#RIP #OTD in 1876 French poet, writer, lover (Gustave Flaubert, Alfred de Musset), La muse, Louise Colet died in Paris, aged 65. Municipal Cemetery Verneuil-sur-Seine.
#RIP #OTD in 1989 photographer, known for his controversial exhibit, The Perfect Moment, Robert Mapplethorpe died due to complications from HIV/AIDS in Boston, aged 42. Cremated remains interred at St. John’s Cemetery, Queens, at his parents’s grave-site
On this day in 1994, poet, novelist, and short story writer Charles Bukowski died of leukemia in San Pedro, Los Angeles, aged 73, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp. Born Heinrich Karl Bukowski in Andernach, Germany on 16 August 1920. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles. His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over sixty books. The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, in the LA underground newspaper Open City. In 1986 Time called Bukowski a “laureate of American lowlife“. Regarding Bukowski’s enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote, “the secret of Bukowski’s appeal. . . [is that] he combines the confessional poet’s promise of intimacy with the larger-than-life aplomb of a pulp-fiction hero.” In 1976, Bukowski met Linda Lee Beighle, a health food restaurant owner, aspiring actress and devotee of Meher Baba. Two years later Bukowski moved from the East Hollywood area, where he had lived for most of his life, to the harborside community of San Pedro, the southernmost district of the City of Los Angeles. Beighle followed him and they lived together intermittently over the next two years. They were eventually married by Manly Palmer Hall, a Canadian-born author and mystic, in 1985. Beighle is referred to as “Sarah” in Bukowski’s novels Women and Hollywood.
The Final Footprint – Bukowski is interred in Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The funeral rites, orchestrated by his widow, were conducted by Buddhist monks. An account of the proceedings can be found in Gerald Locklin’s book Charles Bukowski: A Sure Bet. His gravestone reads: “Don’t Try”, a phrase which Bukowski uses in one of his poems, advising aspiring writers and poets about inspiration and creativity. Bukowski explained the phrase in a 1963 letter to John William Corrington: “Somebody at one of these places […] asked me: ‘What do you do? How do you write, create?’ You don’t, I told them. You don’t try. That’s very important: not to try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality. You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more. It’s like a bug high on the wall. You wait for it to come to you. When it gets close enough you reach out, slap out and kill it. Or if you like its looks you make a pet out of it.“
#RIP #OTD in 1996 comedian, actor (Burns and Allen; The Sunshine Boys; Oh, God), singer, writer, George Burns died of cardiac arrest at his home in Beverly Hills, aged 100. Entombed; Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale next to Gracie, Together Again. Say goodnight Gracie
On this day in 1997, French journalist, author and editor of the French fashion magazine ELLE, Jean-Dominique Bauby, died in Paris at the age of 44. Born 23 April 1952 in Paris. On 8 December 1995 at the age of 43, Bauby suffered a massive stroke. Waking up twenty days later, he found he was entirely paralyzed; he could only blink his left eyelid, a condition referred to as locked-in syndrome. He learned to communicate by blinking and in this manner dictated his memoir, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le scaphandre et le papillon) (1997). In 2007 the book was adapted into a feature film of the same name, directed by Julian Schnabel. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards in 2008 for directing, cinematography, editing and writing.
The Final Footprint – Bauby is entombed in the Bauby family crypt in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the most visited cemeteries in the world. Other notable Final Footprints at Père Lachaise include; Guillaume Apollinaire, Honoré de Balzac, Georges Bizet, Maria Callas, Chopin, Colette, Auguste Comte, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Max Ernst, Molière, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, Camille Pissarro, Marcel Proust, Sully Prudhomme, Gioachino Rossini, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Simone Signoret, Gertrude Stein, Dorothea Tanning, Alice B. Toklas, Oscar Wilde, and Richard Wright.
#RIP #OTD in 1997 rapper and songwriter rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap traditions, the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, Biggie, Christopher Wallace was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, aged 24. Cremation
On this day in 2005, rodeo champion, country music singer and songwriter, bronze sculptor, Grammy Award nominee, Chris LeDoux, died in Casper, Wyoming from cancer at the age of 56. Born Chris Lee LeDoux 2 October 1948 in Biloxi, Mississippi. In 1976, LeDoux won the world bareback riding championship at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City. During his music career LeDoux recorded 36 albums, many self-released. His album, Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy, was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The Final Footprint – LeDoux was cremated. Shortly after his death, he was named as one of six former rodeo cowboys to be inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs in 2005. He was the first person to ever be inducted in two categories, for his bareback riding and in the “notables” category for his contributions to the sport through music. Shortly thereafter, the Academy of Country Music awarded LeDoux their Pioneer Award during ceremonies in 2005. LeDoux’s friend Garth Brooks accepted the award on behalf of LeDoux’s family. In late 2005, Brooks briefly emerged from retirement to record “Good Ride Cowboy” as a tribute to LeDoux. Brooks remarked:
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- “I knew if I ever recorded any kind of tribute to Chris, it would have to be up-tempo, happy … a song like him … not some slow, mournful song. He wasn’t like that. Chris was exactly as our heroes are supposed to be. He was a man’s man. A good friend.”
