# What contemporary author, actor, or artist's death will you most grieve? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423 "2005-08-17T13:27:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/1 "2005-08-17T13:27:47Z")
A moment ago, I was reading the Wikipedia article on police procedurals when I came across a reference to the master of the genre, Ed McBain. The reference spoke of the great Hunter as if he were still alive (he died earlier this year), so I edited the article accordingly. As I added an explanation to the talk page, I felt moved to add, “and then I cried because Ed McBain was dead.” ;j Mostly I was just being a smart-ass. But I did grieve a bit over Ed McBain, and I can easily imagine being very bummed if I had been alive when C. S. Lewis died, or if I had been a Tolkienite when J. R. R. died. So naturally I wonder – what other artist (I’m using the term to cover authors, painters, musicians & actors as well) might I (and fellow dopers) mourn the most? 5 names off the top of my head: **Robert B. Parker** , author of the Spenser, Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone series, and other detective and non-crime novels. True, he’s not as brilliant as he was in his prime – but his best books always seemed like affective, sparse prose poems on violence, honor, and grief. **Valerie Martin** , author of _A Recent Martyr_, _The Great Divorce_, and several other brilliant books. Of course, no one has ever heard of her but me – but she’s so incredibly talented that her novels leave me simultaneously emotionally exhausted and envious of her gift. **William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy**. No, they’re not great actors. But they’re a big part of my childhood; my brothers and sisters and I were all \*Star Trek \* fans, and the image of s gathered around the television at 1500 every weekday afternoon to watch the adventures of the Enterprise is precious to me. **M. Night Shyamalan.** \*Signs \* remains one of my favorite movies of all time. The alleged plot holes don’t bother me because it’s not really about the alien invasion; it’s about God. (Some other time I’ll discourse on why Signs’ plot holes aren’t what they seem.) Next? ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/2 "2005-08-17T13:34:44Z")
A few months ago was the second time I cried when a public figure died and am still tearing up to think of it. RIP Bob Hunter, Planetarian. The first was Jim Henson, puppeteer. I will also weep for Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (author) and Neil Young (songwriter, performer). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/3 "2005-08-17T13:43:48Z")
River Pheonix was the hardest for me so far, because he was my age and hadn’t burned out (yet.) Jim Henson and Fred Rogers were really tough as well. For some reason, Judi Dench was the first to pop into my head when reading the title of the OP. I know she’s older, and has had a fantastic career (and, one hopes, life) and she’s still got another decade or two, potentially. But I just admire her work so much. I get a little weepy thinking about her not being around. (\*Iris \*was such a painful movie for me to watch - I had to turn it off several times, and I’m NOT a cryer-at-movies.) ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/4 "2005-08-17T13:46:20Z")
I keep thinking that **Kurt Vonnegut** is going to die one of these days. I mean, he’s 82 and still smoke unfiltered Pall Malls, so I’d say he’s beating the odds as it is. Sure, he’s stopped writing, but I’d still be sad to see him go. The blessed man [has a holiday](http://www.vonnegut.com/images/news/KVproclamation.jpg), though, which we can remember him on. The death of **Jimmy Carter** would also distress me considerably. **Walter Mondale** , too. There are lots of others who are a lot farther from death’s door, whom I won’t say anything about. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/5 "2005-08-17T13:56:46Z")
Tom Robbins. He was the first author to make me really sit up and go ‘damn!’ The novel was Jitterbug Bug - I was probably 14 years old. Still one of my all time favorite authors. Paul Simon, Neil Young, Earl Scruggs and Del McCoury all make the musicians list for me. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/6 "2005-08-17T13:57:49Z")
Er, that would be **Jitterbug Perfume**. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/7 "2005-08-17T14:04:59Z")
I’ll mourn Tom Waits (musician) and Stan Lee (comic book writer) the most, probably. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/8 "2005-08-17T14:06:51Z")
