(posted a little late)
2011 SAMHAIN LITANY
Dagonet Dewr, Compiler
As always, editorial comments and content are solely my responsibility. I will forget people; email me at dagonet.dewr@… and I’ll add them to permanent archived copies of this list. More and more every year, I realize we need a central listing point for Neo-Pagan dead; if anyone is interested in making that project a reality, please email me as well. Feel free to disseminate with attribution.
On the question of the death of the late leader of Al Qaeda and the late leader of Libya — they are not listed in this litany. That is a conscious choice.
For the dead in war and unrest, including but not limited to Iraq, Afghanistan, Balochistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Palestine, Israel, Mexico, The Sudan, North Caucasus, South Yemen, Somalia, Columbia, Libya, and others.
For the dead by terrorist action: in Norway, Somalia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, China, and others.
For the dead in the Arab Spring, including but not limited to Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, and others.
For the dead in natural disasters: the Tohuko earthquake and tsunami; earthquakes in New Zealand, Sikkim, Nepal, and Turkey; the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster; mudslides and flooding in Brazil; explosions and fire in Kenya; flooding in Pakistan, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia; wildfires in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Mexico; the record April 2011 tornado outbreaks, including 159 dead in Joplin, Missouri; and other tornadoes in New England, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
For those who died of starvation, famine, neglect, and abuse.
For those whose deaths went unnoticed and unmourned.
Kenneth Grant, 86, British occultist and writer, head of the Typhonian Order
W. J. Gruffydd, 94, Welsh poet; former Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales. (N.B.: He was also a Baptist minister. But I think the spirit of the thing counts.)
Geraint Bowen, 95, Welsh poet; former Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Lady Bastet / Sharon Mitchell, High Priestess of Our Lady At The Shoreline, Kentucky.
Lord Laith Angus Min / Rev. Don Leon Richie, founder of Life Temple and Seminary.
Lord Cabal / Philip Kirsch, Michigan.
Lyonene, del Luna la Madre Temple, Illinois.
Rev. Leianne Pepper, Spirit of the Earth Church, Kentucky.
Ted Sorel, 74, American actor (Guiding Light, Law & Order).
Leslie Nielsen, 84, Canadian-born American actor (Airplane!, The Naked Gun).
Irvin Kershner, 87, American film director (The Empire Strikes Back, Never Say Never Again).
Willis Burks II, 75, American actor (King of California, Law & Order).
Bobbi Sykes, 67, Australian Aboriginal rights activist
Dino De Laurentiis, 91, Italian film producer (Dune, Blue Velvet, Conan The Barbarian).
Jill Clayburgh, 66, American actress (An Unmarried Woman, Ally McBeal).
Sparky Anderson, 76, American baseball player and manager (Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers), member of Baseball Hall of Fame
Shannon Tavarez, 11, American stage actress (The Lion King), leukemia
Charlie O’Donnell, 78, American announcer (Wheel of Fortune).
Donald Carroll, 70, American author (The Liverpool Scene, Mary’s House).
Bill Erwin, 96, American actor (Seinfeld, Falcon Crest, The Twilight Zone).
Gene Kelton, 55, American blues, rock and rockabilly singer and guitarist.
Billy Taylor, 89, American jazz pianist and composer (“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”).
Grant McCune, 67, American Academy Award-winning visual effects artist; designer of the Great White Shark in Jaws.
Geraldine Doyle, 86, American metal presser, inspiration for Rosie the Riveter.
Bernard Wilson, 64, American singer (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes).
Elisabeth Beresford, 84, British children’s author, creator of The Wombles.
Neil Rogers, 68, American radio personality and gay rights activist.
Jacqueline Courtney, 64, American actress (Another World, One Life to Live),
Captain Beefheart, 69, American rock musician and artist (Trout Mask Replica).
Bob Feller, 92, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians), member of Baseball Hall of Fame.
Woolly Wolstenholme, 63, British progressive rock musician, Barclay James Harvest .
Don Meredith, 72, American football player and commentator (Monday Night Football)
Ron Santo, 70, American baseball player and broadcaster (Chicago Cubs).
Mark Ryan, 51, British musician (Adam and the Ants).
Charlie Callas, 83, American comedian and actor (Silent Movie, Switch).
David Kato, 46, Ugandan gay rights activist, bludgeoned with hammer.
