On this day in 1207, Provençal troubadour, poet, knight Raimbaut de Vaqueiras or Vaqueyras died in an ambush in Greece by Bulgarian insurgents. His body was lost or destroyed.
On this day in 1907, composer and pianist Edvard Grieg died at the Municipal Hospital in Bergen, Norway at age 64 from heart failure. Born Edvard Hagerup Grieg on 15 June 1843 in Bergen. In my opinion, he is one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to international consciousness, as well as helping to develop a national identity.
The Final Footprint
The funeral drew between 30,000 and 40,000 people to the streets of his home town to honor him. Following his wish, his own Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak was played with orchestration by his friend Johan Halvorsen, who had married Grieg’s niece. In addition, the Funeral March movement from Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 was played. Grieg was cremated, and his ashes were entombed in a mountain crypt near his house, Troldhaugen. After the death of his wife, her ashes were placed alongside his.
A century after his death, Grieg’s legacy extends beyond the field of music. There is a large statue of Grieg in Seattle, while one of the largest hotels in Bergen is named Quality Hotel Edvard Grieg, and a large crater on the planet Mercury is named after Grieg.
Grieg is the most celebrated person from the city of Bergen, with numerous statues depicting his image, and many cultural entities named after him: the city’s largest concert building (Grieg Hall), its most advanced music school (Grieg Academy) and its professional choir (Edvard Grieg Kor). The Edvard Grieg Museum at Grieg’s former home, Troldhaugen, is dedicated to his legacy.
On this day in 1914, French poet, essayist, and editor Charles Péguy died in battle, shot in the forehead, in Villeroy, Seine-et-Marne during World War I, on the day before the beginning of the Battle of the Marne. Born on 7 January 1873 in Orléans. His two main philosophies were socialism and nationalism, but by 1908 at the latest, after years of uneasy agnosticism, he had become a believing but non-practicing Roman Catholic. From that time, Catholicism strongly influenced his works. In 1897, Péguy married Charlotte-Françoise Baudoin; they had one daughter and three sons, one of whom was born after Péguy’s death. Around 1910 he fell deeply in love with Blanche Raphael, a young Jewish friend; however, he was faithful to his wife.
The Final Footprint – He is interred in a communal grave in the Grande Tombe de Villeroy, Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France. Péguy wrote: “There will be things that I do that no one will be left to understand.”
On this day in 1991, singer and songwriter Dottie West died at the age of 58 from injuries sustained in a car accident at the Opryland exit on Briley Parkway in Nashville. Born Dorothy Marie Marsh outside McMinnville, Tennessee on 11 October 1932. In my opinion, West is one of country music’s most influential and groundbreaking female artists. Her career started in the early 1960s, with her Top 10 hit, “Here Comes My Baby Back Again,” which won her the first Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1965. In the 1960s, West was one of the few female country singers working in what was then a male-dominated industry. Throughout the 1960s, West had country hits within the Top 10 and 20. In the early 1970s, West wrote a popular commercial for the Coca-Cola company, titled “Country Sunshine”. She teamed up with country-pop superstar, Kenny Rogers for a series of duets earning Platinum selling albums and No. 1 records. Her duet recordings with Rogers, like “Every Time Two Fools Collide,” “All I Ever Need Is You,” and “What Are We Doin’ In Love,” eventually became country-pop standards. Her image and music came to the peak of her popularity as a solo act, and reaching No. 1 for the very first time on her own, in 1980 with her version of the Randy Goodrum and Brent Haher song, “A Lesson in Leavin’.
The Final Footprint – Her funeral was held at Christ Church on Old Hickory Boulevard. There were 600 friends and family attendees, including Emmylou Harris, Connie Smith, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash and Larry Gatlin. Her friend and fellow artist, Steve Wariner, whom she had helped make it to Nashville as a young man, sang “Amazing Grace”. West is interred in Mount View Cemetery in McMinnville. Her grave is marked by an individual upright granite marker with the term of endearment; Beloved Daughter, Wife and Monther and Our Country Sunshine. On the back is the following; I was born a country girl I will die a country girl. My world is made of blue skies and sunshine, green fields and butterflies. I’m so glad I’m a country girl. McMinnville dedicated Highway 56 to her memory, naming it the Dottie West Memorial Highway. In 1995, actress Michele Lee, with the help of West’s daughter Shelly, produced and starred in the made-for-TV biopic Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story.
On this day in 2014, comedian, actress, writer, producer, and television host Joan Rivers died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York from complications from a minor throat surgery, at the age of 81. Born Joan Alexandra Molinsky on June 8, 1933 in Brooklyn. She was noted for her often controversial comedic persona—heavily self-deprecating and sharply acerbic, especially towards celebrities and politicians.
Rivers rose to prominence in 1965 as a guest on The Tonight Show. Hosted by her mentor, Johnny Carson, the show established Rivers’ comedic style. In 1986, with her own rival program, The Late Show with Joan Rivers, Rivers became the first woman to host a late night network television talk show. She subsequently hosted The Joan Rivers Show (1989–1993), winning a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host. From the mid-1990s, she became known for her comedic red carpet awards show celebrity interviews, and in 2009, she was the Celebrity Apprentice Winner. Rivers co-hosted the E! celebrity fashion show Fashion Police from 2010 to 2014 and starred in the reality series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? (2011–2014) with daughter Melissa Rivers. She was the subject of the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010).
In addition to marketing a line of jewelry and apparel on the QVC shopping channel, Rivers authored 12 best-selling books and three LP comedy albums under her own name: Mr. Phyllis And Other Funny Stories (Warner Bros 1965), The Next To Last Joan Rivers Album (Buddah 1969), and What Becomes A Semi-Legend Most? (Geffen 1983). She was nominated in 1984 for a Grammy Award for her album What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most?; and was nominated in 1994 for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance of the title role in Sally Marr … and Her Escorts. In 2015, Rivers posthumously received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for her book, Diary of a Mad Diva.
Rivers’ first marriage was in 1955 to James Sanger, the son of a Bond Clothing Stores merchandise manager. The marriage lasted six months and was annulled on the basis that Sanger did not want children and had not informed Rivers before the wedding.
Rivers married Edgar Rosenberg on July 15, 1965. Their only child, Melissa Rivers, was born on January 20, 1968. Rivers was married to Rosenberg until his suicide in 1987, four days after she asked him for a separation.
The Final Footprint
On September 7, after the cremation of Rivers’ body at Garden State Crematory in North Bergan, New Jersey, a private memorial service took place at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan. The service was attended by an estimated 1,500 people. The guest list included Rivers’ many celebrity friends, and public figures such as Howard Stern, Louis C.K., Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Joy Behar, Michael Kors, Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie O’Donnell, Kathy Griffin, and Donald Trump. The musical performances included Hugh Jackman singing “Quiet Please, There’s a Lady On Stage” as well as the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus singing old show tunes. Talk show host Howard Stern, delivering the eulogy, described Rivers as “brassy in public [and] classy in private … a troublemaker, trail blazer, pioneer for comics everywhere, … [who] fought the stereotypes that women can’t be funny.” Daughter Melissa read a comedic note to her mother as part of her eulogy. Some of Rivers’ ashes were scattered by her daughter in Wyoming.
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