On this day 20 April death of Bram Stoker – Steve Marriott – Don Siegel – Benny Hill – Columbine

Posted on 29 ApramSat, 20 Apr 2024 00:18:00 -05002024-04-20T00:18:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1912, novelist and short story writer, Bram Stoker died at No. 26 St. George’s Square in Pimlico, London at the age of 64. Born Abraham Stoker on 8 November 1847 in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. Best known today for his novel Dracula (1897). Stoker spent several years researching European folklore and mythological stories of vampires. Dracula is an epistolary novel, written as a collection of fictional diary entries, telegrams, letters, ship’s logs, and newspaper clippings, which added a level of detailed realism to his story; a skill he developed as a newspaper writer. Stoker married Florence Balcombe (1878-1912 his death), a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde.

The Final Footprint – Stoker was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and his cremated remains were placed in a urn at Golders Green. To pay respects to him, visitors must be escorted to the room where the urn is kept. The cremated remains of his son, Irving Noel Stoker, were placed in the same urn following his death in 1961.

Other notable Final Footprints at Golders Green include; Kingsley Amis, Marc Bolan, Sigmund Freud, Johnny Kidd, Keith Moon, Anna Pavlova, and Peter Sellers. In addition, among those who were cremated here, but whose cremated remains are elsewhere; Neville Chamberlain, T. S. Eliot, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Vivien Leigh, Peter O’Toole, Ralph Vaughan Williams, H. G. Wells, and Amy Winehouse.

Stoker did not invent the vampire, but his novel’s influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for many theatrical, film and television interpretations since its publication. Dracula was not an immediate bestseller, although reviewers were unstinting in their praise. It only reached its broad iconic legendary classic status later when the movie versions appeared. The first film adaptation was Nosferatu (1922), directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and starred Max Schreck as Count Orlock. The first authorized film version was Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula. My favorite version is Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), starring Gary Oldman as Count Dracula and Winona Ryder as Mina Harker, and featuring Anthony Hopkins as Professor Abraham Van Helsing, Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, and Sadie Frost as Lucy Westenra. In 2009, Dracula: The Un-Dead, a sequel novel was released, written by Dacre Stoker, his great-grandnephew, and Ian Holt.

#RIP #OTD in 1991 singer/songwriter (“Itchycoo Park”, “Lazy Sunday”, “All or Nothing”, “Tin Soldier”, “30 Days in the Hole”) and frontman guitarist of Small Faces and Humble Pie, Steve Marriott died in a fire at his home in Arkesden, Essex at the age of 44. Cremation

#RIP #OTD in 1991 film and television director (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dirty Harry, Escape from Alcatraz, The Shootist), producer, Don Siegel died from cancer in Nipomo, California, aged 78. Cayucos-Morro Bay District Cemetery, Cayucos, California

#RIP #OTD in 1992 actor, comedian, singer, writer, remembered for his television programme The Benny Hill Show, Benny Hill died at his home, Teddington, Greater London, in his armchair in front of the TV from a heart attack, aged 68. Hollybrook Cemetery, Bassett, Southampton

And on this day in 1999, the Columbine High School massacre shooting occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. The perpetrators, twelfth grade (senior) students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. Ten students were killed in the library, where the pair subsequently committed suicide. At the time, it was the deadliest shooting at a high school in United States history. The crime has inspired several copycats, and “Columbine” has become a byword for a school shooting.

The two perpetrators injured 21 additional people with gunshots and also exchanged gunfire with the police. Another three people were injured trying to escape the school. In addition to the shootings, the attack involved several homemade bombs. The largest of these were placed in the cafeteria; car bombs were also placed in the parking lot and at another location that was intended to divert first responders.

The motive remains unclear, but the pair planned the crime for about a year and wished for the massacre to rival the Oklahoma City bombing and cause the most deaths in United States history.

The incident resulted in the introduction of the Immediate Action Rapid Deployment tactic, which is used in situations where an active shooter is trying to kill people rather than take hostages. Columbine also resulted in an increased emphasis on school security with zero tolerance policies. Debates were sparked over gun control laws and gun culture, high school cliques, subcultures, and bullying. Also discussed were the moral panic over goths, social outcasts, the use of pharmaceutical antidepressants by teenagers, teenage Internet use and violence in video games.

The Final Footprint

HOPE Columbine Memorial Library

The Columbine memorial in Clement Park

In 2000, youth advocate Melissa Helmbrecht organized a remembrance event in Denver featuring two surviving students, called “A Call to Hope.” The library where most of the massacre took place was removed and replaced with an atrium. In 2001, a new library, the HOPE memorial library, was built next to the west entrance.

On February 26, 2004, thousands of pieces of evidence from the massacre were put on display at the Jeffco fairgrounds in Golden.

A permanent memorial “to honor and remember the victims of the April 20, 1999 shootings at Columbine High School” was dedicated on September 21, 2007, in Clement Park.

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Posted in Day in History, Literary Footprints | Tagged Bram Stoker, columbine, cremains, Cremation, Dracula, Golders Green Crematorium, History, riptff, tff, the final footprint, urn, vampires | Leave a comment

On this day 19 April death of Lord Byron – Daphne du Maurier – Oklahoma City National Memorial – Octavio Paz – Levon Helm – Jim Steinman

Posted on 29 ApramFri, 19 Apr 2024 00:03:00 -05002024-04-19T00:03:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

lordbyron250px-George_Gordon_Byron,_6th_Baron_Byron_by_Richard_Westall_(2)

Portrait by Richard Westall

On this day in 1824, poet and eading figure in the Romantic movement, Lord Byron died at the age of 36 in Missolonghi, Aetolia-Acarnania,Ottoman Empire (Greece). Born George Gordon Byron on 22 January 1788 in a house on 24 Holles Street in London. In my opinion, Byron is one of the greatest British poets, and remains widely read and influential. He travelled widely across Europe, especially in Italy where he lived for seven years. Later in life, Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire, for which many Greeks revere him as a national hero. Often described as the most flamboyant and notorious of the major Romantics, Byron was both celebrated and castigated in life for his aristocratic excesses, including huge debts, numerous love affairs, rumours of a scandalous liaison with his half-sister, and self-imposed exile. He also fathered the Countess Ada Lovelace, whose work on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine is considered a founding document in the field of computer science. Perhaps his best known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and the short lyric She Walks in Beauty.

Lord Byron On His Deathbed by Joseph Denis Odevaere

The Final Footprint – Alfred, Lord Tennyson would later recall the shocked reaction in Britain when word was received of Byron’s death. The Greeks mourned Lord Byron deeply. The national poet of Greece, Dionysios Solomos, wrote a poem about the unexpected loss, named To the Death of Lord Byron. Βύρων (“Vyron”), the Greek form of “Byron”, continues in popularity as a masculine name in Greece, and a town near Athens is called Vyronas in his honour. Byron’s body was embalmed, but the Greeks wanted some part of their hero to stay with them. According to some sources, his heart remained at Missolonghi. His other remains were sent to England (accompanied by his faithful manservant, “Tita”) for burial in Westminster Abbey, but the Abbey refused for reason of “questionable morality”. Huge crowds viewed his body as he lay in state for two days in London. He is buried at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. A marble slab given by the King of Greece is laid directly above Byron’s grave. A duplicate of the slab was later placed in Westminster Abbey. His daughter, Ada Lovelace, was later buried beside him. Byron’s friends raised the sum of 1,000 pounds to commission a statue of the writer; Thorvaldsen offered to sculpt it for that amount. However, for ten years after the statue was completed in 1834, most British institutions turned it down, and it remained in storage. The statue was refused by the British Museum, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the National Gallery before Trinity College, Cambridge, finally placed the statue of Byron in its library. In 1969, 145 years after Byron’s death, a memorial to him was finally placed in Westminster Abbey. The memorial had been lobbied for since 1907: The New York Times wrote, “People are beginning to ask whether this ignoring of Byron is not a thing of which England should be ashamed … a bust or a tablet might be put in the Poets’ Corner and England be relieved of ingratitude toward one of her really great sons.”. Robert Ripley had drawn a picture of Boatswain’s grave with the caption “Lord Byron’s dog has a magnificent tomb while Lord Byron himself has none”. This came as a shock to the English, particularly schoolchildren, who, Ripley said, raised funds of their own accord to provide the poet with a suitable memorial. Close to the centre of Athens, Greece, outside the National Garden, is a statue depicting Greece in the form of a woman crowning Byron. The statue is by the French sculptors Henri-Michel Chapu and Alexandre Falguière.

Dame Daphne du Maurier DBE
(about 1930)

On this day in 1989 author and playwright Daphne du Maurier died, aged 81, at her home in Cornwall. Born on May 1907 in London.

Although she is classed as a romantic novelist, her stories seldom feature a conventional happy ending and have been described as “moody and resonant” with overtones of the paranormal. These bestselling works were not at first taken seriously by critics, but have since earned an enduring reputation for storytelling craft. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories “The Birds” and “Don’t Look Now/Not After Midnight”.

Du Maurier spent much of her life in Cornwall, where most of her works are set. As her fame increased, she became more reclusive.

Du Maurier married Major (later Lieutenant-General) Frederick “Boy” Browning in 1932. Biographers have noted that du Maurier’s marriage was at times somewhat chilly and that she could be aloof and distant to her children, especially the girls, when immersed in her writing. Her husband died in 1965 and soon after Daphne moved to Kilmarth, near Par, Cornwall, which became the setting for The House on the Strand.

After her death in 1989, references were made to her reputed bisexuality; an alleged affair with Gertrude Lawrence, as well as her attraction to Ellen Doubleday, the wife of her U.S. publisher Nelson Doubleday, were cited. The Daphne du Maurier Companion, edited by Helen Taylor, includes Taylor’s claims that du Maurier confessed to her in 1965 that she had had an incestuous relationship with her father and that he had been a violent alcoholic.

In correspondence that her family released to biographer Margaret Forster, du Maurier explained to a trusted few people her own unique slant on her sexuality: her personality comprised two distinct people – the loving wife and mother (the side she showed to the world); and the lover (a decidedly male energy) hidden from virtually everyone and the power behind her artistic creativity. According to Forster’s biography, du Maurier believed the male energy propelled her writing. Forster wrote that du Maurier’s denial of her bisexuality unveiled a “homophobic” fear of her true nature.

The Final Footprint

Her body was cremated and her ashes scattered off the cliffs at Fowey, Kilmarth, Cornwall.

