September 11, 2008Victims of the Sept. 11th Terrorist AttacksThe World Trade Center (A-M) A B C D E F G Posted at 12:19 AM
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Victims of the Sept. 11th Terrorist AttacksThe World Trade Center (N-Z) N Robert B. Nagel • Takuya Nakamura • Alexander J.R. Napier • Frank Joseph Naples • John Napolitano • Catherine A. Nardella • Mario Nardone • Manika Narula • Narender Nath • Karen S. Navarro • Joseph M. Navas • Francis J. Nazario • Glenroy Neblett • Marcus R. Neblett • Jerome O. Nedd • Laurence Nedell • Luke G. Nee • Pete Negron • Ann Nicole Nelson • David William Nelson • James Nelson • Michele Ann Nelson • Peter Allen Nelson • Oscar Nesbitt • Gerard Terence Nevins • Nancy Yuen Ngo • Jody Tepedino Nichilo • Martin Niederer • Alfonse J. Niedermeyer • Frank John Niestadt • Gloria Nieves • Juan Nieves • Troy Edward Nilsen • Paul R. Nimbley • John Ballantine Niven • Curtis Terrence Noel • Daniel R. Nolan • Robert Walter Noonan • Daniela R. Notaro • Brian Novotny • Soichi Numata • Brian Felix Nunez • Jose R. Nunez • Jeffrey Nussbaum O P Q R Posted at 12:16 AM
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Victims of the Sept. 11th Terrorist AttacksThe Pentagon Craig Amundson • Melissa Rose Barnes • Max J. Beilke • Kris Romeo Bishundat • Carrie R. Blagburn • Canfield D. Boone • Diana Borrero de Padro • Donna Bowen • Allen P. Boyle • Christopher Lee Burford • Daniel Martin Caballero • Jose Orlando Calderon-Olmedo • Angelene C. Carter • Sharon A. Carver • John J. Chada • Rosa Maria (Rosemary) Chapa • Julian T. Cooper • Eric A. Cranford • Ada M. Davis • Gerald Francis DeConto • Jerry Don Dickerson • Johnnie Doctor • Robert Edward Dolan • William Howard Donovan • Patrick Dunn • Edward Thomas Earhart • Robert Randolph Elseth • Jamie Lynn Fallon • Amelia V. Fields • Gerald P. Fisher • Matthew Michael Flocco • Sandra N. Foster • Lawrence Daniel Getzfred • Cortez Ghee • Brenda C. Gibson • Ron F. Golinski • Diane M. Hale-McKinzy • Carolyn B. Halmon • Sheila M. S. Hein • Ronald John Hemenway • Wallace Cole Hogan • Jimmie Ira Holley • Angela M. Houtz • Brady K. Howell • Peggie M. Hurt • Stephen Neil Hyland • Robert J. Hymel • Lacey B. Ivory • Dennis M. Johnson • Judith L. Jones • Brenda Kegler • Michael Scott Lamana • David W. Laychak • Samantha L. Lightbourn-Allen • Stephen V. Long • James T. Lynch • Terence M. Lynch • Nehamon Lyons • Shelley A. Marshall • Teresa M. Martin • Ada L. Mason-Acker • Dean E. Mattson • Timothy J. Maude • Robert J. Maxwell • Molly L. McKenzie • Patricia E. (Patti) Mickley • Ronald D. Milam • Gerard (Jerry) P. Moran • Odessa V. Morris • Brian Anthony Moss • Teddington H. Moy • Patrick Jude Murphy • Khang Ngoc Nguyen • Michael Allen Noeth • Chin Sun Pak • Jonas Martin Panik • Clifford L. Patterson • Darin Howard Pontell • Scott Powell • Jack D. Punches • Joseph John Pycior • Deborah A. Ramsaur • Rhonda Sue Rasmussen • Marsha Dianah Ratchford • Martha M. Reszke • Cecelia E. Richard • Edward V. Rowenhorst • Judy Rowlett • Robert E. Russell • William R. Ruth • Charles E. Sabin • Marjorie C. Salamone • David M. Scales • Robert Allan Schlegel • Janice M. Scott • Michael L. Selves • Marian H. Serva • Dan Frederic Shanower • Antionette M. Sherman • Donald D. Simmons • Cheryle D. Sincock • Gregg Harold Smallwood • Gary F. Smith • Patricia J. Statz • Edna L. Stephens • Larry L. Strickland • Kip P. Taylor • Sandra C. Taylor • Karl W. Teepe • Tamara C. Thurman • Otis Vincent Tolbert • Willie Q. Troy • Ronald James Vauk • Karen J. Wagner • Meta L. Waller • Maudlyn A. White • Sandra L. White • Ernest M. Willcher • David Lucian Williams • Dwayne Williams • Marvin R. Woods • Kevin Wayne Yokum • Donald McArthur Young • Edmond G. Young • Lisa L. Young Posted at 12:14 AM
