Category:
Obituaries
Obituaries
Claude Hall, RIP
Obit source.
Frank Chacksfield page.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 11, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Music, Obituaries
Perky the Duck
It seems like 2016 was a year marked by an unusually high number of celebrity deaths. And among those who passed away was Perky, the duck who wouldn't die, who did, in fact, finally kick the bucket.
Perky was a one-pound, female, ring-neck duck who gained international fame in January 2007 after she survived being shot three times by a hunter, retrieved by a dog, and then stored in the hunter's refrigerator for two days.
By chance, the hunter's wife happened to open the refrigerator (she reportedly rarely looked in it because it was the spare fridge her husband used to store game), at which point Perky lifted her head to say hello. The wife took compassion on Perky and rushed her to a vet.
That wasn't the end of Perky's brush with death. During the surgery to repair the gunshot damage Perky stopped breathing, but the surgeon was able to revive her.
Once she had regained her health, Perky was given a home at the Tallahassee Museum, where she lived for nine years before dying of old age in May 2016.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 03, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Death, Obituaries
Mike Greenstein, RIP
Obit here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 25, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Human Marvels, Obituaries
RIP Adam Purple
Some of his other life details, from the NY Times obit:
- He used many aliases throughout his life, including Rev. Les Ego, John Peter Zenger 2nd, and General Zen of the Headquarters Intergalactic of Psychic Police of Uranus.
- He produced hundreds of copies of a tiny book called “Zentences!” that was meant to encourage meditation.
- He "renounced the internal combustion engine."
- "Because of his abhorrence of waste, he salvaged and repurposed everything he could, including empty glass bottles, rusty nails and even buckets of lost tennis balls found on the street."
Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 20, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Obituaries
RIP Will Atkinson, the Walmart Elvis
Will Atkinson died recently of pancreatitis, at the age of 51. He had gained fame in Oxford, Mississippi as an Elvis impersonator, and was known there as "Elvis," or the "Big E." And also as the "Walmart Elvis" because he worked at Walmart and would sing in the aisles as he worked. From the Clarion-Ledger:
By day, he worked at the local Walmart, where he would sing gospel and Elvis classics throughout the store so well that many mistook his voice for the sound system, said Walmart sales associate Suzette Boone...
Atkinson obsessed over getting every Elvis detail correct. He dyed his hair, had four Elvis jumpsuits, and fashioned his voice to sound just like the real thing...
At the local Walmart, employees broke corporate protocol and set up a memorial wreath at the entrance, and had pictures displayed on a table inside, along with a condolence book, which many customers have stopped to sign. The store even played some of Atkinson’s recordings on the sound system. "The aisles are going to be quiet now," said Walmart assistant manager Lavina Woodfin, "No more song."
Atkinson obsessed over getting every Elvis detail correct. He dyed his hair, had four Elvis jumpsuits, and fashioned his voice to sound just like the real thing...
At the local Walmart, employees broke corporate protocol and set up a memorial wreath at the entrance, and had pictures displayed on a table inside, along with a condolence book, which many customers have stopped to sign. The store even played some of Atkinson’s recordings on the sound system. "The aisles are going to be quiet now," said Walmart assistant manager Lavina Woodfin, "No more song."
There are more tributes to him here and here.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 08, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Music, Obituaries
The Living Theatre, Deceased
With the death this month of Judith Malina, the world will be forever deprived of "happenings" like the one in the first clip, where, I regret, Ms. Malina does not appear until the final few seconds.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 18, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: Drugs, Avant Garde, Outsider Art, Performance Art, Pop Art, Obituaries, 1970s
Pulled No Punches
Treat well those who will choose your nursing home is an old motto of mine. The same thing applies to whoever ends up writing your obituary as well. For more back story look here.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 12, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Obituaries
Farewell To Life Party
The partying lasted through the night. Grant, wearing a boutonniere in his coat lapel, mingled with his guests "and pointed cheerfully to a notice on the wall that said he would die within a week."
But the next day, having had only two hours of sleep, he announced that he now "felt fine." It took him another year before he finally kicked the bucket. [Chicago Tribune - Mar 11, 1935]
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 26, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Death, Obituaries, 1930s
A Strange Burial, 1736
From The History of Lymington, and its immediate vicinity, by David William Garrow (1825):In the parochial register of Lymington, for the year 1736, is entered a curious minute, which, for its singularity, deserves notice. The words run thus: —
"Samuel Baldwin, Esq. sojourner in this parish, was immersed without the Needles, sans ceremonie, May 20, 1736. It was ever his request, whilst living, that his body might be so disposed of after his death, from a superstitious notion that his wife, in the instance of her surviving him, would dance over his grave, actuated by a spirit of vindictiveness for his conjugal infidelity."
"Samuel Baldwin, Esq. sojourner in this parish, was immersed without the Needles, sans ceremonie, May 20, 1736. It was ever his request, whilst living, that his body might be so disposed of after his death, from a superstitious notion that his wife, in the instance of her surviving him, would dance over his grave, actuated by a spirit of vindictiveness for his conjugal infidelity."
Lymington Parish Church
Update: "without the Needles" refers to a location — Needles Point.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 21, 2013 -
Comments (9)
Category: Death, Obituaries, Eighteenth Century
Tombstone for a Trout
Mrs. Keyte of Blockley, Gloucestershire had a pet trout that would eat worms from her hand. When it died in 1855, she erected a tombstone in its honor. That tombstone remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in Blockley. And it's perhaps the only tombstone for a trout in the world. [National Geographic, 1917]
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 07, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, Obituaries, Pets, Fish, Monuments, Sightseeing, Nineteenth Century
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |