From:    Albertus Magnus                        Area: Metaphysical
To:      All                                    31 Jul 94 21:31:34
Subject: The Week in Death: July 8-14           UpdReq 

Title: The Week in Death: July 8-14
 POEM OF THE WEEK:
 The Gashlycrumb Tinies
 ``A is for Amy, who fell down the stairs,
  B is for Basil, assaulted by bears.
  C is for Clara, who wasted away,
  D is for Desmond, thrown out of a sleigh.
  E is for Ernest, who choked on a peach,
  F is for Fanny, sucked dry by a leach.
  G is for George, smothered under a rug,
  H is for Hector, done in by a thug.
  I is for Ida, who drowned in a lake,
  J is for James, who took lye by mistake.
  K is for Kate, who was struck with an axe,
  L is for Leo, who swallowed some tacks.
  M is for Maude, who was swept out to sea,
  N is for Nevil, who died of ennui.
  O is for Olive, run through with an awl,
  P is for Prue, trampled flat in a brawl.
  Q is for Quentin, who sank in a mire,
  R is for Rhoda, consumed by a fire.
  S is for Susan, who perished of fits,
  T is for Titus, who flew into bits.
  U is for Una, who slipped down a drain,
  V is for Victor, squashed under a train.
  W is for Winnie, imbedded in ice,
  X is for Xerxes, devoured by mice.
  Y is for Yoric, whose head was knocked in,
  Z is for Zilla, who drank too much gin.
                                           -- Edward Gorey
 THE WEEK IN DEATH (July 8-July 14)
 Gary Kildall (52), computer scientist.  Kildall was an innovative and
 creative programmer who in the 1970s wrote the Control Program/Monitor
 (CP/M) operating system.  In 1980, IBM asked Kildall if he'd write an
 OS for Big Blue's personal computer.  The legend says that he stood up
 some IBM representatives in order to go flying, meanwhile this pushy
 little schmendrick named Bill Gates happened to find out that IBM
 needed an OS and cut a deal to supply one, even though he didn't have
 one at the time.  Partially true.  At the time IBM was about as arrogant
 as a corporation has ever got, and Kildare, a fairly laid-back fellow,
 wasn't taking IBM's suits seriously enough for their taste.  He signed
 an agreement with them, but IBM priced his OS way higher than Gates'
 MS-DOS, which won the day.  Aw, well, Gates probably makes a better
 target for Berke Breathed.
 Robert E. Lee (75), playwright.  After losing the Civil War, Lee went
 back to his Virginia home and started writing.  He was co-author of
 ``Inherit the Wind,'' ``Auntie Mame,'' and ``Mame,'' all with Jerome
 Lawrence.
 Richard Light (92), surgeon.  Light was the grandson of the founder of
 Upjohn.  His father was a friend of the Wright Brothers, and watching
 them sparked an affinity for flying.  He would take a lot of aerial
 photos during his flights around the globe, and his shots of Africa
 were published by the American Geographical Society, of which he later
 served as president (1947-55).  He is believed to be the last resident
 trained by Harvey Cushman, the father of neurosurgery; Light's film of
 Cushman's 2,000th brain tumor removal is supposed to be a real hit at
 neurosurgeon parties.
 Lars-Eric Lindblad (67), tour operator.  A pioneer in exotic tours and
 eco-tourism.  TWIDman took his company's Sea of Cortez cruise and it
 was way cool beyond words, except for the throwing up.  Lindblad also
 put out a couple of attractive coffee table books of photography.
 Cameron Mitchell (75), actor.  Buck Cannon on TV's ``Chaparral,'' and
 the originator of the role of Biff in ``Death of a Salesman'' on
 Broadway.  He frequently played tough-guy roles.  Films include ``The
 Swarm,'' ``My Favorite Year,'' and ``Hombre.''
 Bill Mosienko (72), athlete.  A Hall of Fame hockey player with the
 Chicago Blackhawks, Mosienko still holds the record for the fastest
 hat trick, having scored three goals in the space of 21 seconds
 against the Rangers in 1952.
 Newt (NA), small semiaquatic salamander.  The Columbia's most prolific
 egg layer -- she produced about 40 eggs in the space (pun intended) of
 a week.  Astronauts said she apparently died of stress.
 Jimmie Reese (92), athlete, coach.  Reese was associated with baseball
 for 78 years, starting as a batboy for the Pacific Coast League LA
 Angels.  He played with the Yankees (he was Babe Ruth's roommate for a
 time) and Cardinals.  He'd been a coach with the California Angels
 since 1972.
 R.J.  Reynolds 3d (60), heir.  Grandson of the founder of the R.J.
 Reynolds tobacco company.  Died of emphysema and congestive heart
 failure caused by smoking (tho he'd given up cigarettes in 1986).  That
 should give his brother Pat, an anti-smoking crusader, a little more
 incentive.
 Dick Sargent (64), actor.  Derwood #2 on ``Bewitched.'' Dick York was
 always a bit too high strung for our taste; we always preferred
 Sargent's slow burns.  We once had the unexpected privilege of briefly
 standing next to Sargent at a Twyla Tharp show and, man, was he tall.
 John Shad (71), chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission from
 1981-87.  This guy was hard to figure.  He cracked down hard on insider
 trading, but sat on his hands while corporate raiders ran
 no-money-down hostile takeovers and arbitrageurs (read ``con men'')
 constructed elaborate Ponzi schemes based on junk bonds.
 Earl Strom (66), NBA referee.  Strom blew the whistle back when men
 were men and two steps meant traveling.  A real ham on the court, Strom
 made sure that even the guys sitting in the rafters knew what your
 infraction was.  He may be best known for vaulting over the scorers'
 table and attempting to choke a heckling spectator after a televised
 game.
 Kim Il Sung (82), dictator.  As guilty as his many of his Communist
 contemporaries of atrocious ``purges'' that left tens of thousands
 dead.  His attempt to overrun South Korea started a terrible war that
 left more American dead than in Viet Nam.  Strangely enough, in person
 he appeared pleasant and reasonable, which surely must have
 contributed to his ability to build a cult of personality in his own
 country.  Let's see if his hermaphroditic-looking spawn can run the
 place without slaughtering his countrymen.
 From the Facts And Figures File (FAFF): According to statistics
 compiled by the Department of Justice, in 59.8 percent of spousal
 homicides, it's the husband who kills.  Sixteen percent of murder
 victims were killed by a family member.  Sixty-four percent were killed
 by someone they knew.  Firearms were used in 42 percent of family
 killings, and in 63 percent of murders not involving family members.
 Only 20 percent of the people who are murdered are murdered by strangers.
     One-fifth of all family murders were parents murdering their
 children (parents are more likely to kill their children than the
 other way around).  More often than not, the mother was the murderer.
 Mothers were more likely to kill a son; fathers more likely to kill a
 daughter.  Nearly 80 percent of the children slain had been abused by
 the parent who killed them.
 From the See?  He Should've Listened To Us Department (SHSHLTUD): We're
 looking for a print citation, but we heard a radio report that a young
 golfer got so upset over a poorly played round of golf that he took a
 wedge to a park bench.  The wedge shattered, and a shard pierced the
 golfer's heart, killing him instantly.
 Source: The Week in Death appears at the end of every week except for
 the next two weeks when it won't appear because TWIDman is off for the
 north woods of Maine (``America's Vacationland'' to you, bub) where he
 intends to interface with nothing more technologically advanced than a
 Schwedler Norway Maple.
 (The Week in Death is by Brian Santo, [B.SANTO@genie.geis.com].)


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