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Victims of the Sept. 11th Terrorist AttacksAMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 77 Paul W. Ambrose • Yeneneh Betru • Mary Jane (MJ) Booth • Bernard Curtis Brown • Charles F. Burlingame • Suzanne M. Calley • William E. Caswell • David M. Charlebois • Sara M. Clark • Asia S. Cottom • James Daniel Debeuneure • Rodney Dickens • Eddie A. Dillard • Charles A. Droz • Barbara G. Edwards • Charles S. Falkenberg • Dana Falkenberg • Zoe Falkenberg • James Joseph Ferguson • Darlene E. Flagg • Wilson F. Flagg • Richard P. Gabriel • Ian J. Gray • Stanley R. Hall • Michele M. Heidenberger • Bryan C. Jack • Steven D. Jacoby • Ann C. Judge • Chandler R. Keller • Yvonne E. Kennedy • Norma Cruz Khan • Karen Ann Kincaid • Dong Chul Lee • Jennifer Lewis • Kenneth E. Lewis • Renee A. May • Dora Marie Menchaca • Christopher C. Newton • Barbara K. Olson • Ruben S. Ornedo • Robert Penninger • Robert R. Ploger • Zandra F. Ploger • Lisa J. Raines • Todd H. Reuben • John P. Sammartino • Diane M. Simmons • George W. Simmons • Mari-Rae Sopper • Robert Speisman • Norma Lang Steuerle • Hilda E. Taylor • Leonard E. Taylor • Sandra D. Teague • Leslie A. Whittington • John D. Yamnicky • Vicki C. Yancey • Shuyin Yang • Yuguang Zheng Posted at 12:13 AM
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Victims of the Sept. 11th Terrorist AttacksUNITED FLIGHT 93 Christian Adams • Lorraine G. Bay • Todd Beamer • Alan Beaven • Mark K. Bingham • Deora Frances Bodley • Sandra W. Bradshaw • Marion Britton • Thomas E. Burnett • William Joseph Cashman • Georgine Rose Corrigan • Patricia Cushing • Jason Dahl • Joseph Deluca • Patrick Joseph Driscoll • Edward P. Felt • Jane C. Folger • Colleen Laura Fraser • Andrew Garcia • Jeremy Glick • Lauren Grandcolas • Wanda Anita Green • Donald F. Greene • Linda Gronlund • Richard Jerry Guadagno • LeRoy Wilton Homer • Toshiya Kuge • CeeCee Lyles • Hilda Marcin • Waleska Martinez Rivera • Nicole Miller • Louis J. Nacke • Donald Arthur Peterson • Jean Hoadley Peterson • Mark Rothenberg • Christine Anne Snyder • John Talignani • Honor Elizabeth Wainio • Deborah Welsh • Olga Kristin Gould White Posted at 12:12 AM
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Victims of the Sept. 11th Terrorist AttacksUNITED FLIGHT 175 Alona Avraham • Garnet Edward (Ace) Bailey • Mark Lawrence Bavis • Graham Andrew Berkeley • Touri Bolourchi • Klaus Bothe • Daniel R. Brandhorst • David Reed Gamboa Brandhorst • John Brett Cahill • Christoffer Mikael Carstanjen • John (Jay) J. Corcoran • Ana Gloria Pocasangre de Barrera • Dorothy Alma DeAraujo • Robert John Fangman • Lisa Frost • Ronald Gamboa • Lynn Catherine Goodchild • Peter Morgan Goodrich • Douglas A. Gowell • Francis E. Grogan • Carl Max Hammond • Christine Lee Hanson • Peter Hanson • Gerald F. Hardacre • Eric Samadikan Hartono • James E. Hayden • Herbert W. Homer • Michael R. Horrocks • Robert Adrien Jalbert • Amy N. Jarret • Ralph Francis Kershaw • Sue Jue Kim-Hanson • Heinrich Kimmig • Amy R. King • Brian Kinney • Kathryn L. LaBorie • Robert George LeBlanc • Maclovio Lopez • Marianne MacFarlane • Alfred Gilles Padre Joseph Marchand • Louis Neil Mariani • Juliana Valentine McCourt • Ruth Magdaline McCourt • Wolfgang Peter Menzel • Shawn M. Nassaney • Marie Pappalardo • Patrick J. Quigley • Frederick Charles Rimmele • James M. Roux • Jesus Sanchez • Victor J. Saracini • Mary Kathleen Shearer • Robert Michael Shearer • Jane Louise Simpkin • Brian D. Sweeney • Michael C. Tarrou • Alicia Nicole Titus • Timothy Ray Ward • William M. Weems Posted at 12:11 AM
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Victims of the Sept. 11th Terrorist AttacksAMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 11 Anna Williams Allison • David Lawrence Angell • Lynn Edwards Angell • Seima Aoyama • Barbara Jean Ares Tegui • Myra Joy Aronson • Christine Barbuto • Carolyn Mayer Beug • Kelly Ann Booms • Carol Marie Bouchard • Neilie Anne Heffernan Casey • Jeffrey Dwayne Collman • Jeffrey W. Coombs • Tara Kathleen Creamer • Thelma Cuccinello • Patrick Currivan • Brian P. Dale • David DiMeglio • Donald Americo DiTullio • Alberto Dominguez • Paige Farley-Hackel • Alexander Milan Filipov • Carol Flyzik • Paul Friedman • Karleton D.B. Fyfe • Peter Alan Gay • Linda M. George • Edmund Glazer • Lisa Reinhart Fenn Gordenstein • Andrew Peter Charles Curry Green • Peter Paul Hashem • Robert Jay Hayes • Edward (Ted) R. Hennessy • John A. Hofer • Cora Hidalgo Holland • John Nicholas Humber • Waleed Iskandar • John Charles Jenkins • Charles Edward Jones • Robin Kaplan • Barbara Keating • David Kovalcin • Judy Larocque • Natalie Janis Lasden • Daniel John Lee • Daniel C. Lewin • Sara Elizabeth Low • Susan A. MacKay • Karen A. Martin • Thomas F. McGuinness • Christopher D. Mello • Jeffrey Peter Mladenik • Antonio Jesus Montoya Valdes • Carlos Alberto Montoya • Laura Lee Morabito • Mildred Naiman • Laurie Ann Neira • Renee Lucille Newell • Kathleen Ann Nicosia • Jacqueline J. Norton • Robert Grant Norton • John Ogonowski • Betty Ann Ong • Jane M. Orth • Thomas Nicholas Pecorelli • Berinthia Berenson Perkins • Sonia Morales Puopolo • David E. Retik • Jean Destrehan Roger • Philip M. Rosenzweig • Richard Barry Ross • Jessica Leigh Sachs • Rahma Salie • Heather Lee Smith • Dianne Bullis Snyder • Douglas J. Stone • Xavier Suarez • Madeline Amy Sweeney • Michael Theodoridis • James Anthony Trentini • Mary Barbara Trentini • Pendyala Vamsikrishna • Mary Alice Wahlstrom • Kenneth E. Waldie • John Wenckus • Candace Lee Williams • Christopher Rudolph Zarba Posted at 12:10 AM
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August 30, 2008Maudie HopkinsMaudie Celia White Hopkins, one of the last known widows of a Confederate soldier, died on Aug. 17. Cause of death was not released. She was 93. Born in Baxter County, Ark., Hopkins grew up in the Ozarks during the Great Depression. One of 10 children, she did laundry and cleaned houses to help her family put food on the table. One of her clients was William M. Cantrell, an elderly Confederate veteran and widower. Cantrell was only 16 when he enlisted in the Confederate army to fight in the War Between the States. Assigned to Company A, French's Battalion, of the Virginia Infantry, he was captured by the Yankees at Piketon in Kentucky, and sent to a prison camp in Ohio. Cantrell was eventually exchanged for a Northern