On this day in 1900, writer, playwright, poet, aesthete, Oscar Wilde died in Paris at the age of 46. Born Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde on 16 October 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. One of my favorite writers. Notable works: The Importance of being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde is also well known for his witty quotes. For example: “A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.” “A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.” “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” “Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.” “I always like to know everything about my new friends, and nothing about my old ones.” “I am not young enough to know everything.” “I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability.” “If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.” “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” “A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” “In married life three is company and two none.” “Life is too important to be taken seriously.” “One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.” “Women are made to be loved, not understood.” “I’m not saying we should misbehave, but we ought to look as though we might.” There are literally hundreds more. Wilde was married to Constance Loyd (1898 her death).
The Final Footprint – Wilde was initially buried in the Cimetière de Bagneux outside Paris. In 1909 his remains were disinterred and entombed in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. His large rectangular granite tomb was designed by Sir Jacob Epstein, commissioned by Robert Ross, who asked for a small compartment to be made for his own ashes which were duly transferred in 1950. The modernist angel depicted as a relief on the tomb was originally complete with male genitalia which have since been vandalised; their current whereabouts are unknown. In 2000, Leon Johnson, a multimedia artist, installed a silver prosthesis to replace them. The epitaph is a verse from The Ballad of Reading Gaol:
And alien tears will fill for him
Pity’s long-broken urn,
For his mourners will be outcast men,
And outcasts always mourn.
Père Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the most visited cemeteries in the world. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Honoré de Balzac, Georges Bizet, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Maria Callas, Chopin, Colette, Auguste Comte, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Max Ernst, Molière, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, Camille Pissarro, Marcel Proust, Sully Prudhomme, Gioachino Rossini, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Simone Signoret, Gertrude Stein, Dorothea Tanning, Alice B. Toklas, and Richard Wright.
#RIP #OTD in 1930, labor organizer, former schoolteacher, and dressmaker, union organizer, community organizer, activist, “the most dangerous woman in America” Mother Jones (Mary Harris Jones) died at the Burgess farm, Adelphi, Maryland aged 93. Union Miners Cemetery in Mount Olive, Illinois
#RIP #OTD in 1935 poet (Antinous, 35 Sonnets, “Oblique Rain”, “Mar Português”), writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher Fernando Pessoa died at the Hospital de São Luís in Lisbon, aged 47. Monastery of Jeronimos, Lisbon.
#RIP #OTD in 1947 director (Trouble in Paradise, Design for Living, Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner, To Be or Not to Be, Heaven Can Wait) Ernst Lubitsch died from a heart attack in Hollywood aged 55. Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
On this day in 1967, Irish poet and novelist Patrick Kavanagh died at the age of 63 in a Dublin nursing home. In my opinion, one of the foremost poets of the 20th century. Perhaps his best known works include the novel Tarry Flynn and the poems Raglan Road and The Great Hunger. Born in rural Inniskeen, County Monaghan on 21 October 1904.
The Final Footprint – His grave is in Inniskeen adjoining the Patrick Kavanagh Centre. His wife Katherine died in 1989; she is also buried there. His epitaph…
On this day in 1996 singer (“Tiptoe Through the Tulips”; “Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight”), ukulele player, musical archivist, Tiny Tim died from a heart attack at Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, age 64. Entombed ay Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis
On this day in 2007, stunt performer Evel Knievel died from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Clearwater, Florida at the age of 69. Born Robert Craig Knievel on 17 October 1938 in Butte, Montana. In his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps between 1965 and 1980. In 1974, he attempted and failed a jump across Snake River Canyon in the Skycycle X-2, a steam-powered rocket. He suffered more than 433 bone fractures in his career, thereby earning an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the survivor of “most bones broken in a lifetime”. Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. Knievel said; “You can’t ask a guy like me why I performed. I really wanted to fly through the air. I was a daredevil, a performer. I loved the thrill, the money, the whole macho thing. All those things made me Evel Knievel. Sure, I was scared. You gotta be an ass not to be scared. But I beat the hell out of death.” Fanfare Films produced Evel Knievel, a 1971 movie starring George Hamilton as Knievel. Knievel married twice; Linda Joan Bork (1959–97 divorce) and Krystal Kennedy (1999–2001 divorce).
