Self portrait
On this day in 1520, painter and architect of the High Renaissance, Raphael died in Rome, perhaps on his 37th birthday. Born Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino either on 28 March or 6 April 1483 in the small Central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region. Raphael is celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael never married, but in 1514 became engaged to Maria Bibbiena, Cardinal Medici Bibbiena’s niece. He is said to have had many affairs, but a permanent fixture in his life in Rome was “La Fornarina”, Margherita Luti, the daughter of a baker (fornaro) named Francesco Luti from Siena who lived at Via del Governo Vecchio.
The Final Footprint – Raphael is entombed in a marble sarcophagus in the Pantheon in Rome. The inscription is an elegiac distich written by Pietro Bembo,: “Ille hic est Raffael, timuit quo sospite vinci, rerum magna parens et moriente mori.” Meaning: “Here lies Raphael, by whom the mother of all things (Nature) feared to be overcome while he was living, and while he was dying, herself to die.” The Pantheon was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to “St. Mary and the Martyrs” but informally known as “Santa Maria Rotonda.”
Gallery
The Ansidei Altarpiece, ca. 1505, beginning to move on from Perugino
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The Madonna of the Meadow, ca. 1506, using Leonardo’s pyramidal composition for subjects of the Holy Family.
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Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1507, borrows from the pose of Leonardo’s Leda
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Deposition of Christ, 1507, drawing from Roman sarcophagi.
On this day in 1971, composer, pianist and conductor Igor Stravinsky died in his 5th Avenue apartment in Manhattan from heart failure at the age of 88. Born Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky on 17 June [O.S. 5 June] 1882 in Oranienbaum, Russia. In my opinion, one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century.
Stravinsky’s compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Serge Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913). The latter transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure and was largely responsible for Stravinsky’s enduring reputation as a musical revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design. His “Russian phase”, which continued with works such as Renard, L’Histoire du soldat and Les Noces, was followed in the 1920s by a period in which he turned to neoclassicism. The works from this period tended to make use of traditional musical forms (concerto grosso, fugue and symphony) and drew from earlier styles, especially those of the 18th century.
The Final Footprint
A funeral service was held on 9 April at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel. As per his wishes, he was buried in the Russian corner of the cemetery island of San Michele in northern Italy, several yards from the tomb of Diaghilev. Another notable final footprint at San Michele is Ezra Pound.
#RIP #OTD in 1992 writer (Foundation series, Galactic Empire series, Robot series, “Nightfall”), professor of biochemistry at Boston University, Isaac Asimov died in Manhattan of heart and kidney failure, aged 72. Cremated remains scattered
#RIP #OTD in 1996 actress (Mrs. Miniver) Greer Garson died from heart failure in a penthouse suite at the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, aged 91. Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas
#RIP #OTD in 1998, actress, singer, songwriter, lead singer of the Plasmatics, Wendy O. Williams fatally shot herself near her home in Storrs, Connecticut aged 48. Cremated
On this day in 1998, singer and songwriter, Country music icon, Tammy Wynette died from a heart attack at her home in Nashville at the age of 55. Born Virginia Wynette Pugh near Iuka, Mississippi on 5 May 1942. One of country music’s best-known artists, Wynette was called the “First Lady of Country Music”. Her best-known song was, “Stand by Your Man”. Many of her hits dealt with classic themes of loneliness, divorce, and the difficulties of man-woman relationships. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wynette charted 23 No. 1 songs. Wynette married five times; Euple Byrd (married April 1960– divorced 1966); Don Chapel, born Lloyd Franklin Amburgey (m. 1967 – annulled 1968); George Jones (m. February 16, 1969 – d. March 21, 1975); Michael Tomlin (m. July 18, 1976 – a. September 1976) 44 days; and singer/songwriter George Richey (m. July 6, 1978 – her death April 6, 1998), Wynette’s marriage to country music singer George Jones resulted in a sequence of albums and singles that hit the charts throughout the 1970s and early eighties.
The Final Footprint – A public memorial service was held at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium on 9 April 1998. A private grave-side service had been held earlier with a crypt entombment at Nashville’s Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Other notable final footprints at Woodlawn include; Eddy Arnold, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Webb Pierce, Jerry Reed, Marty Robbins, Dan Seals, Red Sovine, and Porter Wagoner.
