Shimon Peres Has Died

A great obituary at NYT:

#ShimonPeres Dies at 93; Built Up #Israel’s Defense and Sought Peace. https://t.co/n8Rr8V2bYG

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 28, 2016

Alex Jones Remembers Phyllis Schlafly (VIDEO)

Following-up from Monday, "Phyllis Schlafly Has Died."

At InfoWars:

Phyllis Schlafly Has Died

I saw her speak at CPAC in 2011. I was always amazed how energetic she was, pushing the hard conservative agenda in her twilight years. That's so awesome!

At NYT, "Phyllis Schlafly, Conservative Leader and Foe of E.R.A., Dies at 92" (at Memeorandum):

Phyllis Schlafly, whose efforts against Communism and abortion energized conservatives, has died at 92https://t.co/nzvaJJ0REO

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 5, 2016

Phyllis Schlafly, whose grass-roots campaigns against Communism, abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment galvanized conservatives for almost two generations and helped reshape American politics, died on Monday. She was 92.

Her death was confirmed by the Eagle Forum, the conservative organization she founded in 1975.

In her time, Mrs. Schlafly was one of the most polarizing figures in American public life, a self-described housewife who displayed a moral ferocity reminiscent of the ax-wielding prohibitionist Carry Nation. Richard Viguerie, who masterminded the use of direct mail to finance right-wing causes, called her “the first lady of the conservative movement.”

On the left, Betty Friedan, the feminist leader and author, compared her to a religious heretic, telling her in a debate that she should burn at the stake for opposing the Equal Rights Amendment. Ms. Friedan called Mrs. Schlafly an “Aunt Tom.”

Mrs. Schlafly became a forceful conservative voice in the 1950s, when she joined the right-wing crusade against international Communism. In the 1960s, with her popular self-published book “A Choice, Not an Echo” (it sold more than three million copies) and a growing legion of followers, she gave critical support to the presidential ambitions of Senator Barry Goldwater, the hard-right Arizonan who went on to lead the Republican Party to electoral disaster in 1964, but who planted the seeds of a conservative revival that would flower with the rise of Ronald Reagan.

And in the 1970s, Mrs. Schlafly’s campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment played a large part in its undoing. The amendment would have expanded women’s rights by barring any gender-based distinctions in federal and state laws, and it was within hailing distance of becoming the law of the land: Both houses of Congress had passed it by a vote of more than 90 percent, and 35 state legislatures — only three shy of the number required for adoption — had approved it.

But the amendment lost steam in the late 1970s under pressure from Mrs. Schlafly’s volunteer brigades — mainly women, most of them churchgoing Christians (Mrs. Schlafly was Roman Catholic) and not a few of them lugging apple pies to cajole legislators. Despite an extension of the deadline, the amendment died, on June 30, 1982...

RTWT.

I discuss Ms. Schlafly every semester, when I talk about the defeat of the E.R.A. Never let anyone say you can't make a difference. Again and again in American politics, we see examples of prominent individuals shaping politics and American life.

What a lady.

Requiescat in pace.

Joe Hicks, 1941 - 2016

I just saw him on Fox News last week. He looked perfectly fine.

From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "ROGER SIMON: RIP JOE HICKS—GREAT MAN OF HIS TIMES."

I was interviewed by Joe Hicks, along with Bill Whittle, on PJTV right before the 2008 election. I'd just published, "Obama's Fundraising Fraud."

I really admired him. R.I.P.

John McLaughlin Dies: Former Catholic Priest Hosted 'The McLaughlin Group' for 34 Years

He missed his first show in 34 years just last week.

I never really watched his show. I was still a Democrat when "The McLaughlin Group" was super prominent. By the 2000s, I rarely ever heard of the show, which had been overshadowed by cable news programming.

In any case, he was a fascinating guy.

At the New York Times:

John McLaughlin has died at 89. He helped reinvent political talk shows with his "McLaughlin Group." https://t.co/bp4QEsqvhs

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 17, 2016

When Fr. John McLaughlin ran against the Vietnam war and won the GOP nomination for US Senate in Rhode Island pic.twitter.com/3lCGyTX5vV

— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) August 17, 2016

Pat Conroy Has Died

I read "The Prince of Tides" after the book came out in movie version, and it was a spectacular novel.