The Final Footprint – Knievel was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in his hometown of Butte on December 10, 2007, following a funeral at the 7,500-seat Butte Civic Center presided over by Pastor Dr. Robert H. Schuller with actor Matthew McConaughey giving the eulogy. Prior to the Monday service, fireworks exploded in the Butte night sky as pallbearers carried Knievel’s casket into the center.
On this day in 2013, actor Paul Walker died from injuries sustained as a passenger in a single-car crash alongside friend and driver Roger Rodas, on Hercules Street near Kelly Johnson Parkway in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California, at the age of 40. Born Paul William Walker IV on September 12, 1973 in Glendale, California. Perhaps best known for his role as Brian O’Conner in The Fast and the Furious franchise. Walker first gained prominence in 1999 with roles in the teen films She’s All That and Varsity Blues. In 2001, he gained international fame for his role in the street racing action film The Fast and the Furious (2001), a role he reprised in five of the next six installments.
Walker began his career guest-starring on TV shows such as The Young and the Restless and Touched by an Angel. He later starred in films such as Joy Ride(2001), Timeline (2003), Into the Blue (2005), Eight Below (2006), and Running Scared (2006). He also appeared in the National Geographic series Expedition Great White (2010 and in ads for Davidoff Cool Water cologne. He founded the disaster-relief charity Reach Out Worldwide (ROWW) in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
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His body was cremated and his cremated remains were buried in a non-denominational ceremony at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills. His life was later chronicled in the documentary I Am Paul Walker, which was released on August 11, 2018. Other notable final footprints at Hollywood Hills include; Gene Autry, Bette Davis, Sandra Dee, Lee Van Cleef, Ronnie James Dio, Carrie Fisher, Bobby Fuller, Al Jarreau, Lemmy Kilmister, Strother Martin, Ricky Nelson, Bill Paxton, and Debbie Reynolds.
Walker was working on three films at the time of his death which were released posthumously: Hours (2013), Brick Mansions (2014), and Furious 7 (2015). The Wiz Khalifa song “See You Again”, featuring Charlie Puth, was commissioned for the Furious 7 soundtrack as a tribute to Walker. It was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in 2015 and was the number-one song in the United States for 12 weeks.
Site of Walker’s death on Hercules Street in Santa Clarita (photo taken 2015)
On this day in 2017, actor, singer, comedian Jim Nabors died at his home in Honolulu, at the age of 87. Born James Thurston Nabors on June 12, 1930 in Sylacauga, Alabama. Perhaps best known for his signature character Gomer Pyle.
Nabors was discovered by Andy Griffith while working at a Santa Monica nightclub, and he later joined The Andy Griffith Show, where he played the good-natured, unsophisticated Gomer Pyle. The character proved so popular that Nabors was given his own successful spin-off show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Nabors also became a popular guest on variety shows that showcased his rich baritone singing voice in the 1960s and 1970s, including frequent appearances on the Carol Burnett Show and two specials of his own in 1969 and 1974. He signed a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1965 and subsequently recorded numerous albums and singles, most of them containing romantic ballads. He recorded for Ranwood Records during the late 1970s.
Nabors was also known for singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” before the start of the Indianapolis 500, held annually on the Memorial Day weekend. He sang the unofficial Indiana anthem almost every year from 1972 to 2014, except for occasional absences due to illness or scheduling conflicts.
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Nabors was cremated and his cremated remains were scattered in Honolulu.
The United States Marine Corps released a statement on Nabors: “Semper Fi, Gomer Pyle. Rest in peace Jim Nabors, one of the few to ever be named an Honorary Marine.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Carol Burnett paid tribute to Nabors saying they were “close friends for 52 years. … My heart is heavy. I’m grateful he was a large part of my life. I miss him. I love him.
