Terry Carter

Terry Carter, who played  Colonel Tigh on my childhood favorite, the original Battlestar Galactica, has died at age 95.

RIP

Terry Anderson

Terry Anderson, the journalist forced to endure the longest captivity of any Westerner during the Lebanese Civil War, has died at age 76. 

Anderson was a Marine vet who served two tours in Vietnam as a combat journalist before joining the Associated Press as a civilian. That job took him to Lebanon in the midst of the civil war that dominated the news in the 1980's. On March 16th, 1985, Hezbollah Shite's abducted him off the street. 

He would not see freedom for six years and nine months. 

When he was taken Gorbachev had been in power 5 days. When he was released the Soviet Union had 22 days left before its dissolution. 

In many ways, Terry Anderson is a symbol of all that happened in between. 

It is impossible to document how much the name Terry Anderson influenced the background of my youth. He was a symbol of the troubled and violent Middle East, of the destruction of once beautiful Lebanon, of the Iran-Contra scandal that was in place party to secure his freedom, and of the misery and apparent hopelessness of his situation. 

Shuttled from one terrorist hideout to another, chained to a wall, beaten, given inedible food, and at one point left in solitary isolation for a year and a half, Anderson very nearly gave up  and thought of taking his own life. He credited his Catholic faith, as well as a stubborn streak, with pushing on: 

"People are capable of doing an awful lot when they have no choice and I had no choice."

By all accounts he led a quiet and peaceful life after his release, but the damage he endured lingered. Now, at last, he has the peace he deserved all along. 

RIP

Louis Gossett Jr

Louis Gossett Jr, the first black man to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, has died at 87.

He was a pretty iconic actor in my childhood, and exuded dignity on the screen. I remember him best from Iron Eagle and Enemy Mine.

RIP.

Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman, the first Jewish American to be on a major party Presidential ticket, has died at age 82 following injuries from a fall. 

Lieberman is probably best remembered for that Vice-Presidential run in 2000, one in which he strongly urged Al Gore to contest the disputed Florida election results. A conservative Democrat who could probably be accurately called a "hawk," Lieberman was never shy about standing his ground. He earned that VP nomination in part because he called out Bill Clinton for his sex scandal in the years prior. Six years after the failed 2000 run he lost the Democratic primary for his Senate seat, ran as an Independent Democrat, and won. Two years after that he endorsed Republican John McCain for President, earning the ire of his fellow Democrats. In 2016 and 2020 he spoke out against Trump. 

A complicated man, and a good American. 

RIP

Steve Lawrence

  

One of - perhaps the - last crooner of the mid-20th century, Steve Lawrence, died yesterday at the age of 88.

To me his name is synonymous with the partnership he had with his wife. He wasn't "Steve Lawrence;" he was "Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme." 

RIP

Brian Mulroney

 

Brian Mulroney, the Prime Minister of Canada during my formative years - 1984 to 1993 - and a man who looked suspiciously like Martin on Frazier, died on Leap Day at the age of 84.

Mulroney was a once popular PM who left office with a very low approval rate. It's hard to see why. He stood against Apartheid in South Africa, led Canada in its involvement in the Gulf War, reduced the deficit, and largely advocated for existing social programs, although I'm sure necessity got in the way and he tinkered with them. 

By all accounts tho, even his opponents liked him as a person. 

RIP 

Richard Lewis

 

Comedian Richard Lewis, a staple of late 20th-century comedy now more known for his role on Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died at 76 after a heart attack. 

I certainly knew Lewis and his work, although little stands out in my memory. You know what I *do* recall? That he made a habit of canceling his shows in Milwaukee over the years, leading to a lot of bad blood here in the Brew City LOL. 

RIP. 

Toby Keith

Toby Keith, the country music legend with 32 #1 hits, among them "Should've Been A Cowboy," has died of stomach cancer at age 62.

