# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/41 "2005-08-18T00:43:15Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > 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. It can only be a matter of time at her age (163) of course, but last I read she was making astonishing recovery from her most recent crop of strokes. Things are really nasty between her daughter and husband, though, over Z’s money. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/42 "2005-08-18T00:52:03Z")
Bea Arthur ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/43 "2005-08-18T00:52:44Z")
**Stephe96** , yes, the [production of Faust](http://www.lajollaplayhouse.com/history/1995/faust_photos.htm) [happened,](http://centerstage.net/theatre/articles/faust.html) twice, but never made it to NYC. A Kennedy Center production in '98 also fell through. It was a delightful, fascinating, mess of a show. It helped that I am a diehard David Garrison fan and, as he told me when I met him at the stage door of TITANIC, it’s probably the favorite show he’s done. He made a simply [adroable](http://www.davidgarrison.com/faust.htm) Lucifer (Lucky to his friends, Lucy to his enemies) although he does need a better webmaster. 😃 Anyway, I’ll also miss Shatner and Nimoy, it’ll be like the last Beatle dying. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/44 "2005-08-18T00:54:54Z")
:smack: He’s also adorable. You felt so sorry for him at the end of the show (which in production ended with the defeated Lucky and the Lord reprising ‘Can’t Keep a Good Man Down’, ‘Happy Ending’ being part of a Walpurgisnacht-scene with Lucifer and Faust in Vegas). \ ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/45 "2005-08-18T01:11:13Z")
One of the best things about this board is the number of kindred souls for loopy people like me. Much of ny grieving has already taken place. I was crushed by the losses of **Carl Sagan** and **Frank Zappa** the most. At the end of **_Billions and Billions_, Sagan’s** last book, there is an Epilogue penned by his wife: > [@Ann Druyan](#): > > I sit surrounded by cartons of mail from people all over the planet who mourn Carl’s loss. Many of them credit him with their awakenings. Some of them say that Carl’s example has inspired them to work for science and reason against the forces of superstition and fundamentalism. These thoughts comfort me and lift me up out of my heartache. They allow me to feel, without resorting to the supernatural, that Carl lives. I was certainly one of those awakened. **Vonnegut** easily tops my list of anguishes to come. I got to spend 5 minutes with him one-on-one several years ago - it was an experience I’ll always treasure. And odd as it sounds, I know I’ll deeply mourn **Robert Fripp** someday. For what it’s worth, this would have been my father’s 75th birthday today. We still miss you, Dad. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/46 "2005-08-18T01:20:24Z")
I’ll mourn for: Michael Caine Matt Groening Martin Scorsese Gene Wilder Clint Eastwood Stephen Hawking (even though he doesn’t belong in this forum) Anthony Hopkins Like **AuntiePam** , no women. I was sad to learn of Anne Bancroft’s death, but almost heart broken when Peter Jennings died. Most of my favorite women are already gone. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/47 "2005-08-18T02:44:22Z")
> [@Seeker74](#): > > I’ll mourn for: > Stephen Hawking (even though he doesn’t belong in this forum) Why not? Although primarily a scientist, he’s also written several books, and “authors” was one of the categories mentioned by the OP. For me, it’ll be Gordon Lightfoot. I’ve long enjoyed his music, but never managed to attend one of his concerts. He was in the hospital for a while, but has begun touring again. From what I’ve heard, his voice has deteriorated, so now I’m not sure I’d want to see him were he to perform in Indiana. Then again, I’d be among fellow Lightfoot fans as we paid some small measure of tribute to the man while he was still alive to appreciate the applause. I’ll certainly miss him once he’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/48 "2005-08-18T02:47:44Z")
When Ozzy goes I’ll probably be a wreck for a week. That might sound odd but I’m a musician due to hearing Blizzard of Ozz when I was 11. I can’t imagine life without my music and he is the one who got me started. If something happened to Steve Morse (guitarist in The Dixie Dregs/The Dregs, The Steve Morse Band, Deep Purple, and about a million other albums) I know I’d freak. Not only is he a hell of a guitarist/song writer but he is a heck of a nice guy as well. I’ll probably be upset when Stephen King goes as well. Jodie Foster. Gah. Don’t even want to think about it. Same with Gillian Anderson. When Richard Feynman died I was pretty upset. He falls into this category due to his books. “Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman” is one of my all time favorites. Slee ---
