THOSE WE LOST IN 2021, AUSTRALIA:

Continuing the list of those who departed this life in 2021, today's list from Australia:

MICHAEL GUDINSKI
Date of death:	March 2, 2021
Age at death:	68
About:	Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry. Born and raised in Melbourne to Jewish Russian immigrants, Gudinski formed the highly successful Australian record company Mushroom Records in 1972 through which he signed several generations of Australian musicians and performers ranging from MacKenzie Theory, the Skyhooks, The Choirboys, Kylie Minogue, and New Zealand's Split Enz to newer artists such as Eskimo Joe, Evermore and others. Gudinski was considered to be "one of the most significant and powerful players" in the Australian music landscape.
By the way:	A "larger-than-life figure", Gudinski was often referred to as the "father of the Australian music industry". Gudinski was a highly visible public figure throughout his career and is considered to be the only Australian record company executive whose name was known by the general public.
Cause of death:	Gudinski died during his sleep at his home in Melbourne, at the age of 68. A toxicology report revealed that he had died of mixed drug use, with 12 drugs including cocaine, oxycodone and morphine present in his body. The report additionally revealed that he had heart disease, cirrhosis, and had suffered recent vertebral compression fractures.

 

CARLA ZAMPATTI
Date of death:	April 3, 2021
Age at death:	78
About:	Italian-born Australian fashion designer and businesswoman, and executive chair of the fashion label Carla Zampatti Limited. Zampatti was born in Italy and settled in Western Australia in 1950 before moving to Sydney in her 20s. She produced her first small fashion collection in 1965 and released her first national collection in 1970. Her elegant designs were lauded for being feminine, timeless and appealing to women of all generations. "The most extraordinary thing about Carla was she was still dressing the 17-year-old for her school formal, whilst also dressing the mother of the bride," Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Edwina McCann said. In 1987 Zampatti was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her services to the fashion industry and in 2009 was elevated as a Companion of the Order in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. "She loved a hug, called everyone darling and would always hold your hand when speaking to her," Zampatti's daughter Bianca Spender said at her funeral.
By the way:	Zampatti's family accepted the offer of a state funeral from the New South Wales government. The service was held at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney on 15 April 2021, where many attendees wore her designs, and her daughter said “If she was alive, she’d say this is the best-dressed funeral she had ever attended.”
Cause of death:	On 26 March 2021, Zampatti attended the opening night of La Traviata at Mrs Macquarie's Point on Sydney Harbour, where she was knocked unconscious after falling on a staircase. She was taken to St Vincent's Hospital where she died from her injuries on 3 April, at the age of 78. Zampatti's family accepted the offer of a state funeral from the New South Wales government.[41] The service was held at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney on 15 April 2021, where many attendees wore her designs, and her daughter said “If she was alive, she’d say this is the best-dressed funeral she had ever attended.”[7][42]

 

TOMMY RAUDONIKIS
Date of death:	April 7, 2021
Age at death:	70
About:	Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played 40 International games and World Cup games as Australia representative halfback and captained his country in two matches of the 1973 Kangaroo tour. Apart from his playing and coaching career, he was also a media personality, commentator and had is own spot on The Footy Show, “The Raudonlkis Report”.
By the way:	What’s a good indication of true friendship? Trying to bust your mate out of hospital.  Sydney businessman John Singleton and ex-Newtown forward Col Murphy tried to do exactly that for Raudonikis in 2019. The pair visited Raudonikis, who was in hospital at the time on the Gold Coast due to his throat cancer.  “He just looked at us and said he didn’t want to die in hospital... So we thought we’d help him out,” Murphy told The Daily Telegraph. The pair tried to convince nurses at the hospital to let Raudonikis out for a day at the pub but they couldn’t get the green light... and so in a few minutes they thought up an escape plan. But before they could get him out of his bed they were spotted by the nurses.  “We didn’t get far, we couldn’t disconnect him from the machines,” Murphy said. Singleton added: “I’ve had sillier ideas — not much though.”
Cause of death:	Raudonikis was reported to have inoperable cancer in April 2019. Two years later, he died of the disease on the Gold Coast, Queensland, six days short of his 71st birthday.

