On this day in 1902, writer Émile Zola died at his home in Paris of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by an improperly ventilated chimney at the age of 62. In my opinion, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. Zola was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in the renowned newspaper headline J’accuse. Zola was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 and 1902.
The Final Footprint – Zola was initially buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris, but on 4 June 1908, just five years and nine months after his death, his remains were relocated to the Panthéon. The Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. The inscription above the entrance reads AUX GRANDS HOMMES LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE ( “To the great men, the grateful homeland”). By burying its great men in the Panthéon, the Nation acknowledges the honour it received from them. As such, interment here is severely restricted and is allowed only by a parliamentary act for “National Heroes”. Other notable Final Footprints at the Panthéon include: Victor Hugo, Louis Braille, Pierre and Marie Curie, André Malraux, and Alexandre Dumas, père, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire.
On this day in 1964 the author of the The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) and one of my favorites, Carson McCullers died in Nyack, New York after a brain hemorrhage at the age of 50. Born Lula Carson McCullers on 19 February 1917 in Columbus, Georgia.
Her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts in a small town of the U.S. South. Her other novels have similar themes and most are set in the deep South.
McCullers’ oeuvre is often described as Southern Gothic and indicative of her southern roots, but her writing and eccentric characters are universal in scope. Her stories have been adapted to stage and film. A stagework of her novel The Member of the Wedding (1946), which captures a young girl’s feelings at her brother’s wedding, made a successful Broadway run in 1950–51.
McCullers married Reeves McCullers (1937 – 1941 divorce and 1945 – 1953 his death).
The Final Footprint – McCullers is interred in Oak Hill Cemetery in Nyack.
On this day in 1973, poet W. H. Auden died in Vienna at the age of 66. Born Wystan Hugh Auden on 21 February 1907 in York, England. In my opinion, Auden is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. His work is noted for its stylistic and technical achievements, its engagement with moral and political issues, and its variety of tone, form and content. The central themes of his poetry are love, politics and citizenship, religion and morals, and the relationship between unique human beings and the anonymous, impersonal world of nature. In the 1950s and 1960s many of his poems focused on the ways in which words revealed and concealed emotions, and he took a particular interest in writing opera librettos, a form ideally suited to direct expression of strong feelings. He was also a prolific writer of prose essays and reviews on literary, political, psychological and religious subjects, and he worked at various times on documentary films, poetic plays and other forms of performance. Throughout his career he was both controversial and influential. After his death, some of his poems, notably “Funeral Blues” (“Stop all the clocks”), “Musée des Beaux Arts”, “Refugee Blues”, “The Unknown Citizen”, and “September 1, 1939”, became known to a much wider public than during his lifetime through films, broadcasts, and popular media.
The Final Footprint – Auden is buried in a Kirchstetten churchyard in Kirchstetten, Austria.
On this day in 1975, baseball Hall of
Famer, player, manager, The Old Perfesser, Casey Stengel died in Glendale, California at the age of 85. Born Charles Dillon Stengel on 30 July 1890 in Kansas City, Missouri. The only manager to win five consecutive World Series championships, all with the New York Yankees. Between playing and managing, he is the only man to have worn all four of New York’s major league clubs’ uniforms. His number 37 was retired by both the Yankees and the Mets.
The Final Footprint– Stengel was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. His grave is marked with a flat bronze on granite marker. A plaque on a wall near his grave reads in part: FOR OVER SIXTY YEARS ONE OF AMERICA’S FOLK HEROES WHO CONTRIBUTED IMMENSLEY TO THE LORE AND LANGUAGE OF OUR COUNTRY’S NATIONAL PASTIME, BASEBALL. “THERE COMES A TIME IN EVERY MAN’S LIFE AND I’VE HAD PLENTY OF THEM” CASEY STENGEL. His plaque in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium reads; Brightened baseball for over 50 years; with spirit of eternal youth; Yankee manager 1949-1960 winning 10 pennants and 7 world championships including 5 consecutive. Monument Park is an open-air museum containing a collection of monuments, plaques, and retired numbers honoring distinguished members of the Yankees. Other notable Final Footprints at Forest Lawn Glendale include; L. Frank Baum, Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis, Jr., Walt Disney, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Michael Jackson, Carole Lombard, Tom Mix, Casey Stengel, Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, and Spencer Tracy.. Other notable Yankees whose final footprints include memorialization in Monument Park; Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, George Steinbrenner, Thurman Munson, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Phil Rizzuto, Billy Martin, Mel Allen, and Bob Sheppard.
