Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 2019)
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2019 THE OBSERVER — 12C 2019: YEAR IN REVIEW Final goodbye: Influential people who died in 2019 By Bernard McGhee The Associated Press This year saw the deaths of people who shifted culture through prose, pragmatism and persistence. It also witnessed tragedy, in talent struck down in its prime. (Editor’s note: This list has been cut for space, and is not exhaustive.) JANUARY Eugene “Mean Gene” Okerlund, 76. His deadpan interviews of pro wrestling superstars like “Macho Man” Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan made him a ringside fi xture in his own right. Jan. 2. Carol Channing, 97. The ebullient musical comedy star who delighted American audiences in almost 5,000 performances as the schem- ing Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly!” on Broadway and beyond. Jan. 15. Nathan Glazer, 95. A prominent sociologist and intellectual who assisted on a classic study of conformity, “The Lonely Crowd,” and co- authored a groundbreaking document of non-conformity, “Beyond the Melting Pot.” Jan. 19. Harold Bradley, 93. A Country Music Hall of Fame guitarist who played on hun- dreds of hit country records and along with his brother, famed producer Owen Bradley, helped craft “The Nashville Sound.” Jan. 31. FEBRUARY Anne Firor Scott, 97. A prize-winning historian and esteemed professor who up- ended the male-dominated fi eld of Southern scholarship by pioneering the study of Southern women. Feb. 5. Frank Robinson, 83. The Hall of Famer was the fi rst black manager in Major League Baseball and the only player to win the MVP award in both leagues. Feb. 7. John Dingell, 92. The former congressman was the longest-serving member of Congress in American history at 59 years and a master of legislative deal- making who was fi ercely protective of Detroit’s auto industry. Feb. 7. Albert Finney, 82. The British actor was the Acad- emy Award-nominated star of fi lms from “Tom Jones” to “Skyfall.” Feb. 8. Jan-Michael Vincent, 73. The “Airwolf” television star whose sleek good looks belied a troubled personal life. Feb. 10. Betty Ballantine, 99. She was half of a groundbreaking husband-and-wife publish- ing team that helped invent the modern paperback and vastly expand the market for science fi ction and other genres through such block- busters as “The Hobbit” and “Fahrenheit 451.” Feb. 12. Lyndon LaRouche Jr., 96. The political extremist who ran for president in every election from 1976 to 2004, including a campaign waged from federal prison. Feb. 12. Wallace Smith Broecker, 87. A scientist who raised early alarms about climate change and popularized the term “global warming.” Feb. 18. Karl Lagerfeld, 85. Cha- nel’s iconic couturier whose accomplished designs and AP fi le photo AP fi le photo Self-made billionaire and former presidential candidate Ross Perot died in July. Toni Morrison, a giant of modern literature, died in August. trademark white ponytail, high starched collars and dark enigmatic glasses domi- nated high fashion for the past 50 years. Feb. 19. Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and strug- gled with injuries repeatedly in that time. July 1. Choked on his own vomit and had a toxic mix of alcohol and painkillers fentanyl and oxycodone in his system. Lee Iacocca, 94. The auto executive and master pitch- man who put the Mustang in Ford’s lineup in the 1960s and became a corporate folk hero when he resurrected Chrysler 20 years later. July 2. H. Ross Perot, 89. The colorful, self-made Texas billionaire who rose from delivering newspapers as a boy to building his own infor- mation technology company and twice mounted outsider campaigns for president. July 9. Leukemia. Rip Torn, 88. The free-spir- ited Texan who overcame his quirky name to become a distinguished actor in televi- sion, theater and movies, such as “Men in Black,” and win an Emmy in his 60s for “The Larry Sanders Show.” July 9. Pernell Whitaker, 55. An Olympic gold medalist and four-division boxing cham- pion who was regarded as one of the greatest defensive fi ghters ever. July 14. Hit by a car. John Paul Stevens, 99. The bow-tied, independent- thinking, Republican-nomi- nated justice who unexpect- edly emerged as the Supreme Court’s leading liberal. July 16. Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, 85. The former Boston Red Sox infi elder was the fi rst black player on the last major league team to fi eld one. July 17. Rutger Hauer, 75. A Dutch fi lm actor who specialized in menacing roles, includ- ing a memorable turn as a murderous android in “Blade Runner” opposite Harrison Ford. July 19. MARCH Luke Perry, 52. He gained instant heartthrob status as wealthy rebel Dylan McKay on “Beverly Hills, 90210.” March 4. Stroke. Birch Bayh, 91. A former U.S. senator who champi- oned the federal law banning discrimination against women in college admissions and sports. March 14. Dick Dale, 83. His pound- ing, blaringly loud power- chord instrumentals on songs like “Miserlou” and “Let’s Go Trippin’” earned him the title King of the Surf Guitar. March 16. Larry Cohen, 77. The mav- erick B-movie director of cult horror fi lms “It’s Alive” and “God Told Me To.” March 23. Ken Gibson, 86. He be- came the fi rst black mayor of a major Northeast city when he ascended to power in riot-torn Newark, New Jersey, about fi ve decades ago. March 29. APRIL Sydney Brenner, 92. A Nobel Prize-winning biologist who helped decipher the genetic code and whose research on a roundworm sparked a new fi eld of human disease research. April 5. Richard “Dick” Cole, 103. The last of the 80 Doolittle Tokyo Raiders who carried out the daring U.S. attack on Japan during World War II. April 9. John Havlicek, 79. The Boston Celtics great whose steal of Hal Greer’s inbounds pass in the fi nal seconds of the 1965 Eastern Conference fi nal against the Philadel- phia 76ers remains one of the most famous plays in NBA history. April 25. John Singleton, 51. A di- rector who made one of Hol- lywood’s most memorable debuts with the Oscar-nomi- nated “Boyz N the Hood” and continued over the following decades to probe the lives of black communities in his na- tive Los Angeles and beyond. April 29. Taken off life sup- port after a stroke. Peter Mayhew, 74. The towering actor who donned a huge, furry costume to give life to the rugged-and- beloved character of Chew- bacca in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and two other fi lms. April 30. Squad” and the 1990s show “Twin Peaks.” May 11. Cancer. Doris Day, 97. The sunny blond actress and singer whose frothy comedic roles opposite the likes of Rock Hudson and Cary Grant made her one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1950s and ‘60s and a symbol of wholesome American wom- anhood. May 13. Tim Conway, 85. The impish second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, starred in “McHale’s Navy” and later voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for “Spongebob Squarepants.” May 14. I.M. Pei, 102. The versa- tile, globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. May 16. Murray Gell-Mann, 89. The Nobel Prize-winning physicist who brought order to the universe by helping discover and classify sub- atomic particles. May 24. Claus von Bulow, 92. A Danish-born socialite who was convicted but later acquitted of trying to kill his wealthy wife in two trials that drew intense interna- tional attention in the 1980s. May 25. Leon Redbone, 69. The blues and jazz artist whose growly voice, Panama hat and cultivated air of mystery made him seem like a character out of the ragtime era or the Depression-era Mississippi Delta. May 30. JUNE Dr. John, 77. The New Orleans singer and piano player who blended black and white musical styles with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl. June 6. Gloria Vanderbilt, 95. The intrepid heiress, artist and romantic who began her extraordinary life as the “poor little rich girl” of the Great Depression, survived family tragedy and multiple mar- riages and reigned during the 1970s and ‘80s as a designer jeans pioneer. June 17. Judith Krantz, 91. A writ- er whose million-selling nov- els such as “Scruples” and “Princess Daisy” engrossed readers worldwide with their steamy tales of the rich and beautiful. June 22. MAY JULY Peggy Lipton, 72. A star of the groundbreaking late 1960s TV show “The Mod Tyler Skaggs, 27. The left-handed pitcher who was a regular in the Los Angeles AUGUST D.A. Pennebaker, 94. The Oscar-winning documen- tary maker whose historic contributions to American culture and politics included immortalizing a young Bob Dylan in “Don’t Look Back” and capturing the spin behind Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign in “The War Room.” Aug. 1. Henri Belolo, 82. He co- founded the Village People and co-wrote their classic hits “YMCA,” “Macho Man” and “In the Navy.” Aug. 3. Toni Morrison, 88. A pioneer and reigning giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in “Be- loved,” “Song of Solomon” and other works trans- formed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundar- ies of race. Aug. 5. Peter Fonda, 79. The actor was the son of a Hollywood