#RIP #OTD in 1936 editor, scholar, literary critic, poet, patron of the arts, founding publisher of Poetry magazine, Harriet Monroe died on her way to climb Machu Picchu from a cerebral hemorrhage aged 75. Cremated remains interred in Arequipa, Peru
1936 (photograph by Carl Van Vechten)
On this day in 1937 singer, the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith died from injuries suffered in a car crash near Clarksdale, Mississippi, at the age of 43. Born on April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In my opininon, she was one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on other jazz singers.
She was living in Philadelphia, when she met Jack Gee, a security guard, whom she married on June 7, 1923, just as her first record was being released. During the marriage Smith became the highest-paid black entertainer of the day, heading her own shows, which sometimes featured as many as 40 troupers, and touring in her own custom-built railroad car. Their marriage was stormy with infidelity on both sides, including numerous female lovers for Bessie. Gee was impressed by the money but never adjusted to show business life or to Smith’s bisexuality. In 1929, when she learned of his affair with another singer, Gertrude Saunders, Smith ended the relationship, although neither of them sought a divorce.
Smith later entered a common-law marriage with an old friend, Richard Morgan, who was Lionel Hampton‘s uncle. She stayed with him until her death.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1973, stage and film actress, La Lupa, Anna Magnani died from pancreatic cancer in Rome at the age of 65. Born on 7 March 1908 in Rome. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four other international awards, for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo.
Director Roberto Rossellini called her “the greatest acting genius since Eleonora Duse”. Playwright Tennessee Williams became an admirer of her acting and wrote The Rose Tattoo specifically for her to star in.
After meeting director Goffredo Alessandrini she received her first screen role in La cieca di Sorrento (The Blind Woman of Sorrento) (1934) and later achieved international fame in Rossellini’s Rome, Open City (1945), considered the first significant movie to launch the Italian neorealism movement in cinema. As an actress she became recognized for her dynamic and forceful portrayals of “earthy lower-class women” in such films as L’Amore (1948), Bellissima (1951), The Rose Tattoo (1955), The Fugitive Kind (1960) and Mamma Roma (1962).
With director Luchino Visconti on the terrace of Palazzo Altieri where Magnani lived in the fifties.
Photo signed 1969
She married film director, Goffredo Alessandrini, in 1935, two years after he discovered her on stage. After they married, she retired from full-time acting to “devote herself exclusively to her husband”, although she continued to play smaller film parts. They separated in 1942.
Magnani had a love affair with the actor Massimo Serato.
In 1945 she fell in love with Rossellini while working on Roma, Città Aperta aka Rome, Open City (1945). “I thought at last I had found the ideal man… [He] had lost a son of his own and I felt we understood each other. Above all, we had the same artistic conceptions.” Rossellini had become violent, volatile and possessive, and they argued constantly about films or out of jealousy. “In fits of rage they threw crockery at each other.” As artists, however, they complemented each other well while working on neorealist films. The two finally split apart when Rossellini fell in love with and married, Ingrid Bergman.
The Final Footprint
Huge crowds gathered for the funeral. She was provisionally laid to rest in the family mausoleum of Rossellini; but then subsequently interred in the Cimitero Comunale of San Felice Circeo in southern Lazio.
On this day in 2003, singer, songwriter, musician, Robert Palmer died in Paris at the Hôtel Warwick Champs-Elysées, rue de Berri, from a heart attack at the age of 54. Born Robert Allen Palmer on 19 January 1949 in Batley, West Yorkshire, England. Palmer was known for his distinctive voice and the eclectic mix of musical styles on his albums, combining soul, jazz, rock, pop, reggae and blues. He found success both in his solo career and in the musical act The Power Station, and had Top 10 songs in both the UK and the US. His iconic music videos by Terence Donovan for the hits “Addicted to Love” and “Simply Irresistible” featured identically dressed dancing women with pale faces, dark eye makeup and bright red lipstick, which resembled the women in the art of Patrick Nagel, an artist popular in the 1980s. Sharp-suited, his involvement in the music industry commenced in the 1960s, and covered five decades. Palmer received a number of awards throughout his career, including two Grammy Awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, an MTV Video Music Award, and was twice nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male. Palmer married twice: Shelly Putman (1974 – 1978 divorce) and Susan Eileen Thatcher (1979 – 1999 divorce).