On this day in 1988 cartoonist known for his darkly humorous and macabre characters Charles Addams died at St. Clare’s Hospital and Health Center in New York City, having suffered a heart attack, aged 76. Born Charles Samuel Addams in Westfield, New Jersey on 7 January 1912. Some of the recurring characters, who became known as the Addams Family, have been the basis for spin-offs in several other forms of media.
In late 1942, he met his first wife, Barbara Jean Day, who purportedly resembled his cartoon character Morticia Addams. The marriage ended eight years later after Addams decline to have children.
Addams married his second wife, Barbara Barb (Estelle B. Barb), in 1954. A practicing lawyer, she “combined Morticia-like looks with diabolical legal scheming,” by which she wound up controlling The Addams Family television and film franchises and persuaded her husband to give away other legal rights. At one point, she got her husband to take out a US $100,000 insurance policy. Addams consulted a lawyer on the sly, who later humorously wrote: “I told him the last time I had word of such a move was in a picture called Double Indemnity starring Barbara Stanwyck, which I called to his attention.” In the movie, Stanwyck’s character plotted her husband’s murder. The couple divorced in 1956.
Addams was “sociable and debonair”. A biographer described him as being “a well-dressed, courtly man with silvery back-combed hair and a gentle manner, he bore no resemblance to a fiend”. Figuratively a “ladykiller”, Addams accompanied women such as Greta Garbo, Joan Fontaine and Jacqueline Kennedy on social occasions.
Addams married his third and final wife, Marilyn Matthews Miller, best known as “Tee” (1926–2002), in a pet cemetery. In 1985, the Addamses moved to Sagaponack, New York, where they named their estate “The Swamp”.
The Final Footprint – As he had requested, a wake was held rather than a funeral. He had reportedly wished to be remembered as a “good cartoonist”. In accordance with Addams’s wishes, he was cremated, and his ashes were interred in the pet cemetery of “The Swamp”.
On this day in 1997, artist Roy Lichtenstein died of pneumonia in 1997 at New York University Medical Center, at the age of 73. Born Roy Fox Lichtenstein on October 27, 1923 in Manhattan. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the premise of pop art through parody. His work was influenced by popular advertising and comic book style. He described pop art as “not ‘American’ painting but actually industrial painting”. His paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City.
Perhaps best known for his works; Whaam!, Drowning Girl, Oh, Jeff…I Love You, Too…But…, and Look Mickey.
Oh, Jeff…I Love You, Too…But…
Drowning Girl
In 1949, Lichtenstein married Isabel Wilson, who previously had been married to Ohio artist Michael Sarisky. After he began teaching at the State University of New York at Oswego in 1958. The couple sold the family home in Highland Park, New Jersey, in 1963 and divorced in 1965.
Lichtenstein married his second wife, Dorothy Herzka, in 1968. From 1970 until his death, Lichtenstein split his time between Manhattan and Southampton.
The Final Footprint
Lichtenstein was cremated.
#RIP #OTD in 2002 singer/songwriter (Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In), Sweet Memories, Time is a Thief, Here Comes the Rain Baby), Mickey Newbury died from emphysema in Springfield, Oregon aged 62. Greenwood Cemetery, Leaburg, Oregon
#RIP #OTD 2005 painter (Pottery, Still Life Ingredients) Patrick Caulfield died in London in 2005 aged 69. Highgate Cemetery
#RIP #OTD in 2007 actress best known for her portrayal of Miss Moneypenny in the first fourteen Eon-produced James Bond films, Lois Maxwell died at Fremantle Hospital, Freemantle, Australia, age 80. Cremation.