On this day in 1995, Timothy McVeigh parked a rental truck filled with explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The resulting explosion killed 168 people and destroyed the entire north face of the building. The Oklahoma City National Memorial is a memorial that honors the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were changed by the Oklahoma City bombing. The memorial is located in downtown Oklahoma City on the former site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

The Final Footprint – The 3.3 acre memorial can be visited 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and includes;

The Gates of Time: Monumental twin bronze gates frame the moment of destruction – 9:02 – and mark the formal entrances to the Outdoor Memorial. 9:01, found on the eastern gate, represents the last moments of peace, while its opposite on the western gate, 9:03, represents the first moments of recovery. Both time stamps are inscribed on the interior of the monument, facing each other and the Reflecting Pool. The outside of each gate bears this inscription: We come here to remember Those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.
Reflecting Pool: A thin layer of water flows over polished black granite to form the pool.
Field of Empty Chairs: 168 empty chairs hand-crafted from glass, bronze, and stone represent those who lost their lives, with a name etched in the glass base of each. The chairs represent the empty chairs at the dinner tables of the victims’ families. Three unborn children died along with their mothers, and they are listed on their mothers’ chairs beneath their mothers’ names.
Survivors’ Wall: The only remaining original portions of the Murrah Building are the southeast corner, known as the Survivors’ Wall, and a portion of the south wall. The Survivors’ Wall includes several panels of granite salvaged from the Murrah Building itself, inscribed with the names of more than 600 survivors from the building and the surrounding area, many of whom were injured in the blast.
The Survivor Tree: An American elm on the north side of the Memorial, this was the only shade tree in the parking lot across the street from the Murrah Building. The force of the blast ripped most of the branches from the Survivor Tree. Glass and debris were embedded in its trunk and fire from the cars parked beneath it blackened what was left. Most thought the tree could not survive. Almost a year after the bombing, family members, survivors and rescue workers gathered for a memorial ceremony by the tree noticed it was beginning to bloom again. The inscription around the inside of the deck wall around the Survivor Tree reads: The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us. Hundreds of seeds from the Survivor Tree are planted annually and the resulting saplings are distributed each year on the anniversary of the bombing. Thousands of Survivor Trees are growing in public and private places all over the United States.
The Memorial Fence: A 10-foot-tall chain link fence was installed around the area that is now the Reflecting Pool and the Field of Empty Chairs to protect the site from damage and visitors from injury. The Fence stood for more than four years, becoming notable as the place where visitors left tributes. Visitors may still leave small items along and in the Fence; the mementos are periodically collected, cataloged, and stored.
Rescuers’ Orchard: A grove of Oklahoma redbuds (Oklahoma’s state tree), Amur Maple, Chinese Pistache, and Bosque Elm trees are planted on the lawn around the Survivor Tree.
Children’s Area: More than 5,000 hand-painted tiles, from all over the United States and Canada, were made by children and sent to Oklahoma City after the bombing in 1995. Most are stored in the Memorial’s Archives, and a sampling of tiles is on the wall in the Children’s Area. Chalkboards provide a place where children can draw and share their feelings. The Children’s Area is north of the 9:03 gate, on the west side of the Museum.
And Jesus Wept: On a corner adjacent to the memorial is a sculpture of Jesus weeping, erected by St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. St. Joseph’s, one of the first brick-and-mortar churches built in the city, was almost destroyed by the blast. Not officially part of the memorial, the statue is regularly visited.
Journal Record Building: North of the memorial is the Journal Record Building, which formerly housed the offices of the The Journal Record. It now houses the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, which features numerous exhibits and artifacts related to the Oklahoma City bombing. Staff of the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, a non-partisan think tank created shortly after the bombing by family members and survivors, also work here to spread knowledge of terrorism and its prevention.
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building Plaza: Located just south of the Field of Empty Chairs, above the underground parking garage, is the raised Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building Plaza. An original part of the federal building, the plaza had a garden and seating areas, as well as a playground for the daycare center. Visitors to the Memorial can walk across the plaza, where the original flagpole is used for the American flag.

#RIP #OTD in 1998 poet (Piedra de Sol, essay El laberinto de la soledad), diplomat Octavio Paz died of cancer in Mexico City, aged 84. Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Centro, Cuauhtémoc Borough, Distrito Federal, Mexico.

Levon Helm
performing in 2004 on the Village Green in Woodstock, New York

On this day in 2012, musician, drummer, actor Levon Helm died from throat cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City at the age of 71. Born Mark Lavon Helm on May 26, 1940 in Elaine, Arkansas. Perhaps best known as the drummer and one of the vocalists for The Band. Helm was known for his soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of the Band’s recordings, such as “The Weight”, “Up on Cripple Creek”, and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”.

Helm also had a successful career as a film actor, appearing as Loretta Lynn’s father in Coal Miner’s Daughter, as Chuck Yeager’s friend and colleague Captain Jack Ridley in The Right Stuff, and as a Tennessee firearms expert in Shooter.

In 1998, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer, which caused him to lose his singing voice. After treatment, his cancer eventually went into remission, and he gradually regained the use of his voice. His 2007 comeback album Dirt Farmer earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008. In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, a category inaugurated in 2010. In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman won the Grammy in the same category. On April 17, 2012, his wife and daughter announced on Helm’s website that he was “in the final stages of his battle with cancer” and thanked fans while requesting prayers. Two days later, Helm died from throat cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City at the age of 72.

Helm met singer-songwriter Libby Titus in April 1969, while the Band was recording its second album.

Helm met his future wife, Sandra Dodd, in 1975 in California, while he was still involved with Titus. Helm and Dodd were married on September 7, 1981.

The Final Footprint

On April 17, 2012, Helm’s wife Sandy and daughter Amy revealed that he had end-stage throat cancer. They posted the following message on Helm’s website:

“Dear Friends,

Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.

Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration… he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage…

We appreciate all the love and support and concern.

From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy”

Fans were invited to a public wake at Helm’s Barn studio complex on April 26. Approximately 2,000 fans came to pay their respects to the rock icon. The following day, after a private funeral service and a procession through the streets of Woodstock, Helm was interred in the Woodstock Cemetery, within sight of the grave of his longtime bandmate and friend Rick Danko.

On the day of Helm’s death, April 19, 2012, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, in a concert at the First Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, paid tribute to Levon by performing their song “The Best of Everything” and dedicating it to him.

At a concert on May 2, 2012, at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed “The Weight” as a tribute to Helm. Springsteen called Helm “one of the greatest, greatest voices in country, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll … staggering … while playing the drums. Both his voice and his drumming were so incredibly personal. He had a feel on the drums that comes out of certain place in the past and you can’t replicate it.”

On June 2, 2012, at Mountain Jam, Gov’t Mule, along with the Levon Helm Band (with Lukas Nelson coming on stage for the closing song) played a tribute set, including “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Up on Cripple Creek,””It Makes No Difference,” and closing with “The Weight.”

A tribute concert called Love for Levon took place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on October 3, 2012. The concert featured many special guests who had collaborated with and were inspired by Helm and the Band, including Roger Waters, Garth Hudson, Joe Walsh, Gregg Allman, Bruce Hornsby, Jorma Kaukonen, John Mayer, Mavis Staples, My Morning Jacket, Marc Cohn, John Hiatt, Allen Toussaint, Jakob Dylan, Mike Gordon and others. Proceeds from the concert were to “help support the lasting legacy of Levon Helm by helping his estate keep ownership of his home, barn and studio, and to continue the Midnight Ramble Sessions.”

At the 2013 Grammy Awards, the Zac Brown Band, Mumford & Sons, Elton John, Mavis Staples, T-Bone Burnett and Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard performed “The Weight” as a tribute to Levon and other recently deceased musicians. They also dedicated the song to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. In May 2013, the New York State Legislature approved a resolution to name State Route 375—the road which connects State Route 28 with the town of Woodstock—”Levon Helm Memorial Boulevard”. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill on June 20, 2013. In July 2017, U.S. 49 from Marvell, Arkansas to Helena-West Helena was named The Levon Helm Memorial Highway by Act 810 of the Arkansas State Legislature. The Levon Helm Legacy Project is raising money to commission a bronze bust of Helm and to restore his boyhood home. The house, originally located in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, was moved in 2015 to Marvell, where Helm attended school.

#RIP #OTD in 2021 composer, lyricist (Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell album, “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”), record producer Jim Steinman died from kidney failure at a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut, aged 73. Final footprint details not known

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Posted in Day in History, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, daphne du maurier, Jim steinman, levon helm, Lord Byron, Octavio paz, Oklahoma City bombing, Oklahoma City National Memorial, riptff, Survivor Tree, tff, the final footprint | Leave a comment

On this day 18 April death of Gustave Moreau – Ottorino Respighi – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney – Albert Einstein – Dick Clark

Posted on 29 ApramThu, 18 Apr 2024 00:27:00 -05002024-04-18T00:27:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

Gustave Moreau
Self-portrait, 1850

On this day in 1898 Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau died of stomach cancer in Paris at the age of 72. Born in Paris on 18 April 1898. His main emphasis was the illustration of biblical and mythological figures. As a painter, Moreau appealed to the imaginations of some Symbolist writers and artists. He is recognized for his works that are influenced by the Italian Renaissance and exoticism. His art work was preserved in Paris at the Musée Gustave Moreau.

Moreau had a 25-year personal, possibly romantic relationship, with Adelaide-Alexandrine Dureux (b.Guise, 8 November 1835), a woman whom he drew several times. On 28 March 1890, Dureux died. Her death affected Moreau greatly, and his work after this point contained a more melancholic edge.

The Final Footprint

Moreau is entombed at the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris in his parent’s tomb. Other notable final footprints at Montmartre include Hector Berlioz, Dalida, Edgar Degas, Léo Delibes, Alexandre Dumas, fils, Marie Duplessis, Théophile Gautier, Henri Murger, Jacques Offenbach, François Truffaut, and Alfred de Vigny.

