Our Daily Dead

Three dead today, all very different, but all dead from heart disease. Heart disease is still the number one killer of men and women. Exercise, keep your weight down, don’t smoke, and choose your parents wisely.

Robert Donner, dead at 75 was a gifted improv comedian and character actor. Some of you ODDfans may remember him as the Prophet Exidor of the Friends of Venus in “Mork and Mindy.” (We ODDones favor the prophet Exlax of the Friends of Uranus.) Donnor also played Yancy Tucker on “The Waltons.” (“Good night Bob-Boy”)

Kenneth Thompson, formally age 82 years, was the richest man in Canada ($19.6 billion with a “b”). He made his money in newspapers. Described as an “astute businessman,” this raises the question as to whether in the death you’d rather be remembered as “astute” or “a very funny person.”

Finally, the last known survivor of a Southern lynching, James Cameron, has died at age 92. From his jail cell, he watched two of his friends lynched after being accused of killing a man and raping his girl friend. Cameron was dragged from the cell, and the rope was placed around his neck; however, through what he described as “divine intervention” the rope was removed, and he was spared. Cameron went on to found several chapters of the NAACP and Milwaukee’s “Black Holocaust Museum.”

Eat your oatmeal.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Robert Donner, Mork and Mindy, The Waltons, Kenneth Thompson, lynching, James Cameron, Black Holocaust Museum

Okay, we don’t want to go political on you—particularly those who think it’s okay that woman are for children, boys are for fun, and beheadings make for great reality TV—we think the world is a teensy weensy better place this weekend. Go team.

But there are those that will be missed:

Eddie Malone, dead at 85 years from lung disease, played serious baseball. Maybe you haven’t heard of him, but if you are serious about baseball, you’ll know about the Hillerick & Bradsby’s Louisville Sugger M 110. “M” stands for “Malone,” and “110” stands for Malone being the 110th player to design his own bat. Think it was good? Well, it was the bat used by Mickey Mantle. ‘Nuff said. We ODDfellows aspire to “Louisville Slugger ODD 1.”

Then we have Margaret Heinz Karcher who has died of liver cancer at age 91. Margaret was the wife of the founder of Carl Jr. restaurants. When you’re complaining about your lot in life, and how someone should do something to help you, think about the Karchers who borrowed $311, using their Plymouth as collateral, to buy an L.A. hotdog stand. Now there are over 1000 Carl Jr. restaurants.

If you watched the original American Bandstand, you saw the work of director Edward Yates, now dead at 87. Strong work Ed; Keep on rockin’.

Finally, we are ODDfully saddened by word of the death of Sam Arnold. Sam founded the legendary The Fort Restaurant outside of Denver. He fed buffalo and gun powder-laced concoctions to presidents, prime ministers, the rich, famous, and the multitudes who loved his passion for good eats and the American West. Waugh! Sam, Waugh!

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Eddie Malone, Louisville Sugger, Margaret Heinz Karcher, Carl Jr., American Bandstand, Edward Yates, Sam Arnold, The Fort Restaurant

We ODDfellows like the above quote from Steve Mizerak, National Pool Champion who is dead at age 61 from heart disease following gallbladder surgery. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, “Scary places those hospitals.” Mizerak gained national fame for his trick shots in Miller Lite beer commercials. He also played the character that got beaten in a pool tourney by Paul Newman in “The Color of Money.”

Speaking of sinking balls (now that is totally lame segue), Raymond Davis spent years underground in South Dakota’s Homestake gold mine, sitting next to a 100,000 gallon vat of dry cleaning fluid, trying to capture neutrinos from the sun. Check this out! When a neutrino hits a chloride ion, it produces radioactive argon, a sort of atomic “ding.” Davis had to work deep in the mine to get away from those pesky cosmic rays that would muck up his experiment. (Anyone who gets our little pun, please send us a comment. First winner gets a recording of Tuva throat singing of the Tasty Freeze jingle.) Davis, who received a Nobel prize for his work, died of Alzheimer’s at age 91.

It appears that 91 is a popular age to die today. This is the age of Perry Bass, Texas oilman and major league philanthropist. Bass, along with other members of his family, was a billionaire with a conscience. He made mega millions, and gave a lot of it away. In 2001 the Bass family had a little financial miscue, and had to sell Disney stock worth $2 billion to cover loans and margin calls. Gad, we ODDones felt devastated when we had to hold a garage sale to cover the veterinary bills for our Eclectus roratus after she ate one too many Papaver somniferum.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Steve Mizerak, Miller Lite, The Color of Money, Raymond Davis, Tuva throat singing, Perry Bass