 

ANDREW PEACOCK
Date of death:	April 16, 2021
Age at death:	82
About:	Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the party to defeat at the 1984 and 1990 elections. A former president of the Young Liberals, he was elected to Parliament at the age of 27, filling the blue-ribbon seat of Kooyong, vacated by Sir Robert Menzies. Peacock was appointed to cabinet in 1969 by John Gorton and later served under William McMahon and Malcolm Fraser. He held a variety of portfolios, most notably serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1975 to 1980. He unsuccessfully challenged Fraser for the Liberal leadership in 1982, but was then elected as Fraser's successor following the party's defeat at the 1983 election. At the 1984 election, the Peacock-led Coalition slightly reduced the Labor Party's majority. He resigned the Liberal leadership the following year after failing to have his deputy John Howard removed; he was duly replaced by Howard. He remained a member of the shadow cabinet, and in 1987 unsuccessfully challenged Howard for the leadership; he was instead elected deputy leader. Peacock returned as leader in 1989. However, his second term lasted less than a year, as he resigned after another electoral defeat in 1990; he had won the popular vote but failed to win enough seats. Peacock left politics in 1994 and was later appointed Ambassador to the United States, serving from 1997 to 1999.
By the way:	Screen legend Shirley MacLaine was one of the great love affairs of Andrew Peacock’s swashbuckling life that included three wives. In her tell-all book I’m Over All That And Other Confessions, she wrote of the future Liberal Leader: “I thought as long as he’s the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I might as well give him one he’ll never forget.”
Cause of death:	Peacock died at his home in Austin, Texas. Cause of death not disclosed.

 

KATE JENNINGS
Date of death:	May 1, 2021
Age at death:	72
About:	Jennings grew up on a farm near Griffith, New South Wales. She attended the University of Sydney in the late 1960s, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours. She was active in feminist and left wing-movements, in particular gaining notoriety for an incendiary speech given before a Vietnam Moratorium march in 1970 – a speech that is credited with signalling the beginning of the second wave of feminism in Australia. She moved to New York City in 1979, where she wrote for numerous magazines and newspapers, in addition to a stint on Wall Street as a speechwriter.
By the way:	She also edited Mother I'm Rooted, an anthology of women poets which was the object of much controversy.
Cause of death:	Cause not disclosed.

 

LORRAE DESMOND
Date of death:	May 23, 2021
Age at death:	91
About:	Australian Gold Logie-award-winning singer, recording artist, radio and television presenter, character actress, and playwright, with a career that spanned over 55 years both locally and the United Kingdom. Born in Mittagong NSW in 1929, she moved to the UK with her family when she was 10. She started her career in England as a variety performer, singer and radio/television presenter, primarily at the BBC, where she had her own shows during the years of World War II. Returning to Australia she became a popular presenter and remains best known to early local television audiences as hostess of the musical variety program The Lorrae Desmond Show from 1960 until 1964, while as a variety entertainer and vocalist she made numerous cabaret and TV appearances including In Melbourne Tonight, The Graham Kennedy Show, The Kamahl Show, The Ted Hamilton Show and appeared on Parkinson in Australia, and The Jack Benny Show. She was subsequently asked to tour South Vietnam with the Entertainment Unit during the Vietnam War, she also toured the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, Kenya and Somalia, where she became known for her live singing performances, billed as a forces sweetheart, she in the style of Vera Lynn and Anne Shelton, in which she was honoured with the MBE for services to entertainment. She started taking roles in local soap operas and serials starting from the late 1960s, including a guest role in Crawford Productions staple series Homicide, and a guest role in Number 96, after which she was given a more permanent role in the ill-fated series Arcade in 1980. However she became famous for her long-running role as Shirley Gilroy (née Dean, formerly Jacobson), an original character in the television series A Country Practice, appearing in 816 episodes from 1981 to 1992.
By the way:	Mourners at her memorial service told how she had once turned down the advances of rock star David Bowie, had been taught to drive by British Formula 1 ace Stirling Moss and danced with the great Fred Astaire. Love letters written to Desmond by gap-toothed film star Terry Thomas, with whom she had a ten-year relationship, were placed in her coffin, along with a teddy bear he had given her.
Cause of death:	Cause of death not revealed.

 

BOB FULTON
Date of death:	May 23, 2021
Age at death:	73
About:	Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great success at the highest levels and has been named amongst Australia's greatest rugby league players of the 20th century.  As a player Fulton won three premierships with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1970s, the last as captain. He represented the Australian national side on thirty-five occasions, seven times as captain. He had a long coaching career at the first grade level, taking Manly to premiership victory in 1987 and 1996. He coached the Australian national team in thirty-nine Tests. He was a New South Wales State selector and a national selector. He was a radio commentator with 2GB at the time of his death in 2021, aged 73. In 1981, he was selected as one of the initial four post-war "Immortals" of the Australian game and, in 2008, he was named in Australia's team of the century.
By the way:	Fulton competitive spirit led him to be called Bozo after Bozo the Clown who was in a TV series of the era, as he was always playing up to the referee, feigning injury, taking a dive to gain an edge over the opposition.
Cause of death:	Fulton died of cancer on 23 May 2021 at St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst, Sydney

