Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Obituaries

  • Carpe Diem!

    I quoted Jim Morrison on the eve of the 40th anniversary of his death: "The future's uncertain, and the end is always near." This morning I discovered that Rob Grill, lead singer of The Grassroots, has passed on.  Their first top ten hit, "Live forToday," made the charts in the fabulous and far-off Summer of…

  • Quentin Gibson (1913 – 2001)

    I first became aware of the Australian philosopher Quentin Gibson when I discovered his book The Existence Principle. It was published in 1998, when Gibson was 85 years old, in the Kluwer Philosophical Studies Series, #75. My A Paradigm Theory of Existence appeared in the same series in 2002, #89. Our approaches are radically different:…

  • Charity Before Obituary

    If we were as charitable to our fellows when they were alive as we are when we write their obituaries — what a different world it would be!

  • Confessions of an Ex-Abortionist

    Here.  By Dr. Bernard Nathanson (1926-2011)

  • George Shearing Dead at 91

    Kerouac aficionados will  recall the "Old God Shearing" passage in On the Road devoted to the late pianist George Shearing.  Here is a taste of his playing.  And another. You will have noticed, astute reader that you are, that my opening sentence is ambiguous.  'The late pianist George Shearing' must be read de re for the sentence to…

  • Jack LaLanne Dead at 96

    An inspiration.  Brother Jackass will carry you over many a pons asinorum for many a year if properly fueled and disciplined.  Reform your diet and set aside two to three hours per day for vigorous exercise.  Lalanne swam an hour a day and lifted weights for two.  Right up until the end.  And he always…

  • Was Camus Contemplating Baptism?

    Albert Camus, one of the luminaries of French existentialism, died on this day in 1960, in a car crash.  He was 46.  Had he lived, he might have become a Christian. Or so it seems from Howard Mumma, Conversations with  Camus. This second-hand report is worth considering, although it must  be consumed cum grano salis. See…

  • Tripke Joins Turnupseed

    When the young James Dean crashed his low slung silver Porsche Spyder on a lonely California highway on September 30, 1955, he catapulted a couple of unknowns into the national spotlight.  One of them was Ernie Tripke, one of two California Highway Patrol officers who arrived at the scene.  He has died at the age…

  • The New York Times Kerouac Obituary

    Tomorrow, October 21, is the 41st anniversary of Jack Kerouac's death.  I remember the day well, having noted Jack's passing on a piece of looseleaf I still have in a huge file full  of juvenilia from that period.  The NYT obituary features a perceptive quotation from Allen Ginsberg: "A very unique cat — a French Canadian Hinayana Buddhist…

  • Coulter on Sobran

    Not Your Average Joe.

  • Joseph Sobran

    Joseph Sobran is dead at the age of 64.  Beginning as a paleocon, he ended up an anarchist, and apparently something of an anti-Semite.    His 1985 Pensees: Notes for the Reactionary of Tomorrow, however, contains a wealth of important ideas worth ruminating on.  A couple of excerpts, not necessarily the best: "The poor" are…

  • Famous Last Words: “Don’t Worry, It Isn’t Loaded”

    Life in the fast lane often leads to a quick exit from life's freeway.  You may recall Terry Kath, guitarist for the band Chicago.  In 1978, while drunk, he shot himself in the head with a 'unloaded' gun.  At first he had been fooling with a .38 revolver.  Then he picked up a semi-automatic 9…

  • Antony Flew Dead at 87

    Here.  ". . . it is clear that Flew’s repudiation of atheism was heartfelt and seems to have been largely rooted in his dislike of polemical atheism. His own atheism was always cautious, nuanced and respectful of Christian tradition.  [. . .] Professor Antony Flew, philosopher, was born on February 11, 1923. He died on…

  • Ralph McInerny (1929-2010)

    Ralph McInerny has died.

  • The Reclusive J. D. Salinger Dies at 91

    Here. We who are obscure ought to be grateful for it.  It is wonderful to be able to walk down the street and be taken for an average schmuck.  A lttle recognition from a few high-quality individuals is all one needs.  Fame can be a curse.   The unhinged Mark David Chapman, animated by Holden Caulfield's animus against…