Doubly Missed -- 2003

Personalities Whose Deaths Were Not Predicted by Any Gamester

Updated January 27th

Since this is a new feature of the online Game Gazette, we're kicking it off with a report of the demise of a favorite character to children in central Florida. He actually died on December 30, 2002, but since it was during a New Year's holiday parade we decided to include it here. Note: We cannot guarantee the currency of any external links.

December '02

December 30th, Sir Gus, (Orlando's popular "kissing camel") was killed after a New Year's celebrational parade. For more information on Gus' life and links to memorial articles, have a look at his pages at the Ancient Order of Camel Herders Bahia Shrine Stable Number 166 web site.

January '03

January 1st, Robert Laird, self-taught surrealist painter who denied Uri Geller the opportunity to become his agent, died in London suddenly of unknown causes at the age of 30. His experiences with Geller, coupled with a girlfriend who destroyed many of his most-prized watercolors in 1997, caused him to seek spiritual healing in India, after which he returned to his home in Edinburgh to start his life anew, albeit briefly...January 2nd, Sydney Omarr, "astrologer to the stars," left this earth at the age of 76 due to complications from a heart attack. Omarr -- who changed his name at the age of 15 from Sydney Kimmelman after seeing Victor Mature as Doctor Omar in The Shanghai Gesture (adding the second "r" for numerological reasons) -- began his career in the Army at the age of 17 predicting the outcome of boxing matches and horse races and went on to become one of the world's best-known astrologers, whose column appeared in over 200 newspapers...On the same day, Hazel Pete, a Master Weaver of the Chehalis Tribe, died at the age of 87. Her work appeared across the U.S. and in Europe and she worked extensively in teaching Indian art and culture, focusing on furthering the education of Native Americans by helping them finish high school and enter college... January 3rd, Canadian Henry Botterell, believed to be the last surviving fighter pilot of World War I (a Royal Naval Air Service officer), completed his final mission in Toronto, aged 106. Although by no means an "Ace," Botterell did shoot down a German "sausage" (a.k.a. balloon) while near Arras... January 4th, Cinematographer Conrad Hall's final reel played out at Santa Monica Hospital due to complications from bladder cancer at the age of 76. Hall won academy awards for his work on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and American Beauty. His most recent work was on 2002's Road To Perdition, starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, about which producer Richard Zanuck claimed, "With 'Road to Perdition' you could virtually take every frame of his work and blow it up and hang it over your fireplace. It was like Rembrandt at work. Connie was not known for speed, but neither was Rembrandt. He was known for incredible genius..." January 5th, Jean Kerr, best known for her book, the semi-autobiographical Please Don't Eat the Daisies and plays such as Mary, Mary, made her final exit at the age of 80 in White Plains, New York. Known for her dry wit, Kerr was also famous for a number of quotes, including, "If you can keep your head about you while all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation..." January 6th, distinguished Mâori scholar, musician and composer Dr. Hirini Melbourne passed away at his home in Hamilton, New Zealand, after a long battle with cancer. His work in encouraging Mâori to appreciate, respect and participate in their culture earned him the gratitude of all New Zealanders... Same day, Suzee Vlk, part-time adventurer who hunted bear in Alaska and caught a ride in an Iditarod race, and who was known for her test preparation books, The SAT for Dummies and The GRE for Dummies, was killed by a falling eucalyptus tree while walking her dog. She is survived by her mother, Frances, and her motto, "Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change ready..." January 8th, GHR-KO "Dwarf" Mouse 11C, the world's longest-living mouse (whose name means "Growth Hormone Receptor-Knock Out") died at the age of 4 years, 11 months, far surpassing a normal mouse's life expectancy. Mouse came from a line of genetically-altered research mice who do not respond to growth hormones. He never married, having devoted his entire life to research and leaves no family behind... January 10th, Evelyn Copelman Spivak, who illustrated hundreds of children's books (including the 1944 edition of L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz" and "The New Our New Friends featuring Dick, Jane and Spot") died of heart failure at 83 in Narbeth, PA... January 12th, Maurice Gibb, bassist