Transforming a place of carnage
Vol. 2, Issue 23
"I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." --Diane Ackerman
NEWS & NOTES
Replacing destruction with remembrance
On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen opened fire at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., killing 49 people and injuring 58 others. The gunman then perished in a shootout with local police.
At the time, the attack at the popular LGBTQ+ club was the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. Sadly, it was eclipsed in 2017 by the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas.
Nine years after the Pulse attack, construction of a memorial is about to begin. The current design features a reflection space, a seating area, a reflection pool, a healing garden and a visitor pavilion. The memorial will also offer an elliptical walkway with 49 feature columns and 49 rainbow-colored glass panels.
The Pulse memorial will be located on the same site as the nightclub so the building needs to be razed. Last week, 250 survivors and family members of the victims made one final tour inside the club.
Christine Leinonen, who lost her 32-year-old son Christopher in the shooting, was one of them because she wanted to stand in the place where he died as "a way to try to experience his last seconds of life. I just want to feel closer to him.”
FMI: Click here.
A recipe to remember
Some tombstones become famous because they announce the final resting place of a celebrity or historical figure. Or they may present a pithy epitaph. Or they may inspire an urban legend. And then there's Kathryn Andrews' headstone at Logan Cemetery in Logan, Utah.
Andrews, who died in 2019 at the age of 97, was renowned for her fudge, which is why her tombstone has the recipe inscribed on it:
Meg Smith tested the recipe for AllRecipes.com four times and added a few tips and tricks to help others who want to make the fudge.
FMI: Click here.
Drinks with a Doula
I just wanted to post a quick note of thanks to T.J. Ford for inviting me to appear on "Drinks With a Doula" last week. We had a lovely conversation about death, funerals, celebrations of life, disenfranchised grief and whether or not we're prepared for the end. Check out her newsletter, DeathReady With T.J., here.
Sarah Silverman on saying goodbye
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NOTABLE OBITS
* Ruth A. Davis, the first and only Black woman to achieve the rank of career ambassador at the State Department, died. She was 81. Davis joined the Foreign Service in 1969 and performed consular work in Italy, Japan, Kenya and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). During her four decades at State, she planned for U.S. participation in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and lobbied for the 1996 Games in Atlanta. In the late '90s and early 'oughts, Davis was the first Black director of the Foreign Service Institute, where she helped to create the School of Leadership and Management. She was also the first Black woman to become director general of the Foreign Service. (Adam Bernstein, The Washington Post and Bo Emerson, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
* Bestselling British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth died at 86. Forsyth used his background as a former Royal Air Force pilot and foreign correspondent to write more than 20 novels, short stories and other works, including "The Odessa File" and "The Dogs of War." Although he sold more than 75 million books worldwide, Forsyth was best known for "The Day of the Jackal," which won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel and was adapted into a film starring Edward Fox in 1973, and more recently a TV series starring Eddie Redmayne. (Brian Murphy, The Washington Post)
* Minnesota House Democratic-Farmer-Labor caucus leader Melissa Hortman died at 55. Hortman interned for then-Sens. Al Gore and John Kerry, earned a law degree from the University of Minnesota and became a legal aid attorney. Passionate about public service, she decided to run for office in 2004 and was elected to the state Legislature. Hortman would serve as the House Speaker from 2019 to 2024, during which time she helped to guide the state through the coronavirus pandemic. Hortman was also known for shepherding progressive legislation into law, including universal free school meals to children and expanded protections for abortion and gender-affirming care. (Michelle Griffith, Minnesota Reformer and Christopher Vondracek, The Minnesota Star Tribune and Grace Panetta, The 19th)
* Veteran Hollywood stunt coordinator Gary Jensen, 74, died. Jensen entered the business in 1978 working on stunts for the film "FM" and the TV series "B.J. and the Bear." Over the next five decades, he would coordinate stunts on dozens of films, including "The Return of the Living Dead," "Miracle Mile," "Tremors" and "Barton Fink.” Jensen also developed strong relationships with two directors -- Bryan Singer and Kevin Smith -- and created stunts for several of their films. (Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter)
* Former professional baseball player Betsy Jochum died. She was 104. Jochum was the last surviving player from the 1943 inaugural season of what became the All-American Girls Baseball League. The league, which was started by chewing-gum mogul Philip K. Wrigley to maintain fan interest in baseball during World War II, inspired the 1992 film, "A League of Their Own." Jochum played for the South Bend Blue Sox and was known by the nicknames “Sockum Jochum” and “Sultana of Swat.” (Richard Sandomir, The New York Times)