prisoner, and sent home to Arkansas. Despite their 67-year age difference, Cantrell offered his hand in marriage. If Hopkins agreed to care for him in his final years, he would bequeath his land and home to her. In 1934, she consented to the marriage of convenience with "Mr. Cantrell," whom she described as a respectable man. The couple lived off his Confederate pension of $25, which arrived in the mail every two to three months. When he died from a stroke in 1937, the pension benefits ended. Cantrell was true to his word, however, and gave his wife all of his worldly possessions, including 200 acres, some chickens and a mule named Kit. Hopkins survived by planting a vegetable garden and living off the land. The chickens provided enough eggs to sell, and she used the money to buy sugar and make jelly. Hopkins wed three more times, and bore three children, two daughters and a son. A member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, she enjoyed sitting on her porch, attending religious services and making fried peach pies and applesauce cake. Posted at 11:41 PM
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August 15, 2008Sandy AllenAt 7 feet, 7 1/4 inches, Sandra Elaine Allen stood out in a crowd. Heads turned in her direction when she entered a room, and they all had to look up just to see her face. Allen's height separated her from the rest of society, but it also made her distinct. Over time, she embraced her stature and used it to teach children about accepting others who were different. "I'm very proud of being tall. And what I try to do -- if I can help even one person in my lifetime with their attitude toward life, then it's all worth it," Allen once said. The Chicago native was only 6 1/2 pounds at birth. A tumor caused her pituitary gland to produce an excess of growth hormone, and by the time she was 10, Allen had reached a height of 6 feet 3 inches. She surpassed 7 feet in her late teens, and underwent an operation in 1977 to stop further growth. Allen's school years were quite difficult because few of her peers would socialize with someone so tall. Since no stores sold clothing in her size, she had to make all of her own outfits. Allen purchased her shoes from a king-sized men's store (size 16EEE) and set her desk on blocks in order to write or type. Such are the trials of people with gigantism. They struggle to fit in, even when nothing seems to fit them. Recognition by the Guinness World Records in 1975 as the tallest woman on the planet changed everything. Allen cast off her shyness and did guest appearances on numerous television shows. She appeared in the Academy Award-winning film "Il Casanova di Federico Fellini" and made several appearances at the Guinness Museum of World Records. In 2001, her life story was chronicled in the book, "Cast a Giant Shadow: The Inspirational Life Story of Sandy Allen 'The Tallest Woman in the World'" by John Kleiman. She was also immortalized in the Split Enz song "Hello Sandy Allen." The final decade of Allen's life was spent at the Heritage House Convalescent Center, dealing with various health issues related to her size. The Shelbyville, Ind., nursing home is also the residence of Edna Parker, 115, the world's oldest person. Allen, 53, died on Aug. 13 from complications of diabetes and blood infections. She was buried in a custom-made, 8 foot 5 inch casket that will occupy four burial plots.