 

GEOFFREY EDELSTEIN
Date of death:	June 11, 2021
Age at death:	78
About:	Australian businessman and former physician known for founding the health care company Allied Medical Group. In 2005, Edelsten and a business partner founded Allied Medical Group, which by 2010 administered 17 medical centres and employed around 250 general practitioners.[8][9] Edelsten was not, however, a shareholder or owner of the company. Edelsten was a general practitioner whose unconventional clinics and luxurious lifestyle attracted media attention in the 1980s. He owned mansions, helicopters, and a fleet of Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis with license plates such as Macho, Spunky and Sexy. His multidisciplinary clinics – the forerunners of modern corporate medical practices – were open 24 hours, and were fitted with chandeliers, grand pianos, and mink-covered examination tables. Edelsten was the first private owner of a major Australian football team, the Sydney Swans, which he bought in 1985.
By the way:	Edelsten was struck off the medical registry in New South Wales in 1988 and later in Victoria. In 1990, he was jailed for perverting the course of justice and soliciting Christopher 'Mr Rent-a-Kill' Dale Flannery to assault a former patient.
Cause of death:	Edelsten was found dead at his Melbourne apartment on 11 June 2021, aged 78.  The cause of death has not been disclosed.

 

 

DAVID LECKIE
Date of death:	July 20, 2021
Age at death:	70
About:	Australian media manager, best known as a network television executive. Leckie was he the chief executive officer of the Nine Network between 1990 and 2001 and Seven West Media from 2003 to 2012. Afterwards he was for four years an executive director at Seven Group Holdings, which holds investments in Seven West, earthmoving company WesTrac and the Agricultural Bank of China.
By the way:	Leckie was a noted drinker and prone to profanity, almost as well known for his long lunches as being one of few men to run two television networks. Sporting humourist Billy Birmingham immortalised Leckie's boozing on one of his popular 12th Man comedy records. In the skit, urbane commentator Richie Benaud joined the then Nine boss for lunch and asked the waiter for water. The waiter then asked Leckie if he would like another schooner of Drambuie.
Cause of death:	Leckie died on the morning of 20 July 2021 in Robertson, New South Wales. He was 70 and had suffered from a lengthy illness prior to his death. Leckie’s health never fully recovered from a life-threatening infection he suffered when he cut his finger in 2008, only to end up in an induced coma at St Vincent’s Hospital fighting for life.

 

JOHN CORNELL
Date of death:	July 22, 1021
Age at death:	80
About:	Australian actor, director, producer, writer, and businessman. He was best known for his role as "Strop" on The Paul Hogan Show, and he was instrumental in the introduction of World Series Cricket in 1977. In 1971, while working as a producer for the television show A Current Affair, Cornell recognised the talents of a Sydney Harbour Bridge rigger, Paul Hogan (who had been the subject of an interview by the station). Cornell became Hogan's manager and often appeared alongside him in his popular television show, The Paul Hogan Show, as a character called "Strop" (a dim-witted dinkum Australian surf lifesaver). He produced and co-wrote the screenplay for Hogan's 1986 film Crocodile Dundee, which became the highest grossing Australian film. He also produced and directed the successful 1988 sequel, Crocodile Dundee II. Cornell worked closely with Kerry Packer and Austin Robertson in setting up World Series Cricket (WSC) in 1977.  Based on a suggestion in 1976 by Dennis Lillee (whom Cornell was managing at the time), Cornell presented the idea to Kerry Packer—primarily with the aim of providing better financial rewards to the players. Cornell was actively involved in the recruitment of players for WSC, for example travelling to New Zealand to sign players (including Doug Walters). Cornell engaged the Mojo agency to produce radio and television advertisements to promote WSC—including the production of the jingle "C'mon Aussie C'mon". Cornell built the Byron Beach Hotel (Byron Bay) for $9 million in 1990.  In 2007, it was sold by Cornell to a consortium of businessmen with varying reports on the sale price, either $44 million or a record $65 million.
By the way:	Cornell and Paul Hogan were investigated for alleged tax evasion as part of the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) Project Wickenby which commenced in 2004. They were also investigated by the Australian Crime Commission "over the use of offshore accounts to bank royalties from the Crocodile Dundee films" (with both denying any dishonest conduct). They were later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Australian Crime Commission. In 2012, Hogan and Cornell confirmed that they had settled the eight-year dispute with the ATO.
Cause of death:	Cornell suffered from Parkinson's disease and had undergone deep brain stimulation to alleviate the symptoms. The disease had rendered Cornell largely immobile; however, treatment by Peter Silburn at St Andrew's War Memorial Hospital in Brisbane enabled him to "enjoy 2 km walks with his wife". Cornell died on 23 July 2021 at his home at Byron Bay. He was 80, and suffered from complications related to Parkinson's disease.