#RIP #OTD 2022 singer, keyboardist, songwriter of Fleetwood Mac (“Don’t Stop”, “Everywhere”, “Little Lies”) Christine McVie died of a stroke in London aged 79. Cremation
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On this day in 1643, composer, string player and choirmaster Claudio Monteverdi died in Venice at the age of 76. Baptized Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi on 15 May 1567 in the church of SS Nazaro e Celso, Cremona. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered an important transitional figure between the Renaissance and the Baroque periods of music history.
On this day in 1924, composer, Giacomo Puccini, died in Brussels, Belgium at the age of 65 from complications of throat cancer. Born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini on 22 December 1858 in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. Puccini’s operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. Some of his arias, such as “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi, “Che gelida manina” from La bohème, and “Nessun dorma” from Turandot, have become part of popular culture. I fell in love with a pretty woman during a performance of La bohème. In the autumn of 1884, Puccini began a relationship with a married woman named Elvira Gemignani (née Bonturi) in Lucca. Elvira became pregnant by Puccini, and their son, Antonio, was born in 1886. Elvira, Antonio and Elvira’s daughter Fosca, began to live with Puccini shortly afterwards. Elvira’s husband, Narisco, was killed by the husband of a woman that Narisco had an affair with. Only then were Puccini and Elvira able to marry, and to legitimize Antonio. The marriage between Puccini and Elvira was apparently troubled by infidelity, as Puccini had frequent affairs himself, including with well-known singers such as Maria Jeritza, Emmy Destinn, Cesira Ferrani, and Hariclea Darclée.
The Final Footprint – News of his death reached Rome during a performance of La bohème. The opera was immediately stopped, and the orchestra played Chopin’s Funeral March for the stunned audience. Puccini was temporarily entombed in the Toscanini Private Mausoleum in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan. Puccini’s son arranged for the transfer of his father’s remains to a specially created chapel inside the Puccini villa at Torre del Lago, Toscana, Italy in 1926.
On this day in 1981, actress Natalie Wood drowned under suspicious circumstances near Santa Catalina Island, California at the age of 43. Born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko in San Francisco on 20 July 1938. Perhaps best known for her screen roles in Miracle on 34th Street, Splendor in the Grass, Rebel Without a Cause, and West Side Story. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old. Wood began acting in movies at the age of four and at age eight was given a co-starring role in the classic Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street. As a teenager, her performance in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She starred in the musical films West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962), and received Academy Award for Best Actress nominations for her performances in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). She was married to actor Robert Wagner twice, and to producer Richard Gregson in between her marriages to Wagner. She had one daughter by each: Natasha Gregson and Courtney Wagner. Her younger sister, Lana Wood, is also an actress.
On this day in 1986, actor Cary Grant died in St. Luke’s Hospital in Davenport, Iowa from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 82. Born Archibald Alexander Leach at 15 Hughenden Road, Horfield, Bristol, England on 18 January 1904.
On this day in 2001, musician, singer and songwriter, lead guitarist of the Beatles, member of the Traveling Wilburys, George Harrison died at the age of 58 at a Hollywood Hills mansion that was once leased by Paul McCartney and was previously owned by Courtney Love. The cause of death is listed on his Los Angeles County death certificate as “metastatic non-small cell lung cancer”. The second Beattle to pass away after John Lennon’s murder. Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on 25 February 1943. Among the songs he wrote or co-wrote include; “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Here Comes the Sun”, “It Don’t Come Easy”, and “All Those Years Ago.” Harrison married twice, first to Pattie Boyd (1966 – 1977 divorce), and Olivia Trinidad Arias (1978 – 2001 his death).
which shows the young David about to slay the giant Goliath with a stone from his slingshot. The original is in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. A replica in white Carrara marble resides at 
On this day in 1859, short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat Washington Irving died of a heart attack in his bedroom at Sunnyside at the age of 76. Born on April 3, 1783 in Manhattan. Perhaps best known for his short stories “Rip Van Winkle” (1819) and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1820), both of which appear in his collection, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and George Washington, as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Alhambra, Christopher Columbus, and the Moors. Irving served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
Legend has it that his last words were: “Well, I must arrange my pillows for another night. When will this end?” He was buried under a simple headstone at Sleepy Hollow cemetery on December 1, 1859.
