On this day in 1919 author, poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox died of cancer in Short Beach CT, aged 68. Born Ella Wheeler on 5 November 1850 on a farm in Johnstown, Wisconsin.
Her works include Poems of Passion and “Solitude”, which contains the lines “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” Her autobiography, The Worlds and I, was published in 1918, a year before her death.
On her way to the Governor’s inaugural ball in Madison, Wisconsin, there was a young woman dressed in black sitting across the aisle from her. The woman was crying. Miss Wheeler sat next to her and sought to comfort her for the rest of the journey. When they arrived, the poet was so depressed that she could barely attend the scheduled festivities. As she looked at her own radiant face in the mirror, she suddenly recalled the sorrowful widow. It was at that moment that she wrote the opening lines of “Solitude”:
- Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth
But has trouble enough of its own
In 1884, she married Robert Wilcox of Meriden, Connecticut, where the couple lived before moving to New York City and then to Granite Bay in the Short Beach section of Branford, Connecticut. The two homes they built on Long Island Sound, along with several cottages, became known as Bungalow Court, and they would hold gatherings there of literary and artistic friends. They had one child, a son, who died shortly after birth. Not long after their marriage, they both became interested in Theosophy, New Thought, and Spiritualism.
Early in their married life, Robert and Ella Wheeler Wilcox promised each other that whoever died first would return and communicate with the other. Robert Wilcox died in 1916, after over thirty years of marriage. She was overcome with grief, which became ever more intense as week after week went without any message from him.
The Final Footprint – Wilcox Estate Burial Site, Short Beach, Connecticut.
On this day in 1991, the last recorded position of the commercial fishing vessel Andrea Gail was reported. The Andrea Gail began her final voyage on 20 September 1991, departing from Gloucester, Massachusetts. The ship was presumed lost at sea in a storm somewhere along the continental shelf near Sable Island. All six of the crew were lost: Frank W. Tyne, Jr. (Captain), aged 34, Michael “Bugsy” Moran, aged 36, Dale R. Murphy, aged 32, Alfred Pierre, aged 32, Robert F. Shatford, aged 30 and David Sullivan, aged 29.
The Final Footprint –
A plaque was erected in honour of the lost crew in at the Fisherman’s Memorial in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The story served as the basis of the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and a 2000 movie starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane and Elizabeth Mastrantonio.
#RIP #OTD in 2000 television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer Steve Allen died from a ruptured blood vessel caused by chest injuries from an auto accident, age 78. Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills
On this day in 2007, singer and actor Robert Goulet died from pulmonary fibrosis at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 73. Born Robert Gérard Goulet on November 26, 1933 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Cast as Sir Lancelot and originating the role in the 1960 Broadway musical Camelot starring opposite stars Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, he achieved instant recognition with his performance and interpretation of the song “If Ever I Would Leave You”, which became his signature song. His debut in Camelot marked the beginning of a stage, screen, and recording career. A Grammy Award and Tony Award winner, his career spanned almost six decades.
Goulet’s first wife was Louise Longmore. His second wife was actress and singer Carol Lawrence. In 1982, he married artist and writer Vera Novak in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Final Footprint
Theater marquees in New York and in cities across North America were dimmed in his memory on Wednesday, October 31, 2007. On Friday November 9, 2007, the day of his funeral, Las Vegas honored Goulet by closing the Las Vegas Strip for his funeral procession. Several venues also posted his name on their marquees as a final tribute. Goulet was cremated.
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