Tag Archives: funeral notes

Robin Gibb’s Requiem : The Bee Gees Remembered

” For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity. ”

Robin Gibb of the famous singing trio the Brothers Gibb, or Bee Gees as they are more widely known died this past Sunday and I have just now become aware of it. He had suffered long with cancer and an intestinal injury. It seemed like only yesterday, alas too many yesterdays ago they were rewriting the record books. It was terribly ironic that he died on Sunday as America’s Billboard Music Awards were broadcast worldwide from Las Vegas. He had been in a coma earlier this spring. His colon and liver cancer had finally got the best of him.

Robin Gibb of course was one-third of the super group the Bee Gees that began their phenomenal career in 1958 and rose to worldwide acclaim in the late 70s, the height of the disco era. Over the course of their career they sold over 220 million albums wold wide. They first began charting in the 60s. Harmonies were led by Robin in the late 60s and then by Barry to categorize their “signature sound” of the 70s that bring back so many memories to so many of earlier less complicated times. They had several successes charting before the release of the Saturday Night Fever sound track. Spicks and Specks was their first major hit in the late 60s, followed by to “Love Somebody”. Arrangement changes in the late 60s led to Robin leaving the group to start a solo career but by 1973 the brothers were back together and were unknowingly preparing for what would be unequaled achievement.

The Brothers achieved stardom performing “three part harmonies” and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, tauted as “Britain’s first family of harmony” with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys as presenter. Robin and his brothers left a permanent imprint on history, culture and the collective hedonist’s soul in the 1970s. Robins own career spanned over six decades. He is gone at 62 along with his fraternal twin Maurice who died unexpectedly in Jan 2003 from an unexpected heart attack but so much of their music, their souls, their voices and their best performances remain here in the land of the living for us to reflect on, return to, time and time again. It is a sentiment really worth jotting down a few words and phrases for and sending along as a sign of remembrance, a Sympathy Note. It surely will not bring the dead to life but it surely will bring peace to those searching for answers and at least reconfirm to the dead that their inestimable contributions, too many to count have indeed been acknowledged.

“Lonely Days” and “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” were early hits of the 1970s. The Bee Gees relocated to Miami in 1975 where they met their production team of Karl Richardson and Alby Galuten. Collaborations began with “Jive Talkin” and “Nights on Broadway. “You Should Be Dancin” was released on the “Children of the World album and the Bee Gees were commissioned to create the songs for the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack. How ironic the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack did not begin the disco craze, ” it breathed new life into a genre that was actually dying” and prolonged it.

All three brothers were a part of the chemical formula that was the Bee Gees and with Robin’s death it is like another page of living history is no longer here, can longer be accessed. Three songs they recorded for the “Saturday Night Fever” album went to number one: “How Deep Is Your Love, “Stayin Alive,” and “Night Fever.” They wrote another song for Yvonne Elliman that went to number one, “If I Can’t Have You.” They recorded “More than a Woman” for the album and the single became a hit for Tavares. During a period in 1977 around Christmas time six songs written by the Bee Gees held number one positions for 25 of 32 consecutive weeks, what was an eight month run, including two releases by their younger brother Andy. At the time it was the highest selling sound track in pop music history. It is now somewhere in the top seven having sold over 40 million copies worldwide.

The Bee Gees have influenced music, fashion, art, people, places and popular culture for more years than I have been alive. It is nice to know that Robin and his brothers collective influence on so much will continue to carry on. “The Bee Gees were/are the gold standard when it comes to pop/r&b melody, harmony and vocal arrangement,” commented song writer Claude Kelly. There are too many comments to mention. They wrote and recorded all the songs for “Saturday Night Fever ” in one week Barry went on to write the the title track for the Grease soundtrack, the one Frankie Vali would record. Robin’s voice has been described as “one of the best white soul voices ever.” The Bee Gees followed the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack with an album called “Spirits Having Flown” that yielded three more number one songs: “Too Much Heaven,” “Tragedy” and “Love You Inside And Out.” To mention all of the ways this formula and the brothers themselves went on to influence other successes is inconceivable. It is too much too list here.