On this day in 1960, author of novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction, Richard Wright died in Paris from a heart attack at the age of 52. Born Richard Nathaniel Wright on 4 September 1908 near Roxie, Mississippi. Perhaps best known for his novel Native Son (1940). Wright married twice; Valencia Barnes Meadman (1939 – 1940 divorce) and Ellen Poplar (1941 – 1960 his death).
The Final Footprint – Wright was cremated and his cremains are inurned in a columbarium in Cimetière du Père Lachaise in Paris. Père Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the most visited cemeteries in the world. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Honoré de Balzac, Georges Bizet, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Maria Callas, Chopin, Colette, Auguste Comte, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Max Ernst, Molière, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, Camille Pissarro, Marcel Proust, Sully Prudhomme, Gioachino Rossini, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Simone Signoret, Gertrude Stein, Dorothea Tanning, Alice B. Toklas, and Oscar Wilde.
On this day in 8 BC, Roman lyric poet, Horace died in Rome at the age of 56. Born Quintus Horatius Flaccus on 8 December 65 BC in the Samnite south of Italy. The rhetorician Quintillian regarded his Odes as just about the only Latin lyrics worth reading: “He can be lofty sometimes, yet he is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words.” Horace also crafted hexameter verses (Sermones and Epistles) and iambic poetry (Epodes). The satirist Persius commented: “as his friend laughs, Horace slyly puts his finger on his every fault; once let in, he plays about the heartstrings”. His career coincided with Rome’s momentous change from Republic to Empire. An officer in the republican army defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, he was befriended by Octavian’s right-hand man in civil affairs, Maecenas, and became a spokesman for the new regime. For some commentators, his association with the regime was a balance in which he maintained a strong measure of independence (he was “a master of the graceful sidestep”) but for others he was, in John Dryden‘s phrase, “a well-mannered court slave”. (Drawing of Horace, as imagined by Anton von Werner.)
On this day in 1895, French author and dramatist, the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, Alexandre Dumas, fils died at Marly-le-Roi, Yvelines, at the age of 71. Born 27 July 1824 in Paris. When he was 20 years old, Dumas moved to Saint-Germain-en-Laye to live with his father. There, he met Marie Duplessis, a young courtesan who would be the inspiration for his romantic novel The Lady of the Camellias (La Dame aux camélias), wherein Duplessis was named Marguerite Gauthier. Adapted into a play, it was titled Camille in English and became the basis for Verdi’s 1853 opera, La Traviata, Duplessis undergoing yet another name change, this time to Violetta Valery. Dumas married Nadjeschda von Knorring (1867 – 1895 her death) and Henriette Régnier de La Brière (1895–1895 his death).
The Final Footprint – Dumas was interred in the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris. His grave is only some 100 metres away from that of Duplessis. The film Pretty Woman (1990), starring Richard Gere as Edward Lewis and Julia Roberts as Vivian Ward, has a similar plot as La Traviata and Lewis takes Ward to see the opera, her first. Other notable final footprints at Montmartre include; Hector Berlioz, Dalida, Edgar Degas, Marie Duplessis, Théophile Gautier, Gustave Moreau, Henri Murger, Jacques Offenbach, Stendhal, François Truffaut, Horace Vernet, and Alfred de Vigny.
On this day in 1953, playwright and Nobel laureate in literature, Eugene O’Neill, died in room 401 of the Sheraton Hotel on Bay State Road in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of 65. Born Eugene Gladstone O’Neill on 16 October 1888 in The Barrett Hotel in Times Square. Perhaps best known for his masterpiece Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1957), which waqs published posthumously and won the Pulizer Prize in 1957. In addition to that play I like Mourning Becomes Electra (1931) and The Iceman Cometh (1946). O’Neill married three times; Kathleen Jenkins (divorce), Agnes Boulton (divorce) and Carlotta Monterey (his death). His sons, Eugene Jr. and Shane, both died by suicide. His daughter Oona married actor, director, producer Charlie Chaplin.