The Final Footprint – Cimitero Comunale della Città di Lugano. On her All The Best compilation album, Palmer’s Swiss neighbour, Tina Turner, added a live version of “Addicted to Love” in tribute to him. Apparently, Palmer’s favourite author was Jack Vance and he was especially fond of the character Cugel. Vance paid homage to Palmer in his novel Night Lamp, which begins: “Toward the far edge of the Cornu Sector of Ophiuchus, Robert Palmer’s star shone brilliant white, its corona flaring with films of blue, red and green colour.”
On this day in 2008, Academy Award winning actor, director, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and auto racing enthusiast Paul Newman died at his home surrounded by his family and friends in Westport, Connecticut at the age of 83. Born Paul Leonard Newman on 26 January 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in the 1986 Martin Scorsese film The Color of Money and eight other nominations, six Golden Globe Awards (including three honorary ones), a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an Emmy award, and many honorary awards. He also won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing, and his race teams won several championships in open wheel IndyCar racing. Newman was a co-founder of Newman’s Own, a food company from which Newman donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity. One of my favorite actors. My favorite movies with Newman; Cat on a hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, The Sting, The Color of Money. Newman married twice: Jackie Witte (1949 – 1958 divorce) and actress Joanne Woodward (1958 – 2008 his death).
The Final Footprint – His remains were cremated after a private funeral service near his home in Westport.
#RIP #OTD in 2010 actress (The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, Titanic), visual artist, activist, amateur chef, Gloria Stuart died from respiratory failure at her home in Los Angeles aged 100. Cremated remains scattered off the Santa Monica pier
Have you planned yours yet?
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On this day in 1867, cattle rancher and cattle drive pioneer, Oliver Loving died at the age of 54 in Fort Sumner, New Mexico from gangrene. Along with Charles Goodnight, he formed the Goodnight-Loving Trail. The Goodnight Loving Trail began at Fort Belknap (Texas), traveling through central Texas across the Staked Plains to Horsehead Crossing, north along the Pecos River and across Pope’s Crossing, into New Mexico to Fort Sumner. The trail then continued north into Colorado up to Denver and was extended on into Wyoming. In the spring of 1867, Loving and Goodnight returned to Texas, ready to start a new drive. This third drive was slowed by heavy rains and Native American threats. Loving went ahead of the herd for contract bidding, taking only Bill Wilson, a trusted scout, with him. Although he told Goodnight that he would travel at night, Loving became impatient and pushed ahead during the day. Loving and Wilson were attacked by Comanches and Loving was wounded in the arm. The weakened Loving sent Wilson back to the herd, eluded the Native American Indians, and reached Fort Sumner. Loving’s arm was amputated but it was too late. Goodnight arrived in Fort Sumner in time to be by Loving’s side as he died and to assure Loving that his wish to be buried in Texas would be carried out. Born in Hopkins County Kentucky on 4 December 1812. Loving married Susan Doggett Morgan (1833 – 1867 his death).
The Final Footprint – After a temporary burial at Fort Sumner, while Goodnight drove the herd on to Colorado, Goodnight had Loving’s body exhumed and returned to Weatherford where he was reburied in Greenwood Cemetery on 4 March 1868. Loving’s death and burial apparently served as inspiration to novelist Larry McMurtry for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove. In the book, 
On this day in 1980, musician, songwriter, and drummer for Led Zeppelin, John Bonham died from pulmonary aspiration after consuming an excessive amount of vodka, at the age of 32. Born John Henry Bonham on 31 May 1948 in Redditch, Worcestershire, England. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast bass drumming, and distinctive sound. In my opinion, he is one of the greatest and most influential rock drummers of all time. 
