Finding what was lost
Vol. 2, Issue 10
"I have a horror of death; the dead are so soon forgotten. But when I die, they'll have to remember me." —Emily Dickinson
NEWS & NOTES
Rebuilding from memory
When the wildfires prompted mass evacuations in Southern California in January, residents grabbed pets, clothing, perhaps a few important documents and fled. They had no idea if their homes would remain unscathed until the blazes were extinguished and it was safe to return.
Unfortunately, over 10,000 structures were damaged or destroyed in the fires. Many lost everything.
To provide comfort to survivors, Ashley Miller and Amy Beemer Lev, two native Pacific Palisades residents, have launched a project called Homes in Memoriam. They've hooked up with about 150 artists in the U.S., Australia, Canada and the U.K., who've volunteered to paint free portraits of the homes that were lost to the flames.
To request a painting, displaced families simply contact the project and provide the address of the home they lost and photos of the place. Each request is added to a spreadsheet, and then artists choose which assignment suits their skills. Once a painting is completed, the artwork is sent to Miller for framing and shipped to the families. Although there is no charge for this service, a GoFundMe page is collecting donations to cover shipping costs and reimburse the artists.
Seth Fonti, who lost his Pacific Palisades home in the wildfires, received a house portrait from the project and plans to hang it in his new home, once it's built.
“Sitting there with those memories in rubble, it’s really hard to describe, but that’s not how you want to remember your home, as just charred destruction,” Fonti told the Los Angeles Times. “Houses don’t have funerals. But this initiative allows us to honor these homes for what they once were.”
To date, Homes in Memoriam has completed 200 home portraits in the Palisades and Altadena. Another 178 paintings are in the works.
FMI: Click here.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Hidden in the rubble of burned out homes are the blackened remnants of life. The mangled metal frame of a couch, bits of melted plastic, broken counter tiles — smoke and ash covering it all. It is a heartbreaking task to sift through the remains of a home, in hopes of finding something that wasn't damaged beyond recognition or repair.
Now imagine trying to find the cremated remains of lost family members and pets in such an environment. Two archaeologists are doing just that for L.A. wildfire victims. Why? Because families need something to hold on to, they say.
With the help of specially trained dogs, Risa and Alex DeGeorgey are employing techniques usually used to excavate ancient burial sites to find cremains inside burned houses. Their foundation, which relies on donations and volunteer help, never charges a fee for this service. They’ve already received dozens of requests.
FMI: Click here.
What lies beneath the ground
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NOTABLE OBITS
* Dr. Valérie André, the first woman to fly rescue missions in combat zones for any military force, has died. She was 102. In addition to being a brain surgeon, André was a parachutist, a helicopter pilot and the first Frenchwoman to be named a general. She flew over 450 combat missions and received the Croix de Guerre, for bravery in Indochina and Algeria, five times. (Sam Roberts, The New York Times)
* Ursula Boschet, 90, the owner of one of Hollywood’s last costume shops, died. Born in Germany, Boschet was only 14 when she learned dressmaking and tailoring. After immigrating to the states in the early 1960s, she began making costumes for local theaters and Disney on Parade. In 1976, she opened Ursula's Costumes, which became a local institution. Over the next five decades, Boschet would make more than 100,000 costumes for performers, studios and private customers. (Stacy Perman, Los Angeles Times)
* Lincoln Díaz-Balart, a Cuban-American Republican politician who fiercely opposed Fidel Castro’s regime, died at 70. Born in Havana, Díaz-Balart’s family fled to the U.S. after Castro's victory over Batista. He worked as a lawyer in a Miami practice before entering politics, first in the Florida House of Representatives, then in the Florida Senate and finally in the U.S. House of Representatives. There he advocated for comprehensive immigration reform and helped write the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, which strengthened international sanctions against the Castro government. (Nora Gámez Torres and Sarah Moreno, The Miami Herald)
* Actor John Erwin, 88, who provided the voice for He-Man in the cartoons "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and "She-Ra: Princess of Power," has died. Earlier in his career, Erwin appeared in 22 episodes of the hit western "Rawhide," and voiced the character of Reggie on the Saturday morning cartoons "The Archie Show" and "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch." He also spent nearly a decade giving a snarky voice to Morris the Cat in the 9Lives commercials. (Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter)
* James Harrison, 88, an Australian blood donor who was credited with saving more than 2 million babies, died. Although he had an aversion to needles, Harrison began donating blood at the age of 18. But it would be another decade before it was discovered that his blood contained a rare antibody which could be used to make a medication to help pregnant women whose blood might attack their fetuses. Known as the "man with the golden arm," he would eventually donate blood and plasma 1,173 times. Since 1967, over 3 million doses of anti-D with Harrison’s blood have been given to 2 million mothers. (Peter Guo, NBC News)