#RIP #OTD in 2010 Native American (Cherokee Nation) activist, community developer, the first woman elected as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller died from pancreatic cancer at her home in rural Adair County, Oklahoma, aged 64. Echota Cemetery, Stilwell OK
On this day in 2014, United States Army veteran, actor, vaudevillian, comedian, producer and radio personality Mickey Rooney died in Los Angeles at the age of 93. Born Joseph Yule Jr. on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn. In a career spanning nine decades and continuing until shortly before his death, he appeared in more than 300 films and was one of the last surviving stars of the silent film era.
Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 15 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized American family values. A versatile performer, he became a celebrated character actor later in his career.
Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child and made his film debut at the age of six. At 14 he played Puck in the play and later the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 1938, he co-starred in Boys Town. At 19 he was the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for his leading role in Babes in Arms, and he was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Awardin 1939. At the peak of his career between the ages of 15 and 25, he made 43 films, which made him one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s most consistently successful actors and a favorite of MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer.
Drafted into the Army during World War II, he served nearly two years entertaining over two million troops on stage and radio and was awarded a Bronze Star for performing in combat zones. Returning from the war in 1945, Rooney’s popularity was renewed with well-received supporting roles in films such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and The Black Stallion (1979). In the early 1980s, he returned to Broadway in Sugar Babies. Rooney made hundreds of appearances on TV, including dramas, variety programs, and talk shows, and won an Emmy in 1982 plus a Golden Globe for his role in Bill (1981).
Rooney was married eight times, with six of the marriages ending in divorce. In 1942, he married his first wife, actress Ava Gardner, who at that time was still an obscure teenage starlet. They divorced the following year. While stationed in the military in Alabama in 1944, Rooney met and married Betty Jane Phillips, who later became a singer under the name B.J. Baker. This marriage ended in divorce after he returned from Europe at the end of World War II. His marriage to actress Martha Vickers in 1949 ended in divorce in 1951. He married actress Elaine Mahnken in 1952 and they divorced in 1958. In 1958, Rooney married Barbara Ann Thomason, but she was murdered by her secret lover in 1966. He then married Barbara’s best friend, Marge Lane. That marriage lasted 100 days. He was married to Carolyn Hockett from 1969 to 1975. In 1978, Rooney married his eighth and final wife, Jan Chamberlin. Their marriage lasted until his death, a total of 34 years (longer than his seven previous unions combined), although they separated in 2012.
The Final Footprint
A group of family members and friends, including Mickey Rourke, held a memorial service on April 18. A private funeral, organized by another set of family members, was held at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where he was ultimately entombed, on April 19. Other notable Final Footprints at Hollywood Forever include voice actor Mel Blanc (yes, his epitaph is “That’s All Folks!”), Chris Cornell, Cecil B. DeMille, Victor Fleming, Joan Hackett, John Huston, Judy Garland, Jayne Mansfield’s cenotaph, Hattie McDaniel‘s cenotaph, Bugsy Siegel, Rudolph Valentino, Fay Wray, and Anton Yelchin.
| Merle Haggard | |
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 in 1971 |
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On this day in 2016, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler, the Hag, Merle Haggard died at his ranch near Palo Cedro, California from pneumonia at the age of 79. Born Merle Ronald Haggard on April 6, 1937 in Oildale, California. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band the Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the twang of Fender Telecaster and the unique mix with the traditional country steel guitar sound, new vocal harmony styles in which the words are minimal, and a rough edge not heard on the more polished Nashville sound recordings of the same era.
Between the 1960s and the 1980s, he had 38 number-one hits on the US country charts, several of which also made the Billboard all-genre singles chart. Haggard continued to release successful albums into the 2000s.
Haggard’s last recording, a song called “Kern River Blues,” described his departure from Bakersfield in the late 1970s and his displeasure with politicians. The song was recorded February 9, 2016, and features his son Ben on guitar.
depicted on a publicity portrait for Tally Records (1961, age 24)
publicity portrait for Capitol Records (1975, age 38)
performing in June 2009 (age 72)
Haggard was married five times, first to Leona Hobbs from 1956-64. Shortly after divorcing Hobbs, in 1965, he married singer Bonnie Owens. Haggard and Owens divorced in 1978, but remained close friends as Owens continued as his backing vocalist until her death in 2006. In 1978, Haggard married Leona Williams. In 1983, they divorced. In 1985 Haggard married Debbie Parret; they divorced in 1991.
