Given I’m dealing with high blood pressure and migraines, as well as occasional acid problems, I should note the passing of Dr. James Black. Dr. Black is the Nobel Laureate who invented both Inderal (propanolol) and Tagamet (cimetidine). Propanolol was one of the first beta-blockers that lower blood pressure, and is also used as a migraine preventative. Cimetidine was one of a new class of drugs that made a significant difference in stomach acid. According to experts, these drugs brought more relief to humans than could an army of doctors in clinical practice. As for Dr. Black, although they didn’t make him rich, they did earn him a knighthood and appointment to the Order of Merit, the highest honor the British sovereign can bestow.
Category: obituaries
A Remembrance of a Dear Friend
In the musical “The Story of My Life”, it is said that a eulogy is a collection of stories, with a tear-jerker at the end. This is a eulogy for a dear, dear, friend, Lauren Uroff (ixixlix), who died last night of complications related to cancer, at a bit over 50 years old.
Karen and Lauren, 1999
When I think of Lauren, I think of “large”. Yes, she was large in body, but that’s not what I mean. She was large in spirit. She loved things and people with a passion, and when you were cared about, you knew you were cared about. I met Lauren when my wife rediscovered her at Gymboree with her son, who was born two weeks before my daughter. Karen and Lauren had been college friends, and the friendship reestablished. From that point on, our families were intertwined, and we care about them as part of us. Here are some recollections and thoughts that just keep pouring through my head.
Lauren loved books, especially science fiction and Jane Austin. Lauren and Scott’s house is loaded with bookshelves and paperbacks, multiple levels deep. I know at one time she was active in LASFS, and she was very active on science fiction writing boards such as sff.net. Books were to be treated with care, and were precious things.
Lauren loved games. Before she started dealing with her cancer, we were regularly over at their house playing all sorts of board games. We introduced her to “Ticket to Ride”; she introduced us to “Set”. We brought in “Power Grid”; she introduced “Munchkin”. We played all sorts of games, and she was a regularly at our New Years Eve gaming parties.
Lauren was a closet roadgeek. She loved exploring my highways site, and asking me questions. She indicated that she loved to just find a state highway and explore it—for example, I remember she once talked about taking Route 166 in Ventura County to see where it went.
Lauren was a cook, something she shared with my wife, and our dear friend Nicole (ellipticcurve). They did cooking classes at the Huntington together. They went to the cheese shop in Beverly HIlls (well, they did, Nicole didn’t :-)). They loved Penzey’s spices. On gaming evenings we would often be cooking together (together with Scott, Lauren’s husband), and enjoy shared dinners.
Lauren enjoyed gardening, both of flowers and vegetables. She had a raised vegetable bed in her backyard, and often contributed fresh herbs to dinner.
Lauren loved dogs, especially Newfoundlands. Now, these aren’t small dogs, mind you. I never met their first Newfie, but I do remember Rocky, who died a little over a year ago. I remember Lauren told me she loved to talk to Rocky; he always provided a good ear for her, and rarely spoke back.
Lauren loved children. Two in particular: her son, Jim, and our daughter, Erin. In their younger days, the two were inseperable (as were their moms). Although we never went on trips together (as my folks did with the extended family of their generation), we went on numerous outings: museums, amusement parks, explorations. We had shared birthday parties at their house, and Lauren just enjoyed it.
Although she didn’t go that often, Lauren loved the arts. We went together numerous times to the Hollywood Bowl, and she came with us occasionally to the Ahmanson. She regularly commented on my theatre reviews. She also loved going to art museums with Karen and Erin.
Mentioning the Ahmanson reminded me of another memory: dim sum. Lauren loved to go out for dim sim to Empress Pavillion in Chinatown. We would always go to the store downstairs and pay homage to the ugly fountain. It was a regular, fun, Sunday morning. The last dim sum run I remember was in December, when we were going to go see “Mary Poppins.”
Lauren was a crafter. She wove, and her living room was filled with a gigantic loom. She loved knittingand crocheting. I think a favorite pastime of hers was sitting with Karen, each working on a project, chatting away the afternoon.
Lauren loved her music. We introduced her to artists, but she would never rip my music and return the CD. She was scrupulously honest, and believed fiercely that artists should be paid for their artistic work. We would buy albums copies for her. If she wanted my music, she’d borrow the CDs and listen to them for a while, and then return them.
Lauren was a fellow computer security expert. For many years she reviewed tutorials for me for ACSAC, and regretted she could never attend a conference. Before she got sick, she was thinking about getting her CISSP, but the big C got in the way.