 

DIETER BRUMMER
Date of death:	July 24, 2021
Age at death:	45
About:	Australian actor. best known for his roles in television soap operas, including playing Shane Parrish in Home and Away from 1992 to 1996 and Troy Miller in Neighbours from 2011 to 2012. He also starred in crime drama Underbelly: The Golden Mile, after having a smaller role in the previous series Brummer and Home and Away co-star Melissa George, who portrayed his partner and later screen wife Angel Parrish, were promoted as a soap super couple in the early 90s. Brummer was nominated for the Gold Logie and Silver Logie Awards for "Most Popular Actor" for the role of Shane Parrish in 1994, but failed to win. However, he went on to win the "Most Popular Actor" silver Logie Award in 1995 and 1996. In 1993, 1994, and 1995 the role saw Brummer voted as "The Prince of Soap" by Dolly magazine's readers.
By the way:	In later years, Brummer revealed he took up a career as a high-rise window cleaner after departing Home and Away to experience life out of the limelight.  He told TV Tonight in 2010: "It was a pretty intense time coming out of high school to receive all this fame and adulation. As great as it was, I wanted to prove to myself I could get my hands dirty and sweat for a buck as easily as standing around on set, being primped and preened."
Cause of death:	On 24 July 2021, Brummer was found dead by suicide[12] at his home in Glenhaven, Sydney at the age of 45.  New South Wales Police Force officers discovered him after responding to a 'concern for welfare' report.

 

BRIAN HENDERSON
Date of death:	August 5, 2021
Age at death:	89
About:	New Zealand-born Australian radio and television personality and pioneer known for his association with the Nine Network as a television news anchor in Sydney, as well as a variety show presenter and host of music program Bandstand, the local version of the US music program American Bandstand. Henderson, who started his career in radio, went on to become a long-serving Australian newsreader for 45 years, having presented the New South Wales weekly bulletin, based in Sydney at TCN-9 from January 1957 until retiring in December 2002.
By the way:	From his first news broadcast in January 1957, Henderson used the tagline "... and that's the way it is", or "the way it is", to sign off after every bulletin, similar to United States newsreader Walter Cronkite. At the end of his final bulletin, Henderson's voice wavered as he told viewers it was time to watch the news, not present it: Not the way it was, as has been suggested, but for the last time, the way it is, this Friday the 29th of November, this is Brian Henderson, a sad Brian Henderson, saying not good night, this time, but goodbye.
Cause of death:	Henderson revealed he had throat cancer in 2014. He previously had other cancers; doctors said his prognosis was good. In February 2020, it was announced that Henderson had kidney cancer and that he had opted not to receive treatment.  Henderson died on 5 August 2021 at his home in Sydney.

 

BERT NEWTON
Date of death:	October 30. 2021
Age at death:	83
About:	Australian media personality who was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie award-winning entertainer and radio, theatre and television personality and compere. Newton hosted the Logie Awards ceremony on 19 occasions. Newton was known for his collaborations opposite Graham Kennedy and subsequently Don Lane on their respective variety shows as well as appearances with his wife, singer Patti Newton. Newton started his career in radio broadcasting, primarily as an announcer before becoming a star and fixture of Australian television since its inception in 1956, and was considered both an industry pioneer, icon and one of the longest-serving television performers in the world. Newton was known for his association with both the Nine Network and Ten Network on numerous shows including In Melbourne Tonight, New Faces, Good Morning Australia, 20 to 1 and Bert's Family Feud.
By the way:	At the 1979 Logies awards Newton said to Muhammad Ali "I like the boy", not knowing that "boy" could be taken as a racial slur. Ali responded "Did he call me Roy?" and members of the audience, including Don Lane, shouted to Newton to say "Yes—Roy!". Newton looked puzzled and later explained to the media that he did not realise that "boy" was used as a racial slur. Ali at least realised Newton's use was unintended and they literally kissed and made up later on.  Immediately after the incident, Newton lightened the tension of the incident by saying: "I'll change my name, my religion ... anything", referring to Ali's change of name from Cassius Clay when he adopted Islam in 1964, and proceeding to shake his hands in feigned nervousness. "I like the boy" was a catchphrase Newton had previous used on a commercial playing Colonel Sanders.
Cause of death:	Newton had a toe infection in late 2020 and, due to complications treating this, one of his legs was amputated below the knee in May 2021.  He died on 30 October 2021,

