that however much Lomu was revered in New Zealand, still we loved him more in Australia. Not just for his ability, but for his humility. He was a man who had every right to swagger, but never did. It seemed odd, and not right, that such a force of nature should suffer from a debilitating kidney disease, but he never complained of it. He just got on with it.
It seems now, downright wrong, that one such as he should die so young.
But what a legacy he leaves behind, and what memories. Jonah Lomu. He changed the way the game was played. He was the most thrilling player not just of his generation, but of all time.
He will be missed.
Fairfax Media extends its deepest condolences to his family.
Twitter: @Peter_Fitz

Read more: Jonah Lomu's death so sad ? How can such a force of nature no longer be with us?
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