The Final Footprint – O’Neill’s reported last words were; “I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room, and Goddamnit, died in a hotel room.” O’Neill is interred in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The Barrett hotel where O’Neill was born is now a Starbucks, surprise, and there is a commemorarive birth plaque on the outside wall. A statue of the young O’Neill was installed on the waterfront in Boston.
On this day in 1504, Isabella the Catholic, queen of Castile and León (Crown of Castile), Isabella I died in Medina del Campo at the age of 53. Born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, to John II of Castile and Isabella of Portugal on 22 April 1451. She and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, brought stability to the kingdoms that became the basis for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. After a struggle to claim her right to the throne, she reorganised the governmental system, brought the crime rate to the lowest it had been in years, and unburdened the kingdom of enormous debt. Isabella’s reforms and those she made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond the borders of their united kingdoms. Isabella and Ferdinand are known for completing the Reconquista, ordering conversion or exile of their Muslim and Jewish subjects in the Spanish Inquisition, and for supporting and financing Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage that led to the opening of the New World. Isabella was granted the title Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 1974.
The Final Footprint – Isabella is entombed in Granada in the Capilla Real, which was built by her grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Carlos I of Spain), alongside her husband Ferdinand, her daughter Joanna and Joanna’s husband Philip; and Isabella’s 2-year-old grandson, Miguel (the son of Isabella’s daughter, also named Isabella, and King Manuel I of Portugal). The museum next to the Capilla Real holds her crown and scepter.
On this day in 1883, abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth died at her Battle Creek, Michigan home, at the approximate age of 86. 
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On this day in 1956, jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, bandleader of the Big Band era, younger brother of Jimmy, “The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing”, Tommy Dorsey, died at his Greenwich, Connecticut home at the age of 51. Born Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr. on 19 November 1905 near Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Dorsey married three times, Mildred Kraft (divorce), Pat Dane (divorce), Jane Carl New (his death).
The Final Footprint – Dorsey is interred in the Dorsey Private Hedge Estate in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. The estate is marked by a large upright granite marker. His grave is marked by a full ledger granite marker inscribed with a picture of sheet music and a trombone and his nickname, The Sentimental Gentleman.
On this day in 2021 composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim died of cardiovascular disease at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, at the age of 91. Born Stephen Joshua Sondheim on March 22, 1930, in New York City
On this day in 1763, author Abbé Prévost died at the age of 66 in Chantilly, France. Born Antoine François Prévost d’Exiles on 1 April 1697 at Hesdin, Artois. While living in the Hague, he engaged on a translation of De Thou’s Historia, and, relying on the popularity of his first book, published at Amsterdam a Suite in three volumes, forming volumes v, vi, and vii of the original Mémoires et aventures d’un homme de qualité. The seventh volume contained the famous Manon Lescaut, separately published in Paris in 1731 as Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut. The book was eagerly read, chiefly in pirated copies, being forbidden in France. Puccini‘s opera, Manon Lescaut is based on the novel.
On this day in 1968, writer Upton Sinclair died in a nursing home in Bound Brook, New Jersey at the age of 90. Born Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. on September 20, 1878 in Baltimore, Maryland. Sinclair’s work was well known and popular in the first half of the 20th century, and he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943.
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On this day in 1973, actor Laurence Harvey died from stomach cancer in Hampstead, London at the age of 45. Born Laruschka Mischa Skikne on 1 October 1928 in Joniškis, Lithuania. In a career that spanned a quarter of a century, Harvey appeared in stage, film and television productions primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States. His performance in Room at the Top (1959) resulted in an Academy Award nomination. That success was followed by the role of William Barret Travis in The Alamo (1960), and as the brainwashed Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate (1962).