The Final Footprint
Haggard was buried in a private funeral at his ranch on April 9, 2016; longtime friend Marty Stuart officiated. Haggard hoped the world would remember him as “the greatest jazz guitar player in the world that loved to play country.”
at the White House for the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors
| Don Rickles | |
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 in 1973 |
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On this day in 2017, U. S. Navy veteran, comedian and actor, Mr. Warmth, Don Rickles died at his home in Beverly Hills from kidney failure at the age of 90. Born Donald Jay Rickles on May 8, 1926 in Queens, New York. He became well known as an insult comic. His prominent film roles included Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) with Clark Gable, Kelly’s Heroes (1970) with Clint Eastwood, and Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995).
Rickles also earned the nickname “The Merchant of Venom” for his poking fun at people of all ethnicities and walks of life. When he was introduced to an audience or on a television talk show, Spanish matador music, “La Virgen de la Macarena”, would usually be played, subtly foreshadowing someone was about to be metaphorically gored. Rickles said, “I always pictured myself facing the audience as the matador.”
with Lorne Greene on The Don Rickles Show in 1968
with Louise Sorel in The Don Rickles Show
on stage at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City on January 12, 2008
On March 14, 1965, Rickles married Barbara Sklar of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He admitted having a very difficult time romantically in his 20s and 30s, finally meeting Sklar through his agent when he was 38 years old and falling for her when she failed to get his sense of humor.
The Final Footprint
He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries is the largest Jewish cemetery organization in California.
#RIP #OTD in 2020 actor (The Virginian), James Drury died from natural causes in Houston, aged 85. Elmwood Memorial Park, Abilene, Texas
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On this day in 1976, aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer, director, philanthropist, and once one of the wealthiest people in the world, Howard Hughes died from kidney failure aboard an airplane bound for Houston, at the age of 70. Born Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. probably on 24 September 1905 in Humble, Texas. His father patented the two-cone roller bit, which allowed rotary drilling for petroleum in previously inaccessible places and founded the Hughes Tool Company. Hughes took full control of the business when he was 19 following his father’s death. His most notable films inlcude the flying film Hell’s Angels (1930), Scarface (1932), and The Outlaw (1943), which featured Jane Russell. Hughes dated many famous women, including Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Jean Peters, Terry Moore and Gene Tierney. He reportedly proposed to Joan Fontaine several times. In 1932 Hughes founded Hughes Aircraft Company, which became a major American aerospace and defense contractor, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. Hughes was one of the most influential aviators in history; he set multiple world air-speed records, built the Hughes H-1 Racer and H-4 “Hercules” (better known to history as the “Spruce Goose”) aircraft, and acquired and expanded Trans World Airlines which would later on merge with American Airlines. In 1953, Hughes founded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in Chevy Chase, Maryland, formed with the express goal of basic biomedical research, including trying to understand, in Hughes’ words, the “genesis of life itself.” Hughes gave all his stock in the Hughes Aircraft Company to the institute, which would sell the company to General Motors in 1985 for $5 billion. HHMI is one of the wealthiest medical research foundations in the world. In 1966, Hughes moved into the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He wound up purchasing other hotels/casinos such as the Castaways, New Frontier, The Landmark Hotel and Casino, the Sands and the Silver Slipper. Hughes was married two or three times; Ella Rice (1925-1929 divorce), Terry Moore (1949-1976 his death) (alleged), and Jean Peters (1957-1971 divorce).
The Final Footprint – Hughes is interred in the Hughes private estate with his parents in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston. One of my offices in Houston overlooked Glenwood. Hughes has been portayed in film by Tommy Lee Jones in The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) and by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator (2004). The latter was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning five. Other notable Final Footprints at Glenwood include; Maria Franklin Prentiss Langham Gable, Oveta Culp Hobby, William P. Hobby, Glenn McCarthy, and Gene Tierney.
On this day in 1994, musician, singer, and songwriter Kurt Cobain died from a self inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Seattle at the age of 27. Born Kurt Donald Cobain on 20 February 1967, at Grays Harbor Hospital in Aberdeen, Washington. Cobain was the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the grunge band Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1985 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene, having its debut album Bleach released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. After signing with major label DGC Records, the band found breakthrough success with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” from its second album Nevermind (1991). Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled “the flagship band” of Generation X, and Cobain hailed as “the spokesman of a generation”. Cobain, however, was often uncomfortable and frustrated, believing his message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, with his personal issues often subject to media attention. During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression. Cobain married fellow musician Courtney Love. With Cobain’s death at 27 he became a member of the 27 Club; a group of famous musicians who died when they were 27 years old. The group includes; bluesman Robert Johnson, Rolling Stone Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse.
