The Morgue 2008

[Quentin]

Blues anthem writer Rick Darnell dies - Published: December 27, 2008

A bad breakup for Rick Darnell led to a great song.

The end of a relationship would prompt Mr. Darnell to co-write one of the best-known blues songs, the B.B. King standard “The Thrill is Gone,” said Carl Eggleston, a friend of Mr. Darnell’s and owner of a Farmville funeral home.

Mr. Darnell died Christmas Eve after a brief illness. The family will receive visitors from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Carl U. Eggleston Funeral Home.

Mr. Darnell co-wrote “The Thrill is Gone” with Roy Hawkins in 1951. Hawkins’ release became a minor hit. After King released his version in 1970, it became a classic and turned into King’s signature song.

The song has since been performed by the likes of country musician Willie Nelson, R&B artist Roberta Flack and opera legend Luciano Pavarotti, said Alicia Darnell of Mechanicsville, one of Mr. Darnell’s three daughters.

The song has also been sampled by rappers 50 Cent and Lil’ Kim, she said.

Alicia Darnell said her father never tired of his association with the song or being asked about it, but he continued to collaborate with various artists.

Mr. Darnell was born in Galveston, Texas, but his involvement in music prompted him to live in places across the country. He moved to Farmville in 1987 after purchasing radio station WPAK-AM, Alicia Darnell said. Mr. Darnell sold the station in recent years, his daughter said.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Darnell is survived by his wife, Lula Mae Darnell of Richmond; and two other daughters, Pearlina Cockran of Williamsport, Pa., and Tanya Rachels of Farmville.

[Jaboney]

Samuel Huntington, best known recently for his puerile Clash of Civilizations thesis.

MOD NOTE: Discussion of Samuel Huntington has been moved HERE.

[Chewycorns]

I normally wouldn’t be posting an obituary for an Federal NDP MP in Canada. However, what is quite interesting is how his views on socialized medicine changed in the latter stages of his life. For someone who was a public servant and federal politician, it is sad to hear about such slow treatment. Sad indeed. I’m just pleased that the American health care system allowed him to receive treatment right away to prolong his life.

@Jeffrey Simpson in the Globe and Mail

The same could be said of Mr. Fulton, who left politics in 1993 to become head of the Vancouver-based David Suzuki Foundation, a job that married his commitment to the environment with his sense of public purpose.

Mr. Fulton could be loud, and he certainly could be colourful. But beneath the rhetoric lay someone who wanted to solve problems. What always struck those who knew him well was the pragmatism that he tried to blend with his idealism.

He represented Skeena, a sprawling riding in northwestern British Columbia. Just getting to the riding often took eight or nine hours: a plane to Vancouver, then a flight to Prince Rupert or Terrace. And then it was into a truck or car to tour the vast territory. Or there was a flight to the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Many native people were in his riding, and he fought constantly for their interests. Not everybody in Skeena felt, or feels, the same way, to put it mildly. He returned badly shaken from campaigning in favour of the Charlottetown constitutional accord, with its strong commitment to aboriginal self-government, because of the backlash against those provisions among non-aboriginals.

Mr. Fulton was way ahead of the curve on climate change, and fought very hard against fish farming along the B.C. coast, believing it represented a menace to wild salmon stocks. Indeed, his commitment to salmon preservation once led him to slam a salmon on the desk of prime minister Brian Mulroney.

The cancer that began in his colon spread to his liver. He recounted a few months ago that he needed an operation, but, as the weeks dragged into months and no bed became available, his doctors apologized and said nothing more could be done.

Unwilling to die, as it he put it, he spent $100,000 of his own money, went to the United States and got the operation. It prolonged his life for a while, and tarnished his previous unvarnished support for the Canadian medical system.

Mr. Fulton died at 58. He served his constituents and fellow citizens with energy and determination in a life well lived. Death came way too soon.
theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ … ialComment

[rousseau]

@Chewycorns

However, what is quite interesting is how his views on socialized medicine changed in the latter stages of his life. For someone who was a public servant and federal politician, it is sad to hear about such slow treatment. Sad indeed. I’m just pleased that the American health care system allowed him to receive treatment right away to prolong his life.

Chewy, do you have to be such a rightwing ideologue all the freakin’ time? Do you have no sense of perspective whatsoever? The cheap political point you’re attempting to make is easily exposed for the hogwash it is, and is inappropriate here. I expect the mods will be moving his post and this, my post in response, to the political forum, where this issue has already been argued over ad nauseum.

Here’s how it is:

1. Wait times in certain cases and districts can be longer than ideal. The answer is to reduce wait times as much as possible. Is it really such a newsflash to people that the willingness and ability to spend $100,000 will move you to the front of the line? Do the 50 million (or is it 60 million?) Americans without health insurance have that much cash available to move to the front of the line?

2. The poor fellow was told by doctors there was nothing more they could do. We don’t have the details or the precise timeline, but the insinuation is that if only there were a bed available his cancer could have been treated and maybe even cured. But the shrill cry that Canadians are dying due to socialized medicine is partisan demagoguery and pure bullshit. Perhaps he could have lived a few more months if he hadn’t had to wait. He went to the U.S. and spent $100,000 to live a few more months. 50 million Americans do not have access to the treatment he did with his $100,000. That’s 1 1/2 times the population of Canada without access to medical care save for emergency rooms, where they end up when things which are left untreated become serious. I don’t see this as an indictment of the Canadian system, but rather, of the American one.

3. Anecdotal rebuttal: A few days ago at a family Christmas gathering an uncle told me about his friend, who had had part of his cancerous liver removed. He hadn’t had to wait at all. They didn’t know if it would do the trick, or merely give him a few more months. Sad. Lesson? It’s not a good thing when you find out cancer has spread to your liver. And: not all Canadians are waiting for operations.

This discussion should be continued in the political forum.

[anon38216271]

Mia Farrow’s daughter passes

Christmas Day brought a sad loss for actress Mia Farrow: Her 35-year-old adopted daughter, Lark Previn, passed away, the New York City medical examiner revealed Monday.

She’s to the right of the kid with glasses.