On this day in 2010 United States Navy veteran, actor Tony Curtis died at his Henderson, Nevada home of cardiac arrest at the age of 85. Born Bernard Schwartz on 3 June 1925 in The Bronx. His career spanned six decades, and had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama. Although his early film roles were partly the result of his good looks, by the later half of the 1950s he became a notable and strong screen presence. He began proving himself to be a fine dramatic actor, having the range to act in numerous dramatic and comedy roles. He won his first serious recognition as a skilled dramatic actor in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) with co-star Burt Lancaster. The following year he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in another drama, The Defiant Ones (1958). Curtis then gave what could arguably be called his best performance: three interrelated roles in the comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), possibly one of the funniest films ever made. The film co-starred Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe, and was directed by Billy Wilder. That was followed by Blake Edwards’s comedy Operation Petticoat (1959) with Cary Grant. They were both frantic comedies, and displayed his impeccable comedic timing. In 1960, Curtis co-starred with Kirk Douglas in Spartacus, which became another major hit for him. Cirtis married six times: Janet Leigh (1951–1962 divorce), Christine Kaufmann
(1963–1968 divorce), Leslie Allen (1968–1982 divorce), Andrea Savio (1984–1992 divorce), Lisa Deutsch (1993–1994 divorce), Jill Vandenberg (1998–2010 his death).
The Final Footprint – Curtis was interred in a private estate at Palm Memorial Park Cemetery, a Dignity Memorial property, in Green Valley, Nevada. His memorial service was attended by his daughters, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ron Jeremy, Rich Little, and Vera Goulet, Robert Goulet’s widow. Investor Kirk Kerkorian, Kirk Douglas and singer Phyllis McGuire were among the honorary pallbearers. His epitaph; “And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked; But still he fluttered pulses when he said “Good Morning!” and he glittered when he walked.” Other notable final footprints at Palm Memorial include Redd Foxx and Joe Williams.
#RIP #OTD in 2018 blues guitarist, singer (“I Can’t Quit You Baby”), songwriter (“Double Trouble”, “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)”) Otis Rush died from complications of a stroke in Chicago at the age of 84.
#RIP #OTD in 2020 singer-songwriter (“Baby, Don’t Get Hooked On Me”; “In The Ghetto”; “I Believe In Music”), actor (North Dallas Forty), Mac Davis died from heart surgery complications aged 78. City of Lubbock Cemetery, Lubbock, Texas
#RIP #OTD 2020 singer (“Delta Dawn”), lyricist (“I am Woman”), actress, television host, activist Helen Reddy died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles, at the age of 78. Cremated remains scattered at sea
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On this day in 1891 author Herman Melville died at his home in New York City at age 72 from cardiac dilation. Born in New York City on 1 August 1819. Best known for the novel Moby-Dick. His first three books gained much contemporary attention (the first, Typee, became a bestseller), but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. It was not until the “Melville Revival” in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby-Dick, which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. In 1919, the unfinished manuscript for his novella Billy Budd was discovered by his first biographer, Raymond M. Weaver, who published a version in 1924. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America. Melville married Elizabeth Shaw (1847 – 1891 his death).
The Final Footprint – He was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark. Other notable Final Footprints at Woodlawn include; Irving Berlin, Miles Davis (see below), Duke Ellington, Fiorello La Guardia, Lionel Hampton, Rowland Macy, Bat Masterson, J. C. Penney, Joseph Pulitzer, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
On this day in 1966, French writer, poet, anarchist and anti-fascist, the founder of Surrealism, André Breton died at 70. Born on 19 February 1896 in Tinchebray (Orne) in Normandy.Perhaps best known as the co-founder, leader, principal theorist and chief apologist of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto (Manifeste du surréalisme) of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as “pure psychic automatism”.
On this day in 1991, multiple Grammy winner, trumpeter, bandleader and composer Miles Davis died in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. Born Miles Dewey Davis III on 26 May 1926 in Alton, Illinois. In my opinion he is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion. Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. On 7 October 2008, his 1959 album Kind of Blue received its fourth platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of at least four million copies in the United States. On 15 December 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a symbolic resolution recognizing and commemorating the album Kind of Blue on its 50th anniversary, “honoring the masterpiece and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure”. He was knighted into the Légion d’honneur or Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur in Paris. In my opinion, Kind of Blue is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. I heard someone say once, if you do not own Kind of Blue, something is wrong with you. Yes, I own a copy. Davis married actress Cicely Tyson on 26 November 1981. The ceremony was conducted by Atlanta mayor Andrew Young at the home of actor Bill Cosby. Davis and Tyson divorced in 1988.