On this day in 2016 U.S. Coast Guard veteran, professional golfer, The King, Arnold Palmer died while awaiting heart surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Shadyside) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the age of 87. Born Arnold Daniel Palmer on September 10, 1929 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. In my opionion, one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport’s history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and the circuit now known as PGA Tour Champions. He was one of golf’s most popular stars and seen as a trailblazer, the first superstar of the sport’s television age, which began in the 1950s.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1991, author, poet and illustrator, Dr. Seuss died of throat cancer at his home in La Jolla, California at the age of 87. Born Theodore Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts on 2 March 1904. In my opinion, he was the best author and illustrator of children’s books. Geisel published 46 children’s books, often characterized by imaginative characters, rhyme, and frequent use of anapestic meter. His most celebrated books include the bestselling Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Horton Hatches the Egg, Horton Hears a Who!, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Numerous adaptations of his work have been created, including 11 television specials, four feature films, a Broadway musical and four television series. He won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958 for Horton Hatches the Egg and again in 1961 for And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Geisel also worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, most notably for Flit and Standard Oil, and as a political cartoonist for PM, a New York City newspaper. During World War II, he worked in an animation department of the United States Army, where he wrote Design for Death, a film that later won the 1947 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Christmas would not be Christmas without watching and reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Geisel married twice; children’s author Helen Palmer (1927 – 1967 her death) and Audrey Stone Dimond (1968 – 1991 his death).
On this day in 2016,
On this day in 1835, opera composer Vincenzo Bellini died in Puteaux, near Paris of acute inflammation of the intestine at the age of 33. Born Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini on 3 November 1801 in Catania, at the time part of the Kingdom of Sicily. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (1830), La sonnambula (1831), Norma (1831), Beatrice di Tenda (1833), and I puritani (1835). Known for his long-flowing melodic lines, for which he was named “the Swan of Catania”, Bellini was the quintessential composer of bel canto opera. He had a sequence of affairs with married women, including Giuditta Turina. But he resisted any emotional commitment, and never married. When Turina proposed to leave her husband, Bellini bridled: “with so many commitments, such a relationship would be fatal to me“.
The Final Footprint – Bellini was entombed in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris but his remains were removed to the cathedral of Catania in 1876. Catania Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Agatha, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Catania, Sicily. It was the seat of the Bishops of Catania until 1859, when the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese, and since then has been the seat of the Archbishops of Catania. Bellini’s cenotaph remains in Père Lachaise. The Museo Belliniano housed in the Gravina Cruyllas Palace in Catania preserves memorabilia and scores.
Pinochet, backed by elements of the armed forces, denied permission for Neruda’s funeral to be made a public event, but thousands of grieving Chileans disobeyed the curfew and crowded the streets. The funeral took place amidst a massive police presence, and mourners took advantage of the occasion to protest against the new regime, established just a couple of weeks before. Interment took place on his estate in Isla Negra.
On this day in 1981, Native Canadian, poet, Academy Award-nominated actor, humanitarian, a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation of Burrard Inlet, Chief Dan George died in Vancouver, British Columbia, age 82. Born Geswanouth Slahhot on 24 July 1899 in Burrard Inlet, British Columbia. I very much enjoyed his performance alongside Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales. His best-known written work is his poem “My Heart Soars.”
The Final Footprint – George was buried in Burrard Cemetery in North Vancouver, British Columbia. His grave is marked by two flat granite engraved markers on a raised concrete base and a concrete border around his grave. Along with his name and birth and death dates the inscriptions on the markers read: HIS HEART SOARED LIKE THE EAGLE and In Loving Memory of Our Dad Daniel Paul.
On this day in 1987 dancer, choreographer, actor, theatre director, filmmaker Bob Fosse died of a heart attack at George Washington University Hospital, Washington DC, aged 60.
The Final Footprint – Fosse collapsed in Verdon’s arms near the Willard Hotel prior to being taken to the hospital. As he had requested, Verdon scattered his ashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Quogue, Long Island, where Fosse had been living. A month after his passing, Verdon fulfilled Fosse’s request for his friends to “go out and have dinner on me” by hosting a star-studded, celebrity filled evening at Tavern on the Green.
And on this day in 2020 singer, actress Juliette Gréco died in Ramatuelle, France at the age of 93. Born in Montpellier, France on 7 February 1927. Perhaps her best known songs are “Paris Canaille” (1962, originally sung by Léo Ferré), “La Javanaise” (1963, written by Serge Gainsbourg for Gréco) and “Déshabillez-moi” (1967). She often sang tracks with lyrics written by French poets such as Jacques Prévert and Boris Vian, as well as singers like Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour. Her 60-year career came to an end in 2015 when she began her last worldwide tour titled “Merci”. As an actress, Gréco played roles in films by French directors such as Jean Cocteau and Jean-Pierre Melville.
The Final Footprint – Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris.
On this day in 1989, Tony and Grammy winner, songwriter, composer, lyricist Irving Berlin died in New York City at the age of 101. Born Israel Isidore Baline on 11 May 1888 in Tyumen, Russia, now Belarus. In my opinion, one of the greatest songwriters. Among the many songs he wrote; God Bless America, White Christmas, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, There’s no Business like Show Business, Blue Skies, Puttin’ on the Ritz. Composer Douglas Moore sets Berlin apart from all other contemporary songwriters, and includes him instead with Stephen Foster, Walt Whitman, and Carl Sandburg, as a “great American minstrel”—someone who has “caught and immortalized in his songs what we say, what we think about, and what we believe.” George Gershwin called him “the greatest songwriter that has ever lived”, and Jerome Kern concluded that “Irving Berlin has no place in American music—he is American music.” In 1912, he married Dorothy Goetz. She died six months later of typhoid fever, which she contracted during their honeymoon in Havana. The song he wrote to express his grief, “When I Lost You,” was his first ballad. In 1925 he married Ellin Mackay. Their marriage remained a love affair and they were inseparable until she died in July 1988 at the age of 85.
On this day in 1999, stage and film actor, director and producer George C. Scott died of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in Westlake Village, California, at the age of 71. Born George Campbell Scott on October 18, 1927 in Wise, Virginia. Perhaps best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Ebenezer Scrooge in Clive Donner’s 1984 film A Christmas Carol and Lieutenant Bill Kinderman in William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 2007 actor and mime artist Marcel Marceau died at the racetrack in Cahors, France, at the age of 84. Born Marcel Mangel on 22 March 1923 in Strasbourg, France. Perhas best known for his stage persona as “Bip the Clown”. He referred to mime as the “art of silence”, and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. As a youth, he lived in hiding and worked with the French Resistance during most of World War II, giving his first major performance to 3000 troops after the liberation of Paris in August 1944. Following the war, he studied dramatic art and mime in Paris.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 2010, singer and actor Eddie Fisher died 
On this day in 2015, U. S. Navy veteran, Purple Heart recipient, MLB Hall of Fame catcher, manager, 3x AL MVP, 18x All Star, 10x World Series champ, New York Yankee Yogi Berra died in West Caldwell, New Jersey, 69 years to the day after his MLB debut, at the age of 90. Born Lawrence Peter Berra on May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. He played 19 seasons (1946–63, 1965), all but the last for the Yankees. Berra had a career batting average of .285, while hitting 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in. In my opinion, one of the greatest catchers in baseball history
The Final Footprint
On this day in 19 BC, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period, Virgil died in Brundisium harbor at the age of 50. Born Publius Vergilius Maro on October 15, 70 BC Near Mantua, Cisalpine Gaul, Roman Republic (now Province of Mantua, Italy). He wrote three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. A number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him.
On this day in 1832, Scottish novelist, playwright and poet, Sir Walter Scott died, under unexplained circumstances, at the age of 61 at his home Abbotsford House near Melrose in the Scottish borders. Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. His best known works include the novels, Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor and his poem The Lady of the Lake. Scott married Charlotte Genevieve Charpentier (or Carpenter), daughter of Jean Charpentier of Lyon, France. Born on 15 August 1771 in College Wynd in the Old Town of Edinburgh.
