On this day in 1870, novelist Charles Dickens died at his country home, Gads Hill Place, in Higham, Kent, England after a stroke at the age of 58. Born Charles John Huffman Dickens on 7 February 1812 in Landport, Portsmouth, England. Probably the most popular novelist of the Victorian era. Dickens remains popular. Some of the characters he created are among the most iconic characters in English literature. In 1830, Dickens met his first love, Maria Beadnell, but her parents evidently disapproved of the relationship and sent her to school in Paris. Dickens married Catherine Thomson Hogarth (1836-1870 his death) although they separated in 1858. He possibly had a long affair with Ellen Ternan. The iconic characters he created include; Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit, Oliver Twist, The Artful Dodger, Fagin, Bill Sikes, Pip, Miss Havisham, Charles Darnay, David Copperfield, Mr. Micawber, Abel Magwitch, Daniel Quilp, Samuel Pickwick, Wackford Squeers, Uriah Heep. My favorite Dickens’s novels are;
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The Final Footprint – Dickens is interred in a vault in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey, despite the fact that his wish was to be buried at Rochester Cathedral in Rochester, Kent, “in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner”. His last words, as reported in his obituary in The Times were alleged to have been: “Be natural my children. For the writer that is natural has fullfilled all the rules of art”. His will stipulated that no memorial be erected to honour him. The only life-size bronze statue of Dickens, cast in 1891 by Francis Edwin Elwell, is located in Clark Park in the Spruce Hill neighbourhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. Other notable Final Footprints at Westminster include; Robert Browning, Lord Byron, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles II, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward The Confessor, Elizabeth I, George II, George Friederic Handel, Stephen Hawking, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, James VI and I, Samuel Johnson, Ben Jonson, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mary I, Mary II, Mary Queen of Scots, John Milton, Isaac Newton, Laurence Olivier, Henry Purcell, Richard II, Thomas Shadwell, Edmund Spenser, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, and William III.
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On this day in 2017 actor Adam West died in Los Angeles from leukemia at the age of 88. Born William West Anderson on September 19, 1928 in Walla Walla, Washington. Known primarily for his role as Batman in the 1960s ABC series of the same name and its 1966 theatrical feature film.
West began acting in films in the 1950s. He played opposite Chuck Connors in Geronimo (1962) and The Three Stooges in The Outlaws Is Coming (1965). He also appeared in the science fiction film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and performed voice work on The Fairly OddParents (2003–2017), The Simpsons (1992, 2002), and Family Guy (2000–2018), playing fictional versions of himself in all three. Late in his career, West starred in two direct-to-DVD animated Batman films, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, and Batman vs. Two-Face, the latter of which was released posthumously.
in The Detectives (1961)
Episode of The Big Valley, In Silent Battle with Barbara Stanwyck (1968)
in 1989 at the 41st Primetime Emmy Awards
at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con
at the 2014 Phoenix Comicon, on a panel for Batman
West was married three times. His first marriage was to his college girlfriend Billie Lou Yeager in 1950. The couple divorced six years later. In 1957 he married Cook Island dancer Ngatokorua Frisbie Dawson, part of the Puka Puka Otea in Hawai’i. They had two children before their divorce in 1962. West then married Marcelle Tagand Lear in November 1970. They had two children and remained together for more than 46 years, until Adam’s death.
The Final Footprint
After his death, West’s former Batman co-star and longtime friend, Burt Ward, released a statement; “This is a terribly unexpected loss of my lifelong friend, I will forever miss him. There are several fine actors who have portrayed Batman in films. In my eyes, there was only one real Batman that is and always will be Adam West. He was truly the Bright Knight.”
On June 15, 2017, Los Angeles projected the Bat-Signal on City Hall as a tribute to West, and Walla Walla shone the bat-signal on the Whitman Tower. West was cremated and his cremains were scattered in the Pacific.
#RIP #OTD in 2022 singer (“Falling”, “Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart”), actress (Twin Peaks), Julee Cruise died in Pittsfield, Mass., aged 65. The The B-52’s song Roam played during her transition. Cremated remains scattered with those of her dogs in Arizona
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On this day in 1937, actress, Baby, the Blonde Bombshell, the Platinum Blonde, Jean Harlow died of renal failure in Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 26. Born Harlean Harlow Carpenter on 3 March 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri. Howard Hughes signed Harlow to a contract and she appeared in his film Hell’s Angels (1930). She was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the 1930’s and appeared in five films with Clark Gable. Harlow married three times: Charles McGrew (1927-1929 divorce), Paul Bern (1932-1932 his death), Harold Rosson (1933-1934 divorce). After her third marriage ended in 1934, Harlow met William Powell, another MGM star, and quickly fell in love. Reportedly the couple were engaged for two years, but differences kept them from formalizing their relationship (she wanted children; he did not). Harlow also said that Louis B. Mayer would never allow them to marry.
