Dead People Of The Year

I list Heath ledger first, because his role of the Joker in the Batman movie The Dark Knight should be one of the most popular Halloween costumes this year. His death is also perhaps the most tragic of all notable deaths for the year, coming as it did at the height of such a successful acting career.

Others of note include-

William Buckley-one of the founders of the modern conservatism movement in America and the founder of the National Review, who might well this night pay a visit to his son Chris Buckley. Chris should leave all the lights in his house on tonight.

Tim Russert-I used to criticize him for being so obviously in the tank for the Democrats and for John McCain for the Republicans. I'm just sorry he didn't live long enough to see Sarah Palin named as McCain's VP nominee. That probably would have done him in.

Bob Fossett-I never could wrap my head around this. If I were a billionaire, I would spend my life trying to do good, but I would damn sure make sure I kept myself safe while I was doing it to the best of my ability. I would also enjoy my life to the fullest. I guess you could make the argument that Fossett was doing precisely that by putting himself in constant danger. When poor people do that kind of stuff, it's generally referred to as a "death wish". When wealthy people like Fossett do it, they are "pioneer adventurers". He finally got it by smashing an experimental plane into the side of a mountain. It took a year to find the crash site in the California mountains. There was no conceivable way he could have survived.

One of my favorite lines in a book is from The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy, and one of those lines, paraphrased, sums up Fossets life and death-

"You only got so much good luck in life and you've used up all yours on stupid shit."

Quincy Jones-Not much of a fan of his, but his influence on the music world is undeniable, and he will obviously be missed.

Benazzir Bhuto-I think was this year, or maybe just this Pagan year following the last Samhain. She was the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, who was deposed and at one point run out of the country, yet returned and seemed on her way back to an easy election to a return performance that in all probability would have amounted to more of the same. I consider her one of the leftist world's most beloved corrupt politicians, a pickpocket on an international scale. She built up a cult of personality in a country that almost assured eventual martyrdom.

There are others of course. The lead singer of the Four Tops, for example, as well Arkansas news anchor Anne Pressley, whose assault and eventually resulting death I blogged about. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the brutally tragic and senseless deaths of the mother, brother, and nephew of actress-singer Jennifer Hudson at the hands of an in-law who seems to be a habitual criminal offender with a violent past.

Although I don't have his name handy, one of this years deaths was that of a man who might well have been the last surviving World War I veteran. If he wasn't the last, he was certainly one of the very few remaining. He had entered the war by lying about his age, a mere fifteen at the time, and though he saw no action to speak of, he was there, and his passing certainly marks at least the final approach of the end of an era.

As of now, so far as I know, cult film director Kenneth Anger is still alive, though he predicted his death would happen this Halloween. He says he is dying of prostate cancer, and it could well be he is planning a doctor assisted suicide. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it doesn't become a film, maybe starring himself and Jack Kevorkian, which would probably mark it as a probable Halloween prank.

It would probably feature one of his patented typically shitty musical scores.