The New York Times' Ginia Bellafante reminds us today of how the untimely death-by-snake of matriarchal "Meerkat Manor" star, Flower Whiskers, has touched so many, so deeply. YouTube memorial videos like the one above abound, and Animal Planet has this to say: "We at Animal Planet our devastated by her loss and recognize that her death will have a deep impact on our viewers. Life in the Kalahari will never be the same." Perhaps our favorite line comes from narrator and 'Rudy' star Sean Astin: "Flower was a formidable leader and a noble mother. The desert has lost its favorite rose."
Longtime New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp has passed away at the age of 59. A memo to the paper's staff from Bill Keller and Sam Sifton was just released.
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Dean Johnson, the alabaster-skinned, frighteningly tall and extremely thin performer, club promoter, and nightlife hero died the week before last. Rumors started spreading about his death in the middle of last week; cause is still unknown, but he was found in Washington, D.C. [Daily Intel, Motherboards]
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America will observe a Very Gay National Day of Mourning; Brett Somers, queen of Match Game, has passed away at the age of 83. So long, comic genius. [Westport Now]
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Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop and pioneer of "ethical beauty," general greenness and all-around good personness, died yesterday; she was 64. [The Business]
and now he's dead
"He knew his colors and shapes, he learned more than 100 English words, and with his own brand of one-liners he established himself in television shows, scientific reports and news articles as perhaps the world's most famous talking bird. But last week Alex, an African gray parrot, died, apparently of natural causes, said Dr. Irene Pepperberg, a comparative psychologist at Brandeis University and Harvard who studied and worked with the parrot for most of his life and published reports of his progress in scientific journals. The parrot was 31." [NYT]
Luciano Pavarotti, the outsized Italian tenor generally regarded as the finest operatic voice of his generation, has passed away at the age of 71. Best known by the general audience as the fattest guy in the Three Tenors, Pavarotti had a storied career which saw him achieve almost every measure of operatic success. He also starred in one the most unintentionally funny movies we've ever seen, 1982's Yes, Giorgio, and performed with Bono, Sting, and Elton John, which must have sucked. Pavarotti had a special relationship with audiences at the Metropolitan Opera.
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@NobodyLikesMe: OMG, I so love guinea pigs. Anyway, when I say "early detection" regarding my mom, I actually mean "complete more »
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Bill Deedes—celebrated British journalist, editor, and politician—has died at the age of 94. "His mangled metaphors were legendary: 'You can't make an omelette without frying eggs'; 'one swallow doesn't make an impression'; 'we should nail our matchbox to the mast'; 'the Tories should pull their trousers up'." [Telegraph (U.K.)]
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Hotelier and ex-con Leona Helmsley—whose famous remark that "Only the little people pay taxes" will be her lasting legacy—has died at the age of 88. [1010Wins]
brooke astor's funeral
Pictured: The program. Says Josh: "None of the press sings or prays. There's a crazy Radar reporter here! Newsweek is late, as always. Holy shit the organ is so loud my EARS ARE BLEEDING. Bloomberg talking, making jokes! Now he is comparing her to Phil Rizzuto. 'She looked good in pinstripes.' Only the Bloomberg News reporter is laughing at his jokes, weirdly. Okay, her son is now speaking. They were both only children! He refers to her as 'mother'—not 'my mother.' He is reading her statement of faith. The lady next to me has not stopped BlackBerrying! It's so loud! Sorry. 'Yes, New York has lost a great woman but I have lost my mother.' Ah."
Nicknames
We thought "PEKEEP" might be some mysterious new free jazz expert that the Times was employing to write about the death of Max Roach, but it seems to just be some placeholder thing they forgot to take off. Anyway, we'll be referring to actual regular jazz expert Peter Keepnews as "PEKEEP" from now on. Oh: And now he's dead, by the way. Drum on.
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Bruce Wolmer, 59, the editor emeritus of Art & Auction, died on Friday. The New York Sun remembers him as "a defender of Israel." Artnet.com remembers him as a man who "could not help genuflecting to the specialized brand of the rich and powerful who inhabit the art world."
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Phil Rizzuto, whose dulcet tones were put to use in countless commercials for "The Money Store," has passed away. Scooter was also well known for his part in Meat Loaf's 1977 hit "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." Oh, yeah, he was also a Hall of Fame shortstop and beloved broadcaster for the New York Yankees. [1010 Wins]
We can't remember who it was now, but a couple years back some notable figure passed away. We were somewhat distressed about it, and extolled the great man: his struggles, his victories, the accomplishments that made up the story of his life. Our friend leaned over, looked at us casually, and said, "And now he's dead." Which, while dismissive and somewhat disrespectful, speaks to the ultimate truth: No matter how much one manages to attain in one's life, be it financial success, family happiness, the creation and retention of enriching, lifelong friendships, it all ends with a trip to the tomb. No one (save perhaps Sumner Redstone) can escape death's chilly embrace. So while it's certainly proper to remember those that have passed on and take stock of their achievements, one must ultimately recall that, in the end, they die like everyone else, and to elevate one person over another for experiencing something so utterly universal is somehow arbitrary and diminishing to those who are considered less "valuable" or "interesting." It's important to keep a certain detachment when it comes to the passing of a celebrity; are they are more worthy of grief than someone less celebrated? All that being said, even we think this TMZ "obituary" for Merv Griffin, pictured here, is more than a little tacky. (Even the majority of TMZ's commenters agree, and they're not exactly paragons of good taste—or good typing, for that matter.) For Christ's sake, show a little class.
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This is nowhere near as tacky as CNN having Steve Guttenberg on for 15 minutes talking about how he and more »
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Tony Wilson, founder of Manchester's Factory Records -- home to New Order, Happy Mondays, and scores of other bands whose sound defined an era -- has passed away at the age of 57. [BBC, Telegraph, NME]
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Singer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood, whose collaborations with Nancy Sinatra are some of the best known but least interesting aspects of his work, has succumbed to cancer at the age of 78. We suppose there's some line about the boots having walked to be made here, but whatever, kind of a bummer. [BBC]
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Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow-Up, L'Avventura, etc.) passed away yesterday at the age of 94. Someone check in with Werner Herzog, see if he's okay. [NYT]
Gawker
America will observe a Very Gay National Day of Mourning; Brett Somers, queen of Match Game, has passed away at the age of 83. So long, comic genius. [