Gallery

- Oedipus and the Sphinx(1864)

- Jason and Medea (1865)

- Orpheus (1865)

- Venus Rising from the Sea(1866)

- Europa and the Bull (1869)

- La chimère (1876)

- Salomé (1876)

- The Apparition (1876)

- Jacob and the Angel (1878)

- Galatée (1880)

- The Sacred Elephant (Péri)(1885)

- Eve by Gustave Moreau (1885)

- The Toilette (1885–90)

- Hesiod and the Muse (1891)

- Song of Songs (Cantique des Cantiques) (1893)

Jupiter and Semele (1894–95)

On this day in 1936 violinist and composer Ottorino Respighi died of endocarditis at the age of 56. Born in an apartment inside Palazzo Fantuzzi on Via Guido Reni in Bologna, Italy, into a musical family 0n 9 July 1879. Perhaps best known for his three orchestral tone poems Fountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924), and Roman Festivals (1928). His musicological interest in 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century music led him to compose pieces based on the music of these periods. He also wrote several operas, the most famous being La fiamma.

In 1919, he married the composer and singer Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo who, at fourteen years his junior, had been his composition pupil. In 1921, the couple relocated to a flat in Rome.

Respighi’s operas fall broadly into three groups – the dramatic-tragic operas Semirama (1910), Marie Victoire (1912–14), La Campana Sommersa (1923–27), Maria Egiziaca (1928), La Fiamma (1931–34), and Lucrezia (completed Elsa Respighi, 1936), and the lighter works, Re Enzo (1905), Belfagor (1919–22), La Bella Dormente nel Bosco (Sleeping Beauty, 1916/1933). Respighi’s operas after Marie Victoire were all set to libretti by his close collaborator, Claudio Guastalla. Although La Fiamma is Respighi’s most frequently performed opera, La Campana Sommersa and Maria Egiziaca are his operatic masterpieces, written when he was at the height of his creative powers, and both Respighi and his wife Elsa considered La Campana Sommersa to be his finest work.

The Final Footprint

Respighi is entombed at the Certosa di Bologna. Inscribed on his tomb are his name and crosses; dates of birth and death are missing.

Respighi, 1935

#RIP #OTD in 1942 sculptor, art patron and collector, founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney died from a heart condition in Manhattan aged 67. Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx. Portrait by Robert Henri

On this day in 1955, theoretical physicist, the father of modern physics, Albert Einstein died in Princeton Hospital in Princeton, New Jersey at the age of 76. Born on 14 March 1879 in Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire. Einstein discovered the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”. Einstein was visiting the United States when Hitler came to power in 1933. He did not go back to Germany, becoming a U. S. citizen in 1940. In the summer of 1939, Einstein wrote a letter, with Leo Szilard, to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, alerting him of the possibility that Nazi Germany might be developing an atomic bomb. The letter recommended that the U.S. government should become directly involved with uranium research and chain reaction research. Einstein and Szilard, along with other refugees such as Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner, “regarded it as their responsibility to alert Americans to the possibility that German scientists might win the race to build an atomic bomb, and to warn that Hitler would be more than willing to resort to such a weapon.” Einstein married twice; Mileva Marić (1903-1919 divorce) and Elsa Löwenthal (1919-1936 her death). On his religious belief, Einstein said; “I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings.” The day before he died, Einstein experienced internal bleeding caused by the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He refused surgery, saying: “I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.” I have always thought physics was fascinating and had I been born a little smarter, actually a lot smarter, perhpaps I would have been a physicist. It is the study of the final frontier, or the next frontier.

The Final Footprint – Einstein was cremated and his cremains were possibly scattered around the grounds of The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Einstein has been the subject of, or inspiration for, many novels, films, plays, and works of music.

Dick Clark
in 1961

And on this day in 2012, radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon Dick Clark died from a heart attack at the age of 82 in Santa Monica, California. Born Richard Wagstaff Clark on November 30, 1929 Perhaps best known for hosting American Bandstand from 1957 to 1987. He also hosted the game show Pyramid and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which transmitted Times Square’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. Clark was well known for his trademark sign-off, “For now, Dick Clark — so long!”, accompanied by a facsimile of a military salute.

As host of American Bandstand, Clark introduced rock & roll to many Americans. The show gave many new music artists their first exposure to national audiences, including Iggy Pop, Ike and Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Talking Heads, Simon & Garfunkel and Madonna. Episodes he hosted were among the first in which blacks and whites performed on the same stage, and likewise among the first in which the live studio audience sat without racial segregation. Due to his perennial youthful appearance and his largely teenaged audience of American Bandstand, Clark was often referred to as “America’s oldest teenager” or “the world’s oldest teenager”.

as host of The $10,000 Pyramid

in 1963. His ABC radio show was called “Dick Clark Reports”.

Clark was married three times. His first marriage was to Barbara Mallery in 1952; the couple divorced in 1961. He married Loretta Martin in 1962 and divorced in 1971. His third marriage, to Kari Wigton, whom he married in 1977, lasted until his death.

The Final Footprint

Clark’s family did not immediately decide on whether there would be a public memorial service, but stated “there will be no funeral”. He was cremated on April 20, and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

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Posted in American Icon, Day in History | Tagged Albert Einstein, Cremation, dick clark, gustave moreau, ottorino respighi, riptff, scattering, tff, the final footprint, Theory of Relativity | Leave a comment

On this day 17 April death of Benjamin Franklin – Linda McCartney – Gabriel García Márquez

Posted on 29 ApramWed, 17 Apr 2024 00:03:00 -05002024-04-17T00:03:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1790, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, “The First American”, Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia at the age of 84. Born on 17 January 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts Bay. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. Known for his discoveries and theories regarding’s electricity and his inventions; the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and the glass ‘armonica’. He formed both the first public lending library in America and the first fire department in Pennsylvania. In 1733, Franklin began to publish the famous Poor Richard’s Almanack. Adages from this almanac, such as “A penny saved is twopence dear” and “Fish and visitors stink in three days” remain common quotations still today. Franklin sought to cultivate his character by a plan of thirteen virtues, which he developed at age 20 (in 1726) and continued to practice in some form for the rest of his life. His autobiography lists his thirteen virtues as:

“Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.”
“Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”
“Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.”
“Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”
“Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.”
“Industry. Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.”
“Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.”
“Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.”
“Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.”
“Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.”
“Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.”
“Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.”
“Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”

The Final Footprint – Franklin is interred in Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia with his wife Deborah. He wrote a possible epitaph for himself when he was 22; “The Body of B. Franklin Printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ’d, appear once more, In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and Amended By the Author.” Franklin’s actual grave, however, as he specified in his final will, simply reads “Benjamin and Deborah Franklin.” Franklin’s likeness and name are ubiquitous, as are cultural references to him, even more than two centuries after his death. He has been honoured on coinage and money, and many towns, counties, educational institutions, people, and companies are named after him.

Linda McCartney
in the 1960s

On this day in 1998, musician, photographer, animal rights activist Linda McCartney died from breast cancer at the age of 56 at the McCartney family ranch in Tucson, Arizona with her family. Born Linda Louise Eastman on September 24, 1941 in New York City. She was married to Paul McCartney of the Beatles. Her photos were published in the book Linda McCartney’s Sixties: Portrait of an Era in 1992.

Linda married McCartney in 1969 at Marylebone registry office in London and thereafter went to St John’s Wood Church for a blessing. Her daughter, Heather Louise, from her first marriage to Melville See, was adopted by her new husband. Together, the McCartneys had three other children.

Following their 1969 marriage and the 1970 breakup of the Beatles, Paul and Linda formed the band Wings in 1971. She continued to be part of her husband’s touring band following Wings’ breakup in 1981 up until The New World Tour in 1993.

McCartney was an animal rights activist and wrote and published several vegetarian cookbooks. She also founded the Linda McCartney Foods company with her husband.

In 1995 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died from the disease in 1998 at the age of 56.

with husband Paul at the Academy Awards in 1974

performing in 1976 with Paul and Wings

The Final Footprint

She was cremated in Tucson, and her ashes were scattered at the McCartney farm in Sussex, England. Paul later suggested fans remember her by donating to breast cancer research charities that do not support animal testing, “or the best tribute – go veggie.” A memorial service was held for her at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, which was attended by George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Billy Joel, Elton John, David Gilmour, Peter Gabriel, and other celebrities among a congregation of 700. A memorial service was also held at Riverside Church in Manhattan, two months after her death. “She was my girlfriend,” McCartney said at her funeral. “I lost my girlfriend.”

The Linda McCartney Memorial Garden is located in Campbeltown, Kintyre, Scotland

The Linda McCartney Memorial Garden and bronze statue

On day in 2014, novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, Gabo, Gabriel García Marquez died of pneumonia at the age of 87 in Mexico City. Born Gabriel José de la Concordia García Marquez on 6 March 1927 in Aracataca, Colombia. In my opinion, one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1972 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. He pursued a self-directed education that resulted in his leaving law school for a career in journalism. In 1958, he married Mercedes Barcha. García Márquez started as a journalist, and wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is perhaps best known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975) and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as magic realism, which uses magical elements and events in otherwise ordinary and realistic situations. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo (the town mainly inspired by his birthplace Aracataca), and most of them explore the theme of solitude.

The Final Footprint – On his death in April 2014, Juan Manuel Santos, the President of Colombia, described him as “the greatest Colombian who ever lived”. Garcia Marquez was cremated at a private family ceremony in Mexico City. On 22 April, the presidents of Colombia and Mexico attended a formal ceremony in Mexico City, where Garcia Marquez had lived for more than three decades. A funeral cortege took the urn containing his ashes from his house to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, where the memorial ceremony was held. Earlier, residents in his home town of Aracataca in Colombia’s Caribbean region held a symbolic funeral. In May of 2016 his cremated remains were relocated to La Merced monastery in Cartagena.