The Final Footprint – A public vigil was held for Cobain on 10 April 1994, at a park at Seattle Center. A prerecorded message by Love was played at the memorial. Love read portions of Cobain’s suicide note to the crowd, crying and chastising Cobain. Near the end of the vigil, Love arrived at the park and distributed some of Cobain’s clothing to those who still remained. A final ceremony was arranged for Cobain, by his mother, on 31 May 1999. As a Buddhist monk chanted, daughter Frances Bean scattered Cobain’s ashes into McLane Creek in Olympia, the city where he “had found his true artistic muse.” Together with Nirvana band mates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, Cobain was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, which was the first year in which the band was eligible.
On this day in 2002, lead singer and co-songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains, Layne Staley died from an accidental overdose of a speedball in his home in Seattle, at the age of 34. Born Layne Rutherford Staley on August 22, 1967 in Kirkland, Washington. Alice in Chains rose to international fame in the early 1990s during Seattle’s grunge movement, and became known for Staley’s distinct vocal style, as well as the harmonized vocals between him and guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell. Staley was also a member of the supergroups Mad Season and Class of ’99.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1968, clergyman, activist, prominent leader and iconic figure in the African American civil rights movement, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee at the age of 39. Born on 15 January 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father’s name was Michael King, but he changed his name to Martin Luther King after Martin Luther (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546), the admired German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation. King believed in and urged the use of nonviolent methods in the advancement of civil rights. One of the greatest orators in American history. His “I Have a Dream” speech concludes with; “Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951. King married Coretta Scott, on 18 June 1953, on the lawn of her parents’ house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. In the close of his last speech given in Memphis before the assassiantion, King said; “And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
The Final Footprint – King is entombed at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. His crypt has the inscription; “Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty I’m Free at last.” Coretta was entombed next to him upon her death in 2006. Her crypt has the inscription; “And now abide Faith, Hope, Love, These Three; but the greatest of these is Love.” 1 Cor. 13:13. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1
On this day in 1983, actress and producer Gloria Swanson died 
And on this day in 2013, film critic, historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author Roger Ebert died from cancer in Chicago at the age of 70. Born Roger Joseph Ebert on June 18, 1942 in Urbana, Illinois. He was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.
The Final Footprint – The death of Jesse became a national sensation. The Fords made no attempt to hide their role. Robert Ford wired the governor to claim a reward. Crowds pressed into the little house in St. Joseph to see the dead outlaw. The Ford brothers surrendered to the authorities but were evidently dismayed to find that they were charged with first degree murder. In the course of a single day, the Ford brothers were indicted, pleaded guilty, were sentenced to death by hanging and two hours later were granted a full pardon by Governor Thomas T. Crittenden. The governor’s quick pardon suggested he knew the brothers intended to kill James. The implication that the governor conspired to kill a private citizen startled the public and added to James’ notoriety. After receiving a small portion of the reward, the Fords fled Missouri. Later the Ford brothers starred in a touring stage show in which they reenacted the shooting. Suffering from tuberculosis (then incurable) and a morphine addiction, Charley Ford committed suicide on 6 May 1884, in Richmond, Missouri. Bob Ford operated a tent saloon in Creede, Colorado. On 8 June 1892, a man named Edward O’Kelley went to Creede, loaded a double barrel shotgun, entered Ford’s saloon and said “Hello, Bob” before shooting Ford in the throat, killing him instantly. O’Kelley was sentenced to life in prison. O’Kelley’s sentence was subsequently commuted because of a 7,000 signature petition in favor of his release. He was pardoned on 3 October 1902. Jesse was initially interred at the James Family Farm just outside Kearney. James’ mother Zerelda Samuel wrote the following epitaph for him: In Loving Memory of my Beloved Son, Murdered by a Traitor and Coward Whose Name is not Worthy to Appear Here. Eighteen months after Jesse’s wife’s death in November 1900, Jesse’s body was moved from the James Family Farm to rest next to hers at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kearney. Debate continues over whether to place Jesse in the context of regional insurgencies of ex-Confederates following the American Civil War or as a manifestation of frontier lawlessness or alleged economic justice. Cultural depictions of Frank and Jesse and the Youngers proliferate in literature, movies and music. In Willa Cather‘s My Antonia, the narrator reads a book entitled ‘Life of Jesse James’ – probably a dime novel. In Charles Portis‘s 1968 novel, True Grit, the U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn describes fighting with Cole Younger and Frank James for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Long after his adventure with Mattie Ross, Cogburn ends his days in a traveling road show with the aged Cole Younger and Frank James. During his travel to the “Wilde West,” Oscar Wilde visited Kearney. Learning that Jesse had been assassinated by his own gang member, “…an event that sent the town into mourning and scrambling to buy Jesse’s artifacts,” “romantic appeal of the social outcast” in his mind, Wilde wrote in one of his letters to home that: “Americans are certainly great hero-worshippers, and always take [their] heroes from the criminal classes.” Frank and Jesse make an appearance in Wildwood Boys (2000) by James Carlos Blake.
