#RIP #OTD in 1812 Lemhi Shoshone woman who helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition in exploring the Louisiana Territory, Sacagawea died; unknown illness in Fort Lisa Trading Post, Mobridge, South Dakota aged 24-25. Obelisk, Mobridge. A memorial marker of Sacajawea was placed at Fort Washakie, Wyoming
On this day in 1968, Pulitzer Prize and Noble Prize-winning writer, John Steinbeck, died of heart disease in New York City at the age of 66. Born John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. on 27 February 1902 in Salinas, California of German and Irish descent. Perhaps best remembered for his novels; The Grapes of Wrath (1939) which won the Pulitzer, East of Eden (1952) and the novella Of Mice and Men (1937). Most of Steinbeck’s work is set in southern and central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists. The movie version of East of Eden, directed by Elia Kazan, marked the debut of James Dean. He attended Stanford University but did not graduate. Steinbeck married three times; Carol Henning (1930 – 1943 divorce), Gwyndolyn Conger (1943 – 1948 divorce), Elaine Scott (1950 – 1968 his death).
The Final Footprint – Steinbeck was cremated and his cremated remains were interred in the Hamilton Family Estate in Garden of Memories Memorial Park in Salinas with his parents and his maternal grand-parents. His mother’s maiden name was Hamilton. His third wife, Elaine, was later buried there as well. The estate is marked by an upright granite marker engraved with the Hamilton name.
#RIP #OTD in 1973 singer (“Mack the Knife”, “Beyond the Sea”), songwriter (“Splish Splash”, “Dream Lover”) musician, actor (Come September) Bobby Darin died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles following heart valve surgery, aged 37. Body donated to medical research
On this day in 1996, astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences, Carl Sagan died from complications of myelodysplasia at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, at the age of 62. Born Carl Edward Sagan on November 9, 1934 in Brooklyn. Perhaps best known for his work as a science popularizer and communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space: the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. Sagan argued the now accepted hypothesis that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to and calculated using the greenhouse effect.
Sagan published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books. He wrote many popular science books, such as The Dragons of Eden, Broca’s Brain and Pale Blue Dot, and narrated and co-wrote the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. The book Cosmos was published to accompany the series. He also wrote the science fiction novel Contact, the basis for a 1997 film of the same name. His papers, containing 595,000 items, are archived at The Library of Congress.
Sagan advocated scientific skeptical inquiry and the scientific method, pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). He spent most of his career as a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, where he directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies. Sagan and his works received numerous awards and honors, including the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for his book The Dragons of Eden, and, regarding Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, two Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award, and the Hugo Award.
Sagan was married three times. In 1957, he married biologist Lynn Margulis. After Sagan and Margulis divorced, he married artist Linda Salzman in 1968. In 1981, Sagan married author Ann Druyan.
The Final Footprint
Stone dedicated to Carl Sagan in the Celebrity Path of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Interment took place at Lakeview Cemetery in Ithaca, New York.
#RIP #OTD in 1999 songwriter (“I’m Moving On”, “The Rhumba Boogie”), singer (“I Don’t Hurt Anymore”, “Let Me Go, Lover!”, “I’ve Been Everywhere”, “Hello Love”) Hank Snow died from heart failure at his Rainbow Ranch in Madison, Tennessee, aged 85. Nashville’s Spring Hill Cemetery
On this day in 2009, actress and singer Brittany Murphy-Monjack died from pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, at the age of 32. Born Brittany Anne Bertolotti on November 10, 1977 in Atlanta. Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and pursued a career in acting. Her breakthrough role was as Tai Frasier in Clueless (1995), followed by supporting roles in independent films such as Freeway (1996) and Bongwater (1998). She made her stage debut in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge in 1997, before appearing as Daisy Randone in Girl, Interrupted (1999) and as Lisa Swenson in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999).
In the 2000s Murphy appeared in Don’t Say a Word (2001) alongside Michael Douglas, and alongside Eminem in 8 Mile (2002), for which she gained critical recognition. Her later roles included Riding in Cars with Boys(2001), Spun (2002), Uptown Girls (2003), Sin City (2005), and Happy Feet (2006). Her final film, Something Wicked, was released in April 2014.
In May 2007, Murphy married British screenwriter Simon Monjack (who would die in their Hollywood Hills home from pneumonia on 23 May 2010) in a private Jewish ceremony in Los Angeles.
The Final Footprint
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