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Monthly Archives: November 2010
How to express your Sympathy
It’s never easy to lose someone. The grief, the pain, and the bewilderment of someone’s loss are overwhelming sometimes. All wounds heal over time. You can help the person grieving start to heal. You may ask yourself, “How do you … Continue reading
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It seems to me, you are not right
What necessary words… super, magnificent idea
This rather good idea is necessary just by the way
Sympathetic feelings are always appreciated…
I like blogs like this that give specific advice. Thank you.
David Nelson was “an American actor, director, and producer” who first appeared on the sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet at age 12. He died Tuesday Jan 11, 2011 after “battling complications from colon cancer.” “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet first aired in 1944. The show was actually based on the real lives of the Nelson family and life around their Hollywood Hills home. In fact the exterior shots seen on the show were of their actual home in the Hollywood Hills while the interior scenes found a place in a studio or nearby sound stage. David Nelson proved to be a significant presence on the show in the early 50s when American families watched 435 episodes over the course of 14 years.
David Nelson was the oldest son in the real life Nelson family from which the scripts were based. He was one of those iconic child actors who grew up on screen in the late 50s. Ozzie and Harriets scripts were written by Ozzie from reflecting on real life family situations involving his own family. The show reflected the majority of America’s “wholesome values,” demand for discipline. Although David’s younger brother Ricky became the “stand out ” teen idol” and eventual pop star. David had his moments. Millions of Americans from that era and beyond “watched him grow up, go to college and get married.” Many viewing audiences considered him apart of their own family. He will be mourned as a significant personality, a cultural treasure, and a family member who has left an empty space in many of the households of that time.
I tend to do the same thing, keep cards with a personal message. Sympathy cards are a great opportunity to share feelings with family and friends of someone special that was recently lost. I love at the great Ideas. sometimes you know what you want to say, but need some ideas on how to get it out.
Great Sympathy Stationery Blog. I’ve had a really hard time finding a blog on this topic.
I recently received my sympathy cards and we were very pleased with the quality and timeliness.
Although it’s not popular to discuss wakes, funerals, etc., it is important to have a place to go to read about these subjects. I would like to see more blogs written about grieving and mourning and what is the relationship between the two. And here’s a question — does the name, FuneralNotes, refer to the notes one writes or to notes that one jots down on the subject of funerals ?
I agree with Veraldine — this website — Funeralnotes — is the only site I have found that provides good reading content on the subjects of death, funerals, and grieving.
There must be other good websites that discuss mourning and grieving, but so far, Funeral Notes is the best site that I can find.
Jean Dinning Dies At 86
Songwriters don’t lead terribly glamorous lives and this one is way before my time but I couldn’t help but perusing over an obituary and finding a few notes about this name, Jean Dinning. This name who had a voice that I had heard before but no idea of the face or the psyche behind the voice and when the person is gone the impression of the person for whatever they did while they were alive remains. Jean Dinning wrote the song Teen Angel in the 50s. It was Jean Dining who wrote the song Teen Angel in the 50s. It was released in 1959. It became a number one song. It was also used in the sound track of American Graffiti in 1973. After reading these surprising anecdotes behind the name and the enigma I sought to know more. I wanted to discover this person who had been alive that I’d never known so I gladly dug through info. The more I read about this person the more I thought it was a story that needed a narrator. It turns out her younger brother performed the song she penned that reached number one.
I’ve listened to the song previously and realized it told a story. I had no idea it was about a couple steeling a car and getting stranded on a train track as the girl ran back to try and save her beloved’s class ring as the train hits the car. I haven’t heard it in a while. It hit number one a number of years before I was even born but remembering the song you realize that you are strangely affected by the lyrics. I suppose you don’t wonder why unless you go through a careful analysis. It remains a part of popular American culture and it apparently is still influencing it over 52 years later. Ms Dinning performed with her sisters during the 30sand 40s as part of the musical group called the Dinning Sisters. They had a hit in a movie starring Jane Russell and Bop Hope. She died at age 86. She had five kids, eight grand kids and was survived b y her two sisters Ginger and Dolores. She seems to have made an indelible impression on quite a few people her whole life through.
