Homer's Travels: Summer Of Death

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Summer Of Death

Is it just me or are a lot of famous people dieing this summer? We've seen so many the past few months that the Wife and I are starting to call this the Summer of Death.

I first took noticed after the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. I'd forgotten about the death of David Carradine and I wasn't even aware of the death of David Eddings, an author I'd once followed almost religiously. They were followed by Billy Mays and Fred Travalena ... all in the month of June. Oh, and let's not forget John Houghtaling, the inventor of the Magic Fingers coin-operated vibrating bed - how many of us wasted quarters in those noisy, violent, hokey motel beds.

July wasn't much better. Karl Malden. Robert McNamara. Walter Cronkite. Frank McCourt. Actor, politician, trusted man, and author.

August isn't over yet and it's already turning into a deadly month. John Hughes. Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Les Paul. Robert Novac. Don Hewitt.

I'm always surprised at the end of the year when the media says goodbye to all those who left us during the year. This year the list will include a lot of people I've heard of. Dom DeLuise. Bea Arthur. Paul Harvey. Philip Jose Farmer. Ricardo Montalban. There's a whole list of dead people here.

I suppose it all depends on your age and who you grew up watching, listening to, reading, and voting for. I imagine every generation hits that point when all their childhood celebrities, authors, politicians, and other influential people reach their expiration date. It just feels like there have been a lot more lately.

Note: All this death and dieing finally got us to make a call we'd been putting off for way too long. We called a lawyer to work on our estate planning.

6 comments:

  1. I know it's not your fault but that post made me think of those thousands of "unknowns" who die every day. I think there is too much emphasis on those so called famous people. The hype for M. Jackson particularly was just exaggerated.

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  2. Godefroy: That's a very good point. Fortunately none of my 'real life' friends and acquaintances have died recently.

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  3. Well, just as the Baby Boom has influenced everything from fashion to music to industry, the Boomers will soon be leaving their mark on the funeral trade.

    In a matter of years the Boomers will start "dying off in droves" and I suspect it will be something of a shock for most of us.

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  4. Phil: Those baby boomers. They cause all the problems in this world of ours. Wait a sec ... I'm a boomer ... damn.

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  5. MH: Yep, the Summer takes another victim.

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