Robin Gibb bid a farewell to us on May 20, 2012. It caught many of us off guard just as did the death of Donna Summer days earlier but wherever he is I think he is it is safe to say he is no longer suffering. He is no longer seeking closure for his journey. He set sail on a solo tour of Russia, Germany and Asia in 2006, reunited with his brother Barry for a Miami charity event and performed at the 30th annual Princes Trust Concert in the UK the same year. All three were born on the Isle of Man, later lived in Manchester, Brisbane Australia and of course ultimately returned to the UK. Each brother was their own unique element in a formula and now that formula cannot be recreated. Many are realizing just how much of a unique combination they were. Many of them changed with time and it seems Robin’s cancer took its toll on him the worst but it did not stop him from living, from making music and for a career that has spanned over 60 years most would send him a thank you, a Sympathy Note for all of the life he gave, for so many fond memories and so much great music. His last performance came on Feb 13, 2012 a benefit concert for the Soldiers of the Coming Home at the London Palladium. A Sympathy Note simply means thank you.

Roger Ebert : June 18, 1942, Urbana to April 4, 2013

” Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them. ”

Writer : George Eliot

For most movie magic is an elusive thing. It takes a bit of talent to combine a quality production and a comparable cast into an exceptional film. Often it is a mixture that comes about by the combined efforts of filmmakers: directors, casting crews, producers, writers and special effects people. A movie critic is usually never mentioned but Roger Ebert was one critic that surely hung heavy on many a filmmaker’s mind. At one time he was touted as ” the nation’s most prominent film critic” or “the best known film critic in America.” He died last Thursday April 5th. He had been diagnosed with cancer, had two surgeries to get rid of it and had just announced its unwelcome return.
Roger Joseph Ebert was a screenwriter, journalist, a film critic a film lover and an indefatigable supporter of what he classified as good films. It is even more ironic how the only child of Annabel and Walter Ebert of Urbana , IL. nurtured his writing interest as a teen to achieve worldwide notoriety. Before he graduated from high school his penchant for writing sports and science fiction articles blossomed into an appointment as Editor and Chief at his high school newspaper. Believe it or not at the time of his death Ebert’s career as a critic spanned over 52 years. His last printed review appears in syndication this week. In 2005 he was the first movie critic to receive a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. A timely Funeral Note sent in respect and gratitude would surely honor his memory and his life.

Siskel and Ebert’s original show captivated audiences. It went through a couple of incarnations: Sneak Previews and At The Movies. Their “thumbs up” classification would become his and Siskel’s trademark long after he died. Their contrasting personalities and points of view seemed to offer something for everybody, conservatives and liberals. The 1978 pairing of the two critics produced what was at the time the most highly rated show in PBS’ history. In 1999 their show went off the air only to be replaced by Ebert and a new found partner Richard Roeper,” At The Movies with Ebert and Roeper. ” It aired from 2006-2011.

Mr. Ebert could be identified by his passions that shaped and molded his career. He liked to write and he liked connecting with people, whether it was something trivial, mundane or surreal he found a voice. He found a voice that answered many questions his readers wanted answered. He realized there was a time to laugh, to cry, to think and to stand and readers merely wanted to know the who, what, where and why. He felt most at ease providing that vital function. He said his newspaper job was his”identity.”Throughout his lifetime he connected with audiences on various levels through that identity. He won a Pullitzer Prize for that type of dogmatic belief in 1975. The syndicated movie review shows followed. He never lost sight of the simple principle of speaking to his audience and getting them what they wanted.
Roger Ebert was a “work horse.” He was at his best when he wasn’t working and reviewing. At the peak of his career he reviewed as many as 306 movies a year. He worked as a film critic for the Chicago Sun Times from 1967 until he died. His recent bouts with cancer and surgeries robbed him of his ability to speak, eat and drink in 2006. Cancer in his salivary glands and jaw forced him to use a feeding tube but he continued to write and review. He refused to let his misfortune rob him of his wings. He continued to write, read and breathe life into movies as they had done for him until he died. He still produced his syndicated column for the Sun Times and 200 newspapers until he died. He also published more than twenty collections of film reviews.
Mr. Ebert truly believed by continuing to do what he did he could change how people viewed films, how films viewed the world and all of those little connecting points and sockets in between. He relished the reality that what he said and did, did make filmmakers more attentive to the standards of their craft and the stories that they told. His wife laments, “we were getting ready to go home” last Thursday, April 5th when he just “smiled and passed away.” “There was no struggle, no pain.” Maybe he felt he had finally written enough, maybe he had endured enough. The only honorable thing for his audience to acknowledge is how they have been affected by his life, work and his relentless undertaking. A Funeral Note as a thank surely is in order. Let your conscience way heavy in your decision.

