Every Samhain for the last several years, Dagonet Dewr has compiled a list of the year’s dead. Dagonet is an author and one of the co-founders of the International Pagan Pride Project.
LITANY OF THE DEAD
October 28, 2009
Dagonet Dewr and Friends
dagonet.dewr@gmail.com
As always, permission is given to distribute this list far and wide, as long as it is done without editing and with attribution. Omissions are solely the oversight of the author. Just because someone is on this list, it does not mean the author in any way endorses their personal agendas. Also, there is a change this year; I have left off the nation of origin of the renowned dead. There are a lot of reasons behind this, ranging from the sublime (we are all natives of the same place — Earth) to the rational (we have become a globalized society) to the ridiculous (I’m lazy).
The countless dead in Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, Indonesia, South Ossetia, Pakistan, and other places around the globe due to war, famine, natural disaster, or human stupidity. Goddess bless us and keep us from our own folly.
Joseph Wiseman — Actor; “Dr No” from the James Bond films.
Vic Mizzy — Composer; “The Addams Family” theme song, “Green Acres” theme song.
Clifford Hansen — Politician; former governor of Wyoming and US Senator.
Soupy Sales — Comedian and TV personality; “The Soupy Sales Show”.
“Captain” Lou Albano — Wrestling manager and television personality.
David Lake — Winemaker; pioneer in Washington State winemaking.
Sheila Lukins — Chef and restauranteur; the Silver Palate.
William Safire — Writer; conservative columnist and speechwriter.
Susan Atkins — Criminal; member of the Manson Family and murderer of Sharon Tate.
Bob Stupak — Entrepreneur and impresario; creator of the Las Vegas Stratosphere.
Crystal Lee Sutton — Labor organizer; inspiration behind movie “Norma Rae”.
Henry Gibson — Comedic actor; “Laugh-In”, “The Blues Brothers”.
Mary Travers — Musician; member of Peter Paul and Mary.
Patrick Swayze — Actor and dancer; “Ghost”, “Dirty Dancing”.
Jim Carroll — Musician and poet; “The Basketball Diaries”.
Larry Gelbart — Television personality; writer and developer, “M*A*S*H”.
George Eckstein — Television personality; writer-producer, “The Fugitive”.
Norman Borlaug — Scientist and plant breeder; won Nobel Peace Prize and Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Army Archerd — Columnist; “Variety”.
Gertrude Baines — World record holder; world’s oldest person at 115.
Adam Goldstein — Disk jockey; “DJ AM”.
Ellie Greenwich — Songwriter; “Da Doo Ron Ron”, “Chapel Of Love”.
Dominick Dunne — Essayist; “Vanity Fair”.
Edward “Ted” Kennedy — Politician; longtime US Senator from Massachusetts.
Robert Novak — Columnist and television personality; “Crossfire”.
Les Paul — Musician and inventor; developed the solid-body electric guitar and multi-track recording.
Allen Shellenberger — Drummer; member of Lit.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver — Activist and political figure; founder of the Special Olympics.
Willy DeVille — Musician; multi-genre performer, founder of Mink DeVille.
John Hughes — Filmmaker; “The Breakfast Club”, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.
Budd Schulberg — Scriptwriter and novelist; “On The Waterfront”.
Merce Cunningham — Choreographer.
Sir Bobby Robson — Football manager; longtime manager of the English national team.
Corazon “Cory” Aquino — Politician and political activist; led the Philippine revolution that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Gordon Waller — Musician, half of Peter And Gordon; “A World Without Love”.
Frank McCourt — Author; “Angela’s Ashes”, “‘Tis”.
Walter Cronkite — Newscaster and journalist; longtime voice of CBS News.
Robert McNamara — Political figure; US Secretary of Defense and architect of Vietnam War policy.
Allen Klein — Record label owner and businessman.
Mollie Sugden — Comedic actress; Mrs Slocombe on “Are You Being Served?”
Karl Malden — Academy Award-winning actor; “On the Waterfront”, “A Streetcar Named Desire”.
Fred Travalena — Comedian and impersonator.
Billy Mays — Television personality, TV pitchman, and entrepreneur.
Farrah Fawcett — Television personality and actress; “Charlie’s Angels”, “The Burning Bed”.
Michael Jackson — Musician, performer, and celebrity.
Ed McMahon — Television personality; Johnny Carson’s sidekick on “The Tonight Show”.
Koko Taylor — Musician and Chicago blues singer; “Queen Of The Blues”.
Richard Quick — Swim coach at SMU, Texas, Stanford, and Auburn; holds records for most collegiate titles.
Harold Norse — Poet; “Hotel Nirvana”.
Huey Long — Musician; former guitarist for The Ink Spots.
Charles D Aubrey — Pilot; co-pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
Millvina Dean — Last survivor of the Titanic.
David Carradine — Television and movie actor; “Kill Bill”, “Kung Fu”.
Jay Bennett — Musician; former keyboardist and guitarist for Wilco.