The Final Footprint – Scott is buried in a pillared side chapel of the Dryburgh Abbery ruins in Melrose. During his lifetime, Scott’s portrait was painted by Sir Edwin Landseer and fellow-Scots Sir Henry Raeburn and James Eckford Lauder. In Edinburgh, the 61.1 metre tall Victorian Gothic spire of the Scott Monument was designed by George Meikle Kemp. It was completed in 1844, 12 years after Scott’s death, and dominates the south side of Princes Street. Scott is also commemorated on a stone slab in Makars’ Court, outside The Writers’ Museum, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, along with other prominent Scottish writers; quotes from his work are also visible on the Canongate Wall of the Scottish Parliament building in Holyrood. There is a tower dedicated to his memory on Corstorphine Hill in the west of the city and as mentioned previous Edinburgh’s Waverley railway station takes the name of one of his novels. In Glasgow, Walter Scott’s Monument dominates the centre of George Square, the main public square in the city. Designed by David Rhind in 1838, the monument features a large column topped by a statue of Scott. There is a statue of Scott in New York City’s Central Park. The annual Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction was created in 2010 by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose ancestors were closely linked to Sir Walter Scott. At £25,000 it is one of the largest prizes in British literature. The award has been presented at Scott’s historic home Abbotsford House.
On this day in 1973, singer, songwriter Jim Croce died at the age of 30 in the crash of a chartered Beechcraft E18S upon takeoff from the Natchitoches Regional Airport in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Born James Joseph Croce on 10 January 1943 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles. His singles “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle” were both number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
The Final Footprint – Croce is buried at Haym Salomon Cemetery in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
On this day in 1984, singer and songwriter, Chicago Cubs fan, Steve Goodman died of leukemia at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington at the age of 36. Born Steven Benjamin Goodman 25 July 1948 on Chicago’s North Side. The writer of “City of New Orleans”, made popular by Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson, Goodman won two Grammy Awards. In 1974, singer David Allan Coe achieved considerable success on the country charts with Goodman’s and John Prine’s “You Never Even Call Me By My Name”, a song which good-naturedly spoofed stereotypical country music lyrics. In 1984, Goodman wrote the official Chicago Cubs team song and the official Cubs victory song, “Go Cubs Go!”.
The Final Footprint – Goodman was cremated. Four days after Goodman’s death, the Cubs clinched the Eastern Division title in the National League for the first time ever, earning them their first post-season appearance since 1945, three years before Goodman’s birth. Eight days later, on October 2, the Cubs played their first post-season game since the 1945 World Series. Goodman had been asked to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before it; Jimmy Buffett filled in, and dedicated the song to Goodman. In April 1988, some of Goodman’s cremains were scattered at Wrigley Field.
On this day in 1973, singer, songwriter, musician Gram Parsons died in Joshua Tree, California, at the age of 26 from an overdose of morphine and alcohol. Born Ingram Cecil Connor III on 5 November 1946, in Winter Haven, Florida. Parsons is best known for his work within the country music genre; he also popularized what he called “Cosmic American Music”, a hybrid of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock. Besides recording as a solo artist, he also worked in several notable bands, including the International Submarine Band, The Byrds, and The Flying Burrito Brothers. His relatively short career is described by Allmusic as “enormously influential” for both country and rock, “blending the two genres to the point that they became indistinguishable from each other.” Parsons apparently developed an interest in country music while attending Harvard University. He founded the International Submarine Band in 1966, and after several months of delay their debut, Safe at Home, was released in 1968, by which time the group had disbanded. Parsons joined The Byrds in early 1968, and played a pivotal role in the making of the seminal Sweetheart of the Rodeo album. After leaving the group in late 1968, Parsons and fellow Byrd Chris Hillman formed The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1969, releasing their debut, The Gilded Palace of Sin, the same year. The album was well received but failed commercially. After a cross-country tour, they recorded Burrito Deluxe. Parsons was fired from the band before its release in early 1970. He soon signed with A&M Records, but after several unproductive sessions he canceled his intended solo debut in early 1971. Parsons moved to France, where he lived for a short period at Villa Nellcôte with his friend Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. Returning to America, Parsons befriended Emmylou Harris, who assisted him on vocals for his first solo record, GP, released in 1973. Although it received enthusiastic reviews, the release failed to chart; his next album, Grievous Angel met with a similar reception, and peaked at number 195 on Billboard.