” Steven Jobs, An Untimely Departure ”

Steven Jobs died this past October. He was widely recognized as ” a charismatic power of the personal computer age.” He achieved notoriety for several things throughout life. He was co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc.and later became a member of the board of directors of Walt Disney in 2006 after Pixar was acquisition-ed by Disney. He started at Apple in 1974 partnered with Steve Wozniak to direct the aesthetic design of its personal computer. In the early eighties his vision of a “graphical user interface” led to the Apple Lisa and then to the Macintosh. He was diagnosed as having pancreatic cancer for which he received a liver transplant in 2009 but lost “the struggle with the disease” as he grew more “gaunt and frail.”
Steven Jobs was one of those rare individuals whose zeal for life and enthusiasm for what he did transcended his rather inauspicious beginnings. He was born to two unwed university students of Arabic descent and adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. His adoptive parents moved from San Francisco to Mountain View , CA when Steve was five. Paul Jobs was a machinist by trade and taught his son “rudimentary electronics and how to work with hands.” He went to junior high and high school in Cupertino, CA and later frequented lectures at Hewlett Packard in Palo Alto, CA. It was there he was hired and met Steve Wozniak while the both were summer employees. His formal education seemed to be overshadowed by Jobs’ urgency to find himself or his niche. He enrolled in Reed College after high school graduation and dropped out two semesters later. He traveled to India in 1974 in search of spiritual enlightenment. During the time he experimented with LSD and returned as a Zen Buddhist. He attributed his “counter culture” thinking as the impetus for his innovative thought. How did most people view him, how did he view himself.
Unlike many entertainment luminaries Steven Jobs didn’t connect with people through the conventional medium of stage, set, and screen. He connected with his colleagues, electronics, design elements and those he sought to serve. His non professional and professional relationships hinged on those elements. When Jobs first returned from India he eeked out a deal to create circuit board for Atari that enlisted his friend Wozniak that led to a $700 pay off, a fraction of what they were to receive since the design was not assembly line friendly. The relationship would lead to the founding of Apple computer in 1976 in Job’s parent’s garage. The rest of the story is a cross between fact and speculation depending on your perspective. He was always was known as “persuasive and charismatic” but was described by some employees as “erratic and temper mental.” Declining sales in 1984 led to a management rift where Apple’s Board of Directors sided with John Sculley and ousted him from the company in 1985.
In 1985 he founded Next Computers with $ 7 million and a year later was running out of money. He attracted investment interest from Ross Perot who invested heavily in the company. Next designs were directed towards “financial, scientific and academic” professionals. They were his second phase of experiments with innovative technologies that have characterized the majority of his career. Of course some were more successful than others. Perhaps that was the biggest thing to set Steve Jobs apart from his competition, from other thinkers. He took stock in the future and in some cases mandated future needs. He acquired the computer graphics division of Lucas Films in 1986 and was credited as executive producer of Toy Story in 1995. He was the major share holder of the company until it was sold to Disney in 2006.