Lauren was a true and dear friend. We could always count on her to be there for us, whatever the problem. Be it lending an ear, attending one of Erin’s performances, picking someone up, helping us through a catastrophe—Lauren was there. As she was battling the cancer, we did our best to be there for her. Even though she is physically gone, the relationship hasn’t changed. Her family and our family are connected at the hip—anything that Scott or Jim needs, we’re there for them. We will never forget her.
Coda: Before I could post this, I had to run off to go help my daughter, and then to a temple event. While talking to my daughter over dinner, she indicated that Lauren always made her think of a butterfly. As I drove home from temple, my iPod (having the mind that it does) played the song “Butterfly” from “The Story of My Life”. This song tells the story of a tiny butterfly, talking to the water and the wind. From these discussions, the butterfly learns that the flapping of her wings changes the world. This is how life works: the little things you do and the people you touch change the world. At the end of the song, the butterfly flys free, confident in the knowledge that she has changed the world. Lauren: You can rest easy. You have left lots and lots and lots and lots of good behind, and you will continue to give good from the people that you have touched.
Uh-Oh
A piece of my childhood died today. Donald Goerke, inventor of Spaghetti-Os, died at age 83.
Spaghetti-Os were my afternoon snack all through high school, and even through my college days. Take a can (I prefered the one with hot dogs, and did not like the meatballs), and at least 5 slices of american cheese (if not more), heat and eat. Florescent orange comfort food.
I would say “Thank You” to Mr. Goerke, but he’s probably responsible for helping to make my waistline what it is today 😛
He Was Just a Ball of Clay
According to the SLO Tribune, Art Clokey, creator of Gumby, has passed away. In addition to Gumby, Clokey also developed the Davey and Goliath series. I remember both of these series well from my youth.
News Chum: Return from ACSAC Edition
Well, I’m back in the office after ACSAC (I was at home yesterday), it’s lunchtime, and I’m not fighting a headache (as I was on Monday). You know what that means… it’s News Chum time…
- From the “A Walkin’ Talkin’ Man” Department: Technology refreshes. It is the bane of our existance. Here’s an interesting technology refresh in the news: They’re rebuilding Mr. Lincoln. I refer, of course, to the facsimilie president at Disneyland. According to the OC Register, a new “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show is debuting with never-before-used technology that is supposed to make the robot more realistic than ever. Lincoln’s lips will form to make “o” and “s” sounds. His cheek muscles will move. His eyebrows will raise. The new figure will use electronics — the first time a whole animatronic head will be electronic. Disney creators use a computer to design the internal skeleton and then the forms are printed on a 3D printer, a way to make the insides more realistic.
- From the “Market Your Idea” Department: Got an idea for a product that would be perfect for a late-night infomercial? Then you want to visit TeleBrands, the subject of a recent NY Times article. They recently held a fair for new product pitches, many of which are described in the article. Would you want a mower caddy shelf; a Find-It beeping keychain; self-adhering wrapping paper; the all new EZ-Stack party dish; or the Gutter Gremlin drainpipe screen? How about a terry cloth jumpsuit for after showering? Operators will soon be standing by.
- From the “Passings” Department: There are a number of notable passings to report. Most significant is the death of Roy E. Disney, nephew of Walt, and the man behind the revival of Disney Animation. We have Mark Ritts, who was Lester the Lab Rat on Beakman’s World. There’s Sol Price, who gave the world Price Club, now integrated into Costco. There’s Harold Bell, who created “Woodsy Owl” as the mascot for the Forest Service, and Robert Heft, who created and sewed the first 50-star flag. On the arts side of things, last week brought news of the death of Steve Meltzer of the Santa Monica Puppetry Center, and Liam Clancy, the last surviving member of the Clancy Brothers. Of course, there’s always’s the death of Tiger Wood’s endorsement career, but that story, alas, refuses to die.
You Know The Song… But Who Wrote It?
The news of late brings some interesting obits, especially related to the music world. They’ve reached a level such that today at lunch I want to highlight some of them:
- “You put your right hand in…”: The NY Times has an interesting obit on Robert Degen, who evidently had a hand in writing the Hokey Pokey. What’s interesting is that the article goes into detail into the history of the song. Some credit it to Larry LaPrise, who as part of a musical group, the Ram Trio, is said to have created it in Sun Valley, Idaho, as a novelty number to entertain vacationing skiers. The trio, whose other members were Charles Peter Macak and Tafft Baker, recorded the song, “The Hokey Pokey,” in the late 1940s. Some, however, credit Degen, who copyrighted “The Hokey Pokey Dance” a few years earlier (1944). Then again, there was a similar song, called variously “Hokey Cokey” or “Cokey Cokey,” that was reportedly a favorite of English and American soldiers in England during World War II and is attributed sometimes to a popular British songwriter, Jimmy Kennedy, and sometimes to a London bandleader, Al Tabor. Meanwhile, that Catholic Church thinks the song has disturbing origins and shouldn’t be sung, claiming that the song was written by 18th-century Puritans to mock the language of the Latin Mass. Read the obit. It’s fascinating.