Posted at 8:50 PM
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July 26, 2008Randy PauschRandolf Frederick Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University professor whose final lecture about the importance of achieving one's childhood dreams became an Internet sensation and best-selling book, died on July 25 of pancreatic cancer. He was 47. The Baltimore native wanted to do many things with his life. As a child, he wrote a list of the dreams he hoped to someday achieve including: walk in zero gravity, write an entry in the World Book Encyclopedia, win stuffed animals, be like Captain Kirk and become an Imagineer for Disney. Pausch accomplished all but the Star Trek-inspired dream, though he did get to meet William Shatner, the actor who played Kirk. "It's really cool to meet your boyhood idol," Pausch once said. "But it's even cooler when he comes to you to see what cool stuff you're doing...That was just a great moment." Pausch graduated from Brown University and earned his doctorate in computer science from Carnegie Mellon. After teaching at the University of Virginia, he joined the faculty of Carnegie Mellon in 1997. For the next decade, Pausch taught popular classes in computer science, virtual reality and world building. He also helped launch the Alice project, an innovative 3-D environment that teaches computer programming through stories and games. Pausch first came into the public eye in September 2007 when he gave his final lecture at Carnegie Mellon in front of 400 students and colleagues. Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow wrote a feature article about "the lecture of a lifetime," and a video version of the inspirational speech soon appeared on YouTube. Millions of people sat in front of their computers and watched the 76-minute lecture, then shared it with others in e-mails and blogs. Pausch later gave an abridged version of his speech on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." ABC News named him as one of its three "Persons of the Year," and Time magazine listed him in its "100 Most Influential People" issue. At the urging of his wife, Jai, Pausch decided to compile his advice into a book, titled "The Last Lecture." He didn't want the writing process to take away time spent with his three children, however, so he dictated the chapters to co-author Zaslow while riding his exercise bike each day. Fifty-three bike rides/conversations turned into a manuscript, which was published this spring. In March, Pausch spoke before Congress on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Network. He shared a picture of his family and urged lawmakers to help fund research needed to fight pancreatic cancer, which is considered by the medical community to be the most deadly form of the disease. Pausch was diagnosed with it in August 2007. Although doctors predicted Pausch had about six month to live, he made it five months past that deadline. Pausch's final lecture shall serve as his true obituary: • Read the chapter left out of Pausch's book. Posted at 10:17 AM
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June 4, 2008Dianne OdellDianne Odell never let her poor health get in the way of a fulfilling life. Born in Jackson, Tenn., Odell was only 3 years old when doctors diagnosed her with "bulbo-spinal" polio. At the time, no vaccine was available, and the medical profession believed her only chance of survival would involve being confined to an iron lung, a 7-foot-long metal tube that forced air in and out of her lungs. While most polio patients switched from iron lungs to ventilators, Odell was unable to to do so because of a spinal deformity. But Odell didn't just exist in that cylindrical chamber. With the help of her family and home health care aides, she graduated with honors from Jackson High School. Odell then took several courses in psychology at Freed Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn. Although she didn't graduate, the college awarded her an honorary degree in 1987. Later in life, Odell became politically active. She volunteered for local campaigns, and even made phone calls to voters, urging them to support several state senators. Using a voice-activated computer program, Odell also penned "Blinky," a children's book about a wishing star, and began writing her autobiography. For her "Sassy 60th birthday," Odell was transported inside the iron lung to The Southern Hotel in Jackson, Tenn., where hundreds of guests honored her with a 9-foot birthday cake. Life in an iron lung costs about $60,000/year, yet her mother, Geneva, and father, Freeman, refused to institutionalize her. Keeping Odell at home, however, was a financial hardship for the aging couple. To help the family, the West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation and the Campbell Street Church of Christ established the Dianne Odell Fund. In 2001, more than 1,000 people, including former Vice President Al Gore and actor David Keith, attended a gala to raise money for her care. James Keach, producer and director of "Walk the Line," and his wife, actress Jane Seymour, befriended Odell as well, and helped raise money for her medical expenses. Odell died on May 28 after a thunderstorm knocked out the power to her home and shut down the iron lung. When the family's emergency generator did not start, her father manually pumped the machine. Weakened by small strokes she suffered in previous months, Odell was unable to keep breathing, and resuscitation efforts failed to revive her. She was 61. Posted at 10:59 AM
