Yeah, I got a message saying that on Twitter. Apparently he was ill for a while and wasn't expected to live. I don't really know him per se but I've heard of him. He was 92 years old.
WOW, I knew him well, not personally but watched him all my life He broke down and cried when JFK was shot, I was just a kid but remember it well I honored, respected and looked up to him, he was a class act, and a great news anchor man. I know he's with the angels, and at peace~
That's so sad about Walter. =( He is really the one who sets the bar for news anchor. May he rest in peace, and my thoughts go out to both his family and all the folks over at CBS News. This has got to be really upsetting for them as well.
Well, they've been saying was very close and I knew it was going to be any day now. So sad, we lost, yet, another TV icon. Walter will be missed!
World's oldest man, WWI veteran dies LONDON – Only death could silence Henry Allingham. He went to war as a teenager, helped keep flimsy aircraft flying, survived his wounds and came home from World War I to a long — very long — and fruitful life. But only in his last years did he discover his true mission: to remind new generations of the sacrifices of the millions slaughtered in the trenches, killed in the air, or lost at sea in what Britons call the Great War. Allingham, who was the world's oldest man when he died Saturday at 113, attributed his remarkable longevity to "cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women." Jokes aside, he was a modest man who served as Britain's conscience, reminding young people time and time again about the true cost of war. "I want everyone to know," he told The Associated Press during an interview in November. "They died for us."
Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon Fame Dies by Paul Cashmere - July 18 2009 Gordon Waller, who together with Peter Asher was the other half of 60’s pop duo Peter & Gordon, has died at the age of 64. At statement posted at his MySpace page says, “We are deeply saddened to report that some time after 8 p.m. last night East Coast time, Gordon Waller went into cardiac arrest and was taken to the emergency room. Despite intensive efforts on his behalf by hospital personnel, Gordon passed away early this morning. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers”. Peter & Gordon had a string of hits in the 60s written by Paul McCartney. McCartney was dating Peter’s sister Jane Asher at the time. He wrote the Peter & Gordon classics ‘A World Without Love’, “Nobody I Know’, ‘I Don’t Want To See You Again’ and ‘Woman’. Their last lot of hits was in 1967 when they made charts worldwide with ‘Lady Godiva’, ‘Knight In Rusty Armour’ and ‘Sunday For Tea’. After Peter & Gordon broke up, Peter took at job in A&R at Apple Records. He has managed Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Cher and Diana Ross. Waller had little success as a solo artist. He released one album and then went into theatre production. In 2007 he released a Beatles covers record which included a new version of ‘Woman’. Peter & Gordon got back together form performances in 2005. They last performed together in 2008. When they reformed Paul McCartney said "What the world needs now is Peter and Gordon to sing their songs and remind us all of the fab years they are from. "I'm very glad to hear that they have got together after these many moons and are going to help to make a world without love into a love-filled planet." Gordon Waller died in hospital near his home in Connecticut.
Author Frank McCourt has died at the age of 78 McCourt was reported to be gravely ill this past week by his brother Malachy McCourt. Frank McCourt died from skin cancer. McCourt first came to promince in 1996 when his memories, Angela's Ashes were published. McCourt won a Pulitzer Prize for his book. Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes, Dies Angela's Ashes author Frank McCourt dies at 78 On a side note if you haven't read Angela's Ashes, I highy recommend it. It's one of those books that you can't seem to put down.
The Taco Bell Chihuahua Dies Can you believe there’s another celebrity death!? Gidget, aka the Taco Bell chihuahua, died Tuesday night of a stroke at age 15 (that’s 76 in people years). Known for the famous line, ‘Yo quiero Taco Bell’ in the Taco Bell commercials, Gidget also starred as Bruiser’s mom in ‘Legally Blonde 2.’ “She made so many people happy,” Gidget’s trainer, Sue Chipperton, tells People.
