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Born Funny
Stan Brooks says good-bye to fellow writer and friend Peter—and also to the brilliantly funny PJ Torokvei. —-The two funniest people I have ever known are John Candy and PJ Torokvei. They were both...
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Mercury 7 Astronaut Scott Carpenter, 1925-2013
Rob Joyner remembers an American hero.Aurora 7 lifts off from Cape Canaveral on a three orbit mission around Earth. Four hours, 56 minutes and 5 seconds later, Scott Carpenter, age 37, becomes the...
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Lou Reed: An Appreciation
The music world loses its Rock and Roll Heart.“Legend’ is used much too loosely in the music business, but there’s no better word to describe the great Lou Reed, who passed away today at age 71. The...
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The Dean of Eye Contact: Clifford Nass Obit
Michael Stusser, our #DigitalMadness columnist, offers an essay-obituary about Professor Clifford Nass, one of his personal inspirations.We interviewed a ton of experts for my documentary Sleeping...
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RIP Pete Seeger – Folk Hero, American Icon, and Legendary Social Activist.
Before there was Bob Dylan, before there was Edward Snowden – there was Pete Seeger. —Last night, legendary folk musician Pete Seeger died at the age of 94 in New York. The world has lost a great man...
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Remembering ‘Wee Pals’ Creator Morrie Turner [VIDEO]
The man who brought the Civil Rights movement to the funny pages died this past Saturday, age 90. Here’s why he was so important.The great ones change the world not with a bang but with a whisper....
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Philip Seymour Hoffman Succumbs to Apparent Drug Overdose
Actor found dead this morning in his New York apartment.—Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead this morning, February 2, 2014, by a personal assistant. The actor was discovered in his Greenwich...
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Devo’s Bob Casale Passes Away, Fans Pay Tribute
Legendary band’s guitarist dies of heart failure at 61.Here’s what I remember: I was 11 years-old and obsessed with Saturday Night Live, though 90 percent of the jokes flew over my head. Fred Willard...
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Harold Ramis, RIP
The world is a little less funny now.—The saddest thing on a lot of people’s Facebook feeds today is “Oh no, the guy who played Egon died!” It’s sad not just because of the loss of a giant of American...
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He Was A Good Man: How Do You Want to be Remembered?
I’ve never really cared about my legacy, and then I read the obituary of a crazy racist.—I was raised in South Carolina, though I haven’t lived there now for close to 30 years. That’s irrelevant,...
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Macondo Mourns as the Yellow Butterflies Flutter Off: Gabriel “Gabo” Garcia...
“The only regret I will have in dying is if it is not for love.” — Gabriel Garcia Marquez. (1927-2014)Last Thursday the world lost one of its living legends, Colombia’s Gabriel García Márquez....
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The Legacy of Al Feldstein
The recently-departed editor reshaped the 20th century from behind the scenes.Once upon a time in another century, a man named Marvin Gaines died and left his business to his son William. William, or...
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Joan Rivers: An Empowered Trailblazer
To use her own words, Joan Rivers ‘succeeded by saying what everyone else is thinking.’___Comedienne, character, TV star, and legendary figure Joan Rivers who helped redefine the role of women and men...
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The Contraceptive Pill Was a Revolution for Women and Men
The recent death of Carl Djerassi calls on us to consider the world he helped change.–––By Sonia Oreffice, University of SurreyCarl Djerassi, who died recently aged 91, has been honoured globally for...
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Farewell Terry Pratchett: a Psychological Analysis of Discworld
It was only appropriate that the news of Terry Pratchett’s death at the age of 66 was announced not only by his publisher, but via his own Twitter account–––By Helen Gavin, University of...
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Tribute: Rowdy Roddy Piper in “They Live”
A tribute to wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, the star of one of Matthew Rozsa’s favorite movies, John Carpenter’s “They Live.”There is a YouTube video that pretty much any fan of ’80s action or science...
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Maryam Mirzakhani was a Role Model for more than just her Mathematics
Embed from Getty Images—Mehrdokht Pournader, Macquarie Graduate School of ManagementOn July 14, Maryam Mirzakhani, Stanford professor of mathematics and the only female winner of the prestigious...
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Respect: Aretha Franklin, ‘The Queen of Soul,’ Dies at Age 76
Aretha Franklin, “The Queen of Soul,” has died at age 76. She was the greatest woman singer of the modern music era, (fight me) she was the woman behind so much iconic music, and the clear role model...
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What the Monkees Meant to the Youngest Boomers
By Candy Leonard By the fall of 1966, the pop music renaissance the Beatles initiated was in full swing — as exemplified by their recently released Revolver. Though now widely considered one of the...
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Planning for Death Without Getting Creepy
— No one wants to think about all the details for the end of life. While we all know it’s coming, the reality of it coming to us as individuals leaves us feeling fractured. There seems to be an innate...
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