Paul Leka (photo Joseph Bly NY Times)
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye went # 1 for a band called Steam. Today it is the sports chant of fans for retiring pitchers and sports losers of all stripes.
Paul Leka died of lung cancer on October 12th in hospice near his Connecticut home. Leka was 68.
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Elizabeth Berrigan invisible in death (roses from Island Deaths)
She was a tall, beautiful and intelligent Irish woman of a proud Prince Edward Island family.
Those eyes of hers could flash with wit, laughter and life.
They were also windows to a tortured soul who struggled for 30 years with mental illness and disability. Continue reading
Horace MacNevin died on June 27, 2010.
Mr. MacNevin and his wife were victims of a horrific propane explosion that destroyed their West Devon, PEI home on April 27, 2010.
Mr. MacNevin suffered numerous injuries from the explosion and never recovered. He spent more than 4 weeks in the burn unit in Halifax before being transferred back to the Prince County Hospital in Summerside, PEI.
His wife spent seven weeks in recovery in hospital as well.
The explosion was caused, according to the Fire Marshall, from a propane leak. Propane explosions are more common than officials want to admit.
Death notice from Island Deaths.
John Ewart image: Island Deaths
It makes me profoundly sad to write about the passing of an old friend John Ewart who died on Friday.
Everyone who knew John Ewart can tell you stories about him. He was a great guy who pretended to be tight with the penny but had great generosity of the spirit.
John was well liked by everyone he met. His sense of humor and intelligence were unforgettable as was his desire to help others.
I will try to give you my remembrance of John. If any facts are confused, feel free to correct them. They are based only my memory of John’s numerous stories from the countless hours we spent together.
He was born in Montreal and had a Montrealer’s sensibility about many things. Montrealer’s have the duality of English and French along with a wonderful internationalism from the many immigrant communities that share the city. I had lived there for 9 years so when we met there was an instant affinity for shared experiences.
This is her sister’s eulogy (translation follows the story break)
She was a young, beautiful woman with a positive outlook and hope for the future with her fiance. All that was taken away in an instant.
“Caspian Makan, the fiancée of the young Iranian woman shot last week, tells Al Jazeera of her last moments. “Neda”, which is the Farsi word for voice, was allegedly shot dead by a Basij soldier in Tehran last week.” Al Jazeera English
Fess Parker as Davy Crockett
Who didn’t wear a coonskin cap and talk like Davy Crockett? Everyone remembers the genial remake of history by Walt Disney in the 1950′s. As a Tennessean Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett killed a “bar”, chased Indians and showed bravery at the Alamo, the American Waterloo.
Disney was a master at creating the American myth and then capitalizing on it. The merchandising of Davy Crockett hats, coats, guns and other memorabilia became a marketing legend. Kids begged, including this one, their parents to but them Davy Crockett gear. My mother was a pacifist so I had to get my own coonskin cap and gun. I hide it from her.
Buddy Ebsen (Wizard of Oz, Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones) was Davy Crockett’s sidekick in the TV series. Fess Parker went on to play the role of Abraham Lincoln.
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Alex Chilton singing The Letter in 2006
Bob Lefsetz wrote a remembrance for Alex Chilton that struck a chord with fans and friends of Alex Chilton first as a musical star with the Box Tops and Big Star. Lefsetz tells how the music hit him, which is how we remember artists. What was I doing the year of that hit. “Who was I going with” kind of remembrance. He makes a passing comment about Chilton’s health and finances.
“We have a fantasy that our heroes live on a higher plane, live a better life than us…that they’re surrounded by bucks and babes.
“But watching Alex Chilton perform you were struck that his life was much more difficult than yours. He had to go from town to town, playing to appreciative, but tiny audiences, who loved him, but that love won’t keep you warm at night, it won’t pay your bills, it won’t pay your health insurance. Continue reading
Alex Chilton
The lead singer of the Box Tops, Alex Chilton, died in his hotel room in Austin Texas of a heart attack. He was getting ready for a performance at the SXSW the mega conference of music and creative arts.
His band mates said he hadn’t been feeling well. “Alex passed away a couple of hours ago,” said band mate Jody Stephens. “I don’t have a lot of particulars, but they kind of suspect that it was a heart attack.” Exclaim.ca
Chilton had early big name success with the hit The Letter when he was 16. The Box Tops had a few lesser hits and broke up in 1970s. Chilton reformed a group as Big Star who became cult favorites. Other hits were In The Street and Thirteen. Continue reading
By Stephen Pate, President of the PEI Polio Survivors
Dr. Bob Romcke passed away at the QEH on Thursday January 28th, 2010 at age 80. He was known as a gentleman and a man of courage and perseverance.
Dr. Bob was a dentist. While studying dentistry at McGill University in Montreal as a young man he contracted polio. The deadly illness, that was a scourge back then, affected his upper body.
He had to take a leave from his studies and spent sometime in an iron lung.
Dr. Bob endured his recovery and convalescence. He was able to leave the iron lung behind, return to McGill University and graduate as a dentist.
In 1965, Dr. Bob started what would become universal dental care for Island children. It was his vision and determination that drove the child dental program for decades.
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Bobby Charles Guidry at home on the Bayou
Robert (Bobby) Charles Guidry died at age 71 in his home in Abbeville, Louisiana on January 14, 2010.
Why was the man who wrote so many hit songs for others living in the Cajun swamp west of New Orleans where he was born?
A songwriter and hit-maker for Fats Domino, Clarence Frogman Henry and friend of the Band, Charles was a recluse. The obituary notices left out that part of the story and I wanted to find out why his talent was virtually unknown outside the small world of musicians.
While he wrote hit songs for many famous artists and lived off his royalties most of his life, he was rarely seen in public performance.
Born in Cajun country Louisiana, Bobby Charles was a purveyor of that special brand of southern US rock called “swamp rock.” The Band were one of the more famous groups who made a career playing “swamp rock”, all the more ironic since all of The Band members were from Canada, excepting Levon Helm who hailed from Arkansas.
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