Conroy was a premier writer.

At Fox News, "Pat Conroy, author of 'Prince of Tides,' dies at 70."

Cocaine Found on Scott Weiland's Bus

Well, he was only 48, with a history of substance abuse, so it's no surprise the police found drugs on the scene.

But see the Los Angeles Times, "Cocaine found on Scott Weiland's bus; former Stone Temple Pilots bandmates issue a statement."

More, on Weiland's death, "Appreciation: RIP Scott Weiland: Rocker, lyricist and self-described 'tenacious drug addict' dies."

Plus, flashback from March, "Guitarist for Scott Weiland's new band dies a day before album debut."

Drugs and rock and roll. A fatal combination.

Cary Grant Took LSD Over 100 Times

That's one of the amazing tidbits in this fascinating obituary of Cary Grant's late wife, Betsy Drake.

See, "Betsy Drake dies at 92; gave up acting career to marry Cary Grant":

Their 1949 marriage in Palm Springs was front-page news, with Howard Hughes, a close friend of Grant's, serving as best man. It would be the most durable of Grant's five marriages.

After they separated in 1958, Drake started seeing a Beverly Hills psychotherapist, who prescribed therapy with LSD, which was legal at the time.

In her first session, she experienced the pain of her own birth.

"Enthused by what she considered an incredible experience, Betsy went home and called her mother, with whom she hadn't spoken in a decade," Vanity Fair magazine reported in 2010.

"'I told her, 'I love you,' and after all that time, she just said, 'Of course you do, darling,' and hung up."

Drake talked Grant into similar sessions and he came away a true believer, using the drug more than 100 times...

Sheldon Wolin Has Died

He was an esteemed political theorist and celebrated political scientist at Berkeley, and later Princeton.

See the New York Times, "Sheldon S. Wolin, Theorist Who Shifted Political Science Back to Politics, Dies at 93."

The obituary ends with this, "His last book reflected this dark interpretation of politics in the United States. It bore a sobering title: “Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism”."

And that is dark. So I looked it up, at Amazon, Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism:

Democracy is struggling in America--by now this statement is almost cliché. But what if the country is no longer a democracy at all? In Democracy Incorporated, Sheldon Wolin considers the unthinkable: has America unwittingly morphed into a new and strange kind of political hybrid, one where economic and state powers are conjoined and virtually unbridled? Can the nation check its descent into what the author terms "inverted totalitarianism"?

Wolin portrays a country where citizens are politically uninterested and submissive--and where elites are eager to keep them that way. At best the nation has become a "managed democracy" where the public is shepherded, not sovereign. At worst it is a place where corporate power no longer answers to state controls. Wolin makes clear that today's America is in no way morally or politically comparable to totalitarian states like Nazi Germany, yet he warns that unchecked economic power risks verging on total power and has its own unnerving pathologies. Wolin examines the myths and mythmaking that justify today's politics, the quest for an ever-expanding economy, and the perverse attractions of an endless war on terror. He argues passionately that democracy's best hope lies in citizens themselves learning anew to exercise power at the local level.

Democracy Incorporated is one of the most worrying diagnoses of America's political ills to emerge in decades. It is sure to be a lightning rod for political debate for years to come.

Say It Ain't So! Baseball Legend Yogi Berra Has Died

What a guy.

See the obituary at the New York Times, "Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame Catcher for the Yankees, Dies at 90."

Daniel Thompson, Inventor of First Bagel-Making Machine, Dies at 94

This is an extremely interesting obituary.

I had blueberry bagels today, heh.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Daniel Thompson dies at 94; his invention made bagel a household word."

Harvard Professor Stanley Hoffmann Has Died

He used to publish prodigiously at the New York Review, especially during the early 1990s, when I was in graduate school. (Most of his work there is gated, but not this piece, "Bush Abroad.")

I always saw him as more of a great public intellectual rather than a theory-driven political scientist. Wise and urbane.

