Remembering The Passed

Remembering Helmut Kohl, John Avildsen, Stephen Furst

Helmut Kohl was the Chancellor of Germany from 1982 through 1998, and during that time he presided over the reunification of Germany. Besides that, Kohl was one of the architects of a new closer relationship between Germany and France, which was essential to the solidarity of the European Union. John Avildsen was the director who won the 1977 Academy Award for Rocky (1976), and was also responsible for directing The Karate Kid (1984). Stephen Furst was the actor who memorable created the character Flounder for the classic comedy Animal House (1978).

Remembering Adam West, Elena Verdugo, Glenne Headly

Adam West was the star of ABC’s 1966 hit television series “Batman.” He played the role tongue in cheek and made the series three-year run one of the most memorable in television history. He played other roles before and after, but none so memorable as Batman. Elena Verdugo was the beautiful and talented Hispanic actress who sang with Xavier Cugat in the 1940’s, but is best known as the nurse Consuelo Lopez in the 1970’s television series Marcus Welby, M.D., opposite Robert Young and James Brolin. Glenne Headly was the brilliant actress who started at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and later starred in movies such as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995).

Remembering Jimmy Piersall. Roger Smith, Jack O’Neill

Jimmy Piersall was one of baseball’s best-known characters. A slick fielding center fielder with the Boston Red Sox in the same outfield as Ted Williams, Piersall struggled with mental illness. His story was captured in the 1957 movie Fear Strikes Out starring Anthony Perkins and Karl Malden. Piersall later went on to a controversial career in the broadcast booth with Harry Caray. Roger Smith played a private detective in the ABC television series “77 Sunset Strip”. A neurologic illness forced him to retire from acting, but he went on to marry Ann-Margret and manage her career. Jack O’Neill was the Northern California surfer based out of Santa Cruz, who was a mainstay on the surfing scene for 50 years and popularized the wetsuit.

Remembering Jim Bunning, Cortez Kennedy, Dina Merrill, Gregg Allman

Jim Bunning was the Hall Of Fame pitcher who won 100 games in both leagues, pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers. He pitched two no-hitters including a perfect game on Father’s Day 1964. Later eh was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and then to the Senate. Cortez Kennedy was the Hall of Fame defensive lineman for University of Miami and then the Seattle Seahawks, renowned for his quickness and strength. Dina Merrill was the heiress turned actress, daughter of E.F. Hutton and Marjorie Merriweather Post who went on to a successful acting career and a twenty-year marriage to actor Cliff Robertson. Gregg Allman was the singer, songwriter and keyboardist for the Allman Brothers, one of the first bands of the Southern Rock genre.

Remembering Three Mile Island, Frank Deford, Manuel Noriega

On March 28, 1979, America experienced its worst nuclear power accident when the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant experienced a partial meltdown. For three days the status of the plant was uncertain until an “All Clear” was given. While the long-term radiation damage was minimal, extensive changes were put in place as a result of the accident. Frank Deford was one of America’s top sportswriters and a radio commentator for NPR as well. Although he was a sportswriter, his poignant writings ranged afar and included a particularly touching book about his daughter with cystic fibrosis. Manuel Noriega was the Panamanian strongman who engaged in murder, espionage, and drug dealing before he was finally toppled by an American invasion in 1989.

Remembering Sir Roger Moore, Roger Ailes, The MP3 Format

Sir Roger Moore was the jaunty British actor who starred in seven James Bond films in

the 1970’s and 1980’s. He played Bond in a more lighthearted tongue-in-cheek manner than his predecessors or successors. Before Bond he was a television star in Great Britain and the United States, playing Ivanhoe, Beau Maverick, and The Saint. After Bond he was a worldwide representative for UNICEF. Roger Ailes was the media consultant and television executive who helped elect several Republican presidents and went on to found Fox News, the influential cable news channel. The MP3 format of audio coding of digital audio was the standard for thirty years.

Remembering Powers Boothe, Michael Parks, Yale Lary, Curt Lowens

Powers Boothe was the Texas actor who gave a riveting performance and won an Emmy for his portrayal of the Reverend Jim Jones in Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980). He also had notable roles in the movie Southern Comfort (1981) and the television movie Deadwood (2004-2006). Michel Parks was the young actor who starred in the motorcycle television drama Then Came Bronson (1969), for which he also sang the title song, “Long, Lonesome Highway.” Yale Lary was a stalwart of the Detroit Lions teams of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s as a Hall of Fame safety and one of the best punters in NFL history. Curt Lowens was a Holocaust survivor, who heroically saved 150 Jewish children during World War II and later went on to become a Hollywood actor.

Remembering Julius Youngner, Adolph Kiefer, Luis Olmo, Dick Contino

Julius Youngner was the University of Pittsburgh virologist, who was the last surviving member of the team that Dr. Jonas Salk assembled to create a polio vaccine during the polio epidemic of the early 1950’s. Dr. Youngner also worked on the Manhattan Project. Adolph Kiefer was the Chicago-born swimmer who was America’s last surviving Olympic gold medalist from the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Possibly the greatest backstroke swimmer ever, he gained further renown during World War II for helping teach thousands of sailors how to swim. Luis Olmo was the last surviving Brooklyn Dodger and also one of the first Puerto Rican players to reach the Major Leagues in the early 1940’s. Dick Contino was the virtuoso accordion player who was seen frequently on television and occasionally in movies in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Remembering The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, Jonathan Demme, Albert Freedman

The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was founded in 1570 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and is believed to be Britain’s oldest manufacturing company. Its bells include the Liberty Bell (1752) and Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster (1858). Jonathan Demme was the film director best known for “Silence of the Lambs” (1991), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director, and “Philadelphia” (1993), in which Tom Hanks earned an Academy Award for Best Actor. Albert Freedman was a television producer in the 1950’s. He brought Charles Van Doren on NBC’s “Twenty One”, which set off the quiz show scandals of the late 1950’s. His story is part of Robert Redford’s retelling of the story in the 1994 movie “Quiz Show”.

Remembering Col. Leo Thorsness

Col. Leo Thorsness was a USAF pilot who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1973 for his heroic actions over North Vietnam in 1967. A member of the Wild Weasels, the squadron assigned to knock out surface-to-air missile installations in North Vietnam, Col. Thorsness saved several of his fellow pilots with his selfless actions and masterful flying over hostile territory in April of 1967. Unfortunately he was shot down several days later and taken prisoner in Hanoi where he spent six years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison compound. Despite three years of torture, he remained one of the leaders of the American POWs during the last years of the war. Upon his return home he received the Medal of Honor from President Nixon.