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May 3, 2008Pippa Bacca
Bacca and fellow artist Silvia Moro hitch-hiked from Milan to Israel and the Palestinian Territories as part of the "Brides on Tour" project. They separated in Istanbul with plans to reunite in Lebanon. "Ultimately, this long performance, this thumbing through countries devastated by wars, aimed to spreading a message of peace, of trust in people we would meet during the travel," Moro stated. "We wanted to witness the mutual relationship of different cultures, particularly referring to feminine figure and role, by collecting written documents, but also by making videos and taking pictures of those meetings, of those people's [lives], of their works and also of women's conditions." The brides intended to end their journey by washing their wedding dresses during a public art performance in Tel Aviv. But Bacca disappeared on March 31. Her naked body was found near the Turkish city of Gebze on April 11. Turkish police arrested Murat Karatas, 38, after he inserted his SIM card into Bacca's cell phone. He has reportedly confessed to raping and strangling her. Bacca's camera and pieces of her necklace were later found in Karatas' home. Born Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo, Bacca was the niece of the late conceptual Italian artist Piero Manzoni. When she wasn't promoting peace around the world, the 33-year-old resided in Milan. An exhibition titled "Barisin Gelini: Pippa Bacca" (Peace Bride: Pippa Bacca) will appear at the Taksim Art Gallery in Istanbul from May 17 to May 27. The Byblos Art Gallery in Verona also plans to show photographs and other items from Bacca's trip during an exhibit this autumn. • View a tribute posted on YouTube. Posted at 11:22 PM
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April 9, 2008Vicki Van MeterVictoria Louise Van Meter, a record-setting young pilot, committed suicide on March 15. She was 26. Born in Meadville, Pa., Van Meter discovered a passion for flying following a visit to the local airport in 1992. After taking several flying lessons, she made national headlines a year later for piloting a plane across the United States with only her flight instructor on board. The sixth grader, who encountered strong headwinds and turbulence on the five-day flight from Augusta, Maine to San Diego, Calif., set a record as the youngest girl to cross the nation. She was just 11 years old. In 1994, Van Meter took the controls of a single-engine Cessna 172 and flew from Augusta, Maine to Glasgow, Scotland. The trans-Altantic flight allowed the pre-teen to set yet another aviation record. Congress banned record-setting attempts by unlicensed pilots, however, after 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff, her father Lloyd Dubroff, 57, and her flight instructor Joe Reid, 52, were killed in a Wyoming crash. Van Meter's high-flying achievements took her to Washington D.C., where she received a guided tour of the White House by Vice President Al Gore. In 2003, she was featured in "Women and Flight - Portraits of Contemporary Women Pilots," a book by Carolyn Russo and a traveling exhibit highlighting 47 female pilots that's now at the Smithsonian Institution. Van Meter also co-authored "Taking Flight," a children's book about her flying exploits. Although she planned to become an astronaut when she grew up, Van Meter stopped flying after her trip to Europe. As an adult, she earned a criminal justice degree from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, and spent two years in the Peace Corps, serving in Moldova. Van Meter later worked as a surveillance investigator. In her spare time, she cared for her two dogs and cat and enjoyed sky diving. According to the coroner, Van Meter died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. She suffered from depression and opposed taking medication. Posted at 10:54 AM