Lucy Gordon — Actress; “Spiderman 3”.
Dom Deluise — Comedic actor; “Blazing Saddles”, “Cannonball Run”.
Danny Gans — Entertainer; 11-time Las Vegas Entertainer Of The Year.
Jack Kemp — Politician; former US Congressman and Vice-Presidential candidate.
Greg Page — Athlete; former heavyweight boxing champion.
Bea Arthur — Actress; “Maude”, “The Golden Girls”, “Mame”.
Ken Annakin — Film director; “The Battle Of The Bulge”.
JG Ballard — Author; “Crash”, “Empire Of The Sun”, “The Atrocity Exhibition”.
Bruce Snyder — Coach; former head coach, football, University of California.
Svetlana Ulmasova — Athlete; two-time European 3000M champion.
Peter Rogers — Film producer; the “Carry On” series.
Harry Kalas — Sports broadcaster; longtime voice of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Mark Fidrych — Athlete; former Detroit Tigers pitcher and American League Rookie Of The Year, 1976.
Marilyn Chambers — Adult film actress; “Behind The Green Door”.
Jane O’Brien Dart — Movie actress; “We Are Not Alone”.
Dave Arneson — Co-creator, “Dungeons And Dragons”.
David “Pop” Winans — Gospel musician; patriarch of the Winans Family.
Lou Saban — Coach; first coach of the New England Patriots.
Helen Levitt — Photographer; known for her photos of New York street life.
Monte Hale — Movie actor; last of the “Singing Cowboys”.
Andrea Mead Lawrence — Athlete and environmentalist; won two skiing golds at 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics.
Irving R Levine — Journalist, economist, and television personality; NBC’s “Meet The Press”.
George Kell — Athlete; third baseman and member of Baseball Hall of Fame.
John Hope Franklin — Historian; father of African-American history studies and author of “From Slavery To
Freedom”.
Dan Seals — Musician; member of England Dan And John Ford Coley and solo singer. “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight”, “Bop”.
Jade Goody — Television personality; English “Big Brother”.
Ron Silver — Tony-winning actor; “Speed-The-Plow”.
Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook — Sculptor.
Anne Wiggins Brown — Musician and actor; original Bess in Gershwin’s “Porgy And Bess”.
Natasha Richardson — Actress; “Blow Dry”, “The Handmaid’s Tale”.
Horton Foote — Playwright; “The Orphans Home Cycle”.
John Cephas — Musician; Piedmont blues guitarist.
Francis Magalona — Musician, actor, and political activist; father of Filipino hip-hop.
Paul Harvey — Broadcaster; “The Rest Of The Story”.
Wendy Richard — Television actress; “EastEnders”, “Are You Being Served?”.
Philip Jose Farmer — Hugo Award-winning author; “The Riverworld Cycle”, “World Of Tiers”.
Socks — Former US First Cat.
Webster Lardner Kitchell — Author and minister; the Coyote sermons.
Kelly Groucutt — Musician; longtime vocalist and bass player, ELO.
Orlando “Cachaito” Lopez — Musician; bassist, Buena Vista Social Club.
Lux Interior — Musician; lead singer and frontman, The Cramps.
James Whitmore — Tony- and Emmy-winning actor; “Command Decision”, “The Practice”.
Lukas Foss — Composer, conductor, and pianist.
Guy Hunt — Politician; former governor of Alabama.
Billy Powell — Musician; former keyboardist for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
John Updike — Pulitzer Prize-winning author; “Rabbit Is Rich”, “The Witches Of Eastwick”.
Kay Yow — Coach; member of the Basketball Hall of Fame from North Carolina State.
Mariana Bridi — Model.
Jose Torres — Athlete and author; former light heavyweight boxing world champion.
Tapan Sinha — Film director; “Aponjan”, “Sagina Mahato”.
Bob May — Television actor; The Robot from “Lost In Space”.
Andrew Wyeth — Painter; “Christina’s World”.
Patrick McGoohan — Television actor; “The Prisoner”, “Secret Agent”.
Ricardo Montalban — Actor; Mr Rourke on “Fantasy Island”, Khan on “Star Trek”.
Pat Hingle — Actor; “The Grifters”, “Batman”.
Helen Suzman — Political activist; longtime anti-apartheid leader.
Claiborne Pell — Politician; former US Senator from Rhode Island.
Ron Asheton — Musician; former guitarist for The Stooges.
Freddie Hubbard — Musician; trumpeter and member of the Jazz Messengers.
Robert Graham — Sculptor.
Delaney Bramlett — Musician; member of Delaney and Bonnie.
Harold Pinter — Nobel Prize-winning playwright; “The Caretaker”.
Eartha Kitt — Musician and television personality; “C’est Si Bon”.
Robert Mulligan — Film director; “To Kill A Mockingbird”.
Mike “Mad Dog” Bell — Wrestler.
Majel Barrett Roddenberry — Actress and wife of Gene Roddenberry; Lwaxana Troi, Nurse Chapel, and the Enterprise’s computer.
