Remembering The Passed

Remembering Rose Marie, Frank Buxton, Sue Grafton

Rose Marie was a star in show business in the 1920’s as a little girl on radio. She was a nightclub performer in Las Vegas when the town opened in the 1940’s and she became a television star as comedy writer Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966) and later on Hollywood Squares. All told, she spent roughly 90 years in show business.

Frank Buxton was a children’s television host, voice-over artist, and television writer, as well as an expert on old-time radio. Sue Grafton was a detective novelist who began each of her books with a letter of the alphabet.

Remembering The Boeing 747, Capt. Bruce McCandless II, Dick “Chickenman” Orkin

The Boeing 747 was the legendary aircraft that ruled the skies for passenger transport for a half century. It transformed air travel and changed society but it is being retired in favor of smaller, more economical aircraft. Capt. Bruce McCandless was the NASA astronaut who, through the benefit of the Manned Maneuvering Unit, made the first untethered space walk in human history. He is also the son and grandson of Medal of Honor recipients. Dick Orkin was the radio broadcaster who wrote and performed radio comedy, most notably Chickenman. Chickenman ran out of WCFL in Chicago in the late 1960’s and was then syndicated across the United States and to Armed Services Radio in Vietnam.

Remembering Dick Enberg, Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, Clifford Irving

Dick Enberg was one of the most prolific sportscasters of our generation. He broadcast every sport from baseball to the Olympics with a knowledgeable, listenable style. He is one of the only members of the broadcast wings of the Halls of Fame for baseball, football and basketball. Mamie “Peanut” Johnson was the African-American girl who played professional baseball in the 1950’s as a pitcher for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues. Clifford Irving was the writer who produced an autobiography of Howard Hughes that generated worldwide publicity but was ultimately discovered to be a hoax.

Remembering Keely Smith, Martin Ransohoff, Frank Lary

As a teenager, Keely Smith teamed up with Louis Prima to form one of the most popular singing lounge acts in Las Vegas and on television in the late 1950’s. Her deadpan expression belied a beautiful voice, which she brought to all manner of songs for five decades after she split from Prima. Martin Ransohoff was the television and film producer best known for “The Americanization of Emily” (1964) and “The Cincinnati Kid” (1965). Frank Lary was one of the American League’s top pitchers in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s for the Detroit Tigers. He was known as “The Yankee Killer” for his mastery of the League’s best team.

Remembering Christine Keeler, Tommy Nobis, Bruce

Brown, Gary Korhonen, Joe Newton

Christine Keeler was the beautiful young British girl whose simultaneous affair with Defense Minister John Profumo and Soviet spy Yevgeny Ivanov in the early 1960’s eventually brought down the government of Prime Minister Harold MacMillan. It was a turning point in the cultural and political life of postwar Great Britain. Tommy Nobis was the great linebacker for the University of Texas in the mid 1960’s, who became part of the bidding war between the NFL and AFL, before he finally became the first player signed by the NFL Atlanta Falcons. Bruce Brown was the movie director who gave surfing new life with his 1966 classic, “The Endless Summer” (1966). Gary Korhonen was one of Illinois’s top high school football coaches at Richards High School, where he won over 300 games and two state championships. Joe Newton was the greatest cross- country coach in Illinois history, having coached cross-country and track for six decades.

Remembering Jim Nabors, John Anderson, Ken Shapiro, Mitch Margo

Jim Nabors was introduced to the public as a dim-witted gas station attendant on The Andy Griffith Show. Hos character proved so popular that he was given his own show on CBS, Gomer Pyle USMC (1964-1969). He had a beautiful singing voice that surprised people who knew him only as Gomer Pyle. John Anderson was the Illinois congressman who ran a credible third-party campaign for president in 1980. Ken Shapiro was the creative force behind the groundbreaking 1974 movie, Groove Tube. Mitch Margo was a member of the doo-wop group The Tokens, who are best known for their 1961 release “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, based on a South African folk song.

Remembering Pete Moore, Muhal Richard Abrams, Jon Hendricks

Pete Moore was a member of the Motown group, The Miracles, and together with Smokey Robinson, Moore wrote some of the best-known songs to come out of the era. His songs were covered by everyone form Johnny Rivers to Ella Fitzgerald. Muhal Richard Abrams was the self-taught Chicago jazz master who went on to found the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Jon Hendricks was a jazz singer who was the father of vocalese – singing lyrics to precise melodies. His most famous composition was the creation of the lyrics to a Latin soul tune that became “Yeh, Yeh”, an international hit for Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames in 1965.

Remembering Vincent Scully, Johnny Hallyday, Tracy Stallard

For nearly 60 years, Vincent Scully was the Yale architecture professor who mesmerized students with his erudite lectures. His classes were legendary, mixing architecture with art history and a philosophic approach to his subjects. Johnny Hallyday was the prominent French rock star known as the “French Elvis”. Though he never attained stardom in the English-speaking world, he was a legend in his homeland. Tracy Stallard was the pitcher who became known for surrendering home run #61 to Roger Maris in his record-breaking 1961 season.

Remembering Marine Col. Wesley Fox

Col. Wesley Fox was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1971 for his bravery during Operation Dewey Canyon in the winter of 1969. One of the last major battles of the Vietnam War, Dewey Canyon was a mission to prevent the NVA form establishing a significant foothold in the A Shau Valley for a major assault on South Vietnam. Col. Fox showed bravery in repulsing the enemy attack and establishing command during the engagement against a numerically superior force. He was the only survivor of the five Medal of Honor winners from Operation Dewey Canyon.

Remembering Arjay Miller, Uwe Reinhardt, Bobby Doerr, “Jungle Jim” Rivera

Arjay Miller was the last surviving “Whiz Kid”, part of the team put together by Tex Thornton during World War II to modernize the Air Force. After the war, the Whiz Kids went on to work for Ford Motor Company, and Arjay Miller became company president for a brief time. He later decamped to the West Coast to become Dean of the Graduate school of Business at Stanford University. Uwe Reinhardt was an economist at Princeton University. His specialty was healthcare economics and he was one of the most respected commentators and writers in that field. Bobby Doerr was the legendary second baseman for the Boston Red Sox from the late 1930’s to the early 1950’s. His good bat and slick fielding earned him a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986. “Jungle Jim” Rivera was a colorful outfielder for the Go-Go Chicago White Sox during their pennant winning year of 1959.