On this day in 1949, composer of the late Romantic and early Modern eras, Richard Strauss died at the age of 85 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Born Richard Georg Strauss on 11 June 1864 in Munich. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, An Alpine Symphony; and other orchestral works, such as Metamorphosen. Strauss was also a prominent conductor throughout Germany and Austria. Strauss, along with Gustav Mahler, represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.
The Final Footprint – Strauss was cremated and his cremated remains were interred in the garden of his villa in Garmisch, in the Bavarian Alps. Georg Solti, who had arranged Strauss’s 85th birthday celebration, also directed an orchestra during Strauss’s burial. The conductor later described how, during the singing of the famous trio from Rosenkavalier, “each singer broke down in tears and dropped out of the ensemble, but they recovered themselves and we all ended together.” Strauss’s wife, Pauline de Ahna, died eight months later, on 13 May 1950, at the age of 88.
On this day in 1965, actress and singer, Academy Award nominee, Dorothy Dandridge died at the age of 42 either from an accidental overdose of prescription medication or an embolism at her home in West Hollywood. Born Dorothy Jean Dandridge on 9 November 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. After many bit parts, and a few minor roles, Dandridge landed her first notable film role in Tarzan’s Peril (starring Lex Barker), in 1951. She won her first starring role in 1953, playing a teacher in a low-budget film with a nearly all-black cast, Bright Road, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1954, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Carmen Jones. In 1959, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role as Bess in Otto Preminger’s film adaptation of the Gershwin/Heyward/Gershwin opera, Porgy and Bess. In 1999, she was the subject of the HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, starring Halle Berry as Dandridge. Dandridge was married and divorced twice: first, to dancer and entertainer Harold Nicholas (the father of her daughter, Harolyn Suzanne), and then to Jack Denison.
The Final Footprint – On 12 September 1965, a private funeral service was held for Dandridge at the Little Chapel of the Flowers; she was then cremated and her cremated remains inurned in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. For her contributions to the motion picture industry, she was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 671 Hollywood Boulevard. Dandridge is a prominent figure in a huge mural of celebrities painted on an exterior wall of Hollywood High School. Dandridge has a statue at Hollywood-La Brea Boulevard in Los Angeles, designed by Catherine Hardwicke, built to honor multi-ethnic leading ladies of the cinema, including Mae West, Dolores del Rio and Anna May Wong. Other notable Final Footprints at Forest Lawn Glendale include; L. Frank Baum, Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, 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.
#RIP #OTD in 2016 The Grand Empress, The Doll, actress, author (Hiding My Candy), transgender club performer, The Lady Chablis died from Pneumocystis pneumonia at Candler Hospital in Savannah, Georgia aged 59
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On this day in 1892, influential Quaker poet, ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States, , John Greenleaf Whittier died at the age of 84 at a friend’s home in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. Born near Haverhill, Massachusetts, on 17 December 1807. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets along with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Whittier appears to have been strongly influenced by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Perhaps best remembered for his poem Snow-Bound, and the words of the hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, from his poem “The Brewing of Soma”, sung to music by Hubert Parry.
The Final Footprint – Whittier is interred in Union Cemetery in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Whittier’s family farm, known as the John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead or simply “Whittier’s Birthplace”, is now a historic site open to the public. His later residence in Amesbury, where he lived for 56 years, is also open to the public, now known as the John Greenleaf Whittier Home. Whittier’s hometown of Haverhill has named many buildings and landmarks in his honor including J.G. Whittier Middle School, Greenleaf Elementary, and Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School. Numerous other schools around the country also bear his name.