On this day in 1897, composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period, Johannes Brahms died from liver cancer in Vienna, aged 63. Born on 7 May 1833 in Hamburg. Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. His reputation and status as a composer are such that he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the “Three Bs” of classical music.
On this day in 1990, jazz singer, Grammy winner, Sailor, Sassy, The Divine One, Sarah Vaughan died at her home in California at the age of 66 from lung cancer. Born Sarah Lois Vaughan on 27 March 1924 in Newark, New Jersey. She had a contralto vocal range and her voice is one my favorites in music. Her singing ability was envied by many including Frank Sinatra who reportedly said that “Sassy is so good now that when I listen to her I want to cut my wrists with a dull razor.” Vaughan was married three times: George Treadwell (1946–1958 divorce), Clyde Atkins (1958–1961 divorce) and Waymon Reed (1978–1981 divorce).
The Final Footprint – Vaughan’s funeral was held at the new location of Mount Zion Baptist Church, 208 Broadway in Newark, New Jersey, with the same congregation she grew up in. Following the ceremony, a horse-drawn carriage transported her body to its final resting place in Glendale Cemetery, Bloomfield in New Jersey. Her grave is marked by an individual upright marker with the inscription “THE DIVINE ONE” and the term of endearment “BELOVED DAUGHTER AND MOTHER.”
On this day in 1991, novelist Graham Greene died of leukemia, at the age of 86. Born Henry Graham Greene on 2 October 1904 in Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England. In my opinion, one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early on as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or “entertainments” as he termed them). He was shortlisted, in 1966 and 1967, for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Through 67 years of writings, which included over 25 novels, he explored the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world, often through a Catholic perspective.
On this day in 1987, United States Marine Corp veteran, jazz drummer and bandleader Buddy Rich died of complications from a brain tumor in Los Angeles at the age of 69. Born Bernard Rich on September 30, 1917 in Brooklyn. In my opinion, he is one of the most influential drummers of all time and was known for his virtuoso technique, power, and speed. Among others he performed with Louie Armstrong, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra and led a big band.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1995, golf professional,
coach, writer, Harvey Penick died in Austin, Texas at the age of 90. Born on 23 October 1904 in Austin. Penick was the golf coach at the University of Texas from 1931 to 1963, coaching the Longhorns to 21 Southwest Conference championships in 33 years, including 20 out of 23 seasons from 1932 to 1954 (1932–38; 1940–47; 1949–52; 1954). He coached the following members of the World Golf Hall of Fame: Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Mickey Wright, Betsy Rawls, and Kathy Whitworth. In 1992, he co-authored (with Bud Shrake) Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book. The book became the highest selling golf book ever published. In my opinion, Penick was perhaps the most gifted instructor of the mental game who ever lived. He said; “once you address the ball, hitting it to the desired target must be the only thing in your life. Allow no negative thoughts, and focus on your goal.“ Penick and Shrake collaborated on four more golf books, the final three published after Penick’s 1995 death. During his final illness, he gave lessons from his deathbed to Crenshaw. Penick was married to Helen Holmes (1928-1995 his death).