- “…and through the open window she hands Charlie a sandwich…”: He may be the most famous commuter ever: Charlie on the Boston MTA. One of the authors of that song, Bess Lomax Hawes, has a nice obit in the LA Times and one in the NY Times. The latter gives the history of the song, which was written for the Progressive Party’s mayoral candidate, Walter A. O’Brien Jr., in 1949 with Jacqueline Steiner. The song borrowed the tunes from “The Ship That Never Returned” and “Wreck of the Old 97,” and added the lyrics about Charlie. The Kingston Trio, who made the song popular, changed the name to George O’Brien because they didn’t want to promote a leftist candidate. Naturally, the LA Times obit emphasizes the Los Angeles connection, for Lomax was also a prominent anthropologist at what is now Cal State Northridge, which houses the Bess Lomax Hawes Student Folklore Archive, a collection of student research projects that Hawes oversaw.
- “Anybody else can see what’s wrong with me, but they walk away and just pretend”: AP is reporting on the death of Eric Woolfson, a co-founder of the rock group The Alan Parsons Project. I actually have a number of albums from this group (I Robot is a particular favorite), and they had an interesting electronic rock style that I haven’t heard from a lot of other groups. I didn’t know the group had disbanded in the 1990s, but you sometimes never hear when groups fade away. An interesting part of the obit is that he wrote a musical, “Edgar Allan Poe”, currently playing in Berlin.
Words of Wisdom Fail Me
We have lost a children’s television star. A classic. Soupy Sales has died.
Soupy Sales was silly. Bad puns. Risque jokes that the kids wouldn’t get, but the adults would. The crew would crack up in the background. White Fang. Black Tooth. The numerous pies in the face. At least now he can joke again with Clyde.
Here are some classic words of wisdom:
Show me a jacket for an octopus, and I’ll show you a coat of arms.
Show me an English policeman risking his life, and I’ll show you a Bobby Darin.
Show me a novel that is caught in a tornado, and I’ll show you a book that is Gone With The Wind.
Never hit a man when he’s down. Kick him, it’s easier.
Mr. Sales, Mr. Sales, you’ve got to help me. It’s my wife. She thinks she’s a piano.
Did you take her to a psychiatrist?
No. Do you know how much it costs to move a piano?
Miscellaneous News Chum: Pop-Up Stores, Credit Cards, TV Themes, and LAX
I’ve been home sick today with a cold, but I’ve still got some chum for you to chew on:
- From the “Selling It” Department: We’ve all grown up with the model of the brick and mortar store that is always there. But that’s changing, and the LA Times has two interesting articles on the change. The first article related to those kiosks you see at a mall, and how they provide a low-cost entry for new retailers to try an idea. But even big retailers are going into the short-term-store business: the second article related to pop-up stores. These are stores that rent a space for a few weeks or months, and then they are gone. They started with the Halloween and Christmas stores grabbing empty storefronts, and now retailers like Toys R Us and Sees are doing them.
- From the “Paying for Doing Good” Deparatment: Some of us carry credit card balances. Some of us don’t. I’m in the latter camp: I pay in full every month, and do sufficient transactions that, so far, I’ve had nary a fee. According to USA Today, that may change for some: some banks are adding fees for those that pay in full each month. They are doing this now because the government is taking away their ability to gouge in other areas. I’m sorry, but if a credit card company did it to me, I’ll take my business elsewhere.
- From the “They’re Creepy and they’re Spooky” Department: In addition to honest bankers and retailers that stay around, one thing we have lost is our great TV themes. Few shows have great original themes these days. The LA TImes brings the obit of a famous TV theme writer: Vic Mizzy, who wrote the themes for “Green Acres” and “The Addams Family”.
- From the “When 24 is old” Department: LAX is planning a major remodel. No, they aren’t refreshing some of the terminals that really need it, such as Terminal 2, 3, or 6. They are planning to demolish the Tom Bradley terminal (TBIT) and replace it with a new larger terminal with a mid-field concourse. All this so they can accomodate the Airbus 380 and 787. Now, I’ve never flown out of TBIT, but some of their other terminals are in even worse shape (I particuarly hate Terminals 7 and 8 with a passion — no power outlets!). But then I have a history of not being enthused by what LAWA does — I had friends living in the areas they depopulated!