On this day in 1962, author Karen Blixen, Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, died at Rungstedlund, her family’s estate in Denmark, at the age of 77. Born Karen Christenze Dinesen on 17 April 1885 in Rungsted, Denmark. Best known for her book Out of Africa, which was made into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford as the English big game hunter Denys Finch Hatton. In 1913 Karen Dinesen became engaged to her second-cousin, the Swedish Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, after a failed love affair with his brother. The couple moved to Kenya, where in early 1914 they used family money to establish a coffee plantation, hiring African workers, predominantly the Kikuyu tribes people who lived on the farmlands at the time of their arrival. The Blixens separated in 1921, and were divorced in 1925. During her early years in Kenya, Blixen met Hatton and after her separation she and Hatton developed a close friendship which eventually became a long-term love affair.
The Final Footprint – Blixen was buried at Rungstedlund under a large beech tree. Her full ledger flat marker simply states her name – Karen Blixen. In addition, the family estate has been turned into a museum and is open to the public.
On this day in 1978, musician, drummer, member of The Who, Keith Moon died at the age of 32 from an overdose of prescription medication in Harry Nilsson’s flat, No.12 at 9 Curzon Place (now called Curzon Square), Shepherd Market, Mayfair. Perhaps the greatest drummer in the history of rock. The Who emerged in 1964 with singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle, and Moon. They combined popular singles, such as “My Generation” (1965), “Substitute” (1966), “I Can See for Miles” (1967), “Pinball Wizard” (1969), and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (1971), with critically acclaimed albums such as the rock operas Tommy (1969), and Quadrophenia (1973). They are known for energetic live performances which, since a performance at the Railway Hotel in Wealdstone in June 1964 when Townshend smashed his guitar in anger and frustration, often include smashing their instruments. For much of their career they have been regarded as the third most important British rock act after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Moon died shortly after the release of Who Are You. On the album cover, he is seated on a chair back-to-front. The words “NOT TO BE TAKEN AWAY” appear on the back of the chair. Born Keith John Moon on 23 August 1946 in Wembley, Middlesex, London.
The Final Footprint – Moon was cremated on 13 September 1978, at Golders Green Crematorium in London and his ashes scattered in its Gardens of Remembrance. GGC was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The crematorium, the Philipson Family mausoleum, designed by Edwin Lutyens, the wall, along with memorials and gates, the Martin Smith Mausoleum, and Into The Silent Land statue are all Grade II listed buildings. The gardens are included in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. GGC is in Hoop Lane, off Finchley Road, Golders Green, London NW11, ten minutes’ walk from Golders Green tube station. It is directly opposite the Golders Green Jewish Cemetery. The crematorium is secular, accepts all faiths and non-believers; clients may arrange their own type of service or remembrance event and choose whatever music they wish. Other notable cremations at GGC include; Kingsley Amis, Marc Bolan, Neville Chamberlain, T. S. Eliot, Sigmund Freud, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Vivien Leigh, Peter Sellers, Bram Stoker, H. G. Wells, and Amy Winehouse.
On this day in 2003, singer, songwriter, musician Warren Zevon died, aged 56, at his home in Los Angeles, California from cancer. Born Warren William Zevon on 24 January 1947 in Chicago. Perhaps his best-known compositions include “Werewolves of London”, “Excitable Boy”, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”, “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” and “Johnny Strikes Up the Band”, all of which are featured on his third album, Excitable Boy (1978). Other well-known songs written by Zevon have been recorded by other artists, including “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” (a top 40 hit by Linda Ronstadt), “Accidentally Like a Martyr”, “Mohammed’s Radio”, “Carmelita”, and “Hasten Down the Wind”. Along with his own compositions, Zevon recorded or performed occasional covers, including Allen Toussaint’s A Certain Girl, Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan”. He was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman later performed guest vocals on “Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)” with Paul Shaffer and members of the CBS Orchestra on Zevon’s My Ride’s Here album.
On this day in 1907, French poet and essayist, recipient of the first Nobel Prize in Literature, Sully Prudhomme died at Châtenay-Malabry, at the age of 68. Born René François Armand Prudhomme on 16 March 1839 in Paris. The first ever winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1901. Prudhomme originally studied to be an engineer, but turned to philosophy and later to poetry; he declared it as his intent to create scientific poetry for modern times. In character sincere and melancholic, he was linked to the Parnassus school, although his work displays characteristics of its own.