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On this day in 1957, painter Diego Rivera died in Mexico City at the age of 70. Born Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez on December 8, 1886 in Guanajuato, Mexico. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican mural movement in Mexican art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted murals in, among other places, Mexico City, Chapingo, Cuernavaca, San Francisco, Detroit, and New York City. In 1931, a retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Rivera had a volatile marriage with fellow Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
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On this day in 1991, singer, songwriter, lyricist, lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury died at the age of 45 surrounded by friends at his home in Kensington, London, from bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS. Born Farrokh Bulsara in the British protectorate of Sultanate of Zanzibar, East Africa (now part of Tanzania) on 5 September 1946. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range. As a songwriter, he composed many hits for Queen, including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and “We Are the Champions.” In addition to his work with Queen, he led a solo career, and also occasionally served as a producer and guest musician (piano or vocals) for other artists.
On this day in 1993, electric blues guitarist and singer, The Master of the Telecaster, The Ice Man, Albert Collins died from cancer at his home in Las Vegas at the age of 61. Born Albert Gene Drewery on October 1, 1932 in Leona, Texas. Known for his distinctive guitar style, using powerful playing and altered tunings and a capo.
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The Final Footprint – Malraux was cremated and his cremains were interred in the Verrières-le-Buisson (Essonne) cemetery. In 1996 on the twentieth anniversary of his passing, in honor of his contributions to French culture, his ashes were moved to the Panthéon in Paris. The Panthéon is a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. Other notable Final Footprints at the Panthéon include: Victor Hugo, Louis Braille, Pierre and Marie Curie, and Alexandre Dumas, père, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, and Émile Zola.
On this day in 1990, Royal Air Force veteran, 
On this day in 2012, United States Air Force veteran, actor, director, producer, Larry Hagman died at Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas, Texas at the age of 81 from complications of acute myeloid leukemia. Born Larry Martin Hagman on September 21, 1931 in Fort Worth, Texas. Perhaps best known for playing oil baron J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and astronaut Major Anthony “Tony” Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.
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On this day in 1916 novelist, journalist and activist, Jack London died at his ranch in Glen Ellen, California, aged 40. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
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On this day in 1943 lyricist Lorenz Hart died in New York City of pneumonia from exposure, aged 48. Born Lorenz Milton Hart in Harlem on 2 May 1895. He was half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include “Blue Moon”, “The Lady Is a Tramp”, “Manhattan”, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, and “My Funny Valentine”.
On this day in 1955 actor and comedian Shemp Howard died from a heart attack in Hollywood, at the age of 60. Born Samuel Horwitz in Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, on March 17, 1895.
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On this day in 1963, U.S. Navy veteran, U.S. Congressman, U.S. Senator, the 35th President of the U.S., author, American Icon, Jack, JFK, John F. Kennedy, died in Dallas, Texas at the age of 46. Born John Fitzgerald Kennedy on 29 May 1917 at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard in 1940 with a degree in international affairs. Kennedy met his future wife Jacqueline Lee “Jackie” Bouvier at a dinner party. They married 12 September 1953. They had four children; Arabella (23 August 1956 – 23 August 1956), Caroline Bouvier (27 November 1957 – ), John Fitzgerald Jr. (25 November 1960 – 16 July 1999), Patrick Bouvier (7 August 1963 – 9 August 1963). On Tuesday 8 November 1960, Kennedy won the presidential election over Republican Vice President Richard M. Nixon. The Kennedys were popular on a level more common with movie stars than politicians. This popularity and his charisma led to his administration being referred to as Camelot. The Kennedys travelled to Texas in an attempt to reconcile a widening rift in the Texas Democratic party between the conservative wing led by Governor John B. Connally and the liberal wing led by U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough and Don Yarborough (no relation). Kennedy was fatally shot while riding in a Presidential motorcade with Jackie, Governor Connally and his wife Nellie Connally. He was succeeded as president by vice president Lyndon Baines Johnson. Conspiracy theories abound as to who was behind the assassination. The Warren Commission finding that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman has been debated and disputed since the findings were released. Groups behind supposed assassination plots include; the Mafia, the CIA, the Cubans, the Russians, the military industrial complex, or some combination of the above. Mrs. Connally, who as mentioned was riding in the car with JFK, believed to her grave that there was more than one shooter. November 22nd was a Friday that year. All three major networks suspended their regular schedules and switched to all news coverage through November 25th, 70 straight hours. I was three years old and Daddy and Uncle Ben told me later that I was upset because Saturday morning cartoons were not shown.