The Final Footprint – Parsons’ body disappeared from the Los Angeles International Airport where it was being readied to be shipped to Louisiana for burial. Prior to his death, Parsons stated that he wanted his body cremated at Joshua Tree and his ashes spread over Cap Rock, a prominent natural feature there; however, Parsons’ stepfather, Robert Parson, arranged for a private ceremony back in New Orleans and neglected to invite any of his friends from the music industry. To fulfill Parsons’ funeral wishes, his friend Phil Kaufman stole his body from the airport and in a borrowed hearse drove it to Joshua Tree. Upon reaching the Cap Rock section of the park, they attempted to cremate Parsons’ corpse by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin and throwing a lit match inside. What resulted was an enormous fireball. The police gave chase but, as one account puts it, “were encumbered by sobriety,” and the men escaped. The two were arrested several days later. Since there was no law against stealing a dead body, they were only fined $750 for stealing the coffin and were not prosecuted for leaving 35 lbs of his charred remains in the desert. 
Parsons body was eventually buried in Garden of Memories of Metairie, Louisiana. The site of Parsons’ cremation was marked by a small concrete slab and was presided over by a large rock flake known to rock climbers as The Gram Parsons Memorial Hand Traverse. The slab has since been removed by the U.S. National Park Service, and relocated to the Joshua Tree Inn. There is no monument at Cap Rock noting Parsons’ cremation at the site. Joshua Tree park guides are given the option to tell the story of Parsons’ cremation during tours, but there is no mention of the act in official maps or brochures. Fans regularly assemble simple rock structures and writings on the rock, which the park service sand blasts to remove from time to time.
On this day in 1970, musician, singer, songwriter, one of the greatest electric guitar players, member of the Forever 27 Club, Jimi Hendrix died in London in the flat of his girlfriend Monika Dannemann in the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill, apparently from an accidental overdose of prescription medication, at the age of 27. Born Johnny Allen Hendrix on 27 November 1942 in Seattle, Washington. In 1946 his parents changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix, in honor of his father, James Allen Ross, and his late brother Leon Marshall. Despite a limited mainstream exposure of four years, he is widely considered one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. In 1964, he earned a spot in the Isley Brothers’ backing band and later that year he found work with Little Richard, with whom he continued to play through mid-1965. He then joined Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966. In 1967, Hendrix earned three UK top ten hits with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: “Hey Joe”, “Purple Haze”, and “The Wind Cries Mary”. Later that year, he achieved fame in the US after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. The world’s highest paid performer, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. Inspired musically by American rock and roll and electric blues, Hendrix favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain, and was instrumental in developing the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback. He helped to popularize the use of a wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, and pioneered experimentation with stereophonic phasing effects in music recordings. Hendrix was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously; the Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Rolling Stone ranked his three non-posthumous studio albums, Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland among the 100 greatest albums of all time and they ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist. Other members of the Forever 27 Club include; Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones, Robert Johnson, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Alan Wilson, Amy Winehouse, and Anton Yelchin.
The Final Footprint – On 29 September, Hendrix’s body was returned to Seattle. After a service at Dunlop Baptist Church on 1 October, he was interred in Greenwood Memorial Park (a 
On this day in 1980, journalist, essayist, author, poet and Pulitzer Prize recipient, Katherine Anne Porter died in Silver Spring, Maryland at the age of 90. Born Callie Russell Porter on 15 May 1890 in Indian Creek, Texas. Her 1962 novel Ship of Fools was the best-selling novel in America that year, but her short stories received more critical acclaim. She is known for her penetrating insight. Her work deals with dark themes such as betrayal, death and the origin of human evil. She was married and divorced four times and never had any children.
