“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.” Andrew Wyeth, 1917-2009.
Category: Memoriam
Farewell, Khaaaaaaaaan.
“He will always be Captain Kirk’s finest foe…Montalbán’s magnetic, robust presence; that voice that sounded like a ride over rolling hills — he made Khan Noonien Singh the worst kind of despot: the kind you’re pretty sure you’d die for.” In memoriam, EW’s Marc Bernadin pens an appreciation of Montalbán’s Khan.
Six Stands Down.
Farewell to the Commish.
“He was awake one moment, and in the next breath, he was gone.” Pat Hingle, a veteran character actor probably best known as Commissioner Gordon in Tim Burton’s Batman, 1924-2009.
A Farewell to “Sen. Oddball.”
“I always let the other fellow have my way.” Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI), 1918-2009. “[H]e was best known for his sponsorship of the 1972 program that has helped 54 million low-income and moderate-income students attend college. He also sponsored the legislation that founded the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities.”
The Playwright and the Muse.
The Insider.
“It’s impossible to exaggerate how high the stakes were in Watergate…From the start, it was clear that senior administration officials were up to their necks in this mess and would stop at nothing to sabotage our investigation…What we needed was a ‘Lone Ranger’ who could bypass the administration’s hand-picked FBI director and Justice Department leadership and derail the White House cover-up.” W. Mark Felt, a.k.a. Deep Throat, 1913-2008.
The “First Lady of Trek.”
“My mother truly acknowledged and appreciated the fact that ‘Star Trek’ fans played a vital role in keeping the Roddenberry dream alive for the past 42 years. It was her love for the fans, and their love in return, that kept her going for so long after my father passed away.” Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, 1932-2008.
The Pin-Up Next Door.
“I think that she was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society.” (The notorious) Bettie Page, 1923-2008.
For an appreciation of Page, see TIME‘s Richard Corliss, who today delivers a tribute as gushing and fanboy in its own way as Peter Jackson’s moving remembrance of Forry Ackerman earlier this week. (1916-2008.) “But what everyone remembers about Bettie, aside from her trademark bangs, is her smile. Guileless and guiltless, it conveyed an Edenic sensuality. To her fans and her official detractors, who might have agreed that sex was dirty, Bettie’s giddy energy said, ‘Heck, no, it’s fun!’”
The Listener. | The Caregiver.
“With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, ‘Studs, you’re an optimist.’ I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what’s the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven.”
Popular historian, talk show host, and chronicler of the American story Studs Terkel, 1912-2008. “I’ve always felt, in all my books, that there’s a deep decency in the American people and a native intelligence — providing they have the facts, providing they have the information.“
Update: “She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances. She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and left this world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring. Our debt to her is beyond measure.” This evening brings sad news of the passing of a lady with whom Terkel could’ve spent many joyous hours, I’m sure: Madelyn Dunham, grandmother to Barack Obama, 1922-2008.