I ended up surfing a lot on youtube today. <And it gives me recommendations and often I look at them>
I ended up with many Carlin things.
I wanted him to live until I died <selfish fan thing>. But he was freaking amazing.
Who is the person you wish were still around?
I miss Frank Zappa.
Yeah, I miss Frank.
Bob Hope or George Burns.
George Carlin would definitely be on my list as well. His last special(Bad for Ya’) was great.
John Lennon’s an obvious choice. It still makes me shake my head.
Johnny Carson was part of my evenings forever. He died way too soon. I miss that guy.
Isaac Asimov… and recently, Ray Bradbury
Jerry Garcia 
She was hitting her creative second wind at 41, had found new love after years of heartbreak, with a tragic, senseless death at the hands of an entitled rich asshole and died saving the lives of her children.
Twelve years later, just recalling it brings a lump to my throat, and if I keep thinking about it I’ll wind up in tears. A fucking brilliant songwriter, easily the equal of Elvis Costello or anyone you could name, and a really decent, down-to-earth person. I miss her every time I hear her music.
I read the article you linked to, as I’m sorry to say I was not familiar with her work.
What a sad ending, but as you said, she saved the life of her son. That says something right there about the kind of person she was. I don’t think I’d want to vacation in Mexico anytime soon.
Two songs you might know. The first was called They Don’t Know, and due to circumstances beyond her control, did not become a hit for her. But four years later, it became a huge hit for Tracy Ullman, who adopted it as the theme song of her TV show. Kirsty introduced the song at Chicago’s Double Door by shouting “God Bless Tracy Ullman!”
The other one you might know is the Pogues song Fairy Tale of New York, where she was a guest vocalist.
Few things hit me harder than acts of heroic self-sacrifice. My wife and I met her a few times, and despite her immense talent never came across as anything other than a normal person.
Seconded on Kirsty. Also, Joe Strummer.
I had a weird moment the other day when I came across some old Steve Irwin vids on Youtube, and it genuinely struck me that the world lost someone quite unique when he died. I miss Steve.
Bill Hicks
Rodney Dangerfield
John Belushi
Gilda Radner
Gregory Peck
Audrey Hepburn
Raymond Chandler
Zappa’s cool, but I’d rather have my old man around.
Heath Ledger. I saw him, as has been said of Brad Pitt, as a character actor trapped in a leading man’s body and was excited to spend the years watching him grow into that. I feel cheated.
Robert Nesta Marley
Ian Curtis
Adam Yauch
My first thought was Fred Astaire, the world is about 3% less fun without him. But reviewing the upstream posts reminded me of Rodney Dangerfield. I miss him too.
Bill Hicks. Pierre Desproges. Dean Martin.