As mentioned by **Fabulous Creature** , **Robert B. Parker**. Also **Elmore Leonard, Tom Wolfe** , all because I read their books as soon as they are published. \*\*Florence King \*\* has pretty much retired from writing, but I’ll mourn her anyway. **B.B. King**. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/9 "2005-08-17T14:42:52Z")
**Paul McCartney** & **Ringo Starr** –I’ve already had too much practice grieving for that lot. **Sonny Rollins** , not that I’m really such a huge fan, but because, now that Jimmy Smith is gone, he’s pretty much the last of the really first-rank classic jazz guys. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/10 "2005-08-17T14:45:11Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > **Sonny Rollins** , not that I’m really such a huge fan, but because, now that Jimmy Smith is gone, he’s pretty much the last of the really first-rank classic jazz guys. Good call. I actually am a huge fan, and I’m so glad I got to see him perform live a few years ago, before it was too late. I’m a sax player myself, so hearing Sonny really was like being in the presence of a Master, like an aspiring artist being able to see DaVinci at work. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/11 "2005-08-17T14:47:37Z")
Bob Dole William F. Buckley Christopher Lee - the last survivor in the chain of horror greats (Karloff, Lugosi, the Chaneys, Price, Cushing & Lee). Only Anthony Hopkins is in their league (a great actor who regularly does horror). ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/12 "2005-08-17T15:35:00Z")
Bob Dylan, despite the underwear commercial. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/13 "2005-08-17T16:06:34Z")
Willie Nelson. I don’t even like to think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/14 "2005-08-17T17:07:56Z")
I’ll be bereft when **Zsa Zsa** , the Last of the Gabors, goes. I can’t picture a world with no Gabors (and, no, Francesca doesn’t count). There have always been Gabors, since Mama Jolie was born sometime in the late 17th century. The world, I fear, will go from glorious Technicolor into black and white. And not the good kind of nitrate-film black and white. ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/15 "2005-08-17T17:24:06Z")
**J K Rowling,** if she kicks it before she finishes book 7. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/16 "2005-08-17T17:37:35Z")
Sadly, Frank Zappa and Phil Dick are both gone already. Their art and musings were a huge part of my adolescence, and helped form the (admittedly odd) person I am today. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/17 "2005-08-17T17:39:18Z")
Famous person: Sean Connery. Not-so-famous: An artist in California named Marelyn Johnson. 'cause she’s my aunt… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/18 "2005-08-17T17:39:35Z")
Staying only with those old enough to be my parents: AUTHOR: Since Kurt is taken (my real first choice), I’ll go with Gore Vidal. I don’t like his fiction but I love his essays (even when I don’t agree with him). Plus, he’s just such a merciless old bitch who has pissed off all the right people and known everybody. ACTORS: female- Carol Burnett. She’s a vital part of my childhood and her _Eunice_ was the first inclination that “I’m not alone!” in terms of family histrioncis. For actors, Hal Holbrook- another major part of my childhood (I used to listen to his Mark Twain records on a loop and I’ve been lucky enough to see him onstage 3 times now) and the star of my all time favorite TV miniseries (_The Awakening Land_, a movie of a quality that would never be made now). ARTISTS: Hmmm. Is that Yves Klein guy still alive? Then I guess I got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/19 "2005-08-17T17:55:03Z")
> [@Airblairxxx](#): > > **J K Rowling,** if she kicks it before she finishes book 7. Similarly, **Robert Jordan**. Regardless of the quality of the books, _there must be closure._ ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/20 "2005-08-17T18:17:56Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Willie Nelson. I don’t even like to think about it. Geez, yes. I still choke up when I think that Johnny Cash is no longer with us. Willie’s right up there with Johnny in my pantheon of _Dying Won’t Be So Bad If There’s A Heaven Cuz Maybe I’ll Get to Talk to This Person_. I’ll grieve for Paul Newman. I grieved for Gregory Peck. I like to think Joseph Cotten and Claude Rains are still alive. Not so much because they were my generation as they seemed to have a lot of class. I have a soft spot for class. Ditto Jimmy Carter. Walter Cronkite Jon Stewart There are no women on my list. I don’t know why. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423.md?page=2)