 

JAMES GOBBO
Date of death:	November 7, 2021
Age at death:	90
About:	Australian jurist who served as the 25th Governor of Victoria, from 1997 to 2000. As Sir James Gobbo, he became a widely respected barrister, Queen’s counsel and, for 16 years, judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. In 1997, he became the first governor of Victoria to come from a non-English-speaking background. His father Antonio, who had emigrated from northern Italy in 1927, was a terrazzo worker – a trade with rapidly shrinking opportunities as the economy collapsed. His mother Regina took in boarders from Melbourne’s Italian community, enclosing the verandah of the family’s terrace home with calico to create sleeping quarters. By 1935 the Gobbos had returned to Italy. But still restless, they came back to Australia within three years. James, aged seven, spoke not a word of English when the family landed back in Australia, though his career in the law and on the vice-regal stage would rely on an unusually elegant grasp of the language, both spoken and written. In 1939 the Gobbos bought a cafe, the St Kilda Grill Rooms in North Melbourne. With relentless work beginning to grant the family a stable future, young James’s mother determined that her son had a flair for academic learning and set about persuading him to study hard.
By the way:	Nicola Gobbo (“Witness X”), Australian former criminal defence barrister and police informant who passed to Victoria Police information about her clients whilst representing them, leading to the prospect of many convictions being overturned, is the niece of Sir James Gobbo.
Cause of death:	Cause of death not disclosed.

 

DAVID GULPILIL
Date of death:	November 29, 2021
Age at death:	68
About:	Australian actor and dancer, known for the films Walkabout, Storm Boy, Crocodile Dundee, Rabbit-Proof Fence and The Tracker. He was an Aboriginal Australian of the Yolngu people who was raised in a traditional lifestyle in Arnhem Land in northern Australia, and was a skilled dancer as a young man when British director Nicolas Roeg recognised his talent. Roeg cast the 16-year-old unknown to play a principal role in his internationally acclaimed motion picture Walkabout, released in 1971. Gulpilil's on-screen charisma, combined with his acting and dancing skills, was such that he became an instant national and international celebrity. He travelled internationally, mingled with famous people, and was presented to heads of state.  During these travels to promote the film, he met and was impressed with John Lennon, Bob Marley, Bruce Lee, Marlon Brando, and Jimi Hendrix. Gulpilil went on to appear in many more films and television productions, including the role of King George in Australia and roles in satellite Boy, Crocodile Dundee, Rabbit Proof Fence and The Proposition. Perhaps the most renowned traditional dancer in his country, he organised troupes of dancers and musicians and performed at festivals throughout Australia. In addition to his career in dance, music, film and television, Gulpilil was also an acclaimed storyteller. He wrote the text for two volumes of children's stories based on Yolngu beliefs. These books also feature photographs and drawings by Australian artists, and convey Gulpilil's reverence for the landscape, people and traditional culture of his homeland.
By the way:	Gulpilil had a battle with alcoholism since being introduced to it during filming of Walkabout. In later life, it led to several clashes with the law.
Cause of death:	Gulpilil was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2017, and retired from acting in 2019. His illness prevented him from attending the 2019 NAIDOC Awards, where he was recognised with the lifetime achievement award.  Gulpilil died at his home in Murray Bridge, South Australia, on 29 November 2021. There is an Aboriginal custom of not speaking the name of any deceased Aboriginal person after their passing or showing their image.  Following his death, Gulpilil’s family released a statement that it was his wish that he wanted his storytelling through film to be shared, to be on the record for the generations to come. Om accordance with what he wanted, permission was given for his name and image to be used.

 