The Final Footprint – Penick is interred in Austin Memorial Park Cemetery in Austin. His grave is marked by a individual upright granite marker with the term of endearment; BELOVED FRIEND AND TEACHER. Helen was interred next to him upon her passing in 2006 at the age of 101. The day after serving as a pallbearer at Penick’s funeral, Crenshaw began play in the 1995 Masters Tournament. With the memory and spirit of his longtime friend and mentor to guide him, he became the second oldest Masters champion, winning his second Masters at the age of 43. Upon sinking his final putt on the 18th green, Crenshaw doubled over with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, crying. One of my all-time favorite sporting moments. I watch the Masters on television every year and I was riveted to every moment of that tournament in 1995. In the post-tournament interview, Crenshaw said: “I had a 15th club in my bag.” Other notable final footprints at Austin Memorial Park include; James Michener, Frank Hamer, Bibb Falk, and Noble Doss.
On this day in 1917, composer and pianist, The King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin died from tertiary syphilis and a resulting descent into insanity, in Manhattan State Hospital, a mental institution at the age of 49. During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the Maple Leaf Rag, became ragtime’s first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag. Joplin was born into a musical family of laborers in Northeast Texas. He grew up in Texarkana, where he formed a vocal quartet, and taught mandolin and guitar. Joplin began publishing music in 1895, and publication of his Maple Leaf Rag in 1899 brought him fame. The score to his first opera, A Guest of Honor, was confiscated in 1903 with his belongings, owing to his non-payment of bills, and is considered lost. He continued to compose and publish music, and in 1907 moved to New York City, seeking to find a producer for a new opera. Joplin never married.
The Final Footprint – Joplin was buried in a pauper’s grave that remained unmarked for 57 years. His grave at Saint Michaels Cemetery in East Elmhurst, New York, was finally given a marker in 1974. Joplin’s death is widely considered to mark the end of ragtime as a mainstream music format, and in the next several years it evolved with other styles into jazz, and eventually big band swing. His music was rediscovered and returned to popularity in the early 1970s with the release of a million-selling album of Joplin’s rags recorded by Joshua Rifkin, followed by the Academy Award–winning movie The Sting, which featured several of his compositions, such as The Entertainer. The opera Treemonisha was finally produced in full to wide acclaim in 1972. In 1976, Joplin was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
In 1927 Ernst married Marie-Berthe Aurenche, and it is thought his relationship with her may have inspired the erotic subject matter of The Kiss and other works of that year. Ernst appeared in the 1930 film L’Âge d’Or, directed by self-identifying Surrealist Luis Buñuel. In 1938, the American heiress and artistic patron Peggy Guggenheim acquired a number of Ernst’s works, which she displayed in her new gallery in London. Ernst and Guggenheim later were married (1942–1946).
The Final Footprint 
On this day in 1984, singer-songwriter and musician, The Prince of Motown, The Prince of Soul, Grammy winner, Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father during an argument at his parent’s home in Los Angeles the day before his 45th birthday. Born Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. on 2 April 1939 at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. One of the giants of music. Where does one start a list of favorite Gaye songs; “Can I get a Witness”, “What’s Going On”, “Let’s Get it On”, “Sexual Healing”, to name just a few. Gaye was married twice; Anna Gordy, Berry Gordy’s sister (1964-1977) and Janis Hunter (1977-1981 divorce).
On this day in 1631, English cleric and poet, John Donne died at the age of 59 in London. Born 22 January 1572 in London. Donne is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries. Donne’s style is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. These features, along with his frequent dramatic or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and an adaptation into English of European baroque and mannerist techniques. His early career was marked by poetry that bore knowledge of English society and he met that knowledge with sharp criticism. Another important theme in Donne’s poetry is the idea of true religion, something that he spent much time considering and about which he often theorized. He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love poems. He spent much of the money he inherited during and after his education on womanising, literature, and travel. In 1601, Donne secretly married Anne More, with whom he had twelve children. In 1615, he became an Anglican priest.