The Final Footprint – Kennedy was interred in a temporary plot at Arlington National Cemetery on 25 November 1960. On 14 March 1967, he was moved to his current plot at Arlington. His grave area is paved with irregular stones of Cape Cod granite, which were quarried around 1817 near the site of the president’s home and selected by members of his family. Clover, and later, sedum were planted in the crevices to give the appearance of stones lying naturally in a Massachusetts field. His grave is lit with an “Eternal Flame”. His brother Robert F. Kennedy was interred nearby following his assassination in 1968. Upon her death in 1994, Jackie was interred next to JFK. Upon his death in 2009, JFK’s brother Edward Kennedy was interred nearby. Other notable Final Footprints at Arlington include; the Space Shuttle Columbia, the Space Shuttle Challenger, Medgar Evers, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, RFK, Edward Kennedy, Lee Marvin, Audie Murphy and Malcolm Kilduff, Jr.
On this day in 1963 writer and lay theologian C. S. Lewis died at his home in Oxford from kidney failure, age 64. Born Clive Staples Lewis in Belfast in Ulster, Ireland (before partition), on 29 November 1898.
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On this day in 1963 writer, philosopher Aldous Huxley died from an assisted intentional overdose of LSD, aged 69. Born Aldous Leonard Huxley in Godalming, Surrey, England, on 26 July 1894.
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On this day in 1980 actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, sex symbol Mae West died in Los Angeles, aged 87. Born Mary Jane West on August 17, 1893, in Brooklyn.
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On this day in 1986 actor, singer and musician Scatman Crothers died from lung caner at his home in Van Nuys, California, age 76.
On this day in 1997 singer-songwriter, Michael Hutchence died at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, Double Bay, Sydney, aged 37. Born Michael Kelland John Hutchence on 22 January 1960 in Sydney.
On this day in 1695, organist and Baroque composer, Henry Purcell, died at his home in Dean’s Yard, Westminster at the age of 35 or 36. Born on or about 10 September 1659 in St Ann’s Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster. His legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music, a style of European classical music extending from about 1600 to 1750. This era begins after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical era. The word “baroque” came from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning “misshapen pearl”. Baroque music forms a major portion of the classical music canon and is associated with composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Claudio Monteverdi and Purcell. Most importantly to me, it was during this period that opera became established as a musical genre. Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (c. 1689) is, in my opinion, the first important English opera, and is still performed. Purcell had a direct influence on rock and roll. Apparently, both Pete Townshend of The Who and Queen, list Purcell’s music as an influence on their own.
The Final Footprint – Purcell is entombed in Westminster Abbey near the organ in the North Choir Aisle. His epitaph reads: “Here lyes Henry Purcell Esq., who left this life and is gone to that blessed place where only his harmony can be exceeded.” A bronze memorial sculpture by Glynn Williams, The Flowering of the English Baroque, in tribute to Purcell was installed in a park on Victoria St,. Westminster. Other notable Final Footprints at Westminster include; Robert Browning, Lord Byron, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Edward The Confessor, Elizabeth I, George II, George Friederic Handel, James I (James VI of Scotland), Samuel Johnson, Ben Jonson, Charles II, Edward III, Edward VI, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, Richard II, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Milton, Sir Isaac Newton, Laurence Olivier, Mary I, Mary II, Mary Queen of Scots, Thomas Shadwell, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, and William III.
On this day in 2017, actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist David Cassidy died of liver failure in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the age of 67. Born David Bruce Cassidy on April 12, 1950 in Manhattan. Perhaps best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother Shirley Jones), in the 1970s musical-sitcom The Partridge Family, which led to his becoming one of popular culture’s teen idols and superstar pop singers of the 1970s. He later had a career in both acting and music.
