DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

LizzieMaine said:

Althought I'm about as far from Ditko politically as it's possible to get -- in his later years he was a militant Objectivist -- he was also, indisputably, a comics genius, and I never read a story of his that wasn't worth my time.

One has haunted my memory my whole life -- when I was very young I came across a pile of old Charlton "Strange Suspense Stories" comics at my grandparents' house. I don';t know whose they were, or why they were there, but it was a rainy day so I read them. They were full of Ditko stories, including one that really stuck in my mind.

This futuristic scientist type spent his whole life trying to develop a device that could scan time and view the future, and had a cabal of rich men funding the project. They were getting impatient with him, and warned him if he didn't show them something soon, they were done with the project. Finally, he got his device to work -- and saw a world under the control of a global dictatorship run by the men who were his backers, who had used his device to further their plans of conquest. In this future world he himself was hailed as the greatest scientest of all time and lived in wealth and privilege as a trusted advisor to the ruling council. He watched it all unfold and then turned off his machine just as his backers returned demanding a report. "I'm afraid it doesn't work," he told them. "I'm afraid it'll never work."

I must've been seven or eight years old when I read that comic, but I've never forgotten that one story. It was only about six pages long, but the layout and the facial expressions and just the general flow of storytelling made more of an impression on me than any comic I've ever read. It was the first time I realized that comics could be more than just "funnybooks," and I have Steve Ditko to thank for it. May he rest in peace.

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Worf said:

Tab Hunter - PreFab 50's/60's heartthrob died last night or today. I wasn't a huge fan but according to the bio-pic "Tab Hunter - Confidential" he seemed to have found peace with himself in the end.

Worf

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Zombie_61 said:

Both CNN's and the New York Times' websites state he died on Sunday in Santa Barbara, California, at the age of 86. Also according to those websites, his partner/spouse of 35 years Allan Glaser says the cause of death was a blood clot that moved from his leg to his lung, causing cardiac arrest. From the CNN website: "This was sudden and unexpected," Glaser added. "He was athletic, more like a 60-year-old not an 86-year-old."

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3fingers said:

^ You slippery devil. SGF needs to keep an eye on you apparently.

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3fingers said:

I got a "compliment" from a pretty young girl a week or so ago.
Long story, but I ended up helping to run a public swimming pool this summer.
I was helping one of the young ladies with a new to her task. When she had completed it I said "there you go, I knew you could do it." Her reply was "you're so sweet, you remind me of my grandpa."
She meant it in the best of ways, and her grandpa and I are not that far apart in age, but ouch.

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Fading Fast said:

Somewhat similarly, my mother - yes my mother - and out of nowhere, told me "you look good for your age." WTF mom, really!

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3fingers said:

The veterans of the second world war are growing fewer at a rapidly increasing pace. It is incumbent upon us to remember them and share what they did with young people to insure that they do not fade into the dust of history. I am reminded of my own mortality when I think of these men being substantially younger in my childhood than I am now.

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