The Final Footprint – Donne was entombed in old St Paul’s Cathedral, where a memorial statue of him was erected (carved from a drawing of him in his shroud), with a Latin epigraph probably composed by himself. Donne’s monument survived the 1666 fire, and is on display in the present building. An excerpt from “Meditation 17 Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions” serves as the opening for Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls, and also produces the book’s title:
On this day in 1855, sister of Emily and Anne, novelist and poet, Charlotte Bronte died with her unborn child, aged 38 in Haworth, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Born in Thornton, west of Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on 21 April 1816. The eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels have become classics of English literature. She first published her works (including her best known novel, Jane Eyre) under the pen name Currer Bell. Charlotte received a proposal of marriage from Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father’s curate, who had long been in love with her. She initially turned down his proposal and her father objected to the union at least partly because of Nicholls’s poor financial status. Charlotte became increasingly attracted to Nicholls and by January 1854 she had accepted his proposal. They gained the approval of her father by April and married in June. They took their honeymoon in Banagher, Co. Offaly, Ireland.
On this day in 1980, track and field athlete, four-time gold medalist in the 1936 Olympic Games, Jesse Owens died from lung cancer at age 66 in Tucson, Arizona. Born James Cleveland Owens on September 12, 1913 in Oakville, Alabama.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1993, actor and martial artist Brandon Lee died in Wilmington, North Carolina during surgery after being injured on the set of The Crow after being shot by a faulty prop gun that fired the tip of a dummy round that was accidentally lodged in the chamber. He was 28. Born Brandon Bruce Lee on February 1, 1965 in Oakland, California. He was the first child of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee and teacher Linda Lee Cadwell (née Emery), the grandson of Cantonese opera singer Lee Hoi-chuen, and brother of Shannon Lee.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1995, singer-songwriter, Grammy winner, The Queen of Tejano, Selena was murdered in Corpus Christi, Texas at the age of 23. Born Selena Quintanilla on 16 April 1971 in Freeport Community Hospital in Lake Jackson, Texas. The most successful and popular star in the history of Tejano music. Her world-wide appeal extended far beyond Tejano. Selena was killed by Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her fan club and manager of the singer’s chain of beauty salons and boutiques. Selena believed that Saldivar had stolen over $30,000 from her businesses. Selena was married to Chris Pérez.
The Final Footprint – Selena is interred in Seaside Memorial Park in Corpus Christi in a private estate. Pavers lead up to the estate. Her grave is enclosed in a gated fence. The grave itself is marked by a full ledger bronze marker featuring a relief of her face and the inscription; “HE WILL ACTUALLY SWALLOW UP DEATH FOREVER, AND THE SOVEREIGN LORD JEHOVAH WILL CERTAINLY WIPE THE TEARS FROM ALL FACES”. ISIAH 25:8 On 12 April 1995, two weeks after her death, George W. Bush, governor of Texas at the time, declared her birthday “Selena Day” in Texas. Warner Bros. produced Selena (1997), a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez. Selena’s life was also the basis of the musical Selena Forever starring Veronica Vazquez. In June 2006, Selena was commemorated with a museum and a bronze life-sized statue, Mirador de la Flor, in Corpus Christi. Selena ¡VIVE!
The Final Footprint – Cagney is entombed in the mausoleum at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. President Ronald Reagan gave the eulogy. Other notable Final Footprints at Gate of Heaven include; Billy Martin, Sal Mineo, Babe Ruth, and 
On this day in 1891, Post-Impressionist painter, Georges-Pierre Seurat died in Paris at the age of 31. Born on 2 December 1859 in Paris. In my opinion, his most famous work is, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886), which altered the direction of modern art by initiating Neo-impressionism, and is one of the icons of 19th century painting. Apparently, he lived secretly with his young model, Madeleine Knobloch, whom he portrayed in his painting “Jeune femme se poudrant”. Seurat said; “Art is Harmony. Harmony is the analogy of the contrary and of similar elements of tone, of color and of line, considered according to their dominance and under the influence of light, in gay, calm or sad combinations”.
On this day in 1999, singer Joe Williams died in Las Vegas at the age of 80. Born Joseph Goreed on December 12, 1918 in Cordele, Georgia. He sang with big bands such as the Count Basie Orchestra and the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and with his combos. He sang in two films with the Basie orchestra and sometimes worked as an actor. Williams won the Best Jazz Vocal Performance Grammy Award for his LP Nothin’ but the Blues in 1984. It was also the winning Traditional Blues Album in the Blues Music Awards of the Blues Foundation in the following year. Williams was nominated for seven other Grammy awards: for Prez & Joe (1979); “8 to 5 I Lose” (1982); I Just Want To Sing (1986); Every Night: Live At Vine St. (1987); “I Won’t Leave You Again” (with Lena Horne, 1988); “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby” (with Marlena Shaw, 1989); and In Good Company (1989). In 1992, his 1955 recording of “Every Day I Have the Blues” with Basie was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame for recordings of particular historical or qualitative importance. Williams was added to the Jazz Wall of Fame of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 2001. In 1988, with his wife Jillean and friends, Williams set up the not-for-profit Joe Williams Every Day Foundation to offer scholarships to talented young musicians.
