Wednesday, May 26, 2010
DEAD PEOPLE SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS: In another edition of our premorse report, I regret to inform you that Art Linkletter was not already dead when he died yesterday at the age of 97. He was married for almost 75 years, which is just awesome, but seriously, how was this guy still alive long enough to be dead only now?
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As I said in the Board Meeting, hearing Adam say "Art Linklater, DEAD" was about the same as saying "Calvin Coolidge, DEAD" or "Alexis de Toqueville, DEAD." Had he lived one day longer, he certainly would have been the most surprisingly alive person on any list of surprisingly alive people.
ReplyDeleteMore surprising than Dolores Hope or Yitzhak Shamir?
ReplyDeleteYes, we have been tossing around the Surprisingly Alive list at HQ.
Doris Day? Vo Nguyen Giap?
ReplyDeleteETA: usually when famous people turn 100, there's a bit of attention, so we know they're alive. The modernist composer Elliot Carter, for example, had a big to-do last year, but he's still composing. It's those in the 97-99 range (like Linklater and Giap) who slip thru the cracks.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I knew Shamir was alive, and I am only assuming that I know who Dolores Hope is.
ReplyDeleteIf we're being honest, I think Lindsay Lohan is the most surprisinlgy alive person.
ReplyDeleteThe helpful resource which led to the HQ discussion--list of famous or pseudo-famous people who are 85+. (This may ultimately be worthy of a separate post.)
ReplyDeleteFair enough, Alex, although the emotion I have been seeking to define is about people you assume must be already dead. We're surprised Lohan hasn't died, yes, but we are all aware she is still alive. So there's no revelation here of her putative now-deadness.
ReplyDeleteInteresting list. Though I didn't recognize many names on the list, of the ones that I knew I assumed that about half of them were dead. Also, each time this issue comes up (and it seems to do so with sone regularity) I think to myself, "I'm not dead...I'm not...I'm getting better."
ReplyDeleteI've always liked what Ernest Hemingway said before he checked himself out. Reading the morning paper he would exclaim: "Christ! People are dying this year who never died before."
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that Beverly Cleary should have been on my premorse list! Those books must have been published waaay before I thought they were- I may need to investigate this.
ReplyDeleteErnest Borgnine. I've had him in the office Celebrity Death Pool for about 20 years now. The guy's gotta go sometime.
ReplyDeleteAnd does Keith Richards count?
I'm always surprised when Patricia Neal shows up somewhere. I remember hearing the news of her stroke when I was little, and I just can't get it out of my head that she survived it.
ReplyDeleteI heard on the news last night that Linkletter had died, and my first thought was,"Wow, there's a case of premorse. I was SURE that guy was dead."
ReplyDelete