Recent Deaths

[Yuli Ban]

[wjfox]

Sad to hear that Marshall Brain has passed away.

Futurist, UBI advocate, and creator of the How Stuff Works website.

RIP.

https://www.wral.com/news/local/nc-stat ... mber-2024/

More on this –

https://www.technicianonline.com/news/p ... 8d9bf.html

“He felt like his reputation was tarnished, like everything he worked for was ruined, and the root of all that was he didn't get any support from the University, the University that he put all his life — the last 12 years — towards.”

[Powers]

[wjfox]

Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, shot dead outside a hotel in New York.

Police saying it was a targeted attack. There's speculation that the suspect may have been denied health coverage by the company.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/crmn2ry1224t

[caltrek]

Jimmy Carter, 39th President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dies at 100
by Kevin Sullivan and Edward Walsh
December 29, 2024

Introduction:

(Washington Post via MSN) Jimmy Carter, a no-frills and steel-willed Southern governor who was elected president in 1976, was rejected by disillusioned voters after a single term and went on to an extraordinary post-presidential life that included winning the Nobel Peace Prize, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, according to his son James E. Carter III, known as Chip. He was 100 and the oldest living U.S. president of all time.

His son confirmed the death but did not provide an immediate cause. In a statement in February 2023, the Carter Center said the former president, after a series of hospital stays, would stop further medical treatment and spend his remaining time at home under hospice care. He had been treated in recent years for an aggressive form of melanoma skin cancer, with tumors that spread to his liver and brain.

His wife, Rosalynn, died Nov. 19, 2023, at 96. The Carters, who were close partners in public life, had been married for more than 77 years, the longest presidential marriage in U.S. history. His final public appearance was at her funeral in Plains, where he sat in the front row in a wheelchair. Carter was last photographed outside his home with family and friends as he watched a flyover on Oct. 1 held to mark his 100th birthday.

Mr. Carter is survived by his children Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren, according to the Carter Center.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other ... 5a&ei=26

Edit: Here is an article entitled "Unheralded Environmentalist: Jimmy Carter’s Green Legacy " https://e360.yale.edu/features/jimmy-ca ... al-legacy

Second Edit: From The Conversation an article titled "How Jimmy Carter integrated his evangelical Christian faith into his political work, despite mockery and misunderstanding": https://theconversation.com/how-jimmy-c ... ng-200412

Third Edit: From Baptist News Global an article entitled "Dockery, Haggray and Baxley among those remembering Jimmy Carter warmly."https://baptistnews.com/article/dockery ... ter-warmly

Fourth Edit: From Counterpunch an article entitled "Jimmy Carter and the Uses of the Nobel Peace Prize." https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/01 ... ce-prize/

Fifth Edit: Fom Politico this article entitled "Jimmy Carter Wasn't a Liberal." https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... e-00084028

Sixth edit: From Mother Jones this article entitled "Jimmy Carter Saw Where Israel Was Headed. He Was Ignored." https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... -ignored/

Seventh edit: From Common Sense an article entitled "Jimmy Carter: The First Neoliberal Democrat and the Last Boy Scout": https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/ji ... iberalism

[wjfox]

French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen dies at 96

7 January 2025, 12:05 GMT

French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen has died aged 96, according to a family statement shared with AFP.

Le Pen, who had been in a care facility for several weeks, died at midday on Tuesday "surrounded by his loved ones", the family said.

Le Pen - a Holocaust denier and an unrepentant extremist on race, gender and immigration - founded the French far-right National Front party in 1972.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgm2jvkl2yo

[caltrek]

Anita Bryant, Singer and Anti-gay Activist Dies at 84
by Carla Hinton
January 10, 2025

Introduction:

(USA Today) Anita Bryant, a singer, entertainer and anti-gay activist, has died. She was 84.

According to the obituary submitted Thursday by her family to The Oklahoman, part of the USA TODAY Network, she died on Dec. 16 at her Oklahoma home, surrounded by family and friends. She became known as Anita Bryant Dry after marrying former astronaut Charlie Dry, who preceded her in death.

Further extract:

In the late 1970s, Bryant became well known as a vocal anti-gay activist and organized opposition to the movement for LGBTQ rights by founding an organization called Save Our Children.

Real-life footage of Bryant's crusade from the era was used in the Oscar-winning 2008 film "Milk," starring Sean Penn.
…
Her 1978 interview for Playboy is considered to be a key moment in the gay rights movement, galvanizing members after its release. In it, she advocated for returning homosexuality to a felony offense, and said it violated "God's law."

Read more here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/enterta ... 591782007

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

Gene Hackman and his wife found dead at their home

27 February 2025, 08:37 GMT

Oscar-winning US actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In a career that spanned more than six decades, he received two Academy Awards, two Baftas, four Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

A statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico said: "We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewkkkvkzn9o

[firestar464]

Australian man whose blood donations saved 2.4 million babies dies aged 88

https://www.euronews.com/2025/03/03/aus ... es-aged-88

[wjfox]

Roy Ayers, jazz-funk pioneer behind Everybody Loves the Sunshine, dies aged 84

Thu 6 Mar 2025 08.00 GMT

Roy Ayers, the jazz-funk pioneer whose hit Everybody Loves the Sunshine has become a summer staple across the globe, has died aged 84.