See the New York Times, "Stanley Hoffmann, Who Brought Passion to Foreign Policy Analysis, Dies at 86."

Also from Peter Gourevitch, at Duck of Minerva, "Stanley Hoffmann’s approach to studying politics: in memoriam 1928-2015."

And see Art Goldhammer, "Stanley Hoffmann Was One of the Great Professors of Our Time."

Fundraiser for Mary Katharine Ham Hits $200,000

This is wonderful, and not only that: If donations keep coming in Mary Katharine will use the funding to finance her late husband's charities. That is, once all of the children's educational needs are met, the rest of the money will go to help others. "That’s what kind of person she is. At a moment of supreme horror and panic, she thought of how she might do some good for others too."

At Hot Air, "You did it: Jake Brewer memorial education fund reaches $200,000 goal."

And ICYMI, "Jacob Thomas Brewer, Husband to Mary Katharine Ham, Has Died."

Jacob Thomas Brewer, Husband to Mary Katharine Ham, Has Died

Honestly, it's a sad story, but it's practically devastating when you know the survivors.

Mary Katharine Ham is expecting with the couple's second child.

At Instapundit, "JAKE BREWER, RIP."

And Mary Katharine's statement, posted to her Instagram account, is at Ed Morrissey's post, at Hot Air, "Jake Brewer, RIP":

We lost our Jake yesterday, and I lost part of my heart and the father of my sweet babies. I don't have to tell most of you how wonderful he was. It was self-evident. His life was his testimony, and it was powerful and tender and fierce, with an ever-present twinkle in the eye. I will miss him forever, even more than I can know right now. No arms can be her father's, but my daughter is surrounded by her very favorite people and all the hugs she could imagine. This will change us, but with prayer and love and the strength that is their companion, we can hope our heartache is not in vain-- that it will change us and the world in beautiful ways, just as he did. If that sounds too optimistic at this time, it's because it is. But there was no thought too optimistic for Jake, so take it and run with it. I will strive and pray not to feel I was cheated of many years with him, but cherish the gift of the years I had. In a life where nothing is guaranteed, Jake made the absolute, ever-lovin' most of his time with all of us. This is a family picture we took a couple weeks ago. It was taken because Jake, as always, was ready with a camera and his immense talent. All four members of our little, growing family are in it. I can never be without him because these babies are half him. They are made of some of the strongest, kindest stuff God had to offer this world. Please pray that he can see us and we'll all make him proud. God, I love him. Psalm 34:18, Philippians 1:3.

REO Speedwagon Guitarist Gary Richrath Has Died

Just saw this right now, at the New York Times on Twitter, "Gary Richrath, Guitarist and Songwriter for REO Speedwagon, Dies at 65."

Also at USA Today, "REO Speedwagon guitarist Gary Richrath dies."

I blogged REO in 2013, "'So if you're tired of the same old story...'"

CNN's Brian Stelter Reports the Death of 'Kathy Lee Gifford's Husband Frank' on Twitter

Sometimes it pays to have some cultural knowledge and perspective. Obviously, Brian Stelter has neither.

At Twitchy, "‘Many things wrong with’ Brian Stelter’s ‘horrific’ tweet regarding NFL Hall of Famer Frank Gifford’s death."

And see the obituary at the Wall Street Journal, "Frank Gifford, Broadcaster and NFL Great, Dies at 84."

Also at the Los Angeles Times, "Appreciation: Frank Gifford was admired in football for composure and sharp mind."

Vincent Musetto Dies: Wrote New York Post Headline, 'HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR'

At Althouse, "Arguably the greatest headline of all time (especially if greatness is measured by memorability out of proportion to the significance of the news that was reported)."

Beau Biden, Son of Vice President Joseph Biden, Dies at 46

He was so young, in the prime of life.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Beau Biden, son of vice president, dies at 46":

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Beau Biden. Requiescat in Pace cc @vp

— #JeSuisJuive (@lamblock) May 31, 2015

Joseph “Beau” Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden and a promising young figure in Democratic Party politics, died Saturday of brain cancer at Walter Reed Medical Center near Washington, his father said. He was 46.

