# The Celebrity Death Pool 2008 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439 "2007-12-01T11:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 54
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1062 "2008-09-09T19:11:04Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > True 'nough. I’m getting tired of waiting for Fidel to kick it. Don’t even get me started on Ariel Sharon (who isn’t a Commie, but has been in a coma quite long enough.) He will die when everyone takes him off their Dead Pool Easy Pickin’ List. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1063 "2008-09-09T21:00:24Z")
[Don Gutteridge,](http://nationalpost.pa-sportsticker.com/default.aspx?s=mlb-news-display&nid=A2060281220911664A) who managed the Chicago White Sox in 1969 and 1970, has passed away at the age of 96. Gutteridge, who helped turn five double plays in one game of the 1944 World Series as a member of the St. Louis Browns, was the oldest living former Major League Baseball manager or coach just before his death. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1064 "2008-09-10T22:42:53Z")
[Imam W. Deen Mohammed](http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/newsletter/dp-imamdies,0,5430601.story?page=1), the son of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, has died at the age of 74. After Elijah Muhammad’s death, W. Deen Mohammed took over the Nation, renamed it the World Community of al-Islam in the West, and reshaped it into a less black-centered, more traditionally Muslim organization. Louis Farrakhan, whose bid to succeed Elijah Muhammad had been turned aside, subsequently broke with Mohammed and formed a splinter group which revived the Nation of Islam name. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1065 "2008-09-12T13:40:17Z")
[Gregory Mcdonald](http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-ap-obit-mcdonald,0,4299277.story), who wrote the “Fletch” books that inspired two Chevy Chase films, has died at the age of 71. Mcdonald, a two-time winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award, was also a journalist with the _Boston Globe_. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1066 "2008-09-12T13:47:31Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > [Gregory Mcdonald](http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-ap-obit-mcdonald,0,4299277.story), who wrote the “Fletch” books that inspired two Chevy Chase films, has died at the age of 71. Mcdonald, a two-time winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award, was also a journalist with the _Boston Globe_. I didn’t picture him as that old. The Fletch books were very witty; as usual, the movies really butchered them. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1067 "2008-09-13T02:43:02Z")
[George Putnam, who went from an active announcer of 1940s network radio to a longtime figure in LA television, has died at 94](http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_10447298) ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1068 "2008-09-13T23:35:58Z")
[Ralph Plaisted, whose 1968 expedition to the North Pole may have been the first to do so, has died at 80](http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iEmiNU8M5A8GhQI9qrNQzw_2acewD93423A04) ---
**Author:** ![meenie7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@meenie7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meenie7)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1069 "2008-09-14T01:35:34Z")
No story yet, but the AP wire sent out a news alert that author David Foster Wallace was found dead in his home. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1070 "2008-09-14T01:42:14Z")
Wikipedia already says he hanged himself in his home. Those guys are fast… I wonder if they’re both fast and accurate this time? ---
**Author:** ![meenie7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@meenie7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meenie7)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1071 "2008-09-14T01:50:51Z")
Looks like they are: [QUOTE=Associated Press] CLAREMONT, Calif. — A police spokeswoman says writer David Foster Wallace has been found dead in his Southern California home. He was 46. Jackie Morales, a records clerk with the Claremont Police Department, says Wallace’s wife found her husband had hanged himself when she returned home about 9:30 p.m. Friday. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1072 "2008-09-14T04:30:59Z")
[Here’s a link to the Wallace obituary.](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080914/ap_en_ot/obit_wallace) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1073 "2008-09-15T01:34:34Z")
[Joey Giardello](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/sports/othersports/08giardello.html), the victim of multiple health problems IRL, and artistic license in the movie [The Hurricane (1999)](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0174856/). ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1074 "2008-09-15T17:17:45Z")
[Richard Wright of Pink Floyd.](http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080915/ap_en_mu/eu_britain_pink_floyd)☹ ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1075 "2008-09-15T20:04:51Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > [Richard Wright of Pink Floyd.](http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080915/ap_en_mu/eu_britain_pink_floyd)☹ Shine on you (not so) crazy (in fact, probably the only sane one in the band) diamond. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1076 "2008-09-16T01:38:22Z")
Just reporting in to say +9 months and nobody on my list of immortals is dead yet. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1077 "2008-09-16T01:48:47Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > Just reporting in to say +9 months and nobody on my list of immortals is dead yet. So? Mine are writing books about how they beat cancer.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1078 "2008-09-16T02:46:16Z")
[Peter Camejo, who ran for President as a Socialist Workers Party candidate, for Vice-President as Ralph Nader’s running mate, and thrice for Governor of California as a Green, has died at 68](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/14/BAIQ12TMO3.DTL&type=politics) ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1079 "2008-09-17T22:46:37Z")
> [@Governor\_Quinn](#): > > [Peter Camejo, who ran for President as a Socialist Workers Party candidate, for Vice-President as Ralph Nader’s running mate, and thrice for Governor of California as a Green, has died at 68](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/14/BAIQ12TMO3.DTL&type=politics) A unique pick for **Fear Itself** ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1080 "2008-09-18T02:08:33Z")
[Norman Whitfield, noted songwriter/record producer (especially with Motown), has died](http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-whitfield18-2008sep18,0,7855302.story) ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/1081 "2008-09-18T02:37:21Z")
> [@Governor\_Quinn](#): > > [Norman Whitfield, noted songwriter/record producer (especially with Motown), has died](http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-whitfield18-2008sep18,0,7855302.story) Good God, y’all! What was he good for? Absolutely 33 points! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439.md?page=53) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439.md?page=55)