The Final Footprint – Harlow is entombed in a private family room in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California. Her crypt is lettered; OUR BABY. She was buried in the gown she wore in Libeled Lady and in her hands she held a white gardenia and a note which Powell had written: “Goodnight, my dearest darling.” Spaces in the same room were reserved for Harlow’s mother and Powell. Harlow’s mother was entombed there in 1958, but Powell remarried in 1940 and after his death in 1984 was cremated: his ashes were scattered over the Palm Springs Desert area. Gable was a pallbearer. Other notable Final Footprints at Forest Lawn Glendale include; L. Frank Baum, Humphrey Bogart, Lon Chaney, Nat King Cole, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis, Jr., Sam Cooke, Walt Disney, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Michael Jackson, Carole Lombard, Tom Mix, Casey Stengel, Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, and Spencer Tracy.
On this day in 2015, actor, singer, and author Christopher Lee died 
On this day in 1799, attorney, planter, politician, orator, and Founding Father, Patrick Henry died of stomach cancer at Red Hill, his plantation near Brookneal, Virginia at the age of 63. Born 29 May 1736 in Hanover County, Virginia. Remembered for his “Give me Liberty, or give me Death!” speech.
On this day in 1968, politician, civil rights activist, RFK, Robert F. Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles from gunshot wounds sustained at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles at the age of 42. Born Robert Francis Kennedy on 20 November 1925 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was the younger brother of John F. Kennedy and the older brother of Edward M. Kennedy. RFK was a graduate of Harvard and obtained his law degree from the University of Virginia. He served as Attorney General of the United States (1961-1964) first under his brother, JFK, then briefly under LBJ. Following JFK’s assassination, at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, RFK quoted Shakespeare (from Romeo and Juliet) in speaking of his brother;
The Final Footprint – His body was returned to New York City, where it lay in repose at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral for several days before the Requiem Mass held there on June 8. His brother, Ted, eulogized him with the words:
On this day in 1982, poet, translator, essayist, “The Father of the Beats”, Kenneth Rexroth died in Santa Barbara, California at the age of 76. Born Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth in South Bend, Indiana on 22 December 1905. In my opinion, one of the central figures in the San Francisco Renaissance. Although he apparently did not consider himself to be a Beat poet, and disliked the association, he was dubbed the “Father of the Beats” by Time. He was among the first poets in the United States to explore traditional Japanese poetic forms such as haiku. Much of Rexroth’s work can be classified as “erotic” or “love poetry,” given his deep fascination with transcendent love. Rexroth married four times; Andrée Dutcher (1927-1940), Marie Kass (1941-1955), Marthe Larsen (1949- ), Carol Tinker ( – 1982 his death).
The Final Footprint – Rexroth is interred on the grounds of the Santa Barbara Cemetery Association overlooking the sea. While all the other graves face inland, his alone faces the Pacific. His epitaph reads, “As the full moon rises / The swan sings in sleep / On the lake of the mind.” According to association records, he is interred near the corner of Island and Bluff boulevards, in Block C of the Sunset section, Plot 18. Other notable Final Footprints at Santa Barbara include actor Laurence Harvey, Fess Parker, and Suzy Parker (no relation to Fess).
On this day in 2006, musician and songwriter, the Fifth Beatle, Billy Preston died in Scottsdale, Arizona, of complications of malignant hypertension that resulted in kidney failure and other complications at the age of 59. Born William Everett Preston on 2 September 1946 in Houston. Preston became famous first as a session musician with artists such as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and the Beatles, and was later successful as a solo artist with hit pop singles including “Outa-Space”, its sequel, “Space Race”, “Will It Go Round in Circles” and “Nothing from Nothing”, and a string of albums and guest appearances with Eric Clapton, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and others. In addition, Preston was co-author, with The Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson, of “You Are So Beautiful,” recorded by Preston and later a #5 hit for Joe Cocker.
The Final Footprint – His funeral was held on June 20 at the Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, California, where his remains were entombed at Inglewood Park Cemetery. Other notable Final Footprints at Inglewood Park include; Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Grable, Etta James, Robert Kardashian, Gypsy Rose Lee, Cesar Romero, Big Mama Thornton, T-Bone Walker, and Syreeta Wright.
On this day in 1910, writer O. Henry died of cirrhosis of the liver, complications of diabetes, and an enlarged heart in New York City at the age of 47. Born William Sydney Porter on 11 September 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. O. Henry’s short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. Among his most famous stories are: “The Gift of the Magi”, “The Ransom of Red Chief”, “The Cop and the Anthem”, “A Retrieved Reformation”, and “The Duplicity of Hargraves”.
On this day in 1993, singer and songwriter Conway Twitty died in Springfield, Missouri, at Cox South Hospital, from an abdominal aortic aneurysm, aged 59. Born Harold Lloyd Jenkins on 1 September 1933 in Friars Point in Coahoma County in northwestern Mississippi. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act, with 40 No. 1 Billboard country hits, until George Strait broke the record in 2006. From 1971 to 1976, Twitty received a string of Country Music Association awards for duets with Loretta Lynn. Although never a member of the Grand Ole Opry, he was inducted into both the Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame.
On this day in 2004, radio, film and television actor, 33rd Governor of California, 40th President of the United States, Dutch, Ronald Reagan died at his home in Bel Air, California of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 93. Born Ronald Wilson Reagan on 6 February 2011 in Tampico, Illinois. His father was the descendant of Irish Catholic immigrants from County Tipperary while his mother had Scots-English ancestors. His father nicknamed him Dutch after his Dutchboy haircut.
