Mitch Hedberg
Steve Irwin
/Still a young’n. Didn’t really care about Princess Di.
JFK. I was getting ready to go out when the news came over the radio, I went cold all over.
Princess Diana. Heard it early Sunday morning, I just couldn’t believe it
John Lennon. When I heard of his shooting I would quite willingly have strangled Chapman, I was so fucking angry.
Jimmy Stewart. One of my all time fave actors.
All those innocents who died in the WTC atrocity
Marilyn Monroe. For obvious reasons, I was in love with her
Totally and utterly blown away. The death of a well known person has never affected me so much. I have never cried for a celebrity before.
There are a number of people already mentioned, like Steve Irwin, whose death surprised and saddened me when I heard about it. In terms of “truly memorable events,” though, the top ones are:
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John Lennon - I was getting ready for school when the news came on over the radio. I’d been a big Beatles fan as a little kid (early to mid 70s) and was psyched about his comeback, so I was really taken aback to hear that he was gone.
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the Challenger crew - I was at my internship at the Museum of Broadcasting (now the Museum of Television and Radio) that Tuesday morning. Someone down the hall had had a TV on to watch the shuttle launch, and I could hear them say loudly “Oh my God, the shuttle just blew up!” So a bunch of us piled into that office to watch the coverage. As someone who grew up soaked in sci-fi and dreaming of the stars, and who lived vicariously through the accomplishments of astronauts, it really was a harsh blow.
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Princess Di - I’d been watching something on Saturday night when Tom Brokaw cut in with the news that she’d been in a car crash, and then that she had died. It struck me mostly because she seemed far too young to be gone. Hers had been the ultimate modern princess story for teenaged American girls like me. I still remembered having gotten up at the crack of dawn to watch her marry Prince Charles, and then all the tabloid crap in the years that followed… seemed like she might finally have the chance to be happy in her adult life, and then she was gone.
September 11 has been the most profoundly disturbing public event of my adult life. I can only hope to never face anything like that again, but I’m not encouraged by the state of the world today.
Will Lee
Jim Henson.
Jim Henson. I hadn’t even been aware he was ill when his death was announced.
The Challenger 7
John Ritter, and Douglas Adams, talents whom I’d enjoyed. And never expected to see them gone so soon.
John Candy. More because there were times I’d wished I could be him, or the characters he played, than anything else. He should also be something of a wake up call to me, but…
Ditto. I’m still not over it. I can remember the moment I heard it and get misty just thinking about it.
Audrey Hepburn - I was and still am in love with Ms. Hepburn. Didn’t know she had cancer so when she died, a part of me died as well. Corny but true. I just popped My Fair Lady in the dvd player two hours ago and I had tears in my eyes.
John Lennon was by far the worst. I was young & idealistic then, and couldn’t believe something like that could happen.
Kurt Cobain was bad, too…I am the exact same age as him, and it seemed like such a sad waste of a young life. I so wish he had gotten the help he obviously needed.
I’d have to say RFK; I was nearly 16 and just getting interested in the political process. We’d been following the primaries at school. I was up late the night of the California primary, studying for an exam the next day and didn’t sleep well that night, so heard my Mom when she told my Dad about the shooting early the next morning. 1968 was such an awful year in that regard; MLK had just been assassinated 2 months earlier, and I was the first in the family to find out about that death since I was watching the news when it came on.
Beyond that, JFK’s assassination affected me as it did most of the country - plus then there was also the assassination of Oswald by Ruby that played nationwide, live. At 11, it was a sobering thing to see indeed. But didn’t affect me in quite the same way that Bobby’s did 5 years later. After these, I’d have to say: John Lennon, Princess Diana and JFK Jr.
Buddy Holly
Richie Valens
The Big Bopper
I was very young at the time and had just discovered rock 'n roll maybe a month before and all of a sudden it seemed as if 90 percent of those that sang it were dead.
Then there was Joplin, Hendrix and Mama Cass in pretty quick succession.
Karen Carpenter - More than twenty years later I still feel a certain sadness when I hear her sing.
Gilda Radner - I’d just finished reading her autobiography in which she sounded so damn hopeful at the end that she’d beaten cancer. A couple weeks later, we got the news.
Madeline Kahn - I loved everything she was in. Twenty years or so ago she hosted “Saturday Night Live” and sang in a skit that I’ve yet to ever see again in syndication that had me giggling for hours. I don’t remember the specifics but she was painted in gold and was the top of a bowling trophy singing a song that again, I can’t really remember but I know it just had me in stitches.
I miss these three very much.
In 1995 she hosts and she sings “Ain’t Got No Home” by Clarence “Frogman” Henry.
Her other two hostings were in 1976 and again in 1977.
Jim
Just to be clear, you’re talking about the actor who played Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street.
At first I thought you were talking about the legendary bass player, and thought I’d miss the news of his death. He was on Letterman friday night, so that would have been a shocker.
Her death didn’t really affect me, but as time has gone on I’ve come to really appreciate her skills, and I miss her. The same goes for Phil Hartman, although his death was a shock and I was more aware of who was at the time of his death.
I loved that SNL skit! I believe Madeline Kahn’s song was called “Bowling with the Master,” and it was sung to the tune of an old hymn, “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning.” The only lyrics I remember:
In an alabaster alley,
Silver balls and golden pins,
You’ll be bowling with the Master,
But the Master always wins.
God.
Damn you, Nietzsche!
Harry Chapin–I heard the news on the radio one Saturday? morning. I always felt he was such a nice guy.
Raul Julia–He had been sick but I was still shocked and sad to hear he died. Again, he seemed very special.
Oh wow, that’s it! pf, thank you, you ROCK! Now my quest is to find it out there on the Internet. Gosh, I’m just thrilled that someone else remembers it and remembers why it was so funny!
JFK
I was in 5th grade when JFK was killed. The teacher was in tears. Hell, we all were in tears.