Sam Bottoms — Actor; “Apocalypse Now”.
Sammy Baugh — Athlete; Hall of Fame quarterback with the Washington Redskins.
W Mark Felt — Political figure; “Deep Throat” in the US Watergate scandal.
Bettie Page — Model; legendary pin-up queen.
Odetta Holmes — Musician and political figure; longtime musician of the Civil Rights movement.
Betty James — The namer of the Slinky (and co-founder of the company).
William Gibson — Playwright; “The Miracle Worker”.
Yma Sumac — Musician; the “Peruvian Songbird”.
Michael Crichton — Author; “Jurassic Park”, “Sphere”.
Studs Terkel — Pulitzer Prize-winning author; “The Good War”.
Norman Whitfield — Songwriter; “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”.
John Daly — Film producer; 13 Oscar wins including “Platoon,” “The Last Emperor”, others.
Madelyn Dunham — Grandmother of Barack Obama.
Edna Parker — World’s oldest person (115 years old).
Andrew McKelvey — Founder of Monster.com.
Oliver Selfridge — Pioneer of artificial intelligence and childrens’ book author.
De’Angelo Wilson – Actor; “8 Mile”.
Jim Mattox — Member of the US House of Representatives.
Mitch Mitchell – Drummer; “The Jimi Hendrix Experience”.
Herb Score — Baseball pitcher and broadcaster for the Cleveland Indians.
Abraham Woods — American civil rights leader who stood with Dr. King during the “I Have A Dream” speech.
John Costelloe — Actor; “The Sopranos”.
Paul Benedict — Television actor; “The Jeffersons”.
Donald E. Westlake — Wrote mysteries as Richard Stark; three-time Edgar award winner.
Nahla Hussain al-Shaly — Iraqi women’s rights activist.
Maurice L. Albertson — Peace Corps architect; founder of “Village Earth”.
Lillian Willoughby — Peace activist; founder of “Take Back the Night”.
Martin Delaney — HIV activist; founder of “Project Inform”.
Eluned Phillips — Writer and poet; only woman twice crowned bard at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
John Scott Martin — Actor; “Doctor Who”, “I, Claudius”, others.
Millard Fuller — Co-founder of Habitat for Humanity International.
Tom Brumley — Steel guitarist; “Buck Owens and The Buckaroos”.
Molly Bee — Country singer; “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”.
Ed Grothus — Former Los Alamos employee turned anti-nuclear activist; owner of “The Black Hole” in Los Alamos.
Blossom Dearie — Jazz singer; “Schoolhouse Rock!”.
Andy Hallett — Television actor; “Angel”.
Maurice Jarre — Academy Award-winning film composer; “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Dr. Zhivago”, others.
Frank Springer — Comic book artist; “Dazzler”, “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, others.
Vern Gosdin — Country music singer; “Set ’em Up Joe”, “I’m Still Crazy”, others.
Tom Deitz — Science fiction author; “Soulsmith Trilogy,” others.
Nick Adenhart — Baseball pitcher, Angels.
Randy Cain — Singer; “The Delfonics”.
Thomas Nordseth-Tiller — Screenwriter; “Max Manus”.
Rodger McFarlane — Gay rights activist; executive director of “Gay Men’s Health Crisis”.
Wayman Tisdale — Hall of Fame and Gold Medal-winning basketball player and jazz bassist.
Buddy Montgomery — Jazz vibraphonist and pianist.
Harve Presnell — Actor and singer; “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, “Paint Your Wagon”, others.
Gale Storm — Actress and singer; “My Little Margie”, “The Gale Storm Show”.
Sky Saxon — Rock musician; lead singer of “The Seeds”.
Neda Agha-Soltan — Student; shot during the Iranian election protests.
Ken Roberts — “Golden Age Of Radio” and television announcer; “The Shadow”, “Candid Camera”, others.
John Houghtaling — Inventor of the Magic Fingers vibrating bed.
Dave Simons — Comic book artist; “Conan”, “Spider-Man”, “Forgotten Realms”, others.
David Eddings — Fantasy author; “The Belgariad”.
Lorena Gale — Actress and playwright; “Battlestar Galactica”.
Michael Roof — Actor; “xXx”, “Black Hawk Down”, “The Dukes of Hazzard”.
Gidget — The Taco Bell Chihuahua.
Mike Seeger — Grammy-nominated folk musician.
Naomi Sims — First African-American supermodel, businesswoman, and author.
Robert Ginty — Actor; “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, “Paper Chase,” “Exterminator”.
Myles Brand — NCAA president and former Indiana University President.
Peg Mullen — Anti-war activist; subject of film “Friendly Fire”.
Donna Mae Mims — “Pink Lady” of auto racing, first female SCCA champion; portrayed in movie “Cannonball Run”.
Norma Fox Mazer — Chidren and young adult author; “After the Rain”, “A Figure of Speech”, others.
Chuck Biscuits — Drummer for “Danzig” and “Social Distortion.