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Posted in American Icon, Day in History, Literary Footprints | Tagged Benjamin Franklin, Buried, Cemetery, Christ Church Burial Ground, Founding Fathers, Gabriel Garcia marquez, Ground Burial, History, linda mccartney, Monument, Palacio de Bellas Artes, riptff, tff, the final footprint, The First American | Leave a comment

On this day 16 April death of Francisco Goya – Marie Tussaud – Edna Ferber – David Lean – Ralph Ellison – Robert Urich

Posted on 29 ApramTue, 16 Apr 2024 00:18:00 -05002024-04-16T00:18:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1828, romantic painter and printmaker, the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns, Francisco Goya died of a stroke at the age of 82 in Bordeaux, France. Born Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes in Fuendetodos, Aragón, Spain, on 30 March 1746. Throughout the Peninsular War, Goya was court painter to the Spanish Crown, remaining in Madrid, where he painted the portrait of Joseph Bonaparte, pretender to the Spanish throne, and documented the war in the masterpiece of studied ambiguity known as the Desastres de la Guerra. Through his works he was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era. The subversive imaginative element in his art, as well as his bold handling of paint, provided a model for the work of artists of later generations. In February 1819, Goya bought a house, called Quinta del Sordo (“Deaf Man’s House”), and painted many unusual paintings on canvas and on the walls, including references to witchcraft and war. One of these is the famous work Saturno devorando a su hijo (Saturn Devouring His Son known informally in some circles as Devoration or Saturn Eats His Child) (see below), which displays a Greco-Roman mythological scene of the god Saturn consuming a child, possibly a reference to Spain’s ongoing civil conflicts. The series has been described as essential to our understanding of the human condition in modern times, just as Michelangelo’s Sistine ceiling is essential to understanding the tenor of the 16th century. At the age of 75, alone and in mental and physical despair, he completed the work as one of his 14, or possibly 15, Black Paintings, all of which were executed in oil directly onto the plaster walls of his house. Goya did not intend for the paintings to be exhibited and did not write of them. It was not until around 1874, 46 years after his death, that they were taken down and transferred to a canvas support. Many of the works apparently were significantly altered during the restoration, and what remain are has been described as crude facsimiles of what Goya painted. The effects of time on the murals, coupled with the inevitable damage caused by the delicate operation of mounting the crumbling plaster on canvas, meant that most of the murals suffered extensive damage and loss of paint. Today they are on permanent display at the Museo del Prado, Madrid.

The Final Footprint – Goya was initially interred in Bordeaux. In 1919 his remains were transferred to the Real Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida in Madrid. However, the skull was missing, a detail the Spanish consul immediately communicated to his superiors in Madrid, who wired back, “Send Goya, with or without head.” The chapel ceiling and dome frescoes were painted by Goya. In the Oliver Stone film, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Goya’s Saturno devorando a su hijo hangs in the office of Bretton James (Josh Brolin). James states that this is the 15th Black Painting and that the other 14 are in the Museo del Prado. Actually, it appears there may be a 15th Black Painting; Heads in a Landscape (Cabezas en un paisaje) (see below). It may have became separated from the other paintings in the collection and is now in the collection of poet, publisher and art dealer Stanley Moss in New York.

Images of the Black Paintings

(Saturno devorando a su hijo), Saturn Devouring His Son, 1819-1823

(El perro), The Dog, 1819-1823

(Dos viejos/Un viejo y un fraile), Two Old Men, 1819-1823

(Hombres leyendo), Men Reading, 1819-1823

(Judith y Holofernes), Judith and Holofernes, 1819-1823

(Mujeres riendo), Women Laughing, 1819-1823

Heads in a Landscape (Cabezas en un paisaje) possibly, the fifteenth Black Painting. It became separated from the other paintings in the collection and is now in the collection of poet, publisher and art dealer Stanley Moss in New York.

(Una manola/La Leocadia), Leocadia, 1819-1823

(Átropos/Las Parcas), Atropos (The Fates), 1819-1823

(Duelo a garrotazos), Fight with Cudgels, 1819-1823

(Dos viejos comiendo sopa), Two Old Men Eating Soup, 1819-1823

(Vision fantástica/Asmodea), Fantastic Vision, 1819-1823

(Peregrinación a la fuente de San Isidro/Procesión del Santo Oficio), Procession of the Holy Office, 1819-1823

(El Gran Cabrón/Aquelarre), Witches’ Sabbath, 1819-1823

(La romería de San Isidro), A Pilgrimage to San Isidro, 1819-1823

#RIP #OTD in 1850 French artist known for her wax sculptures and Madame Tussauds, the wax museum she founded in London, Marie Tussaud died in her sleep in London, aged of 88. Memorial tablet on the right side of the nave of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Cadogan Street, London

On this day in 1968, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, short story writer and playwright, Edna Ferber died from stomach cancer in New York City at the age of 82. Born on 15 August 1885 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was awarded the Pulitzer for her book So Big (1924). Her novel Show Boat (1926) was made into a Broadway play with music by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. The book was also made into three films. The 1951 version starred Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, and Howard Keel. And of course, she wrote the novel, Giant (1952), the epic story of the Benedict family and their Reata Ranch in Texas. The book was made into a Hollywood classic in 1956 starring; Elizabeth Taylor (Leslie Lynnton Benedict), Rock Hudson (Jordan “Bick” Benedict, Jr.) and James Dean (Jett Rink) and featuring Carroll Baker (Luz Benedict, Leslie and Bick’s daughter), Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge (Luz Benedict, Bick’s sister), Dennis Hopper (Jordan “Jordy” Benedict III), Sal Mineo, Rod Taylor and Earl Holliman. Giant was the last of Dean’s three films as a leading actor, and earned him his second and last Academy Award nomination; he was killed in a car accident before the film was released. The book and the movie are perhaps my very favorites. Feber never married. In her early novel Dawn O’Hara (1911), the title character’s aunt is said to have remarked, “Being an old maid was a great deal like death by drowning — a really delightful sensation when you ceased struggling.”

The Final Footprint – Feber was cremated. A plaque was placed in her honour in Manhattan on the building at 65th Street and Central Park West where she lived for six years. The plaque reads; “The widely-read novelist, short story writer, and playwright, best known for the novel Giant (1952), lived here from 1923 to 1929. Ferber’s fiction is distinquished by larger-than-life stories, strong female characters, and distinctive renderings of Amercian settings. Two of her novels were published while she lived here: the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big (1924), and Show Boat (1926).”

Sir David Lean CBE

On this day in 1991, film director, producer, screenwriter and editor David Lean died In Limehouse, London at the age of 83. Born on 25 March 1908 in Croydon, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. Lean was responsible for large-scale epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965). He also directed adaptations of Charles Dickens novels Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), as well as the romantic drama Brief Encounter (1945).

Originally starting out as a film editor in the early 1930s, Lean made his directorial debut with 1942’s In Which We Serve, which was the first of four collaborations with Noël Coward. Beginning with Summertime in 1955, Lean began to make internationally co-produced films financed by the big Hollywood studios. In 1970 the critical failure of his film Ryan’s Daughter led him to take a fourteen-year break from film making, during which he planned a number of film projects which never came to fruition. In 1984 he had a career revival with A Passage to India, adapted from E. M. Forster‘s novel; it was an instant hit with critics but proved to be the last film Lean would direct.

Nominated seven times for the Academy Award for Best Director, which he won twice for The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, he has seven films in the British Film Institute’s Top 100 British Films (with three of them being in the top five) and was awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1990.

Lean in Northern Finland in 1965 while shooting Doctor Zhivago.

Lean was married six times and was divorced five times. He was survived by his last wife, art dealer Sandra Cooke, the co-author (with Barry Chattington) of David Lean: An Intimate Portrait. His six wives were:

Isabel Lean (28 June 1930 – 1936) (his first cousin)
Kay Walsh (23 November 1940 – 1949)
Ann Todd (21 May 1949 – 1957)
Leila Matkar (4 July 1960 – 1978) (From, Hyderabad, India). Lean’s longest-lasting marriage.
Sandra Hotz (28 October 1981 – 1984)
Sandra Cooke (15 December 1990 – 16 April 1991)

The Final Footprint

Lean was cremated at Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium, Wimbledon.

Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison

On this day in 1994 novelist, literary critic and scholar Ralph Ellison died from pancreatic cancer in New York City at the age of 81. Born Ralph Waldo Ellison on March 1, 1913 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Perhaps best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote Shadow and Act (1964), a collection of political, social and critical essays, and Going to the Territory (1986). A posthumous novel, Juneteenth, was published after being assembled from voluminous notes he left after his death.

In 1938 Ellison met Rosa Araminta Poindexter, a woman two years his senior. They were married in late 1938. Rose was a stage actress, and continued her career after their marriage. In biographer Arnold Rampersad’s assessment of Ellison’s taste in women, he was searching for one “physically attractive and smart who would love, honor, and obey him–but not challenge his intellect.” At first they lived at 312 West 122nd Street, Rose’s apartment, but moved to 453 West 140th Street after her income shrank. In 1941 he briefly had an affair with Sanora Babb, which he confessed to his wife afterward, and in 1943 the marriage was over.

Published in 1952, Invisible Man explores the theme of man’s search for his identity and place in society, as seen from the perspective of the first-person narrator, an unnamed African American man in the New York City of the 1930s. In contrast to his contemporaries such as Richard Wright and James Baldwin, Ellison created characters that are dispassionate, educated, articulate, and self-aware. Through the protagonist, Ellison explores the contrasts between the Northern and Southern varieties of racism and their alienating effect. The narrator is “invisible” in a figurative sense, in that “people refuse to see” him, and also experiences a kind of dissociation. The novel also contains taboo issues such as incest and the controversial subject of communism.

The Final Footprint

Ellison was entombed at Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan.

Robert Urich
in 1973

On this day in 2002, actor Robert Urich died at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California at the age of 55 from synovial sarcoma. Born Robert Michael Urich on December 19, 1946 in Toronto, Ohio. Over the course of his 30-year career, he starred in 15 television series. Perhaps best know for his role as Jake Spoon in the television mini-series adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove.

Urich began his career in television in the early 1970s. After guest stints and roles in short-lived television series, he won a co starring role in the action/crime drama series S.W.A.T. in 1975. In 1976, he landed the role of Dan Tanna in the crime drama series Vega$. It aired on ABC from 1978 to 1981, and earned him two Golden Globe Award nominations. In addition to his work in television, he also starred in several feature films, including Magnum Force (1973), The Ice Pirates (1984), and Turk 182 (1985). From 1985 to 1988, he portrayed the title role in the detective television series Spenser: For Hire, based on Robert B. Parker’s popular series of mystery novels. In 1988, he began hosting the documentary series National Geographic Explorer. He won a CableACE Award for his work on the series. He was also awarded a Golden Boot Award for his work in Western television series and films.

In 1996, Urich starred in The Lazarus Man. It was canceled shortly after he announced that he had been diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer, in July 1996. He sought treatment for his illness while continuing his career and also worked to raise money for cancer research. He was declared cancer free in 1998 and returned to television in the UPN series, Love Boat: The Next Wave. In 2000, he made his Broadway debut as Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago. His last role was in the NBC sitcom Emeril in 2001, but in the autumn of that year, his cancer returned.

Urich’s first marriage was to actress Barbara Rucker in 1968. They divorced in 1974. He married actress Heather Menzies in 1975. They remained married until his death.

The Final Footprint

His Funeral Mass was offered on April 19 at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood. He was cremated and his ashes were interred on the grounds of his family’s vacation home in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. A monument was placed in the West Lake Church of Christ Cemetery, which is located near the family’s vacation home.

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Posted in Artistic Footprints, Day in History, Film Footprints, Literary Footprints | Tagged black paintings, Cremation, david lean, Edna Ferber, Giant, goya, josh brolin, museo del prado, oliver stone, Pulitzer Prize, Quinta del Sordo, ralph ellison, riptff, robert urich, Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida, Saturn Devouring His Son, Saturno devorando a su hijo, Showboat, So Big, stanley moss, tff, the final footprint, wall street money never sleeps | Leave a comment

On this day 15 April death of Abraham Lincoln – RMS Titanic – Gaston Leroux – Jean-Paul Sartre – Greta Garbo – Joey Ramone – R. Lee Ermey

Posted on 29 ApramMon, 15 Apr 2024 00:42:00 -05002024-04-15T00:42:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1865, 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, died from a gunshot wound to the head, in the Petersen House which was across the street from Ford’s Theater where he had been shot by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died six days after General Robert E. Lee‘s surrender at Appomatox Courthouse. Born on 12 February 1809 in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm in southeast Hardin County, Kentucky (now LaRue County). He successfully led the country through its greatest constitutional, military and moral crisis, the American Civil War, by preserving the Union with force while ending slavery. Lincoln was the first Republican president, winning the 6 November 1860 election over Democrat Stephen Douglas and two other candidates. He won reelection in 1864 in the Union states in a landslide. Lincoln married Mary Todd (1842-1865 his death). One of the great orators in American history, his Gettysburg Address is oft quoted. Lincoln delivered the speech at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday 19 November 1863. In 272 words, and three minutes Lincoln summarized and defined the war:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

The Final Footprint – Lincoln is entombed in Lincoln’s Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. His wife Mary and three of their four sons are entombed in the walls opposite his tomb. Lincoln’s name and image appear in numerous places, including the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Lincoln $5 bill and the Lincoln cent, and Lincoln’s sculpture on Mount Rushmore. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who was present when Lincoln died said, “Now he belongs to the ages.” Indeed he does.

On this day in 1912, RMS Titanic sank in the north Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest passenger liner in service at the time, Titanic had an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at 23:40 (ship’s time) on Sunday, 14 April 1912. Her sinking two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 (05:18 GMT) on Monday, 15 April resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, which made it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. Titanic received six warnings of sea ice on 14 April but was travelling near her maximum speed when her crew sighted the iceberg. Unable to turn quickly enough, the ship suffered a glancing blow that buckled her starboard (right) side and opened five of her sixteen compartments to the sea. Titanic had been designed to stay afloat with four of her forward compartments flooded but not more, and the crew soon realised that the ship would sink. They used rocket flares and radio (wireless) messages to attract help as the passengers were put into lifeboats. However, in accordance with existing maritime practice, the ship was carrying far too few lifeboats for everyone (though slightly more than the law required), and many boats were not filled to their capacity due to a poorly managed evacuation. The ship sank with over a thousand passengers and crew members still on board. Almost all those who jumped or fell into the water died from hypothermia within minutes. RMS Carpathia arrived on the scene about an hour and a half after the sinking and had rescued the last of the survivors in the lifeboats by 09:15 on 15 April, little more than 24 hours after Titanic‘s crew had received their first warnings of drifting ice.

The Final Footprint – The disaster caused widespread public outrage over the lack of lifeboats, lax shipping regulations, and the unequal treatment of the different passenger classes aboard the ship. Inquiries set up in the wake of the disaster recommended sweeping changes to maritime regulations. This led to the establishment in 1914 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). Titanic’s sinking became a cultural phenomenon, commemorated by numerous artists, film-makers, writers, composers, musicians and dancers from the time immediately after the sinking to the present day. On 1 September 1985 a joint US-French expedition led by Robert Ballard found the wreck of Titanic, and the ship’s rediscovery led to increased interest in Titanic‘s story. In 1997, James Cameron‘s eponymous film became the first movie ever to earn $1 billion at the box office, and the film’s soundtrack became the best selling soundtrack recording of all time. Numerous expeditions have been launched to film the wreck and to salvage objects from the debris field. Many artifacts have been recovered and conserved, but the wreck itself is steadily decaying. In time, Titanic‘s structure will collapse into a pile of iron and steel fragments. Eventually she will be reduced to a spot of rust on the seabed, with the remaining scraps of the ship’s hull mingled with her more durable fittings, like her propellers, the bronze capstans and the telemotor. The following memorials have been erected in memory of those who lost their lives:

Titanic Memorial, Belfast

The Titanic Memorial in Belfast was erected to commemorate the lives lost. It was funded by contributions from the public, shipyard workers and victims’ families, and was dedicated in June 1920. It is located on Donegall Square in central Belfast in the grounds of Belfast City Hall. The memorial presents an allegorical representation of the disaster in the form of a female personification of Death or Fate holding a laurel wreath over the head of a drowned sailor raised above the waves by a pair of mermaids. It has been used as the site of annual commemorations of the Titanic disaster. For a while it was obscured by the Belfast Wheel that was removed in April 2010. It is now the centrepiece of a small Titanic memorial garden that was opened on 15 April 2012, the centenary of the disaster. Together with the garden, it is the only memorial in the world to commemorate all of the victims of the Titanic, passengers and crew alike.

Memorial to the Engine Room Heroes of the Titanic

The Memorial to the Engine Room Heroes of the Titanic is a granite monument located in St. Nicholas Place, Pier Head, Liverpool, England. The city of Liverpool is strongly associated with the ill-fated liner. The RMS Titanic was owned by White Star Line which was founded in Liverpool in 1840. Liverpool was also the port of registry of the liner with the words ‘Titanic, Liverpool’ visible on the stern of the ship. The memorial on Liverpool’s waterfront is dedicated to the 244 engineers that lost their lives in the disaster as they remained in the ship supplying the stricken liner with electricity and other amenities for as long as possible. The monument is notable as the first monument in the United Kingdom to depict The Working Man. The monument dedicated to the hundreds of men who died during the sinking was designed by Sir William Goscombe John and constructed circa 1916. It stands 14.6 m tall and although it is most strongly associated with the RMS Titanic, its dedication was broadened to include all maritime engine room fatalities incurred during the performance of duty in World War I. The monument is Grade II* listed. Shrapnel damage from bombs that fell during the Second World War can be clearly seen on the monument.

Titanic Memorial (New York City)

Titanic Memorial Lighthouse

Dedication plaque on the Lighthouse

The Titanic Memorial is a 60-foot-tall (18 m) lighthouse built, due in part to the instigation of Margaret Brown, to remember the people who died on the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912. Its design incorporates the use of a time ball.

Titanic Engineers’ Memorial, Southampton

The Titanic Engineers’ Memorial is a memorial in East (Andrews) Park, Southampton, United Kingdom, to the engineers who died in the RMS Titanic disaster on 15 April 1912. The bronze and granite memorial was originally unveiled by Sir Archibald Denny, president of the Institute of Marine Engineers on 22 April 1914. The event was attended by an estimated 100,000 Southampton residents.

Titanic Memorial (Washington, D.C.)

The Titanic Memorial is a granite statue in southwest Washington, D.C., that honors the men who gave their lives so that women and children might be saved during the RMS Titanic disaster. The thirteen-foot-tall figure is of a partly clad male figure with arms outstretched. The statue was erected by the Women’s Titanic Memorial Association. The memorial is located on P Street SW next to the Washington Channel near Fort Lesley J. McNair. It was designed by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who won the commission in open competition, and sculpted by John Horrigan from a single piece of red granite furnished from Westerly, RI, by the Henry C. Smalley Granite Co. It was unveiled on May 26, 1931, by Helen Herron Taft, the widow of President Taft. Originally located at the foot of New Hampshire Avenue, NW in Rock Creek Park along the Potomac River, the monument was removed in 1966 to accommodate the Kennedy Center. The memorial was re-erected without ceremony in 1968 on the south Washington waterfront outside Fort McNair in Washington Channel Park at Fourth and P Streets, SW. A replica of the head of the memorial, carved in marble and exhibited in Paris in 1921, was purchased by the French Government for the Musée du Luxembourg.

On this day in 1927, journalist and author Gaston Leroux died in Nice, France at the age of 58. In the English-speaking world, he is perhaps best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, 1911). Born Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux in Paris on 6 May 1868. His novel The Mystery of the Yellow Room is also one of the most famous locked room mysteries ever written.

The Final Footprint – Leroux is interred in Cimetiére du Château in Nice. La Belle Otero is interred there as well. The Phantom of the Opera has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney, and Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s 1986 musical.

On this day in 1980, philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, Jean-Paul Sartre died from pulmonary edema in Paris at the age of 74. Born Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre on 21 June 1905 in Paris. In my opinion, Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology, and one of the leading figures in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. His work has also influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies, and continues to influence these disciplines. Sartre has also been noted for his open relationship with the prominent feminist theorist Simone de Beauvoir. He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature but refused it, saying that he always declined official honors and that “a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution”. In 1929 at the École Normale, he met de Beauvoir, who studied at the Sorbonne. The two became inseparable and lifelong companions, initiating a romantic relationship, though apparently, they were not monogamous. Together, Sartre and de Beauvoir challenged the cultural and social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois, in both lifestyle and thought. The conflict between oppressive, spiritually destructive conformity (mauvaise foi, literally, “bad faith”) and an “authentic” way of “being” became the dominant theme of Sartre’s early work, a theme embodied in his principal philosophical work L’Être et le Néant (Being and Nothingness) (1943). Sartre’s introduction to his philosophy is his work Existentialism and Humanism (1946), originally presented as a lecture.

The Final Footprint – Sartre is entombed in Cimetière de Montparnasse in Paris. Evidently, his funeral was well attended, with estimates of the number of mourners along the two hour march ranging from 15,000 to over 50,000.

In 1975, when asked how he would like to be remembered, Sartre replied:

“I would like [people] to remember [my novel] Nausea, [my plays] No Exit and The Devil and the Good Lord, and then my two philosophical works, more particularly the second one, Critique of Dialectical Reason. Then my essay on Genet, Saint Genet…. If these are remembered, that would be quite an achievement, and I don’t ask for more. As a man, if a certain Jean-Paul Sartre is remembered, I would like people to remember the milieu or historical situation in which I lived,… how I lived in it, in terms of all the aspirations which I tried to gather up within myself.”

