Growing up, she was a beloved celebrity in her home country. Thousands of girls were named after her. So was a bestselling
perfume. But Josef Stalin's "Little Sparrow," his only daughter, (born Svetlana Stalina) defected to the United States in 1967. Upon arriving in New York, she promptly held a
press conference that surprised the world, denouncing her father's regime.
Svetlana became a naturalized US citizen, moved to Taliesin West, married an American, changed her name to Lana Peters, then returned to the Soviet Union in 1984,
declaring that she had not been free "for one single day" in the U.S., only to once
again return to America in 1986. She lived out her remaining days in a
small town in Wisconsin. Mrs. Peters
passed away from
colon cancer on November 22nd, at the age of 85. [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Nov 28, 2011 -
39 comments
"For the progress of humanity, work alone is not adequate, but the work should be associated with love, compassion, right conduct, truthfulness and sympathy. Without the above qualities, selfless service cannot be performed."
On
Sunday morning, Indian guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba
passed away. He leaves behind a massive
empire, several million
mourning devotees worldwide, an
extensive religious philosophy, a great deal of
controversy and a legacy of large-scale philanthropic projects in India, including
free hospitals and mobile medical facilities,
a free university and schools, and other efforts which included supplying
clean water to hundreds of rural villages.
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Apr 25, 2011 -
41 comments
Debbie Friedman passed away today. She was the most well known and influential composer of Jewish music and litergy in the United States.
The Jerusalem Post says that "Friedman’s music is performed in synagogues around the world more than that of any other modern composer."
Her most well known song is a setting of
Mi Shebeirach, a prayer for healing.
posted by kdern
on Jan 9, 2011 -
24 comments
Nate Neilson is a name that is not only unfamiliar to most people, it's unfamiliar to many of his biggest fans. That's because he went by the
nom-de-brick of "
nnenn". Neilson was a huge presence in the online Lego community, regularly putting out
amazing and
unique Lego creations on a regular basis, including entire
building genres.
He was also the driving force behind
Novvember, a month-long celebration of the "Vic Viper" (from the videogame "Gradius") in which he and others "riffed" on a basic central design to see how many interesting variations on it
they could make.
Sadly, Neilson passed away recently following an automobile accident. Many of his online fans only learned this way of his real name, his job as a stay-at-home-Dad with two sons, and his
other artistic outlet. He was a huge presence in the online Lego community, and he will be greatly missed.
There is a fine eulogy for him (along with an overview of his work and influence) over at the premiere Lego site,
The Brothers Brick.
(And yes, his icon was a Lego
rubber band holder.)
posted by Legomancer
on Apr 14, 2010 -
24 comments
Girl, Interrupted: The Life and Death of Brittany Murphy "Part of the shock surrounding Murphy's death is clearly related to her age, though it may also be attributed to the fact that Murphy has been in the public eye for over 15 years, starting out in Hollywood when she was 14... It's something we've watched progress this entire decade: young women who are held up as the next big thing (Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears) and then brushed aside or openly mocked after they no longer fit an expected mold. It is both a story of self-destruction and mass-destruction, the business of creating and destroying a star; sometimes it's caused by internal forces, and sometimes it's fed by the rest of the world."
posted by ocherdraco
on Dec 20, 2009 -
139 comments
Alison Des Forges, American historian of Africa, MacArthur
genius and
top human-rights advocate, was an impassioned observer of the
Rwandan genocide,
lobbying the United States and United Nations to intervene in the killings,
saving some Rwandans from certain death, and later writing one of the definitive histories of the events, "
Leave none to tell the story". She testified at hundreds of trials and inquiries resulting from the genocide. Last night, she
perished aboard Flight 3407. "Her death is a devastating blow," said the president of Human Rights Watch, where she worked as an advisor. "She epitomized the human rights activist — principled, dispassionate, committed to the truth and to using that truth to protect ordinary people."
posted by docgonzo
on Feb 13, 2009 -
24 comments
Saparmurat Niyazov is dead. The self-designated "father of the Turkmen" was the absolute ruler of Turkmenistan for fifteen years, a minor middle-Asian country which would completely escape the notice of the West if it wasn't for
Turkmenbashi's unique form of excess
and its oil. Along with the usual human rights violations and wallowing in wealth -- an estimated $3 billion cached in private accounts -- he dedicated himself to reshaping Turkmen's philosophy and cosmology on a scale to inspire Kim Jong Il. Among his accomplishments are
redefining the ages of Man and
renaming the names of days and months after neutrality, the flag, and Turkmenbashi's mother. Who now will speak up for
Turkmen Melon Day?
posted by ardgedee
on Dec 21, 2006 -
42 comments
Sven Nykvist leaves us. A master at the subtle manipulation of light, the multiple academy award winner and longtime Ingmar Bergman collaborator (including Persona, and the Through a Glass Darkly/Winter Light/The Silence trilogy) has passed away at 83.
more obits [1] [2]
more about him [1] [2]
posted by juv3nal
on Sep 21, 2006 -
22 comments
'Pavarotti of the Plains' In 1957,
Don Walser stopped recording country music and became a National Guardsman, just as rock 'n' roll took over the airwaves. He stayed with the Guard for 39 years, but around 1990, his performances at Henry's in Austin, Texas developed a following. By the end of the decade, he would sign to
Sire Records, open for Ministry and the Butthole Surfers, collaborate with
Kronos Quartet and be honored with a
National Heritage Award. Walser retired from his music career in 2001 because of ill health. He
passed away on Wednesday at age 72.
posted by NemesisVex
on Sep 21, 2006 -
17 comments
RIP Vincent Schiavelli , a character actor who appeared in
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
Buckaroo Banzai,
Amadeus,
Death to Smoochie and a ton of other films. A cult favorite, he was one of those actors you looked at and thought, "who
is that guy?".
posted by dbiedny
on Dec 26, 2005 -
81 comments
