Remembering The Passed

Dr. Ahmed Zewail was the Egyptian-born scientist who won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in femtochemistry. Dr. Zewail developed a technique using ultra-fast lasers to photograph atoms and molecules spectroscopically during chemical reactions. He studied reactions that took place in femtoseconds, millionths of a billionth of a second. His work can now be used to study not only chemical, but biological and physical phenomena, creating whole new areas of science. Pete Fountain was the renowned jazz clarinetist from New Orleans. He got his start playing with Lawrence Welk, and became popular playing for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, on his way to becoming a fixture in New Orleans.

Remembering Gloria DeHaven, Seymour Papert, Jack Davis, Pat Upton

Gloria DeHaven was one of the last studio stars of the great MGM era under Louis B. Mayer. She broke into movies as a little girl working with Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times (1936) and is said to have given Frank Sinatra his first onscreen kiss. Seymour Papert was the MIT expert in artificial intelligence and early childhood education. He studied under Jean Piaget and worked with Marvin Minsky, and was best known for his iconoclastic views on educating children using computers. Jack Davis was the master cartoonist and caricaturist who started in the early 1950’s with EC Comics and Mad Magazine and became in demand to do movie posters, and covers for Time Magazine and TV Guide. Pat Upton was the leader and lead singer of the one-hit wonder Spiral Starecase, whose 1969 song “More Today Than Yesterday” is still popular today.

Remembering Chief Zee, Marni Nixon, The VCR, Gary Paxton

For nearly forty years Chief Zee donned his headdress and outfit to celebrate the Washington Redskins. Though his image is one of fierce debate today, Chief Zee brought undeniable joy to millions for decades. Marni Nixon was the beautiful voice who was the ghost singer in some of the movie’s most memorable musicals. Among others, she dubbed the voices of Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn. The VCR began as a home video recording system in 1956. Its heyday was in the 1970’s and 1980’s when it spawned an entire industry, but it was ultimately replaced by newer technology. Gary Paxton was the somewhat strange rock and roll and country music performed best known for singing the #1 Alley Oop (1960) and producing the Monster Mash (1962)

Remembering Nate Thurmond, Garry Marshall, Michael Cimino

Nate Thurmond was the NBA center out of Bowling Green, who is among the greatest pivotmen in basketball history. He is rarely mentioned as such because he played in the era of great centers including Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Thurmond held his own against all of them, and became the first player in NBA history to record a quadruple-double, points, rebounds, assists, and blocks. Garry Marshall was the legendary director, producer, writer and actor, responsible for some of the memorable sitcoms of the 1970’s including The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Mork and Mindy. His film career includes directing Pretty Woman (1990) and Princess Diaries (2001). Michael Cimino is the director best known for The Deer Hunter (1978). The film won an Academy Award as best picture and he won an Academy Award as best director.

Remembering Sydney Schanberg, Noel Neill, Jim Hickman

Sydney Schanberg was Pulitzer Prize winning reporter who, along with his Cambodian companion, Dith Pran, reported the horrors of the Khmer Rouge to the outside world. Following the American exodus from Vietnam the Communist Khmer Rouge enslave the entire populace of Cambodia and killed an estimated two million out of seven million, in their attempts to make Cambodian a perfect Communist state. At the risk of their lives, Schanberg and Pran told the story which became the basis for the 1984 movie, The Killing Fields. Noel Neill is best known for playing Lois Lane in the Superman movie serials of the late 1940’s and then in the television series of the 1950’s. Jim Hickman was a member of the original 1962 New York Mets who had his greatest success with the Chicago Cubs of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

Remembering Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe is widely acknowledged as the greatest hockey player in NHL history. A stalwart for the Detroit Red Wings for over two decades, he not only set most of the league scoring records but he was acknowledged as the toughest player in the league as well. In his forties and fifties, he played in the WHA with his sons Mark and Marty, and was still one of the sport’s dominant players. He played in a minor league game when he was 69 making him the only player to play professionally in six decades. After retiring, he became a spokesman for hockey, revered by the fans and respected by the players. There was literally no one ever in hockey like Gordie Howe.

Remembering Margaret Vinci Heldt and The Beehive, Anton Yelchin, Ralph Stanley, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Janet Waldo, Chips Moman

In the early 1960’s Margaret Vinci Heldt designed the beehive hairdo, which took the world by storm. Soon women all across the globe were wearing it, including Audrey Hepburn, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and Dusty Springfield. Anton Yelchin was the young Russian actor who played Pavel Chekhov in the reboot of the Star Trek series. Ralph Stanley was the Grammy Award-winning bluegrass singer who sang an a cappella version of ”O Death” in the 2000 movie “O Brother Where Art Thou”. Ann Morgan Guilbert played the next-door neighbor Millie Halper to Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore in the classic sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961-1966). Janet Waldo was the voiceover actress best known for voicing Judy Jetson in the animated sitcom “The Jetsons” (1962-1963). Chips Moman was the record producer and songwriter largely responsible for Elvis Presley’s comeback in the 1960’s. He also wrote country songs including “Luckenbach” for Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

Remembering Suzanne Corkin and Memory, Marcus Gordon, Jane Fawcett

Suzanne Corkin was the researcher who worked closely for over 40 years with patient HM, who lost his memory after an operation to cure seizures. Dr. Corkin published some of the most valuable research on different aspects of memory and the different centers in the brain controlling different forms of memory. Her work revolutionized the field of memory research. Marcus Gordon was the Mississippi who presided over the trial of Edgar Lee Killen, the only man indicted for the notorious murders of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi in the summer of 1964. Jane Fawcett was the British woman who worked at Bletchley Park during World War II. In coordination with the site’s codebreakers, she deduced the location of the German battleship Bismarck, the instrumental step in the sinking of the ship in 1941.

Remembering Muhammad Ali

Cassius Clay Jr. was a young light heavyweight who won the Olympic gold Medal in 1960. By 1964, he was a heavyweight and boxed with a style of speed and movement that had not been seen before at the heavyweight level. He went on to defeat the heavyweight champion, Sonny Liston, twice and then carved out one of the most remarkable careers in sporting history. After converting to the Black Muslim faith and changing his name to Muhammad Ali, he was convicted of draft evasion and lost three and a half of his best years as a fighter. When his conviction was overturned he returned to the ring, as a civil rights activist, fought in the greatest heavyweight fight of the postwar generation against Joe Frazier in 1971. He lost that fight although he later beat Frazier in two close fights. He regained the heavyweight crown form George Foreman in Zaire in 1974 and won the title one more time before retiring. Although one of his strengths as a boxer was managing to avoid punches, he suffered boxing related brain damage by the end of his career, especially from the last fight with Frazier. He lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996 and for the last four decades of his life, he was perhaps the most recognizable celebrity in the world. There may never be another quite like him.

Remembering Morley Safer, Julia Meade, Dick McAuliffe, Jim McMillian, Guy Clark, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena

Morley Safer was the CBS correspondent best known for his role on the news show 60 Minutes (1968-present). His most important reporting was done in Vietnam in the mid 1960’s where he sent some of the first reports of American military abuses. Julia Meade was the familiar actress who was often seen doing commercials for Ford with Ed Sullivan in the 1950’s. Dick McAuliffe was the shortstop for the Detroit Tigers on their memorable 1968 World Champions. Jim McMillian was the Los Angeles Laker forward on their legendary 1971-72 team that won 33 straight games and the Lakers first championship in Los Angeles. Guy Clark was an influential country music singer/songwriter from Texas. The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena as an important venue for basketball, political conventions, and concerts for over 50 years.