Upon his return to Apple in 1997 his efforts continued to ” transform the way people interact with technology” and will continue to do so in the future. The iPad, iPhone and the “Mac all in one computer, IPod music player and iTunes all in one digital music store are what saved then Apple Computers, now simply Apple from closing. It’s startling to find Apple produced $7.1 billion in revenue in 1997 and $65.2 billion as of last. Though Jobs lost weight in 2008, took a six month medical leave in 2009 to receive a liver transplant and another before stepping down as CEO once again his ideas, philosophy and policy have continued to influence the company’s successes and failures. It is now the largest retailer of music, has”helped popularize computer-animated films” and been a continuing contributing factor for how we use the internet and technology influences people in their every day lives: information, TV, movies, books and so many other forms of the threads that make up the blanket of our culture. He died from losing his battle with pancreatic cancer, even after the liver transplant in 2009 sparked continued weight loss, absence from work, questions of his competence and finally his handing over the reigns. At his death Steve Jobs was estimated to be worth over $ 7.4 billion at his death. Is this a professional colleague worthy of a remembrance, a simple Funeral Note?

“Brief and powerless is man’s life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark.”

Writer: Bertrand Russell

I think life is something that you should expect to be filled with trials. Unfortunate circumstances arise and one must adapt in order to survive. Being a survivor and striving to muster up strength is what defines a human being. As one of the authors said, You can love me or hate me I swear it won’t make me or break me..

One of my closest friends just lost her husband from a violent gang shooting. They were amazing individuals who raised their kids and live a great lifestyle. Bad things happens to good people, which is the essence of life. It is so shocking to see how she seems to manage a smile even after this tragedy. The worst part was to break news to their kids, who are so naive and innocent.

Mike Wallace’s Famous Last Interview

Death is not kind. It quickly covers what’s left of an individual’s light abruptly, almost like a final curtain call. What was their life quickly closes and is no more. There is an empty space, a place where light once shown that has grown silent but for some, a select few their light transcends their death, their memories become timeless. Mike Wallace died on April 7th the night before Easter Sunday. His greaterst work surely will be resurrected in many ways for many years to come.
Mike Wallace was a firecracker whose life connected with many, inspired more and captured the attention of an American audience for over sixty-years. The journalist, game show host, actor and media personality metamorphosized many times through out his sixty-year-career. He interviewed “a wide range of newsmakers” over his legendary career. He was known for his terse and brazen interview style. He will best be remembered for his role as a 60 minutes correspondent. He entered into America’s living rooms every Sunday and engaged public figures, entertainers, actors, actresses, mogules and anyone else who’d captured the public eye.
Wallace’s personality gave his job life, made his interviews controversial, ground breaking and worth remembering. It inspired countless imitators in the media and related fields. They followed the standard in his life and in tune created a standard to follow. He spent 23 seasons with 60 minutes and won 21 Emmy Awards and the Paul White Award Winner in 1991. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame the same year.
Mike Walace’s story was the quintessential American success story. He was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts and attended the University of Michigan. He landed a job at WOOD Radio in Grand Rapids and moved to Detroit, MI for an announcer’s job a year later. In 1940 he moved to Chicago to work freelance radio. Wallace enlisted in 1943, served as a communications officer in WW II and returned home to Chicago after being discharged in 1946.
Upon his return he “announced for radio action shows” like Ned Jordan, Secret Agent, Sky King, The Green Hornet and wrestling for Tavern Pale Beer. Throughout his career in the late 40s he was known for his “unique dialogue routines” and “comedic wit.” He lent his talents to everything from commercials to acting in police dramas like stand by your crime in 1949 and hosted a number of game shows in the 50s: The Big Surprise, Whose the Boss? Who Buys?, and To Tell The Truth. In 1963 he returned to full time news in an earlier version of CBS This Morning H’ed been making a living from appearing in commericials. Of course the stint with the pre- early show led to 60 minutes, another stage of the roller coaster ride that would keep him just as much in the news as the people he interviewed. From Louis Farrakhan, General Westmoreland to Barbara Streisand, Tina Turner and Hillary Swank and too many more to mention. Mr. Wallace formally retired from 2008 and had made guest appearances since. He died at Waverley Care Center in New Canaan, CT surrounded by family . He’d been a resident for the past three years. He is still very much alive in the manner he delivered and rendered an interview. Sometimes iexceptional performances in any field, on any part of life’s stage do exactly that and for that he will be remembered and it is worth your effort to send a Sympathy Note to refresh your memory and commemorate his own

We offer Floral Scroll, Frame of Roses, Knights bridge, Oxford Silver Silhouette, Tradition, Antique Frame Notes. Vignette and Yorkshire Sympathy Card styles to epress yourself in whatever way your voice will be best heard.