De Beauvoir was entombed next to him upon her death in 1986. Other notable Final Footprints at Montparnasse include; Charles Baudelaire, Samuel Beckett, Emmanuel Chabrier, Guy de Maupassant, Adah Isaac Menken, Camille Saint-Saëns, Jean Seberg, and Susan Sontag.

Greta Garbo
in Anna Karenina (1935)

On this day in 1990, film actress Greta Garbo died in New York City at the age of 84 from pneumonia and renal failure. Born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson on 18 September 1905 in Stockholm. Garbo was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and received an Academy Honorary Award in 1954 for her “luminous and unforgettable screen performances.”

Garbo launched her career with a secondary role in the 1924 Swedish film The Saga of Gosta Berling. Her performance caught the attention of Louis B. Mayer, chief executive of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), who brought her to Hollywood in 1925. She immediately stirred interest with her first silent film, Torrent, released in 1926; a year later, her performance in Flesh and the Devil, her third movie, made her an international star.

Garbo’s first talking film was Anna Christie (1930). MGM marketers enticed the public with the catch-phrase “Garbo talks!” That same year she starred in Romance. For her performances in these films she received the first of three Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. (Academy rules at the time allowed for a performer to receive a single nomination for their work in more than one film). In 1932, her popularity allowed her to dictate the terms of her contract and she became increasingly selective about her roles. Her success continued in films such as Mata Hari (1931) and Grand Hotel (1932). Many critics and film historians consider her performance as the doomed courtesan Marguerite Gautier in Camille (1936) to be her finest. It is certainly my personal favorite. The role gained her a second Academy Award nomination. For her role in Ninotchka (1939), she earned her third Academy Award nomination. She retired from the screen, at the age of 35, after acting in twenty-eight films.

From then on, Garbo declined all opportunities to return to the screen. Shunning publicity, she began a private life. Garbo also became an art collector in her later life; her collection, included works from painters such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pierre Bonnard, and Kees van Dongen.

Monument on the building which now stands where Greta Garbo was born on Södermalm.

in her first leading role in the Swedish film The Saga of Gösta Berling (1924) with Lars Hanson

Portrait photograph, 1925

in Flesh and the Devil (1926) with John Gilbert

with John Gilbert in A Woman of Affairs (1928).

“Garbo talks!” in Anna Christie (1930).

with Fredric March in Anna Karenina (1935).

with Robert Taylor in Camille (1936).

with Charles Boyer in Conquest (1937)

with Melvyn Douglas in a scene from Ninotchka (1939).

with Melvyn Douglas in “Two-Faced Woman” (1941)

From the early days of her career, Garbo avoided industry social functions, preferring to spend her time alone or with friends. She never signed autographs or answered fan mail, and rarely gave interviews. Nor did she ever appear at Oscar ceremonies, even when she was nominated. Her aversion to publicity and the press was genuine, and exasperating to the studio at first. In an interview in 1928, she explained that her desire for privacy began when she was a child, stating “as early as I can remember, I have wanted to be alone. I detest crowds, don’t like many people.”

She is closely associated with a line from Grand Hotel, “I want to be alone; I just want to be alone.”

signing her US citizenship papers in 1950

On 9 February 1951, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States and, in 1953, bought a seven-room apartment at 450 East 52nd Street in Manhattan, New York City, where she lived for the rest of her life.

Garbo never married, had no children. Her most famous romance was with her frequent co-star, John Gilbert, with whom she lived intermittently in 1926 and 1927. Gilbert allegedly proposed to her numerous times, with Garbo agreeing but backing out at the last minute. “I was in love with him,” she said. “But I froze. I was afraid he would tell me what to do and boss me. I always wanted to be the boss.”

In 1937, she met conductor Leopold Stokowski, with whom she had a highly publicized friendship or romance while traveling throughout Europe the following year. In his diary, Erich Maria Remarque discusses a liaison with Garbo in 1941. In his memoir, Cecil Beaton described an affair with her in 1947 and 1948. In 1941 she met the Russian-born millionaire, George Schlee, who was introduced to her by his wife, fashion designer Valentina. Nicholas Turner, Garbo’s close friend for 33 years, said that, after she bought an apartment in the same building, “Garbo moved in and took Schlee right away from Valentina.” Schlee would split his time between the two, becoming Garbo’s close companion and advisor until his death in 1964.

In 1927, Garbo was introduced to stage and screen actress Lilyan Tashman and they may have had an affair. Silent film star Louise Brooks stated that she and Garbo had a brief liaison.

In 1931, Garbo befriended the writer Mercedes de Acosta, introduced to her by her close friend, Salka Viertel, and, according to Garbo’s and de Acosta’s biographers, began a sporadic and volatile romance. The two remained friends for almost 30 years, during which time Garbo wrote de Acosta 181 letters, cards, and telegrams, now at the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia.

Of Mimi Pollak, Garbo wrote “We cannot help our nature, as God has created it. But I have always thought you and I belonged together”. In 1975, she wrote a poem about not being able to touch the hand of her friend with whom she might have been walking through life.

The Final Footprint

Garbo was cremated in Manhattan, and her ashes were interred in 1999 at Skogskyrkogården Cemetery just south of her native Stockholm.

in Inspiration (1931) publicity still

In Camille (1936)

On this day in 2001, musician, singer-songwriter, and lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Ramones, Joey Ramone died at the age of 49 following a seven-year battle with lymphoma at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Born Jeffrey Ross Hyman on May 19, 1951 in Queens. His image, voice, and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.

In 1974, Hyman co-founded the punk rock band the Ramones with friends John Cummings and Douglas Colvin. Colvin was already using the pseudonym “Dee Dee Ramone” and the others also adopted stage names using “Ramone” as their surname: Cummings became Johnny Ramone and Hyman became Joey Ramone. Joey initially served as the group’s drummer while Dee Dee was the original vocalist. However, when Dee Dee’s vocal cords proved unable to sustain the demands of consistent live performances, Ramones manager Thomas Erdelyi suggested Joey switch to vocals. After a series of unsuccessful auditions in search of a new drummer, Erdelyi took over on drums, assuming the name Tommy Ramone^.

The Ramones were a major influence on the punk rock movement in the United States. Recognition of the band’s importance built over the years, and they are now regularly represented in many assessments of all-time great rock music–. In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the band played their final show and then disbanded.

The Final Footprint

He was reportedly listening to the song “In a Little While” by U2 when he died. His solo album Don’t Worry About Me was released posthumously in 2002, and features the single “What a Wonderful World”, a cover of the Louis Armstrong standard. MTV News claimed: “With his trademark rose-colored shades, black leather jacket, shoulder-length hair, ripped jeans and alternately snarling and crooning vocals, Joey was the iconic godfather of punk.”

On November 30, 2003, a block of East 2nd Street in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place. It is the block where Hyman once lived with bandmate Dee Dee and is near the former site of the music club CBGB, where the Ramones began their career. Hyman’s birthday is celebrated annually by rock ‘n’ roll nightclubs, hosted in New York City by his brother and, until 2007, his mother, Charlotte. He is interred at Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Another notable final footprint at Hillside is that of William Carlos Williams.

The Ramones were named as inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the class of 200^2.

Several songs have been written in tribute to Joey Ramone. Tommy, CJ and Marky Ramone and Daniel Rey came together in 2002 to record Jed Davis’ Joey Ramone tribute album, The Bowery Electric. Other tributes include “Hello Joe” by Blondie from the album The Curse of Blondie, “Don’t Take Me For Granted” by Social Distortion, “You Can’t Kill Joey Ramone” by Sloppy Seconds, Joey by Raimundos, “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone” by Sleater-Kinney, “Red and White Stripes” by Moler and “Joey” by the Corin Tucker Band, “I Heard Ramona Sing” by Frank Black, and Amy Rigby’s “Dancin’ With Joey Ramone”. Rammstein ended several shows of their Mutter tour in 2001 with a cover of “Pet Sematary” in honor of the passing of Joey Ramone. “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)” by U2.

In September 2010, the Associated Press reported that “Joey Ramone Place,” a sign at the corner of Bowery and East Second Street, was New York City’s most stolen sign. Later, the sign was moved to 20 ft (6.1 m) above ground level. Drummer Marky Ramone thought Joey would appreciate that his sign would be the most stolen, adding “Now you have to be an NBA player to see it.”

After several years in development, Ramone’s second posthumous album was released on May 22, 2012. Titled …Ya Know?, it was preceded on Record Store Day by a 7″ single re-release of “Blitzkrieg Bop”/”Havana Affair”.

And on this day in 2018, actor, drill instructor, staff sergeant, honorary gunnery sergeant, Marine R. Lee Ermey died in Santa Monica, California, from complications related to pneumonia, at the age of 73. Born Ronald Lee Ermey on March 24, 1944 in Emporia, Kansas. Perhaps best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Ermey was often typecast in authority figure roles, such as Mayor Tilman in the film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine, Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, Jimmy Lee Farnsworth in Fletch Lives, a police captain in Se7en, plastic army men leader Sarge in the Toy Story films, Lt. “Tice” Ryan in Rocket Power, a prison warden in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, and John House in House.

The Final Footprint

His funeral was held in Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, January 18, 2019, where his cremated remains are interred. Other notable Final Footprints at Arlington include; Space Shuttle Challenger, Space Shuttle Columbia, Medgar Evers, JFK, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, RFK, Edward Kennedy, Malcolm Kilduff, Jr., Lee Marvin, and Audie Murphy.

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Posted in American Icon, Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Film Footprints, Literary Footprints, Political Footprints | Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Arlington National Cemetery, bad faith, being and nothingness, Cemetery, cimetiere de montparnasse, Civil War, Crypts, Entomb, existentialism, Ford's Theater, gaston leroux, Gettysburg Address, greta garbo, History, Inscription, james cameron, Jean-Paul Sartre, L'Être et le Néant, lon chaney, mauvaise foi, Now he belongs to the ages., Oak Ridge Cemetery, philosophy, Private Estates, Private Mausoleum, r lee ermey, riptff, rms titanic, Simone de Beauvoir, tff, the final footprint, the phantom of the opera, titanic, titanic memorial | Leave a comment

On this day 14 April death of George Frideric Handel – John Singer Sargent – Simone de Beauvoir – Burl Ives – Jonathan Frid – Percy Sledge

Posted on 29 ApramSun, 14 Apr 2024 00:42:00 -05002024-04-14T00:42:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1759, Baroque composer George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel died at his home in Brook Street, London, at age 74. Born on 5 March in Halle-upon-Saale, Duchy of Magdeburg (then part of Brandenburg-Prussia). He spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel received important training in Halle-upon-Saale and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712. He became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.

