Charlton Heston, American actor Master of the American man in histories, futures, and other journeys into the speculative imagination. (2008-04-06) |
Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor This guy served as my introduction to opera. His voice exudes a certain passion that I cannot even decribe. (2007-09-06) |
Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson, American First Lady (2007-07-11) |
Kurt Vonnegut, American author One of the authors who has influenced me the most. (2007-04-11) |
Molly_Ivins, American journalist Godmother of Texas Liberalism and champion of the people. (2007-01-31) |
James Brown, American musician Godfather of Soul. 'Nuff said. Tho I should say domething more, as he brought funk into my life, in the good way... (2006-12-25) |
Syd Barrett, British musician A musical genius who, along with others, defined the psychedelic movement. (2006-07-07) |
Caspar Weinberger, American politician placeholder (2006-03-28) |
Stanislaw Lem, Polish author What can I say about losing my favorite author? I'll have to save this writeup for a rainy day. One in which I don't elect to curl up with one of his space romps or treatise on alienation or some other hyper-extended aspect of the human condition. (2006-03-27) |
Buck Owens, American musician placeholder (2006-03-25) |
Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslavian politician I'm not sure if I' happy or sad to lose 'ole Slobby...how many met their deaths in mass graves, we'll never know...I provided software to the effort of tracking down his armies during the Kosovo conflict, for which I was awarded a Coin of Merit. If only the coin had a reward in real coin attached. Either way, a proud moment for me in my career. Let's hope those his displaced find peace. (2006-03-11) |
Ali Farka Toure, Malian musician placeholder (2006-03-07) |
Peter Ladefoged, British linguist Ground-breaking phonetician who revolutionized phonology who literally wrote the book on The Sounds of the World's Languages. He will live on through his voicing of these sounds on his website hosted at UCLA and maintained by people who actually knew him. I defer to their obit. (2006-01-24) |
Douglas Adams, British author The author of the book that I carried around campus, as if a missionary, reading random passages to random people and generally spreading The Word (TM). Also, the author of three of my favorite Doctor Who episodes. As a collector of humorous literature, I am sad to know that there will not be another work from this heart of gold. (2001-05-11) |
Bob Ross, American Painter The television personality that spawned my interest in painting in middle school. A childhood friend who would be missed except for syndication. (1995-07-04) |
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Controlled Blowdown |