On this day in 1894, Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson died, probably of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 44 in Vailima, Samoa. Born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson at 8 Howard Place, Edinburgh, on 13 November 1850. Perhaps best know for his novels; Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped (1886), and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). Stevenson married once, Frances (Fanny) Matilda Van de Grift (1880 – 1894 his death). For more on their love story visit our sister site, The Lovers’ Chronicle search Robert Louis Stevenson.
The Final Footprint – Upon his death, the Samoans insisted on surrounding his body with a watch-guard during the night and on bearing their Tusitala (his Somoan name which translates as Teller of Tales) upon their shoulders to nearby Mount Vaea, where they buried him on a spot overlooking the sea. Stevenson had always wanted his ‘Requiem’ inscribed on his tomb:
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
Stevenson was loved by the Samoans, and his tombstone epigraph was translated to a Samoan song of grief which is well-known and still sung in Samoa.
On this day in 1919, the artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style, a celebrator of beauty and feminine sensuality, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, died in the village of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France, at the age of 78. Born on 25 February 1841 in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France. In 1890, he married Aline Victorine Charigot, who had already served as a model for him and would continue to do so. In Paris, he meet and befriended Claude Monet. In Palermo, Sicily, he met the composer Richard Wagner and painted his portrait.
The Final Footprint – Renoir is interred in Cimetière du Essoyes, Essoyes, Aube, Champagne-Ardenne Region, France.
Gallery
 La Grenouillère, 1868, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden |
 Portrait of Alfred Sisley, 1868 |
 Claude Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil, 1873, Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, Connecticut |
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 Portrait of Claude Monet, 1875, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France |
 Jeanne Durand-Ruel, 1876, Barnes Foundation Merion, Pennsylvania |
 A Girl with a Watering Can, 1876, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
 Mme. Charpentier and her children, 1878, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 By the Water, 1880, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois |
 Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880–1881, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. |
 Portrait of Charles and Georges Durand-Ruel, 1882 |
 Dance in the City, 1882–1883, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France |
 Dance in the Country (Aline Charigot and Paul Lhote), 1883, Musée d’Orsay, Paris |
 Pencil study for Dance in the Country 1883, Honolulu Academy of Arts |
 Children at the Beach at Guernsey, 1883, Barnes Foundation Merion, Pennsylvania |
 In the Garden, 1885, Hermitage St. Petersburg |
 Girl With a Hoop, 1885, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
 Portrait of Berthe Morisot and daughter Julie Manet, 1894 |
 Gabrielle Renard and infant son Jean Renoir, 1895 |
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 The Artist’s Family, 1896, The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania |
 Graziella, 1896,The Detroit Institute of Arts |
 Portrait of Ambroise Vollard, 1908 |
 Portrait of Paul Durand-Ruel, 1910 |
Self-portraits
 Self-portrait, (1875) |
 Self-portrait, (1876) |
 Self-portrait, 1910 |
 Self-portrait, (1910) |
Nudes
 Diana the Huntress, 1867, The National Gallery of Art Washington, DC |
 Nude In The Sun, 1875, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France |
 Seating Girl, 1883 |
 The Large Bathers, 1887, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pa. |
 After The Bath, 1888 |
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 Woman on a Couch (Gabrielle), 1906–1907 |
 After The Bath, 1910, Barnes Foundation, Merion Pennsylvania |
 Woman At The Well, 1910 |
 Seated Bather Drying Her Leg, 1914, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, France |
 Women Bathers, 1916, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden |
 Bathers, 1918, Barnes Foundation, Merion Pennsylvania |
On this day in 1999, actress, comedian, and singer Madeline Kahn died from ovarian cancer in New York City, at the age of 57. Born Madeline Gail Wolfson on September 29, 1942 in Boston. Perhaps best known for comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including What’s Up, Doc? (1972), Young Frankenstein (1974), High Anxiety(1977), History of the World, Part I (1981), and her Academy Award-nominated roles in Paper Moon (1973) and Blazing Saddles (1974).
Kahn made her Broadway debut in Leonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1968, and received Tony Award nominations for the play In the Boom Boom Room in 1974 and for the original production of the musical On the Twentieth Century in 1978. She starred as Madeline Wayne on the short-lived ABC sitcom Oh Madeline (1983–84) and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1987 for ABC Afterschool Special. She received a third Tony Award nomination for the revival of the play Born Yesterday in 1989, before winning the 1993 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the comedy The Sisters Rosensweig. Her other film appearances included The Cheap Detective (1978), City Heat (1984), Clue (1985), and Nixon (1995).
The Final Footprint
Kahn was cremated. A bench dedicated to her memory was erected in Central Park by her husband, John Hansbury, and her brother, Jeffrey Kahn. The bench is located near the reservoir on West 87th St.
#RIP #OTD in 2000 poet, author, teacher, the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize for her book Annie Allen, Gwendolyn Brooks died at her Chicago home, aged 83. Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Illinois
On this day in 2015, musician, singer and songwriter Scott Weiland died of an accidental drug overdose on his tour bus in Bloomington, Minnesota at the age of 48. Born Scott Richard Weiland né Kline, on October 27, 1967 in San Jose, California. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer of the band Stone Temple Pilots from 1989 to 2002 and 2008 to 2013. He was also a member of supergroup Velvet Revolver from 2003 to 2008 and recorded one album with another supergroup, Art of Anarchy. He also established himself as a solo artist, releasing three studio albums, two cover albums, and collaborations with several other musicians throughout his career.
Weiland was known for his flamboyant onstage persona, for changing his appearance and vocal style, and for his battles with substance abuse. Widely viewed as a talented and versatile vocalist.
The Final Footprint
A funeral service for Weiland was held at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on December 11, 2015, in Los Angeles. He was cremated.
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