On this day in 1618, aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer, Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded at Whitehall in London at the age of 66. Born about 1552 in Devon, England. He rose rapidly in Queen Elizabeth I‘s favour and was knighted in 1585. Colonizer of Roanoke Island, he is credited with introducing potatoes and tobacco to England. In 1591, he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting. When the Queen discovered the deception, she had him imprisoned in the Tower of London. He would be released and would eventually regain favour with the Queen. Elizabeth died in 1603 and Raleigh was arrested and again imprisoned in the Tower of London for allegedly plotting against King James. Raleigh was found guilty but James spared his life and he was kept in the tower, legally dead. In 1616, Raleigh was released to conduct a second exploration of Venezuela, where his men attacked a Spanish outpost. The outraged Spanish ambassador demanded that James reinstate the death sentence and it was carried out on this date.
The Final Footprint – Before his execution Raleigh reportedly told the crowd the ax “is sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases”. As was the custom, Raleigh’s head was presented to his wife. She had it embalmed and kept it at home.
St. Margaret’s Church
Raleigh’s body was entombed in the Anglican church of St. Margaret’s, Westminster in London. Upon the death of Lady Raleigh his head was either entombed with his body or it passed to his son Carew who kept it and had it buried with him at St. Margarets. The city of Raleigh, North Carolina is named for him.
#RIP #OTD in 1911 politician, newspaper publisher (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, New York World), founder of Columbia School of journalism and the Pulitzer Prize, Joseph Pulitzer died in Charleston, South Carolina aboard his yacht Liberty, aged 64. Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
On this day in 1971, guitarist, co-founder of the The Allman Brothers Band, brother of Gregg Allman, Skydog, Duane Allman died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Georgia at the age of 24. Born Howard Duane Allman on 20 November 1946 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Allman began playing the guitar at age 14. The Allman Brothers Band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969, and achieved its greatest success in the early 1970s. Perhaps best remembered for his expressive slide guitar playing and inventive improvisational skills. A sought-after session musician both before and during his tenure with the band, Allman performed with King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Herbie Mann, Wilson Pickett, and Boz Scaggs. He also contributed to the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, by Derek and the Dominos. His guitar tone was achieved with a Gibson Les Paul and two 50-watt bass Marshall amplifiers.
The Final Footprint – Allman’s remains were laid to rest in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon. Shortly after Duane’s death, Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd began dedicating the song “Free Bird”, to the memory of Duane Allman in concert. In the “Free Bird” performance at Skynyrd’s famed 1976 appearance at Knebworth, England, Van Zant says to pianist Billy Powell, “Play it for Duane Allman.” In 1973, fans carved the very large letters “REMEMBER DUANE ALLMAN” in a dirt embankment along Interstate Highway 20 near Vicksburg, Mississippi. A photograph was published in Rolling Stone magazine and in the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll; the carving itself lasted for over ten years. In 1998 the Georgia State Legislature passed a resolution designating a stretch of State Highway 19, US 41, within Macon as the “Duane Allman Boulevard” in his honor. Travis Tritt, in the song “Put Some Drive In Your Country” on his debut album, sings “Now I still love old country/I ain’t tryin’ to put it down/But damn I miss Duane Allman/I wish he was still around.”
And on this day in 1995, novelist (Candy, The Magic Christian), screenwriter (Dr. Strangelove, The Loved One, The Cincinnati Kid, Easy Rider), Terry Southern died of respiratory failure at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York City, age 71.
Noted for his distinctive satirical style, Southern was part of the Paris postwar literary movement in the 1950s and a companion to Beat writers in Greenwich Village. Southern was also at the center of Swinging London in the 1960s and helped to change the style and substance of American films in the 1970s. He briefly wrote for Saturday Night Live in the 1980s.
Southern’s dark and often absurdist style of satire helped to define the sensibilities of several generations of writers, readers, directors and film goers. He is credited by journalist Tom Wolfe as having invented New Journalism with the publication of “Twirling at Ole Miss” in Esquire in February 1963. Southern’s reputation was established with the publication of his comic novels Candy and The Magic Christian and through his gift for writing memorable film dialogue as evident in Dr. Strangelove, The Loved One, The Cincinnati Kid, and The Magic Christian. His work on Easy Rider helped create the independent film movement of the 1970s.
The Final Footprint – Cremated remains scattered Canaan, Connecticut.
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