On this day in 1984, singer songwriter, The Texas Troubadour, the original E.T., Ernest Tubb died from emphysema in Nashville at the age of 70. Born Ernest Dale Tubb on 9 February 1914 in Ellis County Texas. One of the pioneers of country music, his biggest career hit song, “Walking the Floor Over You” (1941), marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music. In 1948, he was the first singer to record a hit version of “Blue Christmas”. Another well-known Tubb hit was “Waltz Across Texas” (1965), which became one of his most requested songs and is often used in dance halls throughout Texas during waltz lessons. Tubb recorded duets with the then up-and-coming Loretta Lynn in the early 1960s, including their hit “Sweet Thang”. Tubb is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. My favorite E.T. song is Waltz across Texas.
The Final Footprint – Tubb was buried at Hermitage Memorial Gardens, a 
On this day in 2007, one of the greatest opera tenors, The King of the High C’s, Luciano Pavarotti, died of kidney failure brought on by pancreatic cancer, at his home in Modena, Italy, at the age of 71. Born 12 October 1935 in Modena. One of the most commercially successful tenors of all time. He made numerous recordings of complete operas and individual arias, gaining worldwide fame for the brilliance and beauty of his tone, especially into the upper register, and eventually established himself as one of the finest tenors of the 20th century. As one of The Three Tenors, Pavarotti became well known for his televised concerts and media appearances. From the beginning of his professional career as a tenor in 1961 in Italy to his final performance of “Nessun dorma” at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Pavarotti was at his best in bel operas, pre-Aida Verdi roles and Puccini works such as La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. Pavarotti was also noted for his charity work on behalf of refugees and the Red Cross, amongst others. He made his opera debut in April 1961, in the role of Rudolfo in the opera La bohème. In 1963, he made his international debut in the same role at London’s Royal Opera House. He became the first tenor in opera history to hit all nine high C notes in the aria Quel Destin in the opera The Daughter of the Regiment by Gaetano Donizetti.
On this day in 2018, actor, director, producer, sex symbol and icon of American popular culture, Burt Reynolds died of a heart attack at the Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida at the age of 82.. Born Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. on February 11, 1936 in Lansing, Michigan.
On this day in 2021 actor (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire) Michael K. Williams died in his apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn from an overdose of heroin laced with fentanyl, aged 54. Born Michael Kenneth Williams on November 22, 1966 in Brooklyn. He rose to fame in 2002 through his critically acclaimed role as Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire. He has been described as a “singular presence, onscreen and off, who made every role his own.”
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1857, French philosopher, founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism, Auguste Comte died in Paris at the age of 59 from stomach cancer. Born Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte in Montpellier, Hérault, in southern France on 19 January 1798. He was a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism. He is sometimes regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the term. Strongly influenced by the utopian socialist Henri Saint-Simon, Comte developed the positive philosophy in an attempt to remedy the social malaise of the French Revolution, calling for a new social doctrine based on the sciences. Comte was a major influence on 19th-century thought. Comte’s social theories culminated in the “Religion of Humanity”, which influenced the development of religious humanist and secular humanist organizations in the 19th century. Comte coined the word altruisme (altruism).
The Final Footprint – Comte is interred in Père Lachaise Cemetery, surrounded by cenotaphs in memory of his mother, Rosalie Boyer, and of Clotilde de Vaux, his muse. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Georges Bizet, Honoré de Balzac, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Maria Callas, Frédéric Chopin, Colette, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Eugène Delacroix, Max Ernst, Molière, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, Camille Pissarro, Marcel Proust, Sully Prudhomme, Gioachino Rossini, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Gertrude Stein, Dorothea Tanning, Alice B. Toklas, Oscar Wilde, and Richard Wright.
