In Memoriam-Gone by not forgotten 2

[#520 :]

R.I.P. Sir Sean Connery.

That is sad to hear; I think he will always be the 'Best Bond' but was much more than just that one role.

I can't recall whether I have Time Bandits...

[#521 :]

If you don't now, maybe you did in the past, or you will in the future.

[#522 :]

General Chuck Yeager has flown beyond the sky.  R.I.P.

[#523 :]

Reading a slew of comments about Yeager last night was the first I recall learning about racism attributed to him, though I didn't noodle around the net looking for anecdotes. It's difficult for me to compartmentalize my mind in a way that lets me fully appreciate some of the larger-than-life people from other eras. e.g. General Curtis LeMay was horribly racist...and also believed in and supported women pilots in the military at a time when that notion was blasphemous, as did senator Barry Goldwater.

I've read Yeager's autobiography and strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the early years of aerospace. As a kid whose father was an experimental test pilot for Lockheed I must have met a number of well-known aviators, but since everyone I did meet were mostly family friends having drinks or hanging at a BBQ it never really crossed my mind at the time—but I think I'd probably recall meeting Yeager

[#524 :]

I never met him, but I can't imagine that Chuck was someone you could forget meeting if you had.

I haven't read his autobiography, but I've watched documentaries about him and his contemporaries.  They did some amazing things.  I also enjoyed watching the 1983 film The Right Stuff.

[#525 :]

Ah, maybe it's time to finally read the copy of The Right Stuff that's been sitting on my bookshelf for about five years at this point...

Also, Tachy, I have no doubt that Yeager was racist (in part because we're all some baseline level of racist due to social conditioning and all that bullshit, and in part because he was a white dude born in 1923). I think it's important to acknowledge the flaws and even potential heinousness of our cultural heroes (which I think Yeager qualifies as) while recognizing that it doesn't necessarily diminish the significance of their life's work or other societal contributions. That's better than just ignoring unpleasant truths, right?

[#526 :]

Absolutely.

Ah, maybe it's time to finally read the copy of The Right Stuff that's been sitting on my bookshelf for about five years at this point...

For some reason I have a strong memory of reading a passage near the beginning, though I don't own the book. Perhaps I thumbed through a copy at a bookstore or friend's house? One bit I seem to recall described a common practice among test pilots of that era: non-stop cross-country road trips with everyone drawing driving duty and swapping time behind the wheel every few hours, stopping only for food, fuel, and bathroom breaks, grabbing catnaps in the back seat. Back seats were considerably more spacious back then

I was an infant in the late '50s when my parents last participated in these epic trips so clearly have no first-hand memory, but fortunately I had a chance to take a cross-country trip with my with my dad in the early '60s, in his black Chevy Impala, and though the details have faded, the recollection of spending some exclusive quality time with him brings a smile to my face.

[#527 :]

R.I.P. Jeremy Bulloch, the original Boba Fett.

[#528 :]

R.I.P. Jeremy Bulloch, the original Boba Fett.

So sad news..

One of the few Star Wars (or James Bond as he prefered) actors i got to met in real life.. he was such a gentlement and delightful person to listen to ... everyone in the fandom that met him was delighted with him.. and he had such good memory that he often renembered particular fans from conventions to conventions...

he will be missed

[#529 :]

Damn, we've lost a lot of Star Wars actors recently.

[#530 :]

Don't worry. One day we'll lose the last one, and we can all stop worrying about how it will feel.

[#531 :]

I don't worry about it now.  It's sad when it happens, but it's not something that I spend a lot of time thinking about.

Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island has passed away.  R.I.P.

[#532 :]

I suspect we'll be dying off before then

[#533 :]

You Brits are so sunny and optimistic!

I don't believe in fate. Or BS superstitions. But for whatever reason I've had the nagging, unfounded fear that a particular artist whose music has always enraptured me was going to pass last year, so I am relieved. But I'm still going to check wikipedia before hitting the post button for this message...

[#534 :]

R.I.P. Tanya Roberts.

[#535 :]

Except maybe she’s not really dead? Seems like a funny thing to get wrong, but good news if true!

[#536 :]

Good for her!  Don't let a little thing like being declared dead get you down.

[#537 :]

Alas, it seems that Tanya Roberts is really most sincerely dead. I know her only from her work on That ‘70s Show, but she was funny in that role and it’s sad to see her go so relatively young.

[#538 :]

R.I.P. Tommy Lasorda.