Remembering The Passed

Remembering Sudan The White Rhino, Nokie Edwards, Augie Garrido, Wayne Huizenga

Sudan was the last male Northern white rhino, and when he died that left only two remaining females in the world. Northern white rhinos are close to extinction because of poachers who sell the rhino’s horn for exorbitant prices. Some of Sudan’s genetic material has been recovered, and attempts are being made to ensure the survival of the species by artificial insemination. Nokie Edwards was the lead guitarist of The Ventures, the most successful instrumental rock group in history. Augie Garrido was the successful college baseball coach who won five National Championships. Wayne Huizenga started three Fortune 500 companies and was a fixture in South Florida as the one-time owner of the Marlins, Panthers, and Dolphins.

Remembering Toys “R” Us and Charles Lazarus, T. Berry Brazelton, Tom Benson, Barbara Ann Alston

Toys “R” Us was founded by Charles Lazarus in 1948, and the store became the go-to place for children around the world to buy toys. Toys “R” Us declared bankruptcy and Lazarus, who was no longer affiliated with the company, died at almost the same time. T. Berry Brazelton was a Harvard pediatrician who advocated for children, wrote books, and appeared on television explaining child development and reassuring parents. Tom Benson was the New Orleans businessman who owned the New Orleans Saints and reassembled the beleaguered franchise to the point where they won the 2010 Super Bowl. Barbara Ann Alston was the lead singer of the Crystals, one of the great girl groups of the early 1960’s.

Remembering Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was the British cosmologist and theoretical physicist, who was probably the best-known scientist in the world at the time of his death. His groundbreaking work in time and space, black holes, and the nature of the universe are perhaps the greatest scientific discoveries in the area since those of Einstein. His book, A Brief History of Time (1988), was a worldwide bestseller and was translated into at least 35 languages. Hawking was also familiar to the public because he spent the last fifty years of his life in a wheelchair as a result of a debilitating motor neuron disease. Despite this, he was a celebrity throughout the lay and scientific worlds.

Remembering Sir John Sulston

Sir John Sulston won one-third of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Sydney Brenner and Robert Horvitz, for his work on genetic mapping. Dr. Sulston mapped the genome of the nematode C. elegans and helped identify the gene responsible for programmed cell death. His work is instrumental in understanding the genetics of cancer and acquired cell injury. He has also been a tireless advocate for making scientific information available to the public with a minimum of profiteering.

Remembering Sir Roger Bannister, David Ogden Stiers, Dr. Agnes Lattimer, Harvey Schmidt

In 1954 Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes. Although this barrier was thought to be unbreakable, Bannister did it as an amateur, on a cinder track, in spikes, with a postwar diet – conditions that seem unimaginable today when the record is under 3:44. He went on to become one of the world’s most prominent neurologists. David Ogden Stiers created the memorable character Major Charles Winchester III on the television series M*A*S*H (1972-1983). Dr. Agnes Lattimer was a pediatrician and public health specialist, who became the first African-American woman to head a major hospital in the United States when she became the medical director of Cook County Hospital in Chicago in the mid 1980’s. Harvey Schmidt was a composer for movies and theater, whose songs included the legendary “Try To Remember”

Remembering Hubert de Givenchy, Dr. John Cacioppo, Woody Durham

Hubert de Givenchy was the internationally renowned dress designer, who made his name with his creations for Audrey Hepburn in her movies. Among the items he is best known for are the little black dress she wore in Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961) and the outfit Jacqueline Kennedy wore at her husband’s funeral in 1963. Dr. John Cacioppo was the University of Chicago psychologist who was among the world’s foremost experts on social isolation and loneliness. He was one of the founders of the field of social neuroscience. Woody Durham was the voice of the North Carolina Tar Heels from 1971 to 2011. He called four North Carolina NCAA Basketball Championships.

Remembering Nanette Fabray, Lewis Gilbert, John Morris

Nanette Fabray was among the most successful television comedians of the 1950’s in large measure because of her work with Sid Caesar on the iconic program Caesar’s Hour (1954-1957). She was a seamless replacement Caesar’s previous partner, Imogene Coca. Although neither stage nor screen found the perfect vehicle for her talents after that, she was a familiar presence on television for decades and a tireless campaigner for the hearing impaired. Lewis Gilbert was the British film director who worked with both Sean Connery and Roger Moore in Bond films, and also directed the classic Sink The Bismarck! (1960). He is best known for directing Alfie (1966), the movie that made Michael Caine an international star. John Morris was the film composer who worked closely with Mel Brooks on many of Brooks’s classic comedy films

Remembering Gunter Blobel

Dr. Gunter Blobel was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on cellular proteins and how they travel to the specific area of the cell where they are needed. His “signal hypothesis” was instrumental in the mechanisms of protein transport within the cell and helped develop the genetic engineering revolution, which has seen the production of recombinant proteins such as insulin and human growth hormone. Dr. Blobel donated the money form his Nobel Prize, nearly $1 million, to the rebuilding of Dresden, Germany, which was devastated when he was a youth during World War II.

Remembering Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor was awarded one-third of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work at Stanford that led to the discovery of the subatomic particle, the quark. His work at the Stanford Linear Accelerator involved colliding electrons at high speeds with protons. This demonstrated that there were particles in the atom smaller than protons, known as quarks, and this launched a revolution in experimental physics. His work was instrumental in demonstrating the fundamental nature of the composition

of the atom.

Remembering The Rev. Billy Graham, Dr. Arthur Moss, Tito Francona, Ben Agajanian

The Rev. Billy Graham was the most influential evangelist of the 20th Century. He preached to large audiences all across the world and was welcomed by presidents and state leaders everywhere. Dr. Arthur Moss was one of medicine’s most important cardiologists. He was a pioneer in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Tito Francona was an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians of the 1950’s and 60’s, best known for being the father of the Indians’ current manager Terry Francona. Ben Agajanian was one of football’s first placekicking specialists, one of only two players to play in all three professional leagues.