On this day in 1877, Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota, Tasunke Witko (literally “His-Horse-Is-Crazy” or “His-Horse-Is-Spirited”), Crazy Horse, was fatally wounded, after surrendering to U.S. troops under General George Crook, while allegedly resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in present-day Nebraska (in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska). Born Cha-O-Ha (“In the Wilderness” or “Among the Trees”, meaning he was one with nature) sometime between 1840 and 1845 possibly somewhere on the South Cheyenne River. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people, including leading a war party to victory over George Armstrong Custer and his men at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. Crazy Horse ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members and has been honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a 13¢ Great Americans series postage stamp.
On this day in 1997, Mother Teresa, known in the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta died in Calcutta at the age of 87. Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on 26 August 1910 in Üsküp, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire. After living in Macedonia for eighteen years she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1907, composer and pianist Edvard Grieg died at the Municipal Hospital in Bergen, Norway at age 64 from heart failure. Born Edvard Hagerup Grieg on 15 June 1843 in Bergen. In my opinion, he is one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to international consciousness, as well as helping to develop a national identity.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1914, French poet, essayist, and editor Charles Péguy died in battle, shot in the forehead, in Villeroy, Seine-et-Marne during World War I, on the day before the beginning of the Battle of the Marne. Born on 7 January 1873 in Orléans. His two main philosophies were socialism and nationalism, but by 1908 at the latest, after years of uneasy agnosticism, he had become a believing but non-practicing Roman Catholic. From that time, Catholicism strongly influenced his works. In 1897, Péguy married Charlotte-Françoise Baudoin; they had one daughter and three sons, one of whom was born after Péguy’s death. Around 1910 he fell deeply in love with Blanche Raphael, a young Jewish friend; however, he was faithful to his wife.
The Final Footprint – He is interred in a communal grave in the Grande Tombe de Villeroy, Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France. Péguy wrote: “There will be things that I do that no one will be left to understand.”
On this day in 1991, singer and songwriter Dottie West died at the age of 58 from injuries sustained in a car accident at the Opryland exit on Briley Parkway in Nashville. Born Dorothy Marie Marsh outside McMinnville, Tennessee on 11 October 1932. In my opinion, West is one of country music’s most influential and groundbreaking female artists. Her career started in the early 1960s, with her Top 10 hit, “Here Comes My Baby Back Again,” which won her the first Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1965. In the 1960s, West was one of the few female country singers working in what was then a male-dominated industry. Throughout the 1960s, West had country hits within the Top 10 and 20. In the early 1970s, West wrote a popular commercial for the Coca-Cola company, titled “Country Sunshine”. She teamed up with country-pop superstar, Kenny Rogers for a series of duets earning Platinum selling albums and No. 1 records. Her duet recordings with Rogers, like “Every Time Two Fools Collide,” “All I Ever Need Is You,” and “What Are We Doin’ In Love,” eventually became country-pop standards. Her image and music came to the peak of her popularity as a solo act, and reaching No. 1 for the very first time on her own, in 1980 with her version of the Randy Goodrum and Brent Haher song, “A Lesson in Leavin’.
The Final Footprint – Her funeral was held at Christ Church on Old Hickory Boulevard. There were 600 friends and family attendees, including Emmylou Harris, Connie Smith, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash and Larry Gatlin. Her friend and fellow artist, Steve Wariner, whom she had helped make it to Nashville as a young man, sang “Amazing Grace”. West is interred in Mount View Cemetery in McMinnville. Her grave is marked by an individual upright granite marker with the term of endearment; Beloved Daughter, Wife and Monther and Our Country Sunshine. On the back is the following; I was born a country girl I will die a country girl. My world is made of blue skies and sunshine, green fields and butterflies. I’m so glad I’m a country girl. McMinnville dedicated Highway 56 to her memory, naming it the Dottie West Memorial Highway. In 1995, actress Michele Lee, with the help of West’s daughter Shelly, produced and starred in the made-for-TV biopic Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story. 
On this day in 2014, 