legend who became a movie star in his own right after both writing and starring in the counterculture classic “Easy Rider.” Aug. 16. David H. Koch, 79. A billionaire industrialist who, with his older brother Charles, was both celebrated and demonized for trans- forming American politics by pouring their riches into conservative causes. Aug. 23. SEPTEMBER Robert Frank, 94. A giant of 20th-century photogra- phy whose seminal book “The Americans” captured singular, candid moments of the 1950s and helped free picture-taking from the boundaries of clean light- ing and linear composition. Sept. 9. Eddie Money, 70. The rock star known for such hits as “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Take Me Home To- night.” Sept. 13. Esophageal cancer. Phyllis Newman, 86. A Tony Award-winning Broad- way veteran who became the fi rst woman to host “The Tonight Show” before turn- ing her attention to fi ght for women’s health. Sept. 15. Ric Ocasek, 75. The Cars frontman whose deadpan vo- cal delivery and lanky, sun- glassed look defi ned a rock era with chart-topping hits like “Just What I Needed.” Sept. 15. John Keenan, 99. He was the police offi cial who led New York City’s man- hunt for the “Son of Sam” killer and eventually took a case-solving confession from David Berkowitz. Sept. 19 Howard “Hopalong” Cas- sady, 85. The 1955 Heisman Trophy winner at Ohio State and running back for the Detroit Lions. Sept. 20. OCTOBER Ginger Baker, 80. The volatile and propulsive drummer for Cream and other bands who wielded blues power and jazz fi nesse and helped shatter boundar- ies of time, tempo and style in popular music. Oct. 6. Rip Taylor, 88. The mad- cap, mustached comedian with a fondness for confetti- throwing who became a tele- vision game show mainstay in the 1970s. Oct. 6. Alexei Leonov, 85. The legendary Soviet cosmonaut who became the fi rst person to walk in space. Oct. 11. Harold Bloom, 89. The eminent critic and Yale pro- fessor whose seminal “The Anxiety of Infl uence” and melancholy regard for lit- erature’s old masters made him a popular author and standard-bearer of Western civilization amid modern trends. Oct. 14. Elijah E. Cummings, 68. A sharecropper’s son who rose to become a civil rights champion and the chairman of one of the U.S. House com- mittees leading an impeach- ment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Oct. 17. Complications from long- standing health problems. Kathryn Johnson, 93. A trailblazing reporter for The Associated Press whose intrepid coverage of the civil rights movement and other major stories led to a string of legendary scoops. Oct. 23. John Conyers, 90. The for- mer congressman was one of the longest-serving members of Congress whose resolutely liberal stance on civil rights made him a political institu- tion in Washington and back home in Detroit despite several scandals. Oct. 27. NOVEMBER Gert Boyle, 95. The color- ful chairwoman of Oregon- based Columbia Sportswear Co. who starred in ads proclaiming her “One Tough Mother.” Nov. 3. Werner Gustav Doehner, 90. He was the last remain- ing survivor of the Hinden- burg disaster, who suffered severe burns to his face, arms and legs before his mother managed to toss him and his brother from the burning airship. Nov. 8. Jake Burton Carpenter, 65. The man who changed the game on the mountain by fulfi lling a grand vision of what a snowboard could be. Nov. 20. Complications stemming from a relapse of testicular cancer. William Doyle Ruck- elshaus, 87. He famously quit his job in the Justice Department rather than carry out President Richard Nixon’s order to fi re the special prosecutor investigat- ing the Watergate scandal. Nov. 27. DECEMBER Allan Gerson, 74. A lawyer who pursued Nazi war criminals and pioneered the practice of suing foreign governments in U.S. courts for complicity to terrorism. Dec. 1. René Auberjonois, 79. A prolifi c actor best known for his roles on the television shows “Benson” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and his part in the 1970 fi lm “M.A.S.H.” playing Father Mulcahy. Dec. 8. Caroll Spinney, 85. He gave Big Bird his warmth and Oscar the Grouch his growl for nearly 50 years on “Sesame Street.” Dec. 8. Danny Aiello, 86. The blue-collar character actor whose long career playing tough guys included roles in “Fort Apache, the Bronx,” “Moonstruck” and “Once Upon a Time in America” and his Oscar-nominated performance as a pizza man in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing.” Dec. 12. Elgin Electric Co. Free delivery to Union and Wallowa counties 43 N. 8th, Elgin 541.437.2054 elginelectricandappliance.com