On this day in 1941, writer Virginia Woolf put on her overcoat, filled its pockets with stones, walked into the River Ouse near her home in Lewes, East Sussex, England, and drowned herself, at the age of 59. Born Adeline Virginia Stephen at 22 Hyde Park Gate in London on 25 January 1882. In my opinion, one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group, an influential group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One’s Own (1929), with its famous dictum, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” Woolf suffered from severe bouts of mental illness throughout her life, thought to have been the result of what is now termed bipolar disorder. Virginia Stephen married writer Leonard Woolf on 10 August 1912. Despite his low material status (Woolf referring to Leonard during their engagement as a “penniless Jew”) the couple evidently shared a close bond. The ethos of the Bloomsbury group encouraged a liberal approach to sexuality, and in 1922 she met the writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West, wife of Harold Nicolson. After a tentative start, they began a sexual relationship. In 1928, Woolf presented Sackville-West with Orlando, a fantastical biography in which the eponymous hero’s life spans three centuries and both sexes. Nigel Nicolson, Sackville-West’s son, wrote “The effect of Vita on Virginia is all contained in Orlando, the longest and most charming love letter in literature, in which she explores Vita, weaves her in and out of the centuries, tosses her from one sex to the other, plays with her, dresses her in furs, lace and emeralds, teases her, flirts with her, drops a veil of mist around her”. After their affair ended, the two women remained friends until Woolf’s death.
The Final Footprint – Woolf’s body was not found until 18 April 1941. Woolf was cremated and her husband buried her cremated remains under an elm in the garden of Monk’s House, their home in Rodmell, Sussex. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a Tony Award-winning 1962 play by Edward Albee. It examines the breakdown of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. The title is a pun on the song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” from Walt Disney’s The Three Little Pigs (1933), substituting Woolf’s name. Martha and George repeatedly sing this version of the song throughout the play. The film adaptation was released in 1966, written by Ernest Lehman, directed by Mike Nichols, and starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, George Segal and Sandy Dennis. Michael Cunningham’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Hours focused on three generations of women affected by Woolf’s novel Mrs Dalloway. In 2002, a film version of the novel was released starring Nicole Kidman as Woolf, a role for which she won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Actress. The film also starred Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep and featured an award-winning score by American composer Philip Glass.
On this day in 1943, 
On this day in 1969, five-star general and the 34th President of the United States, Ike, Dwight David Eisenhower died of congestive heart failure at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. at the age of 78. Born 14 October 1890 in Denison, Texas. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO. A Republican, Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race and won by a landslide, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of the New Deal Coalition holding the White House. In the 1956 election, he would again face Stevenson, easily winning re-election. Richard M. Nixon would serve as his vice president for both of his terms in office. Eisenhower graduated from the U. S. Military Academy in West Point. He married Mary Geneva “Mamie”Doud (1916-1969 his death). Eisenhower retired to the place where he and Mamie had spent much of their post-war time, a working farm adjacent to the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The Final Footprint – Eisenhower is entombed in a small chapel, the Place of Meditation, on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas. The day following his death, his body was moved to the Washington National Cathedral’s Bethlehem Chapel where he lay in repose for twenty-eight hours. On March 30, his body was brought by caisson to the United States Capitol where he lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda. On March 31, Eisenhower’s body was returned to the National Cathedral where he was given an Episcopal Church funeral service. That evening, Eisenhower’s body was placed onto a train en route to Abilene. Nixon, by this time president himself, said of Eisenhower’s death; “Some men are considered great because they lead great armies or they lead powerful nations. For eight years now, Dwight Eisenhower has neither commanded an army nor led a nation; and yet he remained through his final days the world’s most admired and respected man, truly the first citizen of the world.” There are many tributes and memorials to Eisenhower. My personal favorite being the Eisenhower tree which overhangs the 17th fairway at Augusta National Golf Club, where he was a member. Evidently the tree proved to be quite an obstacle for him when he played.
The Final Footprint