“The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words,” the vice president said in a statement. “We know that Beau's spirit will live on in all of us.”

President Obama issued a statement saying, “Michelle and I are grieving tonight. Beau Biden was a friend of ours.”

Earlier this month, the vice president's office said Beau Biden — who was considered a leading contender in next year's governor's election in Delaware — was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed condition.

Beau Biden was elected Delaware's attorney general in 2006. During his time in office he helped launch the state's Child Predator Task Force that targeted child molesters. He also pushed initiatives aimed at domestic violence and juvenile crime, and he established programs to help financially stressed homeowners keep their homes.

The vice president, in his statement, said his son “fought for the powerless and made it his mission to protect children from abuse.”

Beau Biden campaigned for his father's vice presidential campaign in 2008 and paid tribute to him in a speech at the Democratic National Convention.

After his father's election as vice president, some speculated that Beau Biden might be appointed to replace him in the Senate. But he insisted that he wanted to continue as attorney general and focus on a major case his office was pursuing. The Senate appointment ultimately went to Ted Kaufman, a longtime aide to Joe Biden. Though the elder Biden relished the idea of his son following him in the Senate, he had also warmed to the idea of Beau in executive office...

More.

"Pray I will, sing I must, but yet I weep." Must-read by @cathleendecker on Biden and loss http://t.co/7fsV0QnNa0 via @latimes

— Seema Mehta (@LATSeema) May 31, 2015

Also at Memeorandum.

John F. Nash, Jr. — 1928-2015

He's famous for a number of reasons, not least of which being the subject for the movie "A Beautiful Mind."

An obituary, at the New York Times, "John F. Nash Jr., Mathematician Whose Life Story Inspired ‘A Beautiful Mind,’ Dies at 86."

FTFY. RT @TheEconomist: John Nash's work on game theory is now part of almost every social scientist's tool-kit http://t.co/EofJmrBosS

— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) May 24, 2015

Blues Legend B.B. King Dead at 89

I saw B.B. King play at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach back in, oh, 1980 or so.

A fabulous performer.

See the obituary at the New York Times, "'King of the Blues' Blues Legend B.B. King Dead at Age 89." ADDED: "B.B. King, Defining Bluesman for Generations, Dies at 89."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Blues guitarist B.B. King dies at 89":

B.B. King, the singer and guitarist who put the blues in a three-piece suit and took the musical genre from the barrooms and back porches of the Mississippi Delta to Carnegie Hall and the world's toniest concert stages with a signature style emulated by generations of blues and rock musicians, has died. He was 89.

The 15-time Grammy Award winner died in Las Vegas, his attorney said. He had struggled in recent years with diabetes.

Early on, King transcended his musical shortcomings — an inability to play guitar leads while he sang and a failure to master the use of a bottleneck or slide favored by many of his guitar-playing peers — and created a unique style that made him one of the most respected and influential blues musicians ever.

“B.B. King taps into something universal,” Eric Clapton told The Times in 2005. “He can't be confined to any one genre. That's why I've called him a ‘global musician.’”

King spent decades honing the craft that helped him escape the poverty of the Deep South, where he grew up on a Mississippi plantation as the son of a sharecropper who became a teenage sharecropper himself before singing and playing his way out of the cotton fields.

He was an indefatigable performer who seldom left the concert trail for more than a few days at a time. In 1956 he played 342 shows and even in his later years kept a schedule that would test the endurance of musicians half his age.

He tapped his music and oversized personality in transcending the limitations of a genre that rein in most blues musicians, forging an international identity as a beloved cultural ambassador. King collaborated with hundreds of musicians in most fields of pop music, culminating with his 1989 teaming with U2 on the Irish rock quartet's single “When Love Comes to Town,” which brought him to the attention of millions of young rock fans when he was in his mid-60s.

Decades earlier, when black audiences largely moved away from listening to the blues in favor of R&B and soul performers such as James Brown and Ray Charles, King's flagging career was resuscitated when the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Clapton, Van Morrison and other white rockers of the British Invasion started singing the praises of King and other American blues musicians to their young fans.

More.