PETER CUNDALL
Date of death:	December 5, 2021
Age at death:	94
About:	English-born Australian horticulturalist, conservationist, author, broadcaster and television personality. He lived in Tasmania's Tamar Valley, and until 2008, at the age of 81, presented the ABC TV program Gardening Australia. Starting in 1967, he presented what is believed to be the world's first gardening talkback radio segment. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2007 "For service to the environment, particularly the protection of wilderness areas in Tasmania, and to horticulture as a presenter of gardening programs on television and radio." Cundall was an environmentalist and pacifist. He became a household name to Australian gardeners. In a 2008 issue of Reader's Digest, he came eighth in a poll of the 100 most trusted Australians.
By the way:	Near the end of World War II, Cundall joined the British Army's Parachute Regiment. He was stationed in various countries in post-war Europe in France, Austria, Germany, Italy and Yugoslavia; and in the Middle East in Egypt and the British Mandate for Palestine. During these travels, he visited many private and public gardens and parks to learn more about plants and landscaping practices covering a wide range of climatic conditions. He was also stationed at a liberated concentration camp and said the things he saw and heard had a deep impact on him. In 1946, Cundall was stationed in south-east Austria at Sankt Paul im Lavanttal where he was guarding captured Nazi Waffen-SS troops. He was enticed across the border into Yugoslavia by a beautiful girl named Angela, and was arrested by Marshal Tito's forces after she disappeared. He was sentenced without trial to four years' imprisonment for espionage, but was released into Trieste, Italy after six months in solitary confinement in a prison in Ljubljana, after pressure from the British government led to his release. Eager to hasten his emigration to Australia, Cundall enlisted in the Australian Army in 1950, believing that he was enlisting for a non-combat role as a librarian. He was immediately posted to Korea, however, with the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, and once again saw action overseas as a machine gunner during the Korean War.  During a year-and-a-half based in Japan, he studied Japanese garden design and rock garden construction. He gained access to many famous gardens and bonsai nurseries and regularly went to observe new gardens being built in Hiroshima, which was undergoing reconstruction after the atomic bombing in 1945.
Cause of death:	Cundall died on 5 December 2021 after a short illness, cause of death not disclosed.

 

THOSE WE LOST IN 2021, CONTINUED . . .

In lieu of Funny Friday today, there is a continuation of those we lost in 2021, followed tomorrow by a list of those we lost in 2021 in Australia . . . 

Patricia Maginnis
Date of death:	August 30, 2021
Age at death:	93
About:	In the decade before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide, she emerged as one of the country’s first abortion rights activists, campaigning on behalf of women’s freedom to safely end unwanted pregnancies. Pat Maginnis was considered the first abortion rights activist in American history and was also a political cartoonist, painter, and peace activist.
By the way:	Macginnis was born into a staunchly Catholic family.  During her brief service in the United States Army, she was deployed to Panama, as punishment for fraternizing with a Black soldier. She described her time in Panama and the horrible treatment of pregnant women in the army hospital as her inspiration to advocate for women's reproductive freedoms during her life. She began her activism when she returned to the United States, settling in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1959.
Cause of death:	Unknown.

 

WILLARD SCOTT
Date of death:	September 4, 2021
Age at death:	87
About:	American weather presenter, radio and TV personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, with a career spanning 65 years. He is best known for his television work on the Today show as weather reporter who also presented a tribute greetings segment for people celebrating their 100th or above birthdays as well as select marriage anniversaries.
By the way:	Scott was the creator and original portrayer of Ronald McDonald.  Scott wrote in his book The Joy of Living that he originally created the Ronald McDonald character at the local franchise's request, which had also sponsored the Bozo the Clown show on which he portrayed Bozo. In his book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser claims that McDonald's replaced Scott on account of his weight, supposedly concerned about McDonald's image. Scott denied the claims and cited other commitments he had at the time. Willard Scott as the Ronald McDonald he created. By the way #2: What we call Macca's in Oz, the Americans call Mickey D's.
Cause of death:	Natural causes.

JANE POWELL
Date of death:	September 16, 2021
Age at death:	92
About:	American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image, Powell appeared in films, television and on the stage. She was notable for her performances in A Date with Judy (1948), Royal Wedding (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and Hit the Deck (1955). Powell also made appearances on stage such as in My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music. She also appeared occasionally on television, including recurring guest roles on The Love Boat (1981–1982), as well as the sitcom Growing Pains (1988–1992). She was a veteran of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
By the way:	In 1949, Powell sang at Harry S. Truman’s inaugural ball. she sang for five U.S. presidents and the queen of England.
Cause of death:	Natural causes.

 