Brooks performed the song on “The 39th Annual CMA Awards” on 15 November 2005 live from Times Square in New York City. Later that evening, LeDoux was honored with the CMA Chairman’s Award of Merit, presented by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, to LeDoux’s family. Friends have also collaborated to produce an annual rodeo, art show, and concert in Casper to honor LeDoux’s memory. The art show features sculpture and sketches that LeDoux completed for friends; none of his works were ever exhibited before his death. To mark the second anniversary of LeDoux’s death, in April 2007 Capitol Records released a six-CD boxed set featuring remastered versions of 12 of the albums he recorded between 1974 and 1993. On 26 October 2006 LeDoux was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Son Beau LeDoux, himself a rodeo competitor, on 24 July 2007, spread his father’s ashes over Frontier Park Arena, the same arena where Lane Frost died when he was gored by a bull, during the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo:
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- “It was something my family and I thought would be right to do because this was such a special rodeo to him. … This has always been a special rodeo in my family. My dad rode here and came close to winning here a couple of times.”
Additionally the city in which LeDoux attended college; Casper, Wyoming, celebrates his life and legacy each November with the Chris LeDoux Memorial Rodeo. A weekend event which includes an art show featuring a number of LeDoux’s works, a PRCA rodeo and a country music concert. A larger-than-life bronze statue of LeDoux was dedicated to him in Kaycee, Wyoming. The bronze statue titled “Good Ride Cowboy” was created by local artist D. Michael Thomas.
#OTD #RIP in 2006 lyric-coloratura soprano, television personality, and actress (Menage all’italiana, Una storia d’amore), “La Bellissima”, Anna Moffo died from a stroke in New York City at the age of 73. Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.
On this day in 2007, singer and songwriter Brad Delp died by carbon monoxide poisoning at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire, at the age of 55. Born Bradley Edward Delp on June 12, 1951 in Peabody, Massachusetts. Perhaps best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Boston (“More Than a Feeling”, “Peace of Mind”, “Foreplay/Long Time”, “Rock and Roll Band”, “Smokin'”, “Don’t Look Back”).
The Final Footprint
The Atkinson police discovered his body on the floor of his master bathroom after his fiancée Pamela Sullivan saw a dryer vent tube connected to the exhaust pipe of Delp’s car. Two charcoal grills were found to have been lit inside the bathtub causing the room to fill with smoke. A suicide note was paper-clipped to the neck of his T-shirt, which read: “Mr. Brad Delp. ‘J’ai une âme solitaire’. I am a lonely soul.” Delp left four sealed envelopes in his office addressed to his children, his former wife Micki Sullivan, and another unnamed couple. One of the notes read “I have had bouts of depression and thoughts of suicide since I was a teenager … [Pamela] was my ‘ray of sunshine’, but sometimes even a ray of sunshine is no substitute for a good psychiatrist.”
The following day, Boston’s website was temporarily shut down, the webmaster having replaced their home page with a simple black background and white text message: “We’ve just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll.”
Delp was cremated.
#RIP #OTD in 2023 actor (Fiddler on the Roof, Galileo, Flash Gordon, For Your Eyes Only), singer, and illustrator, Topol died in Tel Aviv aged 87. Gan Shlomo Cemetery, Rehovot, Israel
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On this day in 1967, soprano opera singer and actress Geraldine Farrar died in Ridgefield, Connecticut of a heart attack at the age of 85. Born in Melrose, Massachusetts on 28 February 1882. Farrar was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and “the intimate timbre of her voice.” She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed “Gerry-flappers”. Farrar studied voice with the American soprano Emma Thursby and the Italian baritone Francesco Graziani. Farrar created a sensation at the Berlin Hofoper with her debut as Marguerite in Charles Gounod’s Faust in 1901 and remained with the company for three years, during which time she continued her studies with famed German soprano Lilli Lehmann. She appeared in the title rôles of Ambroise Thomas’ Mignon and Jules Massenet’s Manon, as well as Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Her admirers in Berlin included Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, with whom she is believed to have had a relationship beginning in 1903. After three years with the Monte Carlo Opera, she made her debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera in Romeo et Juliette on 26 November 1906. Farrar appeared in the first Met performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in 1907 and remained a member of the company until her retirement in 1922, singing 29 roles there in nearly 500 performances. In 1960 Farrar was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the music and film categories (at 1620 & 1709 Vine Street).
The Final Footprint – Farrar was buried in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. Other notable final footprints at Kensico include; Anne Bancroft, Tommy Dorsey, Lou Gehrig, Danny Kaye, Robert Merrill, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Ayn Rand.
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On this day in 2009 playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote died in Hartford, Connecticut at the age of 92. Born Albert Horton Foote Jr. on March 14, 1916 in Wharton, Texas. Perhaps best known for his screenplays for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1983 film Tender Mercies, and his notable live television dramas during the Golden Age of Television. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1995 for his play The Young Man From Atlanta and two Academy Awards, one for an original screenplay, Tender Mercies, and one for adapted screenplay, To Kill a Mockingbird. In 1995, Foote was the inaugural recipient of the Austin Film Festival’s Distinguished Screenwriter Award. In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
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