The Final Footprint – Porter was cremated and her ashes were buried next to her mothers in the Indian Creek Cemetery in Indian Creek. Her grave is marked by an upright granite marker. In addition to her name and birth and death dates, the monument inscription reads; IN MY END IS MY BEGINNING. One of my favorite writers, I commemorate her birthday every year by reading some of her short stories. In 1990, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 2905 was placed in Brown County, Texas to honor the life and career of Porter. One of my very favorite writers. Each year on her birthday I read some of her short stories.
And on this day in 2020, lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of pancreatic cancer in Washington DC, at age 87.
The Final Footprint – She died on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and according to Rabbi Richard Jacobs, “One of the themes of Rosh Hashanah suggest that very righteous people would die at the very end of the year because they were needed until the very end”. After the announcement of her death, thousands of people gathered in front of the Supreme Court building to lay flowers, light candles, and leave messages.
The Final Footprint – He is interred in the English Cimitero in Livorno. There is a monument to his memory beside Renton Primary School, Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on which there is a Latin inscription composed by Samuel Johnson. The area around the monument was improved in 2002, with an explanatory plaque. There is also a plaque to his temporary residence in Edinburgh just off the Royal Mile at the head of St John’s Street. This states that he resided here in the house of his sister, Mrs. Telfer, for the summer of 1766. A second plaque (dating the building at 1758, making it relatively new at that time) states that he “stayed here occasionally”.
On this day in 1858, African-American former slave, Dred Scott died in St. Louis from tuberculosis at the age of about 59. Born about 1799 in Southampton County, Virginia into slavery. He unsuccessfully sued for his freedom in the Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford of 1857. He was formally freed by Henry Taylor Blow on 26 May 1857, about three months after the court decision.
On this day in 1863, French poet, playwright, and novelist Alfred de Vigny died in Paris at the age of 66. Born in Loches, a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. He was a major figure in the French Romantic movement. Vigny married Lydia Bunbury, in Pau in 1825. He had an affair with the great actress Marie Dorval. After the death of his mother in 1838 he inherited the property of Maine-Giraud, near Angoulême, where he wrote some of his most famous poems, including La Mort du loup and La Maison du berger. (Apparently Proust regarded La Maison du berger as the greatest French poem of the 19th century.) In 1845, after several unsuccessful attempts to be elected, Vigny became a member of the Académie française. In his later years he spent much time preparing the posthumous collection of poems now known as Les Destinées (though Vigny’s intended title was Poèmes philosophiques) which concludes with Vigny’s final message to the world, L’Esprit pur.
The Final Footprint – Vigny is entombed beside his wife in the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris. Other notable final footprints at Montmartre include; Hector Berlioz, Dalida, Edgar Degas, Léo Delibes, Alexandre Dumas, fils, Marie Duplessis, Theophile Gautier, Gustave Moreau, Henri Murger, Jacques Offenbach, Francis Picabia, Stendahl, François Truffaut
On this day in 1997 actor, artist, comedian Red Skelton died at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 84. Born Ricard Skelton on July 18, 1913 in Vincennes, Indiana. Perhaps best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist.
The Final Footprint – Forest Lawn Memorial Park,, Glendale. Great Mausoleum, Memorial Terrace, Sanctuary of Benediction, Distinguished Memorial – Private Family Mausoleum Room #40, Crypt A (left/south side wall; 1st room from corridor entrance; top crypt), alongside his son, Richard Freeman Skelton, Jr., and his second wife, Georgia Maureen Davis Skelton.
On this day in 2006, socialite, the sixth of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald, sister to President John F. Kennedy, Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, wife of Peter Lawford, Patricia “Pat” Kennedy Lawford died at the age of 82 in her Manhattan home from pneumonia. Born on 6 May 1924 in Brookline, Massachusetts.
The Final Footprint – She was survived by her four children and 10 grandchildren, as well as, at the time, her sisters Eunice and Jean, and her brother Edward. She was buried in Southampton Cemetery in Southampton, New York.