The Final Footprint – Reagan’s body was taken to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California where well-wishers paid tribute by laying flowers and American flags in the grass. On June 7, his body was removed and taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where a brief family funeral was held. His body lay in repose in the Library lobby until June 9. Reagan’s body was then flown to Washington, D.C. where he became the tenth United States president to lie in state. On 11 June, a state funeral was conducted in the Washington National Cathedral, presided over by President George W. Bush. Eulogies were given by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and both Presidents Bush. Also in attendance were Gorbachev, and many world leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and interim presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq. After the funeral, the Reagan entourage was flown back to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, where another service was held, and President Reagan was interred. His was the first state funeral in the United States since that of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973. His burial site is inscribed with the words he delivered at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: ”
On this day in 2012, fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery fiction writer, Ray Bradbury died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 91, after a lengthy illness. Born Ray Douglas Bradbury on 22 August 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. Perhaps best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and for the science fiction and horror stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles (1950) and The Illustrated Man (1951). Bradbury was one of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers. Many of Bradbury’s works have been adapted into comic books, television shows and films.
The Final Footprint – Bradbury is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery (a 
On this day in 1875, composer and pianist of the Romantic era, Georges Bizet died on his sixth wedding anniversary, from heart failure at the age of 36 in Bougival (Yvelines), about 10 miles west of Paris. Born Georges Alexandre César Léopold Bizet on 25 October 1838 at 26 rue de la Tour d’Auvergne in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Perhaps best know for his opera Carmen. Carmen, which is based on a novella of the same title written in 1846 by the French writer Prosper Mérimée, premiered on 3 March 1875, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, but received an initial lukewarm reception. Bizet was reportedly bitterly disappointed. Of course, Carmen has since become one of the most popular works in the entire operatic repertoire. In June 1862 the Bizet family’s maid, Marie Reiter, gave birth to a son, Jean Bizet. Bizet married Geneviève Halévy (1869–1875 his death). Bravo Bizet! Dear reader, I strongly suggest you purchase/download Carmen and see it live when you can.
The Final Footprint – Bizet is entombed in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. His tomb is marked by an upright marble or stone monument with his bronze bust on top. The names of his operas are engraved on the side of the monument. The following is engraved on the front; SA FAMILLE ET SES AMIS (His family and friends). Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Honoré de Balzac, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Maria Callas, Chopin, Colette, Auguste Comte, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 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, Oscar Wilde, and Richard Wright.
On this day in 1973, United States Navy veteran, professional wrestler, humanitarian, Dory Funk died at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Amarillo, Texas from a heart attack at the age of 54. Born Dorrance Wilhelm Funk on 4 May 1919 in Hammond, Indiana. Funk is the father of wrestlers Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk. He founded The Double Cross Ranch near Amarillo. He was a long time supporter of the Cal Farley Boys Ranch. As a boy growing up in the Texas Panhandle, I watched the Funks wrestle on television. We called it “big time wrastlin'”.
On this day in 1962, author, poet and one-time lover of Virginia Woolf, The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, died at the age of 70 in Sissinghurst Castle, Kent, England. Born Victoria Mary Sackville-West at Knole House near Sevenoaks, Kent on 9 March 1892. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933. She was known for her exuberant aristocratic life, her passionate affair with the novelist Woolf, and Sissinghurst Castle Garden, which she and her husband, Sir Harold Nicolson, created at their estate. Woolf wrote one of her most famous novels, Orlando, described by Sackville-West’s son Nigel Nicolson as “the longest and most charming love-letter in literature”, as a result of her affair with Sackville-West. The moment of the conception of Orlando was documented from Woolf’s diary on 5 October 1927: “And instantly the usual exciting devices enter my mind: a biography beginning in the year 1500 and continuing to the present day, called Orlando: Vita; only with a change about from one sex to the other”.
On this day in 1246, queen consort of England as the second wife of King John, from 1200 until John’s death in 1216, renowned beauty, the “Helen” of the Middle Ages, and mother of the future King Henry III, Isabella of Angoulême died at Fontevraud Abbey in France at the approximate age of 57.
On this day in 1809, composer, “Father of the Symphony” and “Father of the String Quartet”, Joseph Haydn died at his home in the Vienna suburb of Gumpendorf, at the age of 77. Born Franz Joseph Haydn on 31 March 1732 in Rohrau, Austria.
The Final Footprint – Some of his last words reportedly were attempts to calm and reassure his servants as the French army under Napoleon launched an attack on Vienna: “My children, have no fear, for where Haydn is, no harm can fall.” On 15 June 1809, a memorial service was held in the Schottenkirche at which Mozart’s Requiem was performed. Haydn’s remains were interred in the local Hundsturm cemetery until 1820, when they were moved to the Bergkirche in Eisenstadt, Austria by Prince Nikolaus. His head took a different journey; it was stolen by phrenologists shortly after burial, and the skull was reunited with the other remains only in 1954.