Charlie Louvin, 83, American country music singer (The Louvin Brothers).
Chief White Eagle, 93, Canadian-born American Mohawk actor and stuntman.
Jack LaLanne, 96, American fitness and nutritional expert.
Jay Garner, 82, American actor (La Cage Aux Folles, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century).
Sargent Shriver, 95, American diplomat and politician; Vice Presidential nominee (1972).
Susannah York, 72, English actress (Tom Jones, Superman).
John Dye, 47, American actor (Touched by an Angel).
Margaret Whiting, 86, American pop singer (“A Tree in the Meadow”, “Moonlight in Vermont”).
Gerry Rafferty, 63, Scottish singer-songwriter (“Baker Street”).
Pete Postlethwaite, 64, British actor (In the Name of the Father, Inception, The Usual Suspects).
Jane Russell, 89, American actress (The Outlaw, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes).
James Gruber, 82, American teacher and early gay rights activist, last surviving member of the Mattachine Society.
Duke Snider, 84, American Baseball Hall of Famer (New York Mets, San Francisco Giants).
Mark Tulin, 62, American bass player, The Electric Prunes, The Smashing Pumpkins.
Nicholas Courtney, 81, British actor. (Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart on Doctor Who).
Len Lesser, 88, American actor (Uncle Leo on Seinfeld.)
Sir George Shearing, 91, British-born American jazz pianist (“Lullaby of Birdland”).
Larry Holden, 49, Irish actor (Batman Begins, Memento).
Betty Garrett, 91, American actress (Irene on All in the Family).
Kenneth Mars, 75, American actor (Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein, King Triton in The Little Mermaid).
Chuck Tanner, 82, American baseball manager (Pittsburgh Pirates) and player (Los Angeles Dodgers).
Gary Moore, 58, Irish rock guitarist and singer (Thin Lizzy).
Peggy Rea, 89, American character actress (Lulu Hogg on The Dukes of Hazzard).
Mel McDaniel, 68, American country music singer (“Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On”).
Farley Granger, 85, American actor (Strangers on a Train, Rope).
Harry Coover, 94, American inventor; invented Super Glue.
Geraldine Ferraro, 75, American politician, and 1984 Vice Presidential nominee; first woman to be nominated for the office by a major political party.
Diana Wynne Jones, 76, British fantasy author (Howl’s Moving Castle, the Chrestomanci series.)
Elizabeth Taylor, 79, British-American Academy-Award-winning actress (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Cleopatra, BUtterfield 8).
Zoogz Rift, 57, American musician, painter.
Pinetop Perkins, 97, American blues musician.
Ferlin Husky, 85, American country music singer.
Jim Roslof, 64, American artist (Dungeons & Dragons — designed the cover of “Keep On The Borderlands”).
Michael Gough, 94, British actor (Alfred the Butler in the Burton/Schumacher Batman films).
Owsley Stanley, 76, American-born Australian underground LSD chemist and sound engineer (Grateful Dead).
Mike Starr, 44, American bassist (Alice in Chains, Sun Red Sun).
Jeff Kargola, 27, American freestyle motocross rider.
Joanna Russ, 74, American science fiction author.
Phoebe Snow, 60, American singer-songwriter (“Poetry Man”).
Poly Styrene, 53, British musician (X-Ray Spex).
Noxolo Nogwaza, 24, South African lesbian activist, stabbed.
Elisabeth Sladen, 65, British actress (Sarah Jane Smith on Doctor Who.)
Michael Sarrazin, 70, Canadian actor (They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?).
Sol Saks, 100, American screenwriter, creator of Bewitched.
Trevor Bannister, 76, British actor (Mr Lucas on Are You Being Served?).
Yolande Palfrey, 54, British actress (Blake’s 7, Doctor Who).
Sidney Lumet, 86, American film director (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network).
Skip O’Brien, 60, American actor (Detective Ray O’Riley on CSI).
Gil Robbins, 80, American folk singer (The Highwaymen) and actor, father of Tim Robbins.
Clarice Taylor, 93, American actress (Sesame Street; Anna Huxtable, Dr Cliff’s mother, on The Cosby Show).
Jeff Conaway, 60, American actor (Kenickie on Grease, Bobby Wheeler on Taxi, Zack Allan on Babylon 5).