**Author:** ![sneezy5660](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@sneezy5660](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sneezy5660)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/49 "2005-08-18T03:02:36Z")
**Tom Jones**. Hush, you, don’t laugh. He has meant a lot to me for most of my life. When he dies, I’m going to be a basket case. I don’t know if I could go to work or not. When I was nine, my mother and future step-father went out of town on a date, and left me with an adult friend. As a present for being good, they brought me—a Tom Jones album. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/50 "2005-08-18T03:21:27Z")
Author Ray Bradbury, who just celebrated his 85th birthday this month. He’s already survived one stroke. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/51 "2005-08-18T03:29:27Z")
Lordy , that is hard . There are so many I admire and enjoy the work of . Those already gone : John Wayne . He was an icon . I still love his work . When my favorite wrestler Brian Pillman died , my world as I knew it changed . I was heart-sick , and I have not watched pro wrestling since his memorial service . John Denver . I loved loved loved his music . Princess Diana . I cried and cried . Yet to go : Carol Burnette , she is a part of my childhood . Any one of the Monkees - ditto . (especially Peter Tork , my first full-blown crush) Keith Urban (My current crush/mid-life crisis) . Betty White . I just adore her ! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/52 "2005-08-18T04:49:44Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > I’m a sax player myself Hey? You too? Me too! And we both wear hats. Whoa! 🆒 > [@](#): > > so hearing Sonny [Rollins] really was like being in the presence of a Master, like an aspiring artist being able to see DaVinci at work. I will definitely bow my head for a moment of silence the day Sonny passes, for the same reason you said: he is about the last of a great generation. FWIW, I felt a special pang this past month when we lost Lucky Thompson and Spud Murphy. But it was muted by both of them being inactive for so long (Murphy teaching theory instead of arranging, and Thompson slowly losing his mind). ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/53 "2005-08-18T04:56:10Z")
I’m going to miss Harlan Ellison. Cranky old bastard. Learned a lot from him. ---
**Author:** ![Stinkum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Stinkum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinkum)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/54 "2005-08-18T05:26:47Z")
Elton John. I will be a basket case. For authors, I will weep when Lawrence Ferlinghetti shuffles off this mortal coil. Also John Irving, Seamus Heaney, and John Varley. They still have a lot of years left in them (I hope), but Ferlinghetti is in his 80’s. Add Octavia Butler to the list. I don’t get attached to actors, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/55 "2005-08-18T07:49:51Z")
I won’t mention Winston O’Boogie Woogie either. ☹☹☹ ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/56 "2005-08-18T12:25:44Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Not so obscure in the fantasy community. He’s still alive, still writing, still releasing new books. (You probably knew that.) Hey AutiePam, please reread my post, you snipped out the Phrase > [@](#): > > The List of celebrities whose passing would greatly upset me. He is my favorite living author. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2005, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/57 "2005-08-18T12:42:14Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Author Ray Bradbury, who just celebrated his 85th birthday this month. He’s already survived one stroke. You took mine! That will be a very black day indeed. Stephen King and Barry Manilow (shut up!) will also be hard for me. What about Pee-Wee and Weird Al? That’s going to make me feel old. **Seeker74** , the thought of Gene Wilder dying nearly stopped my heart. Already gone: James Herriot, Jim Henson, Mr. Rogers, Karen Carpenter, Jim Croce. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/58 "2005-08-18T12:43:53Z")
I was a basket case when Evan Hunter/Ed McBain died last month. My mother was a huge fan, and I’ve always had Hunter in my life. John Lennon really strung me out, both because he was JOHN LENNON, and the idiocy of his assasscin. Of course, I’ll freak when either brother Lloyd Webber dies (Julian or Andrew). I’ve invested a lot of time, money, and spirit in them. Folksinger Tom Paxton. Never really famous, but consistantly good. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/59 "2005-08-18T13:06:42Z")
**Johnny Cash** has already gone. The rest, I will accept. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423/60 "2005-08-18T13:30:45Z")
Here are a few of mine: **Clint Eastwood**. Losing Josey Wales would be tough. **Andy Griffith**. and **Don Knotts**. I’ll get a little lump in my throat when these guys go. They gave me a lot of laughs. **Mick Jagger** and **Keith Richards**. **Mick Jones**. Joe Strummer was a shock. I hope his bandmate sticks around a long while. On the country side, **George Jones** , **Earl Scruggs** and **Loretta Lynn**. Any of the **R.E.M.** members. Their music was a big part of my college years. **Barbara Eden**. The stuff of youthful dreams. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-contemporary-author-actor-or-artists-death-will-you-most-grieve/317423.md?page=4)