Portrait by William Hilton, National Portrait Gallery, London
On this day in 1821, English Romantic poet, John Keats, died in a villa on the Spanish Steps in Rome, today the Keats-Shelley Memorial House museum, at the age of 25 from tuberculosis. Born on 31 October 1795 in central London. Keats, Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley were the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, even though his work had been in publication for only four years before his death. After his death, his reputation grew to the extent that by the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. Keats has had a significant influence on a diverse range of later poets and writers. The poetry of Keats is characterized by sensual imagery. His poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analyzed in English literature. Certainly, one of my favorite poets. His great, unconsummated love was Fanny Brawne. Keats wrote her hundreds of notes and letters. He wrote to her; “I have two luxuries to brood over in my walks; …your loveliness, and the hour of my death“. And again; “My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you — I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again — my Life seems to stop there — I see no further. You have absorb’d me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving — I should be exquisitely miserable without the hope of soon seeing you. […] I have been astonished that Men could die Martyrs for religion — I have shudder’d at it — I shudder no more — I could be martyr’d for my Religion — Love is my religion — I could die for that — I could die for you.” (Letter, 13 October 1819). My favorite Keats poem is La Belle Dame sans Merci (The Beautiful Lady without Pity) where love and death both stalk.
The Final Footprint – Keats is interred in the Protestant Cemetery (Italian: Cimitero protestante), officially called the Cimitero acattolico (“Non-Catholic Cemetery”) and often referred to as the Cimitero degli Inglesi (“Englishmen’s Cemetery”), a cemetery in Rome, located near Porta San Paolo. Shelley’s cremated remains are interred there as well. Keats’ last request was to be placed under a unnamed tombstone which contained only the words (in pentameter), “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.” His friends, Joseph Severn and Charles Armitage Brown, erected the stone, which under a relief of a lyre with broken strings, contains the epitaph: “This Grave / contains all that was Mortal / of a / Young English Poet / Who / on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his Heart / at the Malicious Power of his Enemies / Desired / these Words to be / engraven on his Tomb Stone: / Here lies One / Whose Name was writ in Water. 24 February 1821″
#RIP #OTD in 1851, poet, dramatist (Plays on the Passions Fugitive Verses), Joanna Baillie died in Hamstead, London aged 88. Bothwell Parish Church Graveyard, Bothwell, Scotland
#RIP #OTD in 1934 composer (Enigma Variations, Pomp and Circumstance Marches, The Dream of Gerontius), Edward Elgar died of colorectal cancer in Worcester, Worcestershire, England, aged 76. Interred next to his wife Caroline at St Wulstan’s Roman Catholic Church in Little Malvern
#RIP #OTD in 1965 comic actor, writer, director, one half of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, Stan Laurel died from a heart attack in Santa Monica, aged 74. Forest Lawn–Hollywood Hills Cemetery
#RIP #OTD in 2019 actress (Jessica Tate on the sitcom Soap), Katherine Helmond died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at her home in Los Angeles, aged 89. Cremation
Have you planned yours yet?
Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF
On this day in 1875, landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot died in his home, rue du Faubourg-Poissionnière, Paris, 10th arr. of a stomach disorder aged 78. Born in Paris on 16 July 1796, in a house at 125 Rue du Bac, now demolished. In my opinion, Corot is a pivotal figure in landscape painting and his vast output simultaneously references the Neo-Classical tradition and anticipates the plein-air innovations of Impressionism.
The Final Footprint – Corot is entombed at Père Lachaise Cemetery. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Honoré de Balzac, Georges Bizet, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Maria Callas, Chopin, Colette, Auguste Comte, Amedeo Modigliani, 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 1987 artist Andy Warhol died in New York City at New York Hospital from a sudden post-operative cardiac arrhythmia following gall bladder surgery, at the age of 58. Born Andrej Varhola, Jr. on 6 August 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Warhol was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. The Andy Warhol Museum in his native city, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archives. It is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to a single artist. His art used many types of media, including hand drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silk screening, sculpture, film, and music. He was also a pioneer in computer-generated art using Amiga computers that were introduced in 1984, two years before his death. He founded Interview Magazine and was the author of numerous books, including The Philosophy of Andy Warhol and Popism: The Warhol Sixties. Warhol managed and produced the Velvet Underground, a rock band which had a strong influence on the evolution of punk rock music. His studio, The Factory, was a famous gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals, playwrights, Bohemian street people, Hollywood celebrities, and wealthy patrons. Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. He coined the widely used expression “15 minutes of fame”. 