and keyboardist with The Bee Gees, played his final refrain, after having suffered cardiac arrest at Miami's Mount Sinai Medical Center before emergency surgery for intestinal blockage. Gibb was 53... January 13th, Norman Panama, half of one of Hollywood's most celebrated comedy writing teams (with Melvin Frank) died at the age of 88. Some of his most celebrated projects were the Cary Grant classic, "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" and "The Road to Utopia," widely regarded as the best of the Hope-Crosby "Road" pictures and a "deconstructionist classic" from an era before the term was coined. (It was also nominated for an Oscar.) He also co-wrote, with Norman Krasna, "White Christmas," a holiday classic featuring Crosby and Danny Kaye... January 18th, Richard Crenna, who began his acting career on radio as a squeaky-voiced juvenile in such programs as "Our Miss Brooks" and later became Sly Stalone's Green Beret mentor in several "Rambo" films, with stints in between on many television and radio shows as well as in stage and screen productions, died at the age of 76... January 20th, Marcel Jovine, a long-time designer for the Revell and Ideal Toy Companies (who created such classics as the "Visible Man," "Visible Woman" and "Visible Engine") but who gave up these pursuits in favor of numismatic sculpture in the 1970s, died at the age of 81 at the home of his daughter. He also designed many coins and medals, including the medals used at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid... On the same day, snowboarding pioneer Craig Kelly (arguably the best snowboarder of all time who gave up competing a decade ago in favor of backcountry riding and education) tragically lost his life in an avalanche in British Columbia at the age of 36... January 22nd, Robert and Linda Braidwood, a well-known and celebrated husband-wife team of archeologists, both died from pneumonia (at the ages of 95 and 93, respectively) in Chicago. The two were chiefly responsible for changing the bent of archeology from the collection of museum pieces to an academic, interdisciplinary study. (Some believe Robert was the inspiration for "Indiana Jones."}... January 24th, Grace Staton DuMond, who (along with her husband Joseph) founded Monkey Jungle in the Miami-Dade area of Florida during the Great Depression, died of congestive heart failure at the age of 95. Victor Acevedo, a friend of these keepers of primates (who was raised in their home), commented, "She was very progressive. Very forward-thinking. One day, a Homestead sheriff came in and asked to be let in for free,'' Acevedo said. Grace DuMond reluctantly agreed to find the Sheriff rushing out with his crying wife only moments later because they discovered the DuMond's allowed blacks in their park. "Grace just said, `At least they paid,' '' according to Acevedo... January 26th, Hugh Trevor-Roper, British historian best known for his chronical, The Last Days of Hitler, died at the age of 89 in Oxford, England. The book detailed a deluded, isolated Nazi leadership that was still convinced it could grab victory out of the jaws of defeat, and it became a bestseller. Trevor-Roper's reputation was severely damaged, however, in the 1980s when he authenticated some 60 volumes of bogus Hitler diaries... January 27th, Louis Archambault {(français) (anglais)}, one of Canada's most influential sculptors, credited with modernizing Canadian sculpture, died in Montreal at the age of 87. Archambault's fame spanned well beyond Quebec's borders as his work was displayed to wide acclaim in London, Venice, Milan, and Brussels... January 30th, Mary Ellis, American-born opera singer and later London's "Queen of Musicals" (for whom Rudolf Friml wrote Rose-Marie), died at the age of 105 in Eaton Square. Her career lasted until she was 97, although she only appeared in England after the 1930's, partly because of a restrictive agreement with Hammerstein that kept her off the American musical stage.

February '03

February 1st, the seven astronauts aboard NASA’s shuttle Columbia, were killed when the craft broke up over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. The crew was returning after a 16-day scientific mission. Those killed were commander Rick Husband -- 45, pilot William McCool -- 41, payload commander Michael Anderson -- 43, astronaut Kalpana Chawla -- 41, Navy captain David Brown -- 46, Navy medical officer Laurel Clark -- 41, and Israeli Air Force colonel Ilan Ramon -- 48... Same day, famed Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria died at the age of 85 after a stroke suffered the previous week. Santamaria was best-known for his 1963 top-ten version of Herbie Hancock's classic jazz tune, Watermelon Man.

Take me to 2003.

Take me to Play-by-Play.

Take me Home.