I hear you Michael. My work has affected my marriage life, sometimes we just come home and fight because of the lack of the time we failed to spend with each other. We both agree that we need to change something. As humans, we must fight for love, sympathy, compassion because that is something that should not compromised.

Something that reminds me alot about sympathy is the TV show Scrubs. keep in mind that these doctors supposedly have to always look at death. Since doctors cannot be attached to their patients, it makes their jobs so much more harder. But as I was watching the show, I realized that truly showing sympathy knowing that it could negatively impact your heart must be the hardest thing to do.

sympathy in my opinion is creating this mutual symbiosis of assisting with pain. People deal with pain and fear in different ways. When an individual is able to share their feelings and help someone understand their feelings, it becomes a feel of sympathy.

“Dying is like coming to the end of a long novel–you only regret it if the ride was enjoyable and left you wanting more.” Why is we would almost always like, perhaps even mention something we hadn’t had a chance?

Writer: JEROME P. CRABB

Davy Jones Dies, Already Immortalized….

David Thomas Jones said his final goodbye on Wed Feb 29, 2012. The English entertainer, singer, song writer best known for his role as lead singer of the Monkees died of a sudden heart attack, according to medical autopsy results in Martin County, Florida.

He starred in the hit TV show of the same name, the Monkees, patterned after the real life Beattle’s invasion. The Monkeys premiered on NBC in 1966 and was canceled in 1968. I was born in 1967 and introduced to the Monkees through syndicated reruns, like many. They are still running, creating interest on what have become timeless issues: adolesence, family, fortune, fame and the changing landscape of American society.
David Thomas Jones was 66 when he died and continued to add to his repertoire as an entertainer. He was born in Manchester, England on Dec 1945. His career began eleven years later when he appeared on Coronation Street, a British television soap opera. Unfortunately the death of his mother at age 14 propelled him in a totally different direction. He tried horse jockeying instead and later returned to acting. Basil Foster trained him as a jockey but was approached by a casting agent for his role as the “Artful Dodger” in the London run of the musical Oliver Twist. He followed the cast to Broadway where he was nominated for a Tony Award in Feb 1964. Ironically his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show was at the same time as the Beattles. Jones “watched the Beattles from the side of the stage” and realized at that moment he wanted “a piece” of that. He and his band members did get ” a piece of” fame during their hey day from 1965-71.
The Monkees originally aired 1966 from 1966-68, strring Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith. Davy Jones sang lead for the band. “I Wanna Be Free” and “Day Dream Believer” were songs that ent No. 1. “Day Dream Believer” was the number one song for the year of 1967 and they released four albums that reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 Chart. Davy continued to perform after the Monkees on television and Broadway. His career and the Monkees’ were filled with several more resurrections: appearances in episodes of the Brady Bunch, Here comes the Bride, Love American Style and My Two Dads. He’s had appearances in the Brady Bunch Movie, several productions of Oliver, lent his voice to The New Scooby-Doo Movies and costarred with Mickey Dolenz in The Point, a London stage Play way back in 1978. Jones also reunited with Peter Tork, and Mickey Dolenz in 1986 on MTV to celebrate their 20th anniversary and renewed popularity.
The new millennium saw Davy Jones returning to recording, releasing an album of old and new material called “Just Me” 2001. He performed at Epcot’s Flower Power Concert Series in the early 2000′s and continued to lend his talent towards children’s literature and musical accompaniments to enjoy it by: “Your Personal Penguin and Bloo Moo are examples. He also toured a circuit of “Hollywood nostalgia shows.”
At age 66 he still rode and trained horses. He was married three times and leaves a widow and four daaghters from two previous marriages. As with many people in the business, his time, his presence, warmth and personality touched a new generation that has become old and still remembers. As a result of syndication and the magic mirrors we look through I have memories of him where as otherwise I would not because I had not been born. Davy Jones contributed to what was then and what is now with laughter, wit, song and dance. It was a life well worth the affect it had on so many. If you are one of
those who was affected in the slightest take a moment to stop and write your thought down on a Funeral Note and send it off. “Like sunshine on” your shoulders it is amazing how significant some insignificant instances and people, both dead and alive have been in contributing to the quality of our time, our culture, our consciousness and our lives. “Davy was a beautiful soul.” His “spirit and soul live well in my heart among all the lovely people.” “He was the brother I never had.” so say his friends those he worked with in his memory. There must be a thought you’d surely like to write down?