On this day in 1437, James
I, King of Scots, was assassinated in a failed coup by his kinsman and former ally Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, at the Blackfriars monastery on the outskirts of Perth, Scotland. Born in Dunfermline Palace about July 1394; the son of Robert III of Scotland and Annabella Drummond. On 4 April 1406 Robert III died and the 12 year old prince became the uncrowned king of Scots. James was crowned on 21 May 1424. He ruled with a firm hand, achieving numerous legal and financial reforms, including remodeling the Scottish parliament after its English counterpart, and renewing the Auld Alliance with France. His actions, although very effective, upset many, namely the descendents of his grandfather, Robert II‘s second marriage (James was descended from the first marriage). Conflict arose between the two factions over who should be on the throne. The main conspirators in the regicide, Walter of Atholl, his grandson Robert Stewart and Robert Graham were executed. James was married to Joan Beaufort. James was succeeded on the throne by his son James II. A king named James would rule Scotland for 136 years through James I’s descendents; James II through James V. James V was succeeded by his only surviving legitimate child, Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary would be succeeded by the final James, her son James I of England, James VI, King of Scots. In My Defens, God Me Defend!
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1895, social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman Frederick Douglass died from a heart attack in his home in Washington D. C., at the age of 77. Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey; c. February 1818 in . After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. In his time, he was described by abolitionists as a living counter-example to slaveholders’ arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. Northerners at the time found it hard to believe that such a great orator had once been a slave.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1936, actor Max Schreck died from a heart attack in Munich at the age of 56. Born Friedrich Gustav Maximilian Schreck on 6 September 1879 in Berlin. Perhaps best known for his lead role as the vampire Count Orlok in the film Nosferatu (1922).
On this day in 2005, journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson died from a self-inflicted gunshot at his home, Owl Farm near Woody Creek, Colorado, at the age of 67. Born Hunter Stockton Thompson on 18 July 1937 in Louisville, Kentucky. Thompson traveled frequently, including stints in California, Puerto Rico and Brazil, before settling in Aspen, Colorado, in the early 1960s. He became internationally known with the publication of Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1967). Thompson had spent a year living and riding with the Angels, experiencing their lives and hearing their stories first hand. With the publication in 1970 of “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved” he became a counter cultural figure, with his own brand of New Journalism he termed “Gonzo”, an experimental style of journalism where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become central figures of their stories. The work he perhaps remains best known for is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1972), a rumination on the failure of the 1960s counterculture movement. It was first serialized in Rolling Stone, a magazine with which Thompson would be long associated, and was released as a film starring Johnny Depp and directed by Terry Gilliam in 1998. Politically minded, Thompson ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, in 1970, on the Freak Power ticket. He was well known for his inveterate hatred of Richard Nixon, whom he claimed represented “that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of the American character” and whom he characterized in what might be his greatest contribution to American Literature, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72. Thompson’s output notably declined from the mid-1970s, as he struggled with the consequences of fame, and he complained that he could no longer merely report on events as he was too easily recognized. He was also known for his lifelong use of alcohol and illegal drugs; his love of firearms, and his iconoclastic contempt for authoritarianism, and remarked that, “I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” 
On this day in 1980, Scottish-born Australian rock musician, lead singer and lyricist of Australian heavy rock band AC/DC, Bon Scott, died in a parked car at 67 Overhill Road in East Dulwich, South London, at the age of 33. The official cause of death was listed as acute alcohol poisoning. Born Ronald Belford Scott on 9 July 1946 in Kirriemuir, Scotland. His family moved to Melbourne, Australia when he was six. Scott became the lead singer of AC/DC in 1974. The band went on to release some of the best heavy rock albums, in my opinion, including; Let There Be Rock, Powerage, If You Want Blood You’ve Got It and Highway to Hell. After Scott’s death, the remaining members of AC/DC, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd briefly considered disbanding. However, they decided that Scott would have wanted them to continue. With the blessings of Scott’s family, the band hired Brian Johnson as the new vocalist and lyricist. Five months after Scott’s death, AC/DC finished the work they began with Scott and released Back in Black as a tribute to him with two tracks from the album, “Hells Bells” and “Back in Black”, dedicated to his memory. One of my all-time favorite bands. 
On this day in 2016, novelist Harper Lee died in her sleep in Monroeville, Alabama at the age of 89. Born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. Perhaps best known for To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960. Immediately successful, it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. In 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature. She was also known for assisting her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood (1966). Capote was the basis for the character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Lee was portrayed by Catherine Keener in the film Capote (2005), by Sandra Bullock in the film Infamous (2006), and by Tracey Hoyt in the TV movie Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story (1998). In the adaptation of Truman Capote’s novel Other Voices, Other Rooms (1995), the character of Idabel Thompkins, who was inspired by Capote’s memories of Lee as a child, was played by Aubrey Dollar.