* Rich Hein, the former photo editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, died at 70. For more than four decades, Hein took thousands of images of the Windy City and its people for the newspaper, covering breaking news and weather, sports and celebrities. In 2013, when the higher-ups gutted the photo department, he was the only full-time staffer left on the desk. With few resources, he mentored young freelance photographers, giving useful advice and honest critiques of their work. In his spare time, Hein also shot publicity stills for area theaters. (Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times)
* Architect Ricardo Scofidio, who helped to design the High Line in Manhattan, died at 89. Scofidio and his wife, Elizabeth Diller, founded the architecture firm now known as Diller Scofidio + Renfro in 1979. The pair soon became renowned for their inventive ideas, like continuous surface building as seen in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center or transforming a historic railroad viaduct into a beautiful park. In 1999, they became the first architects to receive MacArthur Foundation "genius" grants. They also renovated the Museum of Modern Art to make it more user-friendly and reinvented the outside space at Lincoln Center. (Fred A. Bernstein, The New York Times)
* Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), who briefly filled the seat previously occupied by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee following her death in 2024, has died at 70. Turner dedicated his life to public service, serving 27 years as a state representative in the Texas House and eight years as the mayor of Houston. Last year, he came out of retirement to enter the race to fill Jackson Lee's congressional seat. His campaign platform focused on fighting for police accountability, passing strong gun control laws and reducing inequality in public schools. (Abby Church and Peter Warren, Houston Chronicle and Sarah Grunau, Houston Public Media)
* Scottish painter Jack Vettriano, who became one of Britain’s most commercially successful artists, died. He was 73. A self-taught artist, Vettriano developed his style by copying everything from ads to impressionists. Although critics tended to dismiss his work, it became popular with the masses. One of his most well-known pieces was "The Singing Butler," which features servants holding umbrellas for a wealthy, dancing couple on a beach. Even British street artist Banksy used it as the inspiration for one of his own paintings. (Brian Murphy, The Washington Post)
* D’Wayne Wiggins, a founding member of the soul and R&B trio Tony! Toni! Toné!, died at 64. The singer, songwriter and guitarist formed the group in 1986 with his half brother Raphael Saadiq and cousin Timothy Christian Riley. From the late '80s to mid-'90s, the band released several singles, including “Feels Good," "Anniversary" and "It Never Rains (in Southern California). Although the group received two Grammy nominations, it disbanded after the release of its fourth album. Wiggins later founded the record label Grass Roots Entertainment and opened a recording studio in West Oakland called House of Music, where he helped to foster the musical careers of Alicia Keyes and Jamie Foxx. (Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times and Azucena Rasilla, The Oaklandside)
FAMOUS DEATHS IN HISTORY
On March 10, nurse/abolitionist Harriet Tubman (91), author Zelda Fitzgerald (47) and English/Australian singer Andy Gibb (Bee Gees) (30)
On March 11, German-American director/producer/screenwriter F.W. Murnau (42), German-American businessman/founder of processed meat firm Oscar F. Mayer (95) and inventor/TV pioneer Philo T. Farnsworth (64)
On March 12, entrepreneur/engineer George Westinghouse (67), Canadian fighter pilot William George Barker (35) and English fantasy author Terry Pratchett (66)
On March 13, actress Maureen Stapleton (80), boxer "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler (66) and actor William Hurt (71)
On March 14, German historian/revolutionary Karl Marx (64), tennis player Marion Jones Farquhar (85) and English composer/conductor Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (81)
On March 15, Canadian paleoanthropologist/doctor of anatomy Davidson Black (49), horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft (46) and pediatrician/writer Benjamin Spock (94)
On March 16, Swedish author/first woman to win Nobel Prize for Literature Selma Lagerlöf (81), blues guitarist T-Bone Walker (64) and composer/musicologist/educator Roger Sessions (88)
On March 17, Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (58), speculative fiction author Andre Norton (93) and French-American fashion designer Oleg Cassini (92)
RECOMMENDED SUBSTACK
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
"God bless you! Is that you, Dora?" --William Wordsworth, referring to his daughter, who had died three years earlier
MOMENT OF GRATITUDE
Thanks to Dan Crile, Unsplash, Los Angeles Times, Homes in Memoriam, Instagram, GoFundMe, Thorsten Nilson of Lightspruch Photography, the Alta Heritage Foundation, Apple News, The New York Times, YouTube, The New York Times, Congress.gov, the Miami Herald, The Hollywood Reporter, the TODAY show, NBC News, the Chicago Sun-Times, the High Line, C-SPAN, the Houston Chronicle, Houston Public Media, Jack Vettriano, The Washington Post, the Grammy Awards, The Oaklandside, Dan Mall, On This Day, Playback.FM, Britannica: This Day in History, Time and Date, Wikipedia, The Moonlight Reader Society, The Business of Death Alliance, Canva and Deposit Photos for art and story suggestions.
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