A post on the musician’s official Facebook page said: “It is with great sadness that the family of legendary vibraphonist, composer and producer Roy Ayers announce his passing which occurred on March 4th, 2025 in New York City after a long illness.

“He lived a beautiful 84 years and will be sorely missed. His family ask that you respect their privacy at this time, a celebration of Roy’s life will be forthcoming.”

Ayers was born in Los Angeles on 10 September 1940. He released his debut album, West Coast Vibes, in 1963 and had a string of solo records.

He then formed his band Roy Ayers Ubiquity and developed his signature jazz-funk sound that featured him on vibraphone, an instrument he was inspired to learn after meeting the jazz musician Lionel Hampton, who gave him a pair of mallets when he was five years old.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/ ... shine-dies

[wjfox]

'End of an era': Last surviving Battle of Britain pilot dies

17 March 2025

The last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, John "Paddy" Hemingway, has died at the age of 105.

Mr Hemingway, who was originally from Dublin, joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a teenager before World War Two.

At 21, he was a fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, a three-month period when air force personnel defended the skies against a large-scale assault by the German air force, the Luftwaffe.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to Mr Hemingway, saying his courage and those of all RAF pilots had "helped end WWII and secure our freedom".

The Prince of Wales also paid tribute, saying that "we owe so much to Paddy and his generation for our freedoms today".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg1z42pkj8o



Credit: RAF

[wjfox]

Top Gun and Batman actor Val Kilmer dies aged 65

2 April 2025, 06:13 BST

Actor Val Kilmer, who starred in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s and 90s, including Top Gun and Batman Forever, has died at the age of 65.

He also appeared in 1991's The Doors - playing the legendary band's frontman Jim Morrison - plus the Western Tombstone and crime drama Heat.

Kilmer died of pneumonia on Tuesday in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told US media. She said her father had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered.

Tracheotomy surgery affected his voice and curtailed his acting career, but he returned to the screen to reprise his role as fighter pilot Iceman alongside Tom Cruise in 2022's Top Gun: Maverick.

Paying tribute, Heat director Michael Mann said: "While working with Val on Heat I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val's possessing and expressing character. After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news," Mann wrote on Instagram.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5ry5x9xz0o

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

What Was Pope Francis' Cause of Death?: Vatican Reveals Health Report
April 21, 2025

Introduction:

(NBC) Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.

The Vatican said Francis died of a cerebral stroke that put him into a coma and led to irreversible heart failure.

The full causes of death were listed as cerebral stroke, coma and "irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse."

The pope passed (in) his apartment at the Domus Santa Marta in Vatican City.

The death notice from the Vatican's director of health and hygiene said the pope's condition was impacted by a previous episode of acute respiratory failure in bilateral multimicrobial pneumonia, multiple bronchiectasis, arterial hypertension and type II diabetes.

Read more here: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/what-w ... 232695/



Edit: Robert Reich on Pope Francis: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the- ... the-world

[firestar464]

[firestar464]

Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly Dies at 75 After Sharing Cancer Update, Marking Third House Democrat Death Since March

https://people.com/virginia-rep-gerry-c ... r-11739028

[firestar464]

'Intellectual giant' Sir Geoff Palmer dies aged 85

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93lry1e6z5o

[caltrek]

Bill Moyers Kept the Faith in Democracy. We Need His Example More Than Ever.
By John Nichols
June 27, 2025

Introduction:

(The Nation) In the last months of his remarkable life, Bill Moyers spoke more frequently about the future than the past. He followed the first months of the second Trump presidency with mounting concern, warned about threats to the First Amendment, and remained as enthusiastic as ever about the fight for bold journalism and robust democracy. His step was cautious as we navigated the streets near his place on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Yet, even on our last walk just weeks before his death on Thursday at age 91, there was nothing tentative about Bill’s vision for America. We spent several hours talking about organizing a national conference to assess the damage that was being done to the American discourse, not just by Donald Trump’s crude authoritarianism but also by corporate media conglomerates that had always been more interested in profits than the freedom of the press.

Every now and then, however, Bill would pause to reflect. On an afternoon in April, as we left an Italian coffee shop a few blocks from Central Park, he paused our conversation about whether America was experiencing the worst of times. Bill recalled flying from Dallas to Washington on November 22, 1963, aboard the plane that transported the body of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the assassinated president he had served as deputy director of the Peace Corps, along with Lyndon Johnson, the newly inaugurated president he would go on to serve as press secretary. The American experiment that he had come to cherish as a boy growing up in Marshall, Texas, had experienced plenty of rough days, he explained. As Bill spoke, I was reminded that few Americans had seen so much of the country’s history, and shaped so much of its public discourse, as Bill Moyers.

The “press secretary” title that he held during much of Johnson’s
White House tenure never really captured the scope of Bill’s influence. He was an essential figure in a transformative presidency.

Read more here: https://www.thenation.com/article/soci ... ribute/

[wjfox]

Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen dies aged 67

3 July 2025, 18:53 BST

Hollywood actor Michael Madsen died in his California home on Thursday morning, US media reported. He was 67.

He was found unresponsive by authorities responding to a 911 call at his Malibu home and pronounced dead at 08:25 local time (BST), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

He is believed to have died of cardiac arrest, according to a representative.

Madsen was a prolific actor, best known for his roles in Quentin Tarantino movies Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnvmry62zpdo