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March 26, 2008Lazare PonticelliLazare Ponticelli, the last French veteran of World War I, died on March 12. Cause of death was not released. He was 110. Born in 1897, Ponticelli came from a poor family that struggled to eke out an existence in northern Italy. His mother sought work in France when he was still a toddler, leaving her children in the care of neighbors. When he was nine, Ponticelli's father and brother were killed in an accident. The boy didn't speak of word of French, but decided to travel alone by train from Italy to France to be with his mother. As a teenager, he cleaned chimneys and sold newspapers on the streets of Paris. When war broke out in 1914, Ponticelli felt he had to give back to his adopted country and join the fight. So at 16, he lied about his age in order to join the 1st Regiment de Marche of the French Foreign Legion. Ponticelli served as a foot soldier, or poilus, for a year in northern France, fighting the Germans in the trenches and digging ditches to bury the dead. In 1915, the Italian Army conscripted him into their own military and forcibly escorted him to Turin to fight the Austrian Army in Tyrol. Ponticelli became a machinegunner and during one battle he suffered a shrapnel wound to the face. He refused to stop firing his weapon and seek treatment until the Austrian troops raised white cloths and surrendered. After his convalescence in Naples, Ponticelli returned to the front only to be gassed in 1918 by the Austrians. Ponticelli returned to his adopted home in 1920, where he and two of his brothers founded "Ponticelli Freres" ("Ponticelli Brothers"), a heating and pipe company that is still in business today. Although he was too old to fight in World War II, Ponticelli became a French citizen in 1939 and joined the Resistance in 1942. He restarted his business after the war, and continued to work until retiring in 1960. Ponticelli's final years were spent in Le Kremlin Bicetre, a suburb of Paris. A modest man, he kept his war awards -- the Croix de Buerre, the Medaille Interalliee, the Legion d'honneur and the Order of Vitttorio Veneto -- hidden in a shoebox. Ponticelli never wanted a state funeral, nationwide accolades or interment in the Pantheon, but he agreed to be remembered in a simple ceremony so long as it focused on "those who died" on the battlefield. On March 17, President Nicolas Sarkozy lead a funeral ceremony at Les Invalides, the Paris military hospice that also houses the tomb of Napoleon. The event, which honored Ponticelli and the 8.5 million other Frenchmen who fought in World War I, was followed by a simple family burial. Posted at 10:44 AM
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March 10, 2008Jeff Healey
Born and raised near Toronto, Healey was diagnosed with a rare form of retinal cancer when he was only one years old. The disease, known as retinoblastoma, claimed his eyesight. Blindness could not halt Healey's passion for music. At three, he picked up his first guitar and taught himself to play by laying the instrument across his lap. In his teens, Healey continued to hone his guitar skills while also learning how to play the trumpet and the clarinet. He graduated from Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, performed in several bands, studied musical theory and emulated musicians such as B.B. King, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. He would eventually share a stage with King as well as George Harrison, Ringo Starr, ZZ Top, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Healey formed The Jeff Healey Band in 1985. The group performed hundreds of concerts over a two-year period before signing with Arista Records and recording "See the Light." The album, which featured the hit single "Angel Eyes," went platinum in the United States and eventually sold two million copies worldwide. "See the Light" also earned Healey a Grammy nomination and the 1990 Juno Award for Entertainer of the Year. In 1989, The Jeff Healey Band performed their bluesy brand of rock music in the movie "Road House," starring Patrick Swayze. Soon they were filling stadium venues with thousands of fans. Healey also had a love for jazz, a genre of music he concentrated on in the 1990s. He once again picked up the trumpet, and recorded several albums with his jazz band, Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards. Healey also hosted the radio show "My Kinda Jazz" on CBC Radio and on Toronto's Jazz-FM station, and operated two clubs in Toronto. His final album, "Mess of Blues," which he recorded with the Healey's House Band, will be released on March 20 in Europe and on April 22 in North America. The cancer that plagued Healey in infancy returned in 2006. The husband and father of two underwent numerous operations to remove tumors from his lungs and leg, as well as aggressive radiation and chemotherapy treatments, but the disease continued to wreak havoc on his body. Healey fought the cancer physically and spiritually, but also musically, giving concerts that raised money for Daisy's Eye Cancer Research Fund. Two memorial concerts are scheduled to be held in May in Toronto. Information on tickets and acts will be posted on Healey's Website. Later this year, Stony Plain will reissue two of his jazz albums, "Among Friends" and "Adventures in Jazzland." Posted at 10:17 AM
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©2003-2008 Jade Walker
Remembering Jeff Healey