COLIN L POWELL
Date of death:	October 18, 2021
Age at death:	84
About:	American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American secretary of state. Powell served as the 16th United States national security advisor from 1987 to 1989. Powell's last military assignment, from October 1989 to September 1993, was as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, the highest military position in the United States Department of Defense. During this time, he oversaw 28 crises, including the invasion of Panama in 1989 and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War against Iraq in 1990–1991. He formulated the Powell Doctrine, which limits American military action unless it satisfies criteria regarding American national security interests, overwhelming force, and widespread public support.[4] He served as Secretary of State under Republican president George W. Bush. As secretary of state, Powell gave a speech before the United Nations regarding the rationale for the Iraq War, but he later admitted that the speech contained substantial inaccuracies. He was forced to resign after Bush was reelected in 2004.
By the way:	While at school, Powell worked at a local baby furniture store, where he picked up Yiddish from the Eastern European Jewish shopkeepers and some of the customers.  He once spoke to a Jewish reporter in Yiddish, much to the man's surprise.  He also served as a Shabbos goy, helping Orthodox families with needed tasks on the Sabbath.
Cause of death:	On October 18, 2021, Powell, who was being treated for multiple myeloma, died at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center of complications from COVID-19 at the age of 84. He had been vaccinated, but his myeloma compromised his immune system; he also had early-stage Parkinson's disease. President Joe Biden and four of the five living former presidents issued statements calling Powell as an American hero. Donald Trump disparaged him as having made "big mistakes" and as a "classic RINO".  (Republican in Name Only)

 

Sunao Tsuboi
Date of death:	October 24, 2021
Age at death:	96
About:	Japanese anti-nuclear, anti-war activist, and teacher. He was a hibakusha, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and was the co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, a Japan-wide organisation of atomic and hydrogen bomb sufferers. He was awarded the Kiyoshi Tanimoto peace prize in 2011.
By the way:	In 1945, he was a student of the Hiroshima City Technical School. When the bomb exploded he was walking to school and he became badly burned. He went to an aunt's house nearby but did not wish to be a burden to her, so he left. He was later taken to Ujina (Hiroshima port) by a truck and then to Ninoshima by barge. Only young men were being evacuated, as they were considered valuable for the war effort. He asked a woman visiting to inform his family. He stayed on Ninoshima for several days, cared for by a classmate who fed him; this classmate was then sent elsewhere. His mother and uncle searched among the dead and dying for three days with no success. When her uncle suggested leaving and holding a funeral for him, his mother began running around screaming his name. He heard her and put up his hand and said, "Here I am." He was then taken to his home in Ando, but was not conscious of this. He did not know the war had ended and did not believe that it had when he was told.
Cause of death:	Tsuboi died of arrhythmia due to anemia, in Hiroshima.

 

F.W. de Klerk
Date of death:	November 11, 2021
Age at death:	85
About:	South African politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996. South Africa’s last White president opened the door to Black majority rule in one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most prosperous nations by releasing Nelson Mandela from prison. He and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage.
By the way:	De Klerk was a controversial figure among many sections of South African society, all for different reasons. He received many awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize for dismantling apartheid and bringing universal suffrage to South Africa. Conversely, he received criticism from anti-apartheid activists for offering only a qualified apology for apartheid, and for ignoring the human rights abuses by state security forces. He was also condemned by South Africa's white nationalists, who contended that by abandoning apartheid, he betrayed the interests of the country's white minority.
Cause of death:	On 19 March 2021, it was announced that de Klerk had been diagnosed with mesothelioma. Just under eight months later, on 11 November, he died from complications of the disease in his sleep at his home in Cape Town.

 

Stephen Sondheim
Date of death:	November 26, 2021
Age at death:	91
About:	American composer and lyricist, among the most important figures in 20th-century musical theatre, Sondheim was praised for having "reinvented the American musical" with shows that tackled "unexpected themes that range far beyond the [genre's] traditional subjects" with "music and lyrics of unprecedented complexity and sophistication". His shows addressed "darker, more harrowing elements of the human experience" with songs often tinged with "ambivalence" about various aspects of life. Sondheim started his theatre career by writing the lyrics for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959) before becoming a composer and lyricist. Sondheim's best-known works include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), and Into the Woods (1987). Sondheim's accolades include eight Tony Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2008),[1] an Academy Award, eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
By the way:	Sondheim detested his mother, who was said to be psychologically abusive and to have projected her anger from her failed marriage onto her son:  "When my father left her, she substituted me for him. And she used me the way she used him, to come on to and to berate, beat up on, you see. What she did for five years was treat me like dirt, but come on to me at the same time."  She once wrote him a letter saying that the only regret she ever had was giving birth to him.  When she died in the spring of 1992, Sondheim did not attend her funeral. He had already been estranged from her for nearly 20 years.
Cause of death:	Sondheim died of cardiovascular disease at his home

 