On this day in 1564, Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance, Il Divino (“the divine one”), Michelangelo died in Rome at the age of 88. Born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni on 6 March 1475 in Caprese near Arezzo, Tuscany. In my opinion, Michelangelo exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Despite making few forays beyond the arts, his versatility in the disciplines he took up was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with his fellow Italian Leonardo da Vinci. Michelangelo was generally considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime, and ever since then, in my opinion, he has been held to be one of the greatest artists of all time. A number of his works in painting, sculpture, and architecture rank among the most famous in existence. His output in every field during his long life was prodigious; when the sheer volume of correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences that survive is also taken into account, he might be the best-documented artist of the 16th century. Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before he turned thirty. Despite his low opinion of painting, Michelangelo also created two of the most influential works in fresco in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. As an architect, Michelangelo pioneered the Mannerist style at the Laurentian Library. At the age of 74 he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo transformed the plan, the western end being finished to Michelangelo’s design, the dome being completed after his death with some modification. One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and it was the attempts of subsequent artists to imitate Michelangelo’s impassioned and highly personal style that resulted in Mannerism, the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance. Michelangelo never married. 
The Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1508–12)
On this day in 1906, U.S. hatter, hat manufacturer, the inventor of the cowboy hat, John B. Stetson died in DeLand, Florida at the age of 75. Born John Batterson Stetson on 5 May 1830 in 
invented, during a trek to Pike’s Peak in Colorado. These lightweight hats were natural in color with four inch crowns and brims; a plain strap was used for the band. Thanks to the time he had spent with cowboys and Western settlers, Stetson knew firsthand that the headwear they wore (such as coonskin caps, sea captain hats, straw hats, and wool derbies) was impractical. Made from waterproof felt, the new hat was durable. The wide brim provided protection from the hot sun. Noted one observer, “It kept the sun out of your eyes and off your neck. It was an umbrella. It gave you a bucket (the crown) to water your horse and a cup (the brim) to water yourself. It made a hell of a fan, which you need sometimes for a fire but more often to shunt cows this direction or that.“
On this day in 1998, sportscaster on radio and television Harry Caray died as a result of complications from a heart attack and a head injury, at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California at the age of 83. Born Harry Christopher Carabina on March 1, 1914 in St. Louis, Missouri. He covered five Major League Baseball teams, beginning with 25 years of calling the games of the St. Louis Cardinals with two of these years also spent calling games for the St. Louis Browns. After a year working for the Oakland Athletics and eleven years with the Chicago White Sox, Caray spent the last sixteen years of his career as the voice of the Chicago Cubs.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1673, playwright and actor Molière (portrait by Pierre Mignard) died at his home in Paris from tuberculosis at the age of 51. Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin on 15 January 1622 in Paris. In my opinion, one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Molière’s best-known works are The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, Tartuffe, The Miser, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Bourgeois Gentleman. Though he received the adulation of the court and Parisians, Molière’s satires attracted criticism from moralists and the Catholic Church. Tartuffe and its attack on perceived religious hypocrisy roundly received condemnations from the Church, while Don Juan was banned from performance. Molière’s hard work in so many theatrical capacities took its toll on his health and, by 1667, he was forced to take a break from the stage. Molière married Armande Béjart, a famous stage actor at the time. Her mother, Madeleine, had a relationship with Molière which perhaps continued after her marriage to him.
The Final Footprint – Under French law at the time, actors were not allowed to be buried in the sacred ground of a cemetery. However, Armande, asked the King if her spouse could be granted a “normal” funeral at night. The King agreed and Molière’s body was buried in the part of the cemetery reserved for unbaptised infants. In 1792 his remains were brought to the museum of French monuments and in 1817 transferred to Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, close to those of La Fontaine. 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, Amedeo Modigliani, 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 1909 prominent leader of the Bedonkohe Apache, Geronimo died of pneumonia as a prisoner of the United States at Fort Sill, Oklahoma at the age of 79. Born June 1829, near Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Gila River in the modern-day state of Arizona, then part of Mexico, though the Apache disputed Mexico’s claim. His grandfather (Mahko) had been chief of the Bedonkohe Apache. Geronimo fought against Mexico and Texas for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. “Geronimo” was the name given to him during a battle with Mexican soldiers. Geronimo’s Chiricahua name is often rendered as Goyathlay or Goyahkla in English. After a Mexican attack on his tribe, where soldiers killed his mother, wife, and his three children in 1858, Geronimo joined a number of revenge attacks against the Mexicans. In 1886, after a lengthy pursuit, Geronimo surrendered to Texan faux-gubernatorial authorities as a prisoner of war. At an old age, he became a celebrity, appearing at fairs, but he was never allowed to return to the land of his birth. 