Within fifteen years, Handel had started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. As Alexander’s Feast (1736) was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742) he never composed an Italian opera again. His funeral was given full state honours, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London.

Born the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, in my opinion, Handel is one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era. His works, Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks remain steadfastly popular. One of his four coronation anthems, Zadok the Priest(1727), composed for the coronation of George II, has been performed at every subsequent British coronation, traditionally during the sovereign’s anointing. Another of his English oratorios, Solomon (1748), has also remained popular, with the Sinfonia that opens act 3 (known more commonly as “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba”) featuring at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and historically informed musical performance, interest in Handel’s operas has grown.

Handel never married, and kept his personal life private.

Monument to George Frederic Handel in the south transept of Westminster Abbey. His grave is below.

The Final Footprint

The last performance he attended was of Messiah. Handel was entombed in Westminster Abbey. More than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, which was given full state honours.

His initial will bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his niece Johanna, however four codicils distributed much of his estate to other relations, servants, friends and charities. Other notable Final Footprints at Westminster include; Robert Browning, Lord Byron, Charles II, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Edward III, Edward VI, Edward The Confessor, Elizabeth I, George II, Stephen Hawking, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VII, James I (James VI of Scotland), 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, Thomas Shadwell, Edmund Spenser, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, and William III.

#RIP #OTD in 1925 American expatriate artist, considered the “leading portrait painter of his generation”, John Singer Sargent died at his Chelsea home of heart disease, aged 69. Brookwood Cemetery near Woking, Surrey, England

On this day in 1986, existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, social theorist and author, Simone de Beauvoir died of pneumonia in Paris at the age of 78. Born Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir on 9 January 1908 in Paris. Perhaps best known for her metaphysical novels, including She Came to Stay (1943) and The Mandarins (1954), and for her treatise The Second Sex (1949). Also noted for her lifelong polyamorous relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre. Scholarly discussions have analyzed the influences of Beauvoir and Sartre on one another. She is seen as having influenced Sartre’s masterpiece, Being and Nothingness. Yet she wrote much on philosophy that is independent of Sartrean existentialism.

The Final Footprint – Beauvoir is interred with Sartre in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. In 2006, the city of Paris commissioned architect Dietmar Feichtinger to design a footbridge solely for pedestrians and cyclists across the Seine River. The bridge was named the Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir in her honor. It leads to the new Bibliothèque nationale de France. Other notable Final Footprints at Montparnasse include; Charles Baudelaire, Samuel Beckett, Emmanuel Chabrier, Henri Fantin-Latour, César Franck, Guy de Maupassant, Adah Isaac Menken, Man Ray, Camille Saint-Saëns, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Seberg, and Susan Sontag.

#RIP #OTD in 1995 singer (“A Little Bitty Tear”, “A Holly Jolly Christmas”) musician, actor (The Big Country, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), author, Burl Ives died from oral cancer at his home in Anacortes, Washington, aged 85. Mound Cemetery, Hunt City Township, Jasper County, Illinois

On this day in 2015, R&B, soul and gospel singer Percy Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge, at the age of 73. Born Percy Tyrone Sledge on November 25, 1941 in Leighton, Alabama. Perhaps best known for the song “When a Man Loves a Woman”, a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.

Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

Sledge married twice and was survived by his second wife, Rosa Sledge, whom he married in 1980.

The Final Footprint

Baton Rouge’s Heavenly Gates Cemetery.

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Posted in Day in History, Literary Footprints, Musical Footprints | Tagged brookwood cemetery, Buried, Burl ives, Cemetery, Cimetiere du Montparnasse, george frideric-handel, Ground Burial, History, Jean-Paul Sartre, john singer sargent, Monument, mound cemetery, riptff, Simone de Beauvoir, tff, the final footprint | Leave a comment

On this day 13 April death of Annie Jump Cannon – Wallace Stegner – Muriel Spark – Harry Kalas – Miloš Forman

Posted on 29 ApramSat, 13 Apr 2024 00:42:00 -05002024-04-13T00:42:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

#RIP #OTD 1941 astronomer whose cataloging work was instrumental in the development of contemporary stellar classification, Annie Jump Cannon died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 77. Lakeside Cemetery, Dover, Delaware

On this day in 1993, novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, “The Dean of Western Writers”, Wallace Stegner died in Santa Fe, New Mexico as the result of a car accident at the age of 84. Born Wallace Earle Stegner on 18 February 1909 in Lake Mills, Iowa. He and grew up in Great Falls, Montana; Salt Lake City, Utah; and the village of Eastend, Saskatchewan. Stegner won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for Angle of Repose, and the U.S. National Book Award in 1977 for The Spectator Bird. He taught at the University of Wisconsin and Harvard University. Eventually he settled at Stanford University, where he founded the creative writing program. His students included Wendell Berry, Sandra Day O’Connor, Thomas McGuane, Ken Kesey, and Larry McMurtry. Stegner married once; Mary Stuart Page (1934 – 1993 his death).

The Final Footprint – Stegner is interred in Lincoln-Noyes Cemetery, Greensboro, Vermont.

On this day in 2006 novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist Muriel Spark died in Florence, Tuscany, Italy at the age of 88. Born Muriel Sarah Spark on 1 February 1918 in Edinburgh. In 2008, The Times named Spark as No. 8 in its list of “the 50 greatest British writers since 1945”. Perhaps best know for her novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961).

On 3 September 1937 she married Sidney Oswald Spark, and soon followed him to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Within months she discovered that her husband was manic depressive and prone to violent outbursts. In 1940 Muriel left Sidney and returned to Britain in early 1944, taking residence at the Helena Club in London.

After living in New York City for some years, she moved to Rome, where she met artist and sculptor Penelope Jardine in 1968. In the early 1970s they settled in Tuscany, in the village of Oliveto, of which in 2005 Spark was made an honorary citizen.

The Final Footprint

Spark is buried in the cemetery of Sant’Andrea Apostolo in Oliveto.

On this day in 2009, sportscaster, Ford C. Frick Award-winning lead play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies, Harry Kalas, died from a heart attack in the press box at Nationals Park, several hours before the Washington Nationals’ home opener against the Phillies. Born Harry Norbert Kalas on 26 March 1936 in Naperville, Illinois. He graduated for the University of Iowa and served two years in the U. S. Army. Kalas made his major league debut with the Houston Astros in 1965 and was hired by the Phillies in 1971. He called the first game at The Astrodome, six no-hit games, six National League Championship Series, three World Series (1983, 1993, and 2008), the first game at Veterans Stadium (10 April 1971), the last game at Veterans Stadium (28 September 2003), and the first game at Citizens Bank Park (12 April 2004). Kalas worked in the booth alongside Richie Ashburn for 27 seasons. The two became best friends and beloved figures in Philadelphia. Kalas’ signature home run call was “Swing … and a long drive, this ball is … outta here!” He was known for his love of Frank Sinatra’s version of the song, “High Hopes” (written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn), a song he sang at numerous events, including the Phillies’ championship celebrations in his later years. On 29 October 2008, Kalas was finally able to call a Phillies’ championship-winning moment in the World Series when Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske to win the 104th Fall Classic: “One strike away; nothing-and-two, the count to Hinske. Fans on their feet; rally towels are being waved. Brad Lidge stretches. The 0-2 pitch — swing and a miss, struck him out! The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 World Champions of baseball! Brad Lidge does it again, and stays perfect for the 2008 season! 48-for-48 in save opportunities, and let the city celebrate! Don’t let the 48-hour wait diminish the euphoria of this moment, and the celebration. And it has been 28 years since the Phillies have enjoyed a World Championship; 25 years in this city that a team that has enjoyed a World Championship, and the fans are ready to celebrate. What a night!”

Baseball is my favorite sport and I enjoy listening to games on the radio. The Phillies were one of my favorite teams, in part, due to Kalas’ voice. I was listening to the game he would have called they day he died. He is missed.

The Final Footprint – Kalas is interred in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. His grave is marked by an individual upright granite marker with a replica of a microphone on top. The terms of endearment; LOVING HUSBAND LOVING FATHER FRIEND TO ALL, are engraved on the monument. On either side of the monument are four seats from Veteran’s Stadium. Kalas became the fourth person to be given the honor of having their body lie in repose inside a major-league baseball stadium, after Babe Ruth, Jack Buck, and Miller Huggins, when his casket was displayed behind home plate and fans were encouraged to pay their respects at Citizens Bank Park. Friends, broadcast partners, and every player on the Phillies team roster, passed by his casket to pay respects before it was placed in a hearse which carried him out of Citizens Bank Park one final time. His grave was resurfaced with sod that originally came from Citizens Bank Park. On 17 April 2009, at the first home game after Kalas’ death, fans sang along with a video of Harry singing “High Hopes” during the seventh-inning stretch, instead of the traditional “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.

#RIP #OTD in 2018 film director (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus, Man on the Moon, Goya’s Ghosts), actor, professor Miloš Forman died died at Danbury Hospital in Warren, Connecticut at age 86. New Warren Cemetery in Warren

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Posted in Day in History, Literary Footprints | Tagged Annie jump cannon, Buried, Cemetery, Ground Burial, Harry Kalas, High Hopes, History, lakeside cemetery, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Milos forman, Monument, muriel spark, new Warren cemetery, Philadelphia Phillies, Richie Ashburn, riptff, term of endearment, tff, the final footprint, wallace stegner | Leave a comment

On this day 12 April death of Clara Barton – FDR – Josephine Baker – Abbie Hoffman

Posted on 29 ApramFri, 12 Apr 2024 00:48:00 -05002024-04-12T00:48:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

#RIP #OTD in 1912 nurse who founded the American Red Cross, Clara Barton died at her home in Glen Echo, Maryland from pneumonia, aged 90. North Cemetery in Oxford, Massachusetts

On this day in 1945, the 44th Governor of New York, 32nd President of the United States, FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt died from a stroke at his home, The Little White House, in Warm Springs, Georgia at the age of 63. Born on 30 January 1882 in Hyde Park, New York. His parents were each from wealthy old New York families of Dutch and French ancestry. He graduated from Harvard. FDR married Eleanor Roosevelt, the niece of Theodore Roosevelt, who was also FDR’s fifth cousin. In 1921, Roosevelt contracted an illness which was diagnosed as polio but may have actually been Guillain–Barré syndrome, which left him permanently paralyzed from the waste down. The only POTUS elected to more than two terms, he served as president from the depths of the Great Depression to the verge of victory in World War II. He died less than a month before Germany’s unconditional surrender in May and four months before Japan’s unconditional surrender in August.