Roger Ebert : June 18, 1942, Urbana to April 4, 2013

” Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them. ”

Writer : George Eliot

For most movie magic is an elusive thing. It takes a bit of talent to combine a quality production and a comparable cast into an exceptional film. Often it is a mixture that comes about by the combined efforts of filmmakers: directors, casting crews, producers, writers and special effects people. A movie critic is usually never mentioned but Roger Ebert was one critic that surely hung heavy on many a filmmaker’s mind. At one time he was touted as ” the nation’s most prominent film critic” or “the best known film critic in America.” He died last Thursday April 5th. He had been diagnosed with cancer, had two surgeries to get rid of it and had just announced its unwelcome return.
Roger Joseph Ebert was a screenwriter, journalist, a film critic a film lover and an indefatigable supporter of what he classified as good films. It is even more ironic how the only child of Annabel and Walter Ebert of Urbana , IL. nurtured his writing interest as a teen to achieve worldwide notoriety. Before he graduated from high school his penchant for writing sports and science fiction articles blossomed into an appointment as Editor and Chief at his high school newspaper. Believe it or not at the time of his death Ebert’s career as a critic spanned over 52 years. His last printed review appears in syndication this week. In 2005 he was the first movie critic to receive a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. A timely Funeral Note sent in respect and gratitude would surely honor his memory and his life.

Siskel and Ebert’s original show captivated audiences. It went through a couple of incarnations: Sneak Previews and At The Movies. Their “thumbs up” classification would become his and Siskel’s trademark long after he died. Their contrasting personalities and points of view seemed to offer something for everybody, conservatives and liberals. The 1978 pairing of the two critics produced what was at the time the most highly rated show in PBS’ history. In 1999 their show went off the air only to be replaced by Ebert and a new found partner Richard Roeper,” At The Movies with Ebert and Roeper. ” It aired from 2006-2011.

Mr. Ebert could be identified by his passions that shaped and molded his career. He liked to write and he liked connecting with people, whether it was something trivial, mundane or surreal he found a voice. He found a voice that answered many questions his readers wanted answered. He realized there was a time to laugh, to cry, to think and to stand and readers merely wanted to know the who, what, where and why. He felt most at ease providing that vital function. He said his newspaper job was his”identity.”Throughout his lifetime he connected with audiences on various levels through that identity. He won a Pullitzer Prize for that type of dogmatic belief in 1975. The syndicated movie review shows followed. He never lost sight of the simple principle of speaking to his audience and getting them what they wanted.
Roger Ebert was a “work horse.” He was at his best when he wasn’t working and reviewing. At the peak of his career he reviewed as many as 306 movies a year. He worked as a film critic for the Chicago Sun Times from 1967 until he died. His recent bouts with cancer and surgeries robbed him of his ability to speak, eat and drink in 2006. Cancer in his salivary glands and jaw forced him to use a feeding tube but he continued to write and review. He refused to let his misfortune rob him of his wings. He continued to write, read and breathe life into movies as they had done for him until he died. He still produced his syndicated column for the Sun Times and 200 newspapers until he died. He also published more than twenty collections of film reviews.
Mr. Ebert truly believed by continuing to do what he did he could change how people viewed films, how films viewed the world and all of those little connecting points and sockets in between. He relished the reality that what he said and did, did make filmmakers more attentive to the standards of their craft and the stories that they told. His wife laments, “we were getting ready to go home” last Thursday, April 5th when he just “smiled and passed away.” “There was no struggle, no pain.” Maybe he felt he had finally written enough, maybe he had endured enough. The only honorable thing for his audience to acknowledge is how they have been affected by his life, work and his relentless undertaking. A Funeral Note as a thank surely is in order. Let your conscience way heavy in your decision.