Bill Hunter, 71, Australian actor (Muriel’s Wedding, the voice of the Dentist in Finding Nemo).
David Honeyboy Williams, 96, American blues singer.
Randy Savage, 58, American professional wrestler.
Harmon Killebrew, 74, American Hall of Fame baseball player (Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals).
Norma Zimmer, 87, American entertainer (“The Champagne Lady” on The Lawrence Welk Show).
Jackie Cooper, 88, American actor (Our Gang, Superman) and director (M*A*S*H).
Nick Charles, 64, American sportscaster (CNN Sports Tonight).
Shelby Grant, 74, American actress (Fantastic Voyage, Medical Center).
Martin H. Greenberg, 70, American anthologist.
Gene Colan, 84, American comic book artist (Daredevil, Howard the Duck).
Peter Falk, 83, American actor (Columbo, The Princess Bride).
Anthony Herrera, 57, American actor (As the World Turns).
Ryan Dunn, 34, American reality television star (Jackass, Viva La Bam).
Clarence Clemons, 69, American saxophonist (E Street Band) and singer (“You’re a Friend Of Mine”).
Carl Gardner, 83, American singer (The Coasters).
Ignazio Vella, 82, American artisanal cheesemaker.
Alan Rubin, 68, American trumpeter (The Blues Brothers).
Roy Skelton, 79, British actor (voice of the Daleks on Doctor Who).
Lilian Jackson Braun, 97, American author (Cat Who mystery series).
James Arness, 88, American actor (Gunsmoke, The Thing).
Andrew Gold, 59, American singer-songwriter (“Lonely Boy”, “Thank You for Being a Friend”).
Jack Kevorkian, 83, American physician and right to die activist.
Joel Rosenberg, 57, American science fiction author.
Jeret Peterson, 29, American free style skier, 2010 Winter Olympics silver medalist.
Bill Morrissey, 59, American singer-songwriter.
Amy Winehouse, 27, British singer-songwriter (“Rehab”).
Tom Aldredge, 83, American actor (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire).
Cuddly Dudley, 87, British rock and roll singer.
Sherwood Schwartz, 94, American television producer, creator of The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island.
Roberts Blossom, 87, American actor (Old Man Marley in Home Alone).
Betty Ford, 93, American First Lady (1974-1977) and co-founder of Betty Ford Center.
John McCarthy, 84, American computer scientist, creator of LISP and the term AI.
Bob Brunning, 68, British blues musician (Fleetwood Mac).
Paul Leka, 70, American pianist, arranger and songwriter (“Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”).
Dennis Ritchie, 70, American computer scientist, developer of C programming language.
Roger Williams, 87, American pianist (“Autumn Leaves”).
Charles Napier, 75, American actor (The Silence of the Lambs, The Blues Brothers).
George Green, 59, American songwriter (“Hurts So Good”, “Crumblin’ Down”).
Stetson Kennedy, 94, American folklorist and civil rights activist.
Jerry Leiber, 78, American songwriter (“Stand By Me”, “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Kansas City”).
Michael Showers, 45, American actor (Treme, Breaking Bad, The Vampire Diaries).
Betty Thatcher, 67, British lyricist (Renaissance).
Jani Lane, 47, American musician (lead singer of Warrant).
Rudolf Brazda, 98, German concentration camp prisoner, last known survivor of pink triangle homosexual deportation.
Annette Charles, 63, American actress (Cha Cha DiGregorio in Grease).
Bubba Smith, 66, American football player (Baltimore Colts) and actor (Police Academy).
Sylvia Robinson, 75, American singer (Mickey & Sylvia), music producer and record label executive.
Vesta Williams, 53, American R&B singer.
Jack Garner, 84, American actor (The Rockford Files, My Fellow Americans), brother of James Garner.
Cliff Robertson, 88, American actor (Charly, Spider-Man, PT 109).
Mary Fickett, 83, American actress (All My Children).
Michael S. Hart, 64, American author, inventor of the e-book and founder of Project Gutenberg.
Steve Jobs, 56, American computer entrepreneur and inventor, co-founder of Apple Inc.
Mikey Welsh, 40, American artist and musician (Weezer).
Anne Francis, 80, American actress (Forbidden Planet).
Benoit Mandelbrot, 85, American mathematician.
For me personally:
Rose Anastasia Sabella McGill, 92, beloved grandmother.