LOS ANGELES – E. Lynn Harris, a pioneer of gay black fiction and a literary entrepreneur who rose from self-publishing to best-selling status, has died, his publicist said Friday. He was 54. Publicist Laura Gilmore said Harris died Thursday night after being stricken at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, and a cause of death had not been determined. She said Harris, who lived in Atlanta, fell ill on a train to Los Angeles a few days ago and blacked out for a few minutes, but seemed fine after that. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said only that a man matching Harris' name and date of birth had died Thursday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which was confirmed by hospital spokeswoman Simi Singer. Gilmore said an autopsy would be performed Monday or Tuesday. An improbable and inspirational success story, Harris worked for a decade as an IBM executive before taking up writing, selling the novel "Invisible Life" from his car as he visited salons and beauty parlors around Atlanta. He had unprecedented success for an openly gay black author and his strength as a romance writer led some to call him the "male Terry McMillan." He went on to mainstream success with works such as the novel "Love of My Own" and the memoir "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted." His writing fell into several genres, including gay and lesbian fiction, African American fiction and urban fiction. But he found success in showing readers a new side of African American life: the secret world of professional, bisexual black men living as heterosexuals. "He was a pioneering voice within the black LGBT community but also resonated with mainstream communities, regardless of race and sexual orientation," said Herndon Davis, a gay advocate and a diversity media consultant in Los Angeles. "Harris painted with eloquent prose and revealing accuracy the lives of African American men and the many complicated struggles they faced reconciling their sexuality and spirituality while rising above societal taboos within the black community." Harris published 11 novels, 10 of which were on The New York Times best-seller list. There are over 4 million copies of his books in print, according to his publisher, Doubleday. "We at Doubleday are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of E. Lynn Harris' death at too young an age," said Doubleday spokeswoman Alison Rich, his longtime publicist. "His pioneering novels and powerful memoir about the black gay experience touched and inspired millions of lives, and he was a gifted storyteller whose books brought delight and encouragement to readers everywhere." In an interview last year, Harris recalled the first time he realized he was poor, when as a young boy his family was invited to the housewarming of a well-to-do family in his hometown of Fayetteville, Ark. Fresh from an afternoon of playing outside, he tried desperately to tuck his bare, dusty feet underneath the sofa after another guest remarked on his appearance. "I didn't grow up in the kind of environment that my characters grew up in, or the kind of environment that I live in now," he said. "It was one of the things that I always aspired to." His 1994 debut, "Invisible Life," was a coming-of-age story that dealt with the then-taboo topic. "If you were African American and you were gay, you kept your mouth shut and you went on and did what everybody else did," he said. "You had girlfriends, you lived a life that your parents had dreamed for you." Harris was not living as an openly gay man when "Invisible Life" was published, and could not acknowledge the parallels between himself and the book. "People would often ask, 'Is this book about you?' I didn't want to talk about that," he said. "I wasn't comfortable talking about it. I would say that this is a work of fiction." Harris said that the courage readers got from the book empowered him to be honest about himself. He continued to tell stories dealing with similar issues, to tell black middle class readers about people they knew, but who were living secret lives. For years, he was alone in exposing the "down low," but the phenomenon exploded into mainstream culture in 2004, a decade after "Invisible Life." That year, J.L. King's "On the Down Low: A Journey Into the Lives of 'Straight' Black Men Who Sleep With Men" hit bookstores and the author appeared on Oprah Winfrey's TV show. His 10th novel, "Just Too Good to Be True," focused for the first time on a straight relationship, telling the story of a 21-year-old football star, his mother, and his cheerleader love interest. Harris taught writing classes at his alma mater, the University of Arkansas, and leaned on his students there to gather material for the book. The last book Harris published, "Basketball Jones," focused on a hidden relationship between a successful business professional in New Orleans and an NBA star. Janis F. Kearney met Harris when the two were among a handful of black journalism students at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The two became fast friends and their relationship deepened as they both evolved into authors. Kearney, who now lives in Little Rock, Ark., recalled Harris' huge heart. "I've seen him help so many people," Kearney said. "He was very open, very giving, very caring, someone you felt so fortunate to have in your life. He's just one of those people I'll never stop missing." ___ Associated Press Writers Bob Jablon and Solvej Schou in Los Angeles; AP Writer Michelle Locke in San Francisco; AP Writer Errin Haines in Atlanta; AP Writer Noah Trister in Little Rock, Ark.; and AP National Writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report. It's still a shame that in this day and age, LGBT can live out openly.