The Final Footprint – Davis is buried with one of his trumpets, in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. His grave is marked by a large black granite engraved rectangular monument. It is inscribed, In Memory of Sir Miles Davis and has a music scale and a trumpet engraved in the granite. A bronze statue of Davis was erected in Kielce, Poland. Other notable Final Footprints at Woodlawn include; Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Fiorello La Guardia, Rowland Macy, Bat Masterson, Herman Melville (see above), J. C. Penney, Joseph Pulitzer, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
On this day in 2003, film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor Elia Kazan died from natural causes in his Manhattan apartment aged 94. Born Elias Kazantzoglou on September 7, 1909 in Constantinople, now Istanbul. In my opinion, one of the most honored and influential, and controversial, directors in Broadway and Hollywood history.
nd on this day in 2010, director and producer of film, television and theater, Arthur Penn died in Manhattan a day after his 88th birthday from congestive heart failure. Born Arthur Hiller Penn on September 27, 1922 in Philadelphia. Closely associated with the American New Wave, Penn directed critically acclaimed films throughout the 1960s such as the drama The Chase (1966), the biographical crime film Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and the comedy Alice’s Restaurant (1969). He also received attention for his acclaimed revisionist Western Little Big Man (1970), Night Moves (1975) and The Missouri Breaks (1976). In the 1990s he returned to stage and television direction and production, including an executive producer role for the crime series Law & Order. By his death he had been nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Director, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, two Emmys, and two Directors Guild of America Awards. He was the recipient of several honorary accolades, including an Honorary Golden Bear, a Tony Award, and an Akira Kurosawa Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival.
The Final Footprint – Degas is entombed in the Famille de Gas private mausoleum in the Cimetiere de Montmartre in Paris. Other notable final footprints at Montmartre include; Hector Berlioz, Dalida, Alexandre Dumas, fils, Théophile Gautier, Jeanne Moreau, Jacques Offenbach, François Truffaut, and Alfred de Vigny.
On this day in 1961, early modernist poet, novelist, essayist, H. D., Hilda Doolittle died from complications of a stroke in the Klinik Hirslanden in Zürich, aged 75. Her career began in 1911 after she moved to London and co-founded the avant-garde Imagist group of poets with the American expatriate poet and critic Ezra Pound. During this early period her minimalist and free verse works drew international attention. Over time her output developed to longer and more complex Epic poetry and prose.
The Final Footprint – Cremated remains interred in the family plot in the Nisky Hill Cemetery, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on October 28, 1961. Her headstone is inscribed with lines from her early poem “Epitaph”:
On this day in 1965, actress (Man Trap, It, Wings), rancher, “The It Girl” Clara Bow died of a heart attack in Culver City, California, aged 60. Born Clara Gordon Bow in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn at 697 Bergen Street.
The Final Footprint – Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Heritage at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
On this day in 1986 Metallica bassist Cliff Burton died when their tour bus crashed in Ljungby Municipality, near Dörarp in rural southern Sweden. Born Clifford Lee Burton on 10 February 1962 in Castro Valley, California. Burton joined Metallica in 1982 and performed on the band’s first three studio albums, Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets. He also received a posthumous writing credit for the song “To Live Is to Die” from the band’s fourth studio album …And Justice For All.
On this day in 2017, businessman, magazine publisher, and playboy Hugh Hefner died at his home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles at the age of 91. Born Hugh Marston Hefner on April 9, 1926 in Chicago. He was the founder of Playboy and editor-in-chief of the magazine, which he founded in 1953. An advocate of sexual liberation and freedom of expression, Hefner was a political activist and philanthropist in several other causes and public issues.
The Final Footprint 
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.
The Final Footprint
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 – 
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).
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
