Category: Obituaries
-
If Obituaries Were Objective . . .
. . . some of them might read like this. Professor X was a good teacher and colleague. Affable and self-effacing, he was well-liked by all. He was quick with a joke and to light up your smoke — at least back in the good old days when some of us smoked in our offices…
-
Alan Colmes (1950-2017)
Being a nice guy covers a multitude of sins. I find it impossible not to feel sad over the passing of the gentlemanly and mild-mannered Alan Colmes who died at age 66. But he really was a foolish and benighted leftist. Better Right than nice. From a 2010 post of mine: This [the racism charge]…
-
Nat Hentoff, Defender of Human Life (1925-2017)
I have been a fan of Nat Hentoff ever since I first read him in the pages of Down Beat magazine way back in the '60s. He died at 91 on January 7th. My tribute to him is a repost from 4 June 2012: A Prime Instance of Political Correctness: The Blackballing of Nat Hentoff…
-
So Long, John Glenn
The third American into space, and the first to orbit the Earth, John Glenn is dead at 95. In those days American greatness was evident. America can become great again. President-Elect Trump's speech last night at the Iowa rally on his 'thank you' tour referenced Glenn and the need to revitalize the space program. A…
-
Ron Radosh on Tom Hayden
The times they are a changin'. Former commie Ron Radosh on Tom Hayden, life-long leftist, who died in October at 76.
-
He Was a Friend of Mine
John F. Kennedy was assassinated 53 years ago today. Here is The Byrds' tribute to the slain leader. They took a traditional song and redid the lyrics. Here Willie Nelson does a great job with the traditional song. You Dylan aficionados will want to give a listen to young Bob's rendition of the old song. I…
-
Dale Jacquette (1953 – 2016)
Professor Dale Jacquette died suddenly and unexpectedly at his home in August of this year at the age of 63. I remember Dale from the summer of 1984. We were fellow seminarians in Hector-Neri Castañeda's National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar at Indiana University in Bloomington. Dale struck me at the time as a…
-
Hugh J. McCann (1942 – 2016)
A somewhat belated notice. Professor McCann, a noted contributor to the philosophies of action and religion, died on 22 February 2016. He was born on 27 December 1942. We honor a philosopher by studying his works, thinking his thoughts, and building upon them. I have at least two substantial posts on McCann. Could God and the…
-
Hilary Putnam (1926 – 2016)
Martha C. Nussbaum: On March 13, America lost one of the greatest philosophers this nation has ever produced. Hilary Putnam died of cancer at the age of 89. Those of us who had the good fortune to know Putnam as mentees, colleagues, and friends remember his life with profound gratitude and love, since Hilary was…
-
Remembering Bob Koepp
Robert V. Koepp, long-time commenter at this weblog, died on Leap Day, 2012. Here is what I had to say about him in 2012.
-
John Lennon 34 Years Later
John Lennon was gunned down this night in 1980 by Mark David Chapman. I remember that night well: a student of mine called me in the middle of it to report the slaying. Lennon was my least favorite Beatle due to his silly utopianism, as expressed in the lyrically inane 'Imagine,' but this tune of…
-
A Commonplace Blog: Uncommonly Good, Now at an End
I headed over to D. G. Myers' high-level literary weblog this afternoon only to find that its penultimate post, dated 22 July, was the last by Myers. The final entry, dated 29 September, by his sister-in-law, records his death. And then I recalled that Myers had written some friendly but trenchant critiques of my amateur…
-
Theodore Dalrymple: A Man Who Had Never Heard of Robin Williams
Until he hung hanged himself, that is. Williams, that is. I knew who Williams was, though I have seen only two of his films, The Dead Poets' Society and Mrs. Doubtfire. From what I know of the others I have no desire to see them. The gushing over celebrities at their passing is as tolerable…
-
The Lonesome Death of an Old Australian Woman
Here (HT: Karl White) A ninety year old woman died in her home in Auburn. She had decomposed through the floor before she was found six months later. The diaries found in her belongings shed light on this lonely and brilliant mind. Watch the documentary above, and read further excerpts from her diaries below. Related…
-
Ten Years After: Remembering Sidney Morgenbesser
I don't envy anybody anything, but if I were to envy somebody something, I would envy my friend Peter Lupu his friendship with Sidney Morgenbesser. ‘Yeah, Yeah’: Eulogy for Sidney Morgenbesser, Philosopher With a Yiddish Accent Wieseltier on Sidney NYT obituary Related articles Sidney Morgenbesser's Sense of Humor Morgenbesserisms