The Final Footprint – Roosevelt is interred in the Rose Garden at his home in Hyde Park which is now a National Historic Site and home to his Presidential Library. Eleanor was interred next to him upon her death in 1962. Their graves are marked by a large white marble monument engraved with their names and birth and death years.

On this day in 1975, dancer, singer, actress, Civil Rights activist, spy, “Black Pearl,” “Bronze Venus”, “The Creole Goddess”, Josephine Baker died from a cerebral hemorrhage at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris at the age of 68. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri on 3 June 1906. Baker was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, Zouzou (1934) or to become a world-famous entertainer. Baker, who refused to perform for segregated audiences in America, is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. She was offered unofficial leadership in the movement in the United States by Coretta Scott King in 1968, following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. Baker, however, turned down the offer. She was also known for assisting the French Resistance during World War II, and received the French military honor, the Croix de guerre and was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur by General Charles de Gaulle. Baker became a citizen of France in 1937. She first traveled to Paris for a new venture, and opened in “La Revue Nègre” on 2 October 1925, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Baker became an instant success for her erotic dancing and for appearing practically nude on stage. After a successful tour of Europe, she returned to France to star at the Folies Bergère, setting the standard for her future acts. Baker was married four times; Willie Wells, Willie Baker, Jean Lion, and composer Jo Bouillon.

The Final Footprint – Baker received a full Roman Catholic funeral which was held at L’Église de la Madeleine. The only American-born woman to receive full French military honors at her funeral, Baker locked up the streets of Paris one last time. After a family service at Saint-Charles Church in Monte Carlo, she was interred at Monaco’s Cimetière de Monaco. In 1991, The Josephine Baker Story, was broadcast on HBO. Lynn Whitfield portrayed Baker, and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special—becoming the first Black actress to win the award in this category. Other notable final footprints at Cimetière de Monaco include Roger Moore.

#RIP #OTD in 1989 political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party (“Yippies”) and was a member of the Chicago Seven, Abbie Hoffman died from an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol in his apartment in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania, age 52. Cremation

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Posted in Day in History, Extravagant Footprints, Musical Footprints, Political Footprints | Tagged abbie hoffman, Buried, cimetiere de monaco, Clara barton, Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR, Franklin D Roosevelt, Ground Burial, History, Josephine baker, north cemetery, POTUS, riptff, tff, the final footprint | Leave a comment

On this day 11 April death of Joseph Merrick – Jacques Prévert – Dolores del Río – Erskine Caldwell – Primo Levi – Kurt Vonnegut – Maria Tallchief – Jonathan Winters

Posted on 29 ApramThu, 11 Apr 2024 00:45:00 -05002024-04-11T00:45:00-05:0012 2011 by MacGregor

On this day in 1890, the man with severe deformities who was exhibited as a human curiosity and known as The Elephant Man, Joseph Carey Merrick died in The London Hospital (now known as the Royal London Hospital) at the age of 27. The exact cause of Merrick’s deformities is unclear. It is thought that Merrick suffered from either neurofibromatosis type I or Proteus syndrome or perhaps both. He was befriended by Dr. Frederick Treves who tried to diagnose and treat Merrick’s condition and saw to it that Merrick could stay at The London Hospital.

The Final Footprint – Merrick donated his body to science. His skeleton was mounted and remains in the pathology collection at the Royal London Hospital. Merrick’s life story became the basis of a Tony Award-winning play and an Oscar nominated movie. The play, The Elephant Man (1979), by playwright Bernard Pomerance, featured Philip Anglim, and later David Bowie as Merrick. The film, The Elephant Man (1980), directed by David Lynch, featured John Hurt as Merrick and Anthony Hopkins as Frederick Treves.

#RIP #OTD in 1977 poet (“Les feuilles mortes”, “La grasse matinée”, “Les bruits de la nuit”, “Chasse à l’enfant”), screenwriter (Les Enfants du Paradis) Jacques Prévert died of lung cancer in Omonville-la-Petite, France aged 77. Cimetiere d’Omonville la Petite

#RIP #OTD in 1983 actress (Flying Down to Rio, Madame Du Barry, María Candelaria), dancer and singer Dolores del Río died from liver failure at the age of 78, in Newport Beach, California. Cremated remains interred Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres, at the Panteón de Dolores, Mexico City

#RIP #OTD in 1987 novelist (Tobacco Road, God’s Little Acre), short story writer, Erskine Caldwell died of emphysema and lung cancer in Paradise Valley, Arizona, aged 83. Scenic Hills Memorial Park, Ashland, Oregon

#RIP #OTD in 1987 chemist, partisan, writer (If This Is a Man, The Periodic Table), Jewish Holocaust survivor, Primo Levi died from injuries sustained in a fall from his third-story apartment landing in Turin, aged 67. Cimitero Monumentale di Torino, Turin

#RIP #OTD in 2007 writer (Slaughterhouse-Five) Kurt Vonnegut died in Manhattan as a result of brain injuries incurred from a fall at his brownstone home, aged 84. Final footprint details not known

On this day in 2013, Native American and America’s first major prima ballerina Maria Tallchief died in Chicago at the age of 88. Born Elizabeth Marie “Betty” Tall Chief (Osage family name: Ki He Kah Stah Tsa) on January 24, 1925 in Fairfax, Oklahoma.

Almost from birth, Tall Chief was involved in dance, starting formal lessons at age three. When she was eight, her family relocated from Fairfax to Los Angeles, California, to advance the careers of her and her younger sister, Marjorie.

At age 17, she moved to New York City in search of a spot with a major ballet company, and, at the urging of her superiors, took the name Maria Tallchief. She spent the next five years with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, where she met legendary choreographer George Balanchine. When Balanchine co-founded what would become the New York City Ballet in 1946, Tallchief became the company’s first star.

The combination of Balanchine’s difficult choreography and Tallchief’s passionate dancing revolutionized the ballet. Her 1949 role in The Firebird catapulted Tallchief to the top of the ballet world, establishing her as a prima ballerina. Her role as the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker transformed the ballet from obscure to America’s most popular.

She traveled the world, becoming the first American to perform in Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater. She made regular appearances on American TV before she retired in 1966. After retiring from dance, Tallchief was active in promoting ballet in Chicago. She served as director of ballet for the Lyric Opera of Chicago for most of the 1970s, and debuted the Chicago City Ballet in 1981.

Tall Chief was honored by the people of Oklahoma with multiple statues and an honorific day. She was inducted in the National Women’s Hall of Fame and received a National Medal of Arts. In 1996, Tallchief received a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievements. Her life has been the subject of multiple documentaries and biographies.

with Erik Bruhn in 1961.

as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Nicholas Magallanes as her cavalier The Nutcracker (1954).

in a 1955 promotion for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo

on the front cover of Dance Magazine in 1954.

During her first year at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo Tallchief dated Alexander “Sasha” Goudevitch, the darling of the company. “For both of us it was our first love,” Tallchief recalled. “We saw each other every day and I was convinced it was true love.” Goudevitch moonlighted for extra money, and bought Tallchief an engagement ring. However, in the spring of 1944 he had a sudden change of heart when another girl began to pursue him. “My heart was broken,” she recalled.

After George Balanchine was hired by the Ballet Russe, he was attracted to Tallchief professionally and personally. She, however, was unaware of his attraction: “It never occurred to me that there was anything more than dancing on his mind… It would have been preposterous to think there was anything personal.” Although their relationship became more personal, it was a shock to Tallchief when Balanchine asked her to marry him. During the summer of 1945, he asked her to meet him after a Los Angeles performance. Balanchine opened the car door for her; when she got in he sat in silence for a moment before saying, “Maria, I would like you to become my wife”. “I almost fell out of my seat and was unable to respond,” she recalled. She eventually replied, “But, George, I’m not sure I love you. I feel that I hardly know you.” He answered that it did not matter, and if the marriage only lasted a few years that was all right with him. After a day to think it over, Tallchief accepted his proposal.

While they were engaged, Balanchine made extravagant romantic gestures and treated Tallchief with great affection. “He was obviously trying to convince me [that our marriage] was inevitable,” she wrote. “I didn’t need convincing. I was falling in love.”

Tallchief and Balanchine were married on August 16, 1946, when she was 21 years old and he was 42. Her parents opposed the marriage, and did not attend the ceremony. The couple did not have a traditional honeymoon: “For both of us, work was more important.”

According to Tallchief, “Passion and romance didn’t play a big part in our married life. We saved our emotions for the classroom.” However, she described Balanchine as “a warm, affectionate, loving husband.” Their marriage was annulled in 1952, when both parties were attracted to other people.

In 1952, Tallchief married Elmourza Natirboff, a pilot for a private charter airline. The couple divorced two years later. In 1955, she met Chicago businessman Henry D. (“Buzz”) Paschen Jr. “He was very happy, outgoing, and knew nothing about ballet — very refreshing,” she recalled. The couple married the following June, and honeymooned with a ballet tour of Europe.The couple remained together, through Paschen’s brief imprisonment for tax evasion, until his 2004 death.

The Final Footprint

Tallchief is interred in Fairfax Cemetery in Fairfax.

#RIP #OTD in 2013 comedian, actor (It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), author, television host, artist, Jonathan Winters died of natural causes in Montecito, California, at the age of 87. Cremation

Have you planned yours yet?

Follow TFF on twitter @RIPTFF

Posted in Artistic Footprints, Day in History | Tagged anthony hopkins, Cimetiere d'Omonville la Petite, Cimitero Monumentale di Torino, david bowie, Dolores del Río, Erskine Caldwell, Fairfax Cemetery, frederick treves, Jacques Prévert, Jonathan Winters, Joseph Merrick, Kurt Vonnegut, maria tallchief, Panteón de Dolores, primo levi, riptff, Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres, Royal London Hospital, Scenic Hills Memorial Park, tff, The Elephant Man, the final footprint | Leave a comment

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