They’re dropping fast
December 19, 2007
About a week ago the newspapers and online publications started to issue their “notable deaths of 2007” lists. On it were Boris Yeltsin and Beverly Sills and Merv Griffin.
But in the last week we’ve seen a handful of names join that list – especially in the Boston area. Just today, for instance, Dapper O’Neil died at age 87 and a month or so ago the region lost radio personality Paul Sullivan.
Here’s the complete list as shown on Boston.com…
Notable deaths of 2007
- James Kelly
- Bradford Washburn
- Art Buchwald
- The Rev. Robert F. Drinan
- Molly Ivins
- Anna Nicole Smith
- Dennis Johnson
- Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
- Brad Delp
- Rae Anne Donlin
- Eddie Robinson
- Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- Boris Yeltsin
- David Halberstam
- Wally Schirra
- The Rev. Jerry Falwell
- Beverly Sills
- Lady Bird Johnson
- Harold Madison Jr. — “Mr. Butch”
- Tammy Faye Messner
- Tommy Makem
- Merv Griffin
- Max Roach
- Leona Helmsley
- Luciano Pavarotti
- Madeleine L’Engle
- Paul Sullivan
- Marcel Marceau
- Robert Goulet
- Norman Mailer
- Tom Johnson
- Evel Knievel
- Ike Turner
I don’t know that 2007 was any more deadly than other years, I just think that we’re paying closer attention to events because we are so connected via our gadgets and technologies.
In fact, if it weren’t for this same technology…I think it’s called the InterWeb or something, I wouldn’t have found out today that Brittany Spears’ sister is preggers at 16-years old. And it’s the very real proliferation of technology that has made everyone so freaked out every minute about the environment, the weather, the candidates for president and terrorism.
I’m not going to make this a full-fledged rant, but I contend that people are much more informed these days about minutia and it’s a bad thing. Maybe I’d feel differently if the information that’s getting out there was accurate, but let’s do a little test. I’ll ask a question and you answer it in the comment section below. Then – in a day or two – I’ll put the correct answer in the comments below all the wrong answers.
Why am I so convinced that people will get my question wrong? Because most of you are the same crowd that believes ADD is a real affliction, that we’re in Iraq because of oil and that four-wheel drive will help you stop on ice.
Here’s the question: What fuel will give your car better gas mileage, regular gasoline or ethanol-added gasoline?
I await your responses.
(Oh, here are some bonus answers – ADD is a catch-all diagnosis that doctors and psychologists use to start the ball rolling when trying to figure out what affliction a person really has. We’re not in Iraq because of oil (they only supply 1% of our oil, the bulk comes from NON-OPEC countries like Canada and Mexico and even the U.S.), we’re there because our president is a donkey. And Four-wheel drive vehicles are no better at stopping on ice than two-wheel drive vehicles…and sometimes they are worse because their drivers are typically going faster because they are able to do so in inclement weather while other cars get bogged down.)
More to come…
