Remembering The Passed

Remembering Hopalong Cassady, Dr. Robert McClelland, Jimmy Nelson, Robert Hunter, WGN/Chicago Cubs

Howard “Hopalong” Cassady was the legendary Ohio State running back who won the 1955 Heisman Trophy and helped the Buckeyes to a national championship. Robert McClelland was one of the surgeons at Parkland Hospital on November 22, 1963, who was called in to treat President Kennedy after Kennedy was shot in Dealey Plaza. Jimmy Nelson was one of the top ventriloquists of the early television era, best known for the Nestle chocolate commercials he performed with his dummies. Robert Hunter was a close friend of Jerry Garcia and lyricist for the Grateful Dead. Television and radio station WGN was the longtime broadcast home of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs are leaving WGN after 72 years.

Remembering Sander Vanocur, Cokie Roberts, Ric Ocasek, Phyllis Newman

Sander Vanocur was the television journalists best known for his coverage of political conventions. He was one of the panelists in the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy presidential debates. He also did enlightening interviews with Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King before their deaths. Cokie Roberts was one of the first national female political correspondents. She had a long career on NPR followed by a stint on ABC, and blazed a trial for women in journalism. Ric Ocasek was one of the founders, lyricist, and occasional frontman for the 1970’s/1980’s rock group, The Cars. Besides their distinctive sound, The Cars had a flair for innovative rock videos, and Ric was also the husband of supermodel Paulina Porizkova. Phyllis Newman was a Tony-winning actress who went on to being a staple on television game shows. She was the wife of composer Adolph Green.

Remembering T. Boone Pickens, Robert Frank, Eddie Money

T. Boone Pickens was the Oklahoma energy magnate who made and lost several fortunes, and also made a name as a corporate raider in the 1980s. He founded Mesa Petroleum and attempted to buy out much larger oil companies, usually unsuccessfully. His efforts did result in chastened boardrooms in many of those companies. He was also the largest single contributor to his alma mater, Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater. Robert Frank was the Swiss photographer who came to the United States after World War II and photography and photographic subjects were handled. In the 1950s and 60s, he did much of his work with the Beat poets. Eddie Money was the son of a New York policeman who turned to rock and roll, and became one of the most successful solo artists of the 1980s.

Remembering Valerie Harper

Valerie Harper was the obscure Broadway actress who was given the part of Mary Tyler Moore’s neighbor on the 1970 television show The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She created one of television’s most iconic characters, Rhoda Morgenstern, a brash brassy New Yorker and a perfect foil to Mary. She was so popular that her character was turned into a successful spinoff, Rhoda (1974-1978). The marriage episode became one of the most-watched television shows of the era. In real life, besides being beautiful she was witty, articulate, and brave in the face of illness.

Remembering James Leavelle

Jim Leavelle was the only man present at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and in Dallas on November 22, 1963. He was a sailor aboard the USS Whitney when he watched the Japanese bombing of the USS Arizona. In Dallas, he was a homicide detective who was involved in the capture and interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald after the assassination of President Kennedy. He is best known for being the man in the white suit and cowboy hat in the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph that shows him escorting Oswald the moment the prisoner is shot by Jack Ruby.

Remembering Rosemary Kuhlmann, Robert Mugabe, Carol Lynley, Jimmy Johnson

Rosemary Kuhlmann was the opera star who performed in Amahl and the Night Visitors, the Christmas opera written by Gian Carlo Menotti for NBC television in 1951. She played Amahl’s mother in the performance for 12 consecutive years. Robert Mugabe was the brutal socialist dictator of Zimbabwe for nearly forty years. Carol Lynley was the beautiful blonde actress best known for her role in The Poseidon Adventure (1972). Jimmy Johnson was a member of the Swampers, the session musicians who played at Muscle Shoals FAME studios.

Remembering Kary Mullis

Kary Mullis was awarded one half of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Michael Smith. Dr. Mullis was given the Prize for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR revolutionized medicine by permitting the creation of essentially unlimited copies of strands of DNA. This has been a vital process in everything from microbiology, where bacteria can be more easily identified, to forensic medicine, where crime-scene DNA can be recreated. Dr. Mullis was also known for his free spirit and his controversial views.

Remembering Tom O’Hara, Al Haynes, Bill McEnerney

Tom O’Hara was the track star from Loyola University in Chicago who broke the world record for the indoor mile in 1964. His modesty and quiet demeanor as he shattered the record earned him a place on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Al Haynes was the pilot of United Flight 232 that crash-landed in Sioux City, Iowa. Although 112 people died, his efforts saved another 184 who were on the plane. Bill McEnerney was a tough guy who battled illness for over half a century.

Remembering Peter Fonda, Liane Russell, Jack Whitaker, Richard Williams

Peter Fonda was the male scion of the Fonda family, who is best known for his creation and starring role in the revolutionary 1969 film Easy Rider. With its low budget and verite style, it revolutionized Hollywood movie making. Liane Russell was the scientist who worked at Oak Ridge after World War II and was instrumental in describing the effects of radiation in mammals in utero. Jack Whitaker was the elegant sportscaster for CBS, best known for his coverage of golf and horse racing. Richard Williams was the cartoon animator who created Roger Rabbit for the 1988 combined live action/animation film Who Killed Roger Rabbit.

Remembering Henri Belolo, Nuon Chea, Edward Lewis, Sherman Poppen

Henri Belolo was the music producer who helped create the music group The Village People, who were popular across the world in the late 1970’s with songs like YMCA and Macho Man. Nuon Chea was the second-in-command of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the 1970’s. He and his cohorts including Pol Pot were responsible for the deaths of two million Cambodians in a country of seven million. Edward Lewis was the film producer who helped end the Hollywood blacklist when he publicly hired Dalton Trumbo, a member of the Hollywood Ten, for the Kirk Douglas movie Spartacus (1960). Sherman Poppen was the Michigan man who came up with the idea of snurfing, essentially surfing in the snow with a snowboard he invented.