Michael Gough Is Gone
Michael Gough recently died. He was 94 when he passed away on March 17 2011. He hadn’t been well for the past year and died surrounded by surrounded by family. He is a British actor who will undoubtedly be remembered for his performance as Alfred the Butler in the series of Batman (1989) films directed by Tim Burton. Batman starred Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Bassinger. The film grossed over $400 million dollars and paved the way for three more movies: Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997). That is what most fans of this generation will remember about Gough.
Go ugh was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to British parents: Francis Atkins and Frances Berkeley Gough. His film debut began in the late 40s. He later captured a number of horror film roles from the late 50s: Dracula ( 1958 ), Horrors of the Black Museum ( 1959), and Phantom of the Opera (1962). His career spands ” seven decades,” included appearances in over 150 movies, television and stage productions. He won a Tony Award way back in 1979 for his role as ” best featured actor” in a comedy called “Bedroom Farce.” This past year he teamed up with Tim Burton again to portray the voice of the Dodo Bird in Alice In Wonderland.” One critic quips, ” Mr Gough is one of those remarkable English character actors who should be better known to American audiences” and the terribly ironic thing about it is American audiences will remember more about him then he is aware. He will be that familiar profile, that iconic face many will recognize and be able to place among a group. Others won’t but that won’t take away from the idea that this a face that we have grown up with, someone who has left an impression on our lives and time.
Mr Gough was a “conscientious objector ” to WW II and spent his time in Non-Combatant Corps. His career began in 1948 with his first film role and led to numerous others as well as roles on British television that included Dr. Who, The Saint and The Avengers. If he is remembered for anything it will be his unique stage persona that not only lit up his more recent work but work that this generation has never seen. He was a man of many talents that we welcomed into in our lives and moments because of his believable performances on screen. Back in 1988 During his stint as Dwillyn Knox in the Broadway production of “Breaking The Code” he mentioned he considered himself an actor because he didn’t have to “pass examinations.” Ironically, he felt helpless in school and his success in the theater was merely a trade off for that. “His every small gesture from his slow drawn owlish smiles” and to buttoning his tweed jacket were all apart of his actor’s persona that has not only adhered him to American audiences but to audinces all over the world. Michael gone at 94 on March 17, 2011.
Phoebe Snow, Drifts Away…..
Phoebe Snow was an American singer songwriter who suffered “a cerebral hemorrhage” on Jan 19, 2010 and fell into a coma. She bid the world a fond farewell on April 26, 2011 after suffering through bouts of blood clots, pneumonia and congestive heart failure a her home in Edison, New Jersey. She was 60 and is survived by a sister Julie Laub.
Phoebe was not a household name but much like any person next door she had a story to tell and if you weren’t familiar with it, it may just now strike a chord. Her career peaked with a top five single called “Poetry Man” in 1974 from her self-titled album Phoebe Snow. Ironically back then her self-titled, first album sold over a million copies and eventually made her a contender for a Grammy, Best New Artist of 1974. During the time she grabbed what many felt was a much deserved place in the spot light with a cover on Rolling Stone, an appearance on Saturday Night Live and a permanent mark in history for the singer who possessed “a multi-octave range.” Her manager Sue Cameron described “the loss of a unique and untouchable” voice as incalculable.
Phoebe’s style has been described as “light jazz torch songs” and a “helter skelter amalgam of pop, jazz, blues, gospel and folk.” Her brief moment in the spot light in 1974. was Curt short by her decision to care for her brain-damaged daughter Valerie who was born at the end of that year. She cared for her 31 years until she died. Ironically Snow did not blame her for the stall in her career. Snow elected to care for her at home. At times she felt her daughter was “the only thing holding her together..”