In the '90's, when country music surged on the heels of Garth and I listened to the genre pretty regularly, I had a couple of Keith's albums. I'm familiar enough with his work that his early death came as a shock to me this morning. 

RIP

Carl Weathers

Carl Weathers, the man who perfectly played Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise, and appeared in Predator and 

 The Mandalorian, has died at age 76.

I loved his performance as Apollo. He was one of the best parts of the series and it wouldn't have been the same without him in the role. 

RIP

Charles Osgood

 

Charles Osgood, the radio and television anchor known both for his humor and his talent for making the mundane interesting, has died of dementia at age 91. 

He spent a half-century on the air for CBS, both with his "The Osgood File" on radio and, for 22 years, hosting “CBS News Sunday Morning” on TV. 

I wasn't a fan of Osgood - not in the sense that I was AGAINST him or disliked him in any way. What I mean is that to me, he was a pleasant background noise in my life; a familiar part of the everyday, even if I rarely paid full attention. 

RIP

Gary Graham

I won't lie to you: until this morning I couldn't have told you his name if you had given me a year to think on it. Even so, the news today that Gary Graham died on the 22nd at age 73 hit me in the gut. 

Graham was the star of Alien Nation, the 90's TV series based on the book and movie of the same name*. While it was short-lived, I ate up every episode, and the one centered around a massive city riot played in my head many times in 2020. 

Later, Graham would go on to play Soval, a Vulcan ambassador to Earth, in Star Trek Enterprise. That may be his best known role, but I never saw his episodes. To me, he'll always be Detective Matthew Sike, teammate with an alien partner in a much different Los Angeles. 

RIP 

 

*yes, I read the movie novelization. 

Gone too Soon

Horrible news reached us this afternoon.

When YaYa moved to her first apartment a few years ago she befriended Mike Somer, her older neighbor across the hall. I know, your mind goes immediately to "creep" but it wasn't like that.  He was genuinely kind and cared about her as a friend/surrogate daughter, and we all got together for a 4th of July BBQ at their apartment complex last year. 

 As YaYa is fond of telling me,  he told her I seemed much too nice to be a lawyer lol. 

The two stayed in touch even after she moved to her new place.  This was their text last week:

It was to be their last communication. Mike was found dead today in his apartment during a welfare check.

He was nice to my kid and made a positive impact in her life.  That's enough in my book to make him, in the words on my Grandma, a Good Joe. He'll be in my prayers. 

RIP 

Bobby Rivers

Bobby Rivers was a Marquette graduate who co-hosted a morning show on the old 93QFM, then moved into television at WISN, both here in Milwaukee. 

 At WISN  he became Milwaukee's first African-American film critic, taping segments for the nationally syndicated PM Magazine. In time this would lead him to leave Milwaukee, later working with Whoopi Goldberg on her own show, and hosting shows of his own on the Food Network and VH1.

I met Mr Rivers very briefly at WISN when I toured the studio on a Scout field trip. As I recall it was nothing more than running into him in the hallway where he smiled, waved and said hello to the group. Still, by that time I already recognized him as someone of importance here in Milwaukee and someone with a future in the entertainment industry and so that meeting has stuck with me over the years.

Rivers died Boxing Day in Minnesota at the age of 70.

RIP

Herb Kohl

Few names are as synonymous with this state as that of Kohl - both a longtime, beloved grocery chain and the national department store were founded here by the family.  In my lifetime, Herb Kohl, a son of that family, took up the torch and represented both the name and the people of Wisconsin.  

From 1989 to 2013 he served most publicly as our Democratic US Senator, but around here he was primarily seen as the owner of the NBA Bucks. Without him, and his efforts, that team would have left Milwaukee decades ago. There's a thousand small ways he impacted the state too - who else remembers his 25 cent milk both at the State Fair?

Herb died today at the age of 88.

RIP. You did your family, and your state, proud. 

Andre Braugher

I can't believe it. 