BOB DOLE
Date of death:	December 5, 2021
Age at death:	98
About:	American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his tenure, including three non-consecutive years as Senate Majority Leader. Prior to his 27 years in the Senate, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 1961 to 1969. Dole was also the Republican presidential nominee in the 1996 election and the vice presidential nominee in the 1976 election.
By the way:	Dole joined the United States Army's Enlisted Reserve Corps in 1942 to fight in World War II, becoming a second lieutenant in the Army's 10th Mountain Division. In April 1945, while engaged in combat southwest of Bologna, Italy, Dole was seriously wounded by a German shell that struck his upper back and right arm, shattering his collarbone and part of his spine. "I lay face down in the dirt," Dole said. "I could not see or move my arms. I thought they were missing." As Lee Sandlin describes, when fellow soldiers saw the extent of his injuries, they believed all they could do was "give him the largest dose of morphine they dared and write an 'M' for 'morphine' on his forehead in his own blood, so that nobody else who found him would give him a second, fatal dose." Dole was paralysed from the neck down and transported to a military hospital near Kansas. Suffering blood clots, a life-threatening infection, and a fever of almost 109 °F (43 °C), he was expected to die. After large doses of penicillin were not successful, he overcame the infection with the administration of streptomycin, which at the time was still an experimental drug.  Dole was operated on seven times and recovered from his wounds.
Cause of death:	In February 2021, Dole announced that he had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, and subsequently underwent immunotherapy, forgoing chemotherapy due to its negative effect on his body. He died from the disease at his home in Washington, D.C.

 

RAY ILLINGWORTH
Date of death:	24.12.2021
Age at death:	89
About:	English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. As of 2015, he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in first-class cricket. He is stated to have been 'tough, combative, grudging, shrewd, and an instinctive reader of the game', and an experienced, no-nonsense captain who expected his team to play like professionals. David Gower wrote 'no matter how highly Ray might regard you as a player he would not have you in his team, come hell or high water, unless he was utterly convinced that you could do the job he had allocated to you'.  He managed 'difficult' players like Geoff Boycott and John Snow well, and they responded with their best Test form. 'Most of all, because he insisted on his "own side", he was able to get the best out of his players, both mentally and physically. He built up a tremendous team spirit which stood us in good stead on numerous occasions', and they tended to close ranks and treat the opposition, umpires, press and public as the enemy, an attitude that became prevalent amongst Test teams in the 1970s. Illingworth captained England for five seasons (1969–1973) and under Illingworth, England beat the West Indies 2–0 in 1969, held a powerful Rest of the World side to 1-4 in 1970, won the Ashes in Australia in 1970–71 and beat Pakistan in 1971. Illingworth captained England in 31 Test matches, winning 12, losing 5 and drawing 14.
By the way:	Illingworth led England to a 2–0 Ashes victory in 1970–71, the only time a touring team has played a full Test series in Australia without defeat. The future Australian captain, Greg Chappell, later wrote: Ray Illingworth's England side in 1970–71 were mentally the toughest English side I played against, and the experience of playing against them first up in my Test career reinforced what I had learnt in the backyard. Test cricket was not for the faint of heart. Illingworth subjected us to a mental intimidation by aggressive field placings, and physical intimidation by constant use of his pace attack, ably led by one of the best fast bowlers of my experience, John Snow. Winning to Illingworth was something he expected of himself and demanded of his team.
Cause of death:	In November 2021, he advocated assisted suicide, revealing that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of oesophageal cancer. He died on 24 December 2021, at the age of 89.

DESMOND TUTU
Date of death:	December 26, 2021
Age at death:	90
About:	South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. According to the New York Times, he was “… the cleric who used his pulpit and spirited oratory to help bring down apartheid in South Africa and then became the leading advocate of peaceful reconciliation under Black majority rule . . .” As leader of the South African Council of Churches and later as Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, Archbishop Tutu led the church to the forefront of Black South Africans’ decades-long struggle for freedom. His voice was a powerful force for nonviolence in the anti-apartheid movement, earning him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. Archbishop Tutu preached that the policy of apartheid was as dehumanizing to the oppressors as it was to the oppressed. At home, he stood against looming violence and sought to bridge the chasm between Black and white; abroad, he urged economic sanctions against the South African government to force a change of policy.
By the way:	Archbishop Tutu had always said that he was a priest, not a politician, and that when the real leaders of the movement against apartheid returned from jail or exile he would serve as its chaplain. While he acknowledged that there was a political role for the church, he prohibited ordained clergy from belonging to any political party.
Cause of death:	Tutu died from cancer at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town on 26 December 2021, at the age of 90. His daughter Naomi Nontombi said, "He was ready. He went to meet his God, ready and willing."

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

A COMMENT:

Bytes has lately been going out at varying times and at odd hours, plus sometimes there is no Thought/Quote for the Day and sometimes there are a number.

It is not me doing that - I post the items to the blog and the blog setup determines when it is sent out to subscribers.

Sorry for any inconvenience, readers.

Otto

QUOTE FOR THE DAY