Bornfamous

Don Herbert, better known to three generations of Americans as Mr. Wizard, died today at his home in Los Angeles. He was 89.
I was one of those kids who didn’t think science could possibly be interesting, until I started watching Mr. Wizard conduct fascinating experiments and explain scientific concepts in his calm, friendly voice. [...]

My ex-husband died last night, after a long fight with diabetes and other ailments including alcoholism, which I think he finally beat. But it was too late. Our son, Robby, is doing okay. We just picked up Rusty’s things and now I have to head back to the hills, where I’ve been staying to avoid [...]

Shelley Winters is dead. You probably remember her as the biker granny on TV’s Roseanne, but my memories go fondly back to her many guest shots on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. She was loud, opinionated and one of a kind. I will never forget Winters’ honesty, her humor, or her voice. Winters was [...]

I seem to be having more and more trouble with my interpersonal relationships lately–the face-to-face kind, anyway. The more I try to be honest and say what I feel, the more I’m finding that people don’t like me. It’s very isolating. I’ve lost many friends in the past few years. Tonight, another one.
Is it [...]

My dear friend Betsy is gone after what seemed a lifetime of pain. I am both sad to know that we will never talk and joke again, and happy that she is finally free.
My first memory of Bets and her partner Kathleen was a cry for help on a list for people with chemical [...]

I meant to do this sooner, but my memory is shot full of holes these days. I do remember that I fell in love with Marlon Brando when I was 13 during a re-showing of The Wild One, forever influencing my taste in men and most likely altering the course of my life.
It’s all Marlon’s [...]

When I worked at ABC News, I was surprised to discover that one of my favorite duties was to write an obituary when someone famous died. Favorite, because it gave me an opportunity to remember the dearly departed’s life and to revisit what it was about them that made all our lives better. I often [...]

Captain Kangaroo, aka Bob Keeshan, 1927-2004

As the easy-going Captain with his big pockets and his bushy mustache, Keeshan lured children into close engagement with literature, science, and especially music, adopting an approach which mixed pleasure and pedagogy. Children learned most easily, he argued, when information and knowledge became a source of delight. Keeshan’s approach represented [...]

Johnny Cash died this morning. He wasn’t just a music legend. In fact, I began the original incarnation of this blog almost three years ago, way back in December 2000, specifically to write the story of how Johnny Cash became my imaginary father. Seems like a good time to resurrect it in his memory. Hope [...]

Eulogy for Eudora: “I looked over my shoulder to see twenty yards away, moving steadily toward the front door leaning on one of Jitney’s orange and red shopping carts, a living legend: the greatest American author yet alive, the last of a generation, an accidental, effortless survivor, Eudora Welty.” [thanks, saranwarp]

“I think it’s in our nature to talk, to tell stories, appreciate stories.”-Author Eudora Welty, dead at 92
Oops - I thought she died 20 years ago. If I’d known she was alive, I would have made a pilgrimage to Mississippi to see her. She was one of the great American writers of the 20th century. [...]