Harry Patch, last British WWI soldier, dies at 111 LONDON – Harry Patch, the last British army veteran of World War I, has died at 111, the nursing home where he lived said Saturday. The Fletcher House care home in Wells, southwest England, said Patch died early Saturday. "He just quietly slipped away at 9 a.m. this morning," said care home manager Andrew Larpent. "It was how he would have wanted it, without having to be moved to hospitals but here, peacefully with his friends and carers." Patch had been the last surviving soldier from the British army to have served in the 1914-1918 war. The only other surviving U.K.-based British veteran of the war, former airman Henry Allingham, died a week ago at age 113. Only a handful of veterans remain of the estimated 68 million mobilized. There are no French veterans left alive; the last living American-born veteran is Frank Woodruff Buckles of Charles Town, West Virginia. The man believed to have been Germany's last surviving soldier has also died. ---- Les Lye, Canadian TV Comic, Dies at 84 Les Lye, a Canadian actor and broadcaster best known in the United States as a cast member of the children's comedy show ''You Can't Do That on Television,'' died Tuesday in Ottawa. He was 84. You Can’t Do That on Television,” a sort of junior version of “Laugh-In,” had its premiere in 1979 on the Ottawa station CJOH-TV. Mr. Lye appeared in comedy sketches with the show’s young performers, playing foils like Barth of the hamburger stand Barth’s Burgery and the captain of a firing squad that was usually about to execute the children. When it was shown on Nickelodeon in the early ’80s, it quickly became one of that channel’s most popular programs. It ran until 1990 in Canada, then continued in Nickelodeon reruns.
Ex-'Idol' contestant Alexis Cohen, struck, killed by car in NJ Jul 26, 8:05 AM (ET) SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) - Authorities say a 25-year-old former two-time "American Idol" contestant has been struck and killed by a car in a New Jersey shore town. The Asbury Park Press reports that Alexis Cohen, of Allentown, Pa., was killed early Saturday in Seaside Heights. Deputy Chief Michael Mohel of the Ocean County Prosecutors Office says an autopsy indicated she suffered chest, head and abdominal injuries. Mohel says investigators are seeking more information about the collision. Cohen auditioned in Philadelphia for the popular Fox singing competition in August 2007, and the episode was aired in January 2008. She tried out again during the show's eighth season. A video of her angry rant after being rejected by judges went viral on the Internet.
Police: Ex-boxing champion Forrest killed in Ga. Former boxing champion Vernon Forrest was shot and killed during an apparent robbery in Atlanta, police said Sunday. Atlanta Police Sgt. Lisa Keyes said in an e-mail Sunday that Forrest may have been robbed and was shot “multiple times in the back” Saturday night in Atlanta. Keyes said there are no suspects. “Vernon was one of the few decent people in boxing,” promoter Gary Shaw said Sunday. “I mean really decent. He cared about mentally challenged adults. He cared about kids. I just can’t believe it.” Mark Guilbeau, an investigator with the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office, said an autopsy is planned for Sunday. Forrest, a native of Augusta, Ga., who lived in Atlanta, was a member of the 1992 Olympic team. He was also a former WBC super welterweight champion. Forrest, who had a 41-3 career record with 29 knockouts, is the third prominent boxer to die this month.
Choreographer Merce Cunningham dies at 90 NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. choreographer and dancer Merce Cunningham, credited by many with revolutionizing visual and performing arts, has died at age 90, his foundation and dance company said on Monday. Cunningham, whose long-time partner was the late composer John Cage, died peacefully at home on Sunday of natural causes, the Cunningham Dance Foundation and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company said in a statement on Monday. "In his final years he became almost routinely hailed as the world's greatest choreographer," a New York Times obituary said. "His choreography showed that dance was principally about itself, not music, while often suggesting that it could also be about many other things as well." He formed the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1953 and choreographed nearly 200 works for the company. Cunningham's work has also been performed by Ballet of the Paris Opera, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and Boston Ballet. Among the honors and awards given to Cunningham were the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Laurence Olivier Award in London and an Officer of the Legion of Honor in France. He continued performing as a dancer into his 80s and has also worked in film and video, collaborating with filmmakers Charles Atlas and Elliot Caplan.