Snow will be remembered for her signature performances of Love Makes A Woman, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and working in limited capacity with Paul Simon, Thelma Houston, Mavis Staples, Cece Peniston, Donald Fagen, Boz Scaggs, and Michael McDonald as well as putting out an album every now and then. She lacked label support perhaps because truly big success she appeared to be destined for in 1974 did not come. She of course didn’t blame her daughter Valerie for the time she felt was “precious’ and remained home to take care of her.
Phoebe undoubtedly could’ve been known for more. Her name Phoebe Snow was borrowed from an advertising character on a train before he toured the New York club circuit in 1970. In the late 1980s after the death of her daughter she struggled to return to the music business. She released an album called “Something Real” in 1989 and sang commercial jingles with Michelob, Hallmark and AT & T. She was born Phoebe Laub to the world in New York City, 1952. Her voice is a recognizable pairing with everyone from Jackson Brown, Paul Simon, Howard Stern and Bill Clinton. Despite circumstances Phoebe Snow would rather be remembered for the real voice and real person she was regardless of the luminosity or lack of it she achieved.
The Anniversary of Joan Crawford’s death occurred this week. The San Antonio native died on May 10, 1977, thirty four years ago in New York City. She died from a heart attack while suffering from pancreatic cancer. Ironically her funeral was held on May 13, 1977 with all four of her adopted children in attendance.
Her final screen appearance was in Trog (1970) was the culmination of a career that lasted forty-five years, included over 80 motion pictures, additional TV appearances in Stephen Spielberg’s Night Gallery (1969), The Virginian (1970), The Name of The Game (1971) and an episode of the Sixth Sense: We’re Going To Scare You To Death. No one will forget her partnership with Bette Davis in “Whatever Happened To baby Jane?” and the history of the two screen legends. Mommie Dearest, her daughter Christina’s autobiography was published a year and a half later. It became a best seller and was made into a movie starring Faye Dunaway in 1981.
Much has been written and said about Joan Crawford. Only her performances are currently accessible and what a tale they tell or don’t tell. Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay Le Seur. She began her career as a dancer, believe it or not? She traveled with theater companies before “debuting on Broadway” before signing with MGM in 1925. She was the third child of “Tennessee parents of French, English and Swedish decent. Her real father Thomas Le Seur, abandoned the family before she was born. Anna Bell Johnson her mother subsequently married Henry J. Cassin and moved to Lawton, Oklahoma where Cassin ran a movie theater. In 1910 the five-year-old aspired to be a dancer.
In 1924 Crawford was nabbed by a producer from a traveling review in Detroit and tapped for a show on Broadway, Innocent Eyes. After signing a contract with MGM Crawford boarded a train the day after Christmas and found herself in Culver City, CA Jan 1925, leaving home to make movies with MGM. She made a few films in 1925: Pretty Ladies, The Only Thing and Old Clothes before changing her name and self promotion campaign. She attended hotels in and around Hollywood entering contests and winning Her strategy worked as MGM cast her in Sally, Irene and Mary amd and Lady of The Night (1925). She starred in the Unknown before marrying Douglas Fairbanks Jr. She transitioned from silent movies to talkies in the late 20s and became an icon in the 30s playing opposite Clark Gable in Possessed (1931). Other credits include much lesser known films Grand Hotel, Letty Lyton (1932), Rain (1932) and Dancing Lady (1933). Crawford’s work continued to blossom through the 40s when she was contracted to Warner Bros. and earned her first nomination and win for Mildred Pierce (1945). She was nominated twice more for roles in Possessed (1947) and Sudden Fear (1952).
On a clear day when we look through someone’s scrap book we often see a different side of a situation we could not. We are often given a story the main character could not articulate. We are often enlightened as before we were not. We are only left to sometimes silently applaud, listen and trudge on from there into a future that is so questionably clear. There in are we still able to see a Joan Crawford as she desperately struggled to find herself , to play the Hollywood game and to engage her contemporaries as the sought to engage her. What image becomes Joan Crawford most?