* Ananda Lewis, former MTV video jockey and host of the "Hot Zone" and "Total Request Live," died. She was 52. Lewis began her career on BET’s "Teen Summit," a talk show hosted by teenagers, which gave her the opportunity to interview then-first lady Hillary Clinton. MTV hired Lewis in 1997 and made her one of the network’s main VJs. In 2001, she left MTV to host her own talk show "The Ananda Lewis Show." Lewis later served as a correspondent for "The Insider" and as host of the 2019 revival of "While You Were Out." (Leia Mendoza, Variety and Maya Salam, The New York Times)
* Lucifer, an African hippopotamus who appeared in Hollywood movies and TV shows, died at 65. The beloved 3-ton hippo known as “Lu” was featured in the films "Daktari" and "Cowboy in Africa" and on the "Art Linkletter Show." He spent the past 60 years drawing millions of visitors to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Homosassa Springs, Fla., and was the oldest hippo in captivity at the time of his death. "Children grew up visiting him, and many returned as adults with children of their own to say hello to the gentle giant," the Florida State Parks wrote on Facebook. (Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald and Michaela Mulligan, Tampa Bay Times)
* Sly Stone, 82, funk rock pioneer and the leader of the musical group Sly & The Family Stone, died. Stone formed Sly & The Family Stone in 1966 with his brother Freddie on guitar and sister Rose on piano. He played numerous instruments (bass, drums, guitar, keyboards) and wrote/arranged/produced all of the group's music. Between 1967 and 1973, Sly & The Family Stone had nine singles in the Top 40, including "Dance to the Music." In 1969, the group performed at the historic Woodstock Music Festival — sandwiched between Janis Joplin and The Who. (Rob Tannenbaum, Los Angeles Times)
* Brian Wilson, the musical genius behind the Beach Boys, died. He was 82. The eldest of three musical brothers, Wilson played bass, Carl played lead guitar and Dennis played drums. Together they formed the Beach Boys and became one of the most popular groups of the rock era. Wilson wrote or co-wrote more than three dozen Top 40 hits including "Little Deuce Coupe," "Surfin' U.S.A.," "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "California Girls." In the 1960s, these anthems served as the soundtrack for an entire generation. (Steve Marble, Los Angeles Times and Hillel Italie, The Associated Press)
* Veteran character actor Harris Yulin, 87, who appeared in scores of plays, movies and TV shows, died. Although he never became a Hollywood star, Yulin was “that guy” — an actor you know the moment you see his face because he’s played so many parts during his six-decade career. Yulin was nominated in 1996 for a primetime Emmy Award for playing a crime boss on the sitcom "Frasier," and received two Drama Desk nominations in the late 1990s for his performances in the Broadway plays "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "The Price." He also taught at the Juilliard School and the Graduate School of the Arts at Columbia University. (Chris Koseluk, The Hollywood Reporter and Sam Roberts, The New York Times)
FAMOUS DEATHS IN HISTORY
On June 16, English physician John Snow (45), actor George Reeves (45) and NFL running back Brian Piccolo (26)
On June 17, singer/actor/writer Kate Smith (79), Nobel Prize-winning chemist Donald J. Cram (82) and fashion designer/heiress Gloria Vanderbilt (95)
On June 18, Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen (55), actress Ethel Barrymore (79) and Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Cheever (70)
On June 19, spies Julius Rosenberg (35) and Ethel Rosenberg (37), science fiction writer William Golding (81) and actor Ian Holm (88)
On June 20, English painter John Clayton Adams (65-66), gangster Bugsy Siegl (41) and electrical engineer/inventor who won the Nobel Prize in Physics Jack Kilby (81)
On June 21, Italian statesman/author Niccolò Machiavelli (58), tennis player Maureen Connolly (34) and actor Carroll O'Connor (76)
On June 22, singer/actress Judy Garland (47), former first lady Pat Nixon (81) and comedian George Carlin (71)
On June 23, virologist/developer of the first polio vaccine Jonas Salk (80), TV producer Aaron Spelling (83) and actor Peter Falk (83)
RECOMMENDED SUBSTACK
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
"What a life!" --Radclyffe Hall
MOMENT OF GRATITUDE
Thanks to JCPJR, the Pulse Orlando Memorial, Spectrum News 13, CBS News, Fox 13 Salt Lake City, AllRecipes, Apple News, Instagram, DeathReady With T.J., PBS News Hour, YouTube, Steven Glassman, The Written Word, the American Foreign Service Association, The Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WCCO-CBS Minnesota, the Minnesota Reformer, The Minnesota Star Tribune, The 19th, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, Variety, Florida State Parks, Facebook, the Miami Herald, the Tampa Bay Times, Sly & The Family Stone, the Los Angeles Times, The Associated Press, IMDb, Jocelyn Allen, Unsplash, On This Day, Playback.FM, Britannica: This Day in History, Time and Date, Wikipedia, A Bit of Good News, A Grieving Heart, Canva and Deposit Photos for art and story suggestions.
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Thank YOU for our great discussion! We really touched on a lot of interesting topics and I would love to do it again soon.