On this day in 1982, jazz pianist, composer, Thelonious Monk died in Englewood, New Jersey at the age of 64 from a stroke. Born Thelonious Sphere Monk on 10 October 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. In my opinion, one of the giants of American music. Known for his distinctive style in suits, hats and sunglasses. Monk made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including “Epistrophy”, “‘Round Midnight”, “Blue Monk”, “Straight, No Chaser” and “Well, You Needn’t”. 
On this day in 1982, actor, director, and theatre practitioner Lee Strasberg died from a heart attack in New York City, aged 80. Born Israel Lee Strassberg on November 17, 1901 in Budzanów, Austrian Poland (part of Austria-Hungary, now in Ukraine). He co-founded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931. In 1951 he became director of the nonprofit Actors Studio in New York City and in 1966 he was involved in the creation of Actors Studio West in Los Angeles.
On this day in 1922, rancher, gambler, Texas Ranger, Texas John Slaughter, died in Douglas, Arizona at the age of 80. Born John Horton Slaughter on 2 October 1841 in Sabine Parish, Arizona.
The Final Footprint – Slaughter is interred in Calvary Cemetery, Douglas, Arizona. His wife Cora was interred next to him following her death in 1941. Their graves are marked by a large upright granite monument.
On this day in 1965, musician, jazz pianist, singer, song writer, Nat King Cole, died at St, John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California at the age of 45 from lung cancer. Born Nathaniel Adams Cole on 17 March, St. Patrick’s Day, 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama. Cole’s first hit was “Straighten Up and Fly Right”, a song he co-wrote with Irving Mills. Johnny Mercer invited him to record the song for Capitol Records. Cole married two times; Nadine Robinson, Maria Hawkins Ellington (1948 – 1965 his death). If you have not listened to Cole sing Irving Gordon‘s “Unforgettable” with a beautiful woman by your side, you have not lived. One of my very favorite singers. 
On this day in 1984, actress and singer Ethel Merman died from brain cancer at her home in Manhattan at the age of 76. Born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann on January 16, 1908 in Astoria, Queens. Perhaps best known for her distinctive, powerful voice and leading roles in musical theatre, she has been called “the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage”.
The Final Footprint
On this day ca. 269, Roman saint, Saint Valentine was martyred. Saint Valentine has been associated since the High Middle Ages with a tradition of courtly love. All that is reliably known about Saint Valentine is his name and that he was martyred on this day. It is uncertain whether St. Valentine is to be identified as one saint or the conflation of two saints of the same name. Several different martyrologies have been added to later hagiographies that are unreliable.
The Final Footprint
On this day in 1969, Italian mafioso, Vito Genovese, died in federal prison in Springfield, Missouri at the age of 71. Born 27 November 1897 in Rosiglino, Tufino, Province of Naples, Italy. Genovese rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. Genovese served as mentor to many future mob bosses including Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, and Michael “Mike the Pipe” Genovese. In the 1920’s, New York’s two leading mobsters were Joe “The Boss” Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano. They were engaged in what would be known as the infamous Castellammarese War. Lucky Luciano worked his way up to be Masseria’s top aide, but Luciano made a deal with Maranzano whereby Luciano would set up the death of Masseria in return for Maranzano’s support of Luciano becoming the head of the Masseria family and thus ending the destructive war. Masseria was assassinated in a Coney Island restaurant by Bugsy Siegel, Genovese, and Joe Adonis. Maranzano then declared Luciano his number two man, and set up the Five Families of New York (Luciano/Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Colombo, and Bonanno). When Luciano was sent to prison in 1936, Genovese became the acting boss of the Lucianao family. However in 1937, Genovese was indicted on a murder charge and he fled to Italy. When he returned to the U. S. he regained power over the Luciano family and renamed the family Genovese. In 1959, Genovese was convicted of selling heroin and sentenced to 15 years in prison. 
On this day in 1988, composer Frederick Loewe died from a heart attack in Palm Springs, California at the age of 86. Born June 10, 1901 in Berlin. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on a series of Broadway musicals, including My Fair Lady (1956) and Camelot (1960), both of which were made into films.
The Final Footprint