Andres Braugher, the actor from Homicide: Life On The Streets who will forever (in my mind) be remembered as the hilarious Captain Holt from Brooklynn Nine Nine, has died after a brief illness. 

He was 61.

Wow.  I really can't believe it. 

RIP Captain. 

Ralph Passes

At 11:15 this morning I saw that Smiley was calling me at my office. Knowing that it would have to be something bad for him to call (not text) during work hours, I answered by saying "What's wrong?"

He told me that Ralph was dead.

Smiley had woke up and found Ralph beneath his cat tree, clearly having passed away overnight.

I remember wondering that morning why Ralph wasn't downstairs to greet me as I prepared for work, as had become his custom.

Even in this picture, you can tell he'd lost a lot of weight in the last three months.  We were concerned enough to adjust his food to a less diet- conscious brand, but we chalked it up to the stress of joining a chaotic household. 

In retrospect, while he did become a resident of the second floor instead of the common areas on the first, he never seemed phased by the noise, or by Sawyer. 

I told Smiley to wrap Ralph in a pillowcase and lock him inside one of the dog's cages and to tell the rest of the family.  I told him I would leave early to bury him and say goodbye, but that I had to stay at least until early afternoon.

Shortly before 4:00 I came home, dug a hole along the fence line, and gathered Lulu and Junie with me. Yaya had been notified by phone and sent her sympathies and a number of great pictures of Ralph. By this point Smiley said that he had shed his tears and said goodbye and did not want to participate.

We clipped some hair from him, collected his custom engraved brown leather collar that I had ordered for him, placed him in the grave, and said some prayers.

He was not with us long, just like the grandfather that I named him after, and the similarity of him passing in his sleep unexpectedly was mentioned more than once.

He deserved a longer life. We deserved more time with him.  But I am confident that his 3 months with us were spent surrounded by happiness and love, and were certainly a better alternative than life in the shelter that I took him from in September.

Rest in peace Ralph. We love you. 

Jesse Passes

More awful news: Jesse, the father of a long time friend, passed away today after a long battle with illness. He was, in the vernacular of my Grandma, a good Joe. 

RIP 

Norman Lear

 

Norman Lear, the man who created nearly every 70's sitcom worth watching, has died of natural causes. He was 101. 

Here's a sampling list of Lear's legacy: 

Good Times

Maude

Sandford and Son

All in the Family

The Jeffersons

One Day at a Time

The man essentially created 70% of the TV I watched in my childhood. More impressively, he was acknowledged enough for it at the time that even as a child, I knew his name and his influence. 

RIP 

Sandra Day O'Connor

 

Sandra Day O'Connor, a Reagan nominee who was the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court, and the first SCOTUS nominee to have televised confirmation hearings,  died today of complications of dementia. She was 93. 

O'Connor spent 25 years on the Court, from 1981 to 2006, and as a moderate conservative often played the role of the swing vote on SCOTUS. Even so she showed an ability to cross ideological lines if the ruling aligned with her legal beliefs: she authored Bush v Gore but upheld abortion in Planned Parenthood v Casey. 

She and Rehnquist are the only "legal" names that stand out from my childhood; not that I knew or cared about SCOTUS or what they were deciding, but because Rehnquist was a Milwaukee native and O'Connor an influential "first."

RIP 

Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger, the influential Secretary of State for two Presidents and arguably the most impactful Cabinet member of the 20th century, has died at age 100.

Kissinger helped define American policy in the final third of the last century, playing major roles in "opening" China to the West, solidifying our ties to Israel, and negotiating the end of the American war in Vietnam. 

He was, in my childhood, the unquestioned Dean of foreign policy, whether you looked at him as friend or foe.

Kissinger's polices were anethema to the Left during the Vietnam War, and some of the latest generation - separated by decades from both Kissinger's tenure and the stresses and demands that dominated it - have gone a step further. They are cheering and applauding his death, a display I find both distateful and telling. 

RIP