People die every day. Some of them are famous, some important, many newsworthy. This thread is for announcements of deaths in the news, discussions of the legacy of those recently deceased people, and memorials of same.
Please observe the usual rules about posting ettiquette and note that this is in On-Topic Conversations.
To start with, the last of the original Von Trapp Singers has died, Maria Von Trapp, 99, in Vermont. (This is the daughter of Captain Von Trapp, not her stepmother who was also named Maria. In the musical, they called her Louisa.)
http://news.yahoo.com/maria-von-trapp-99-dies-vermont-005546425.html
2023 mod note:
In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.
This doesn't mean that you can't discuss their life or legacy, or express an opinion as to whether they escaped justice for their actions. But if that starts to become a longer conversation, there are other OTC threads that may be more appropriate.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:28:19 AM
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I didn't see that coming.
No longer a forum herald
"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first." -Stephen Hawking
..you did enough. More than enough. Rest in peace.
edited 13th Mar '18 9:02:22 PM by TotemicHero
Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
A day before Einstein's birthday, too. I could see that going down in the list of great coincidences.
🍊orange fursona🧡
Rest easy, Professor Hawking.
ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔|I DO COMMISSIONS|ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔
I wonder if this year is again going to have a huge count of famous people dying again.
I'm surprised to hear that Hawking passed away. It's amazing he managed to live to be 76 with his ALS.
A procrastination in of itself
Holy shit, he’s gone, that, just doesn’t feel right, I think this is the first celebrity death to really hit me hard.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
I've only read two of his books - A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell - but even before I read them, he was always one of my heroes. Someone in my family recently passed away from ALS - she had had it for over 20 years - so having seen it up close, it feels even more incredible that Hawking was able to keep producing research and promoting science and the National Health Service for so long.
He was probably the most significant cosmologist alive, and his service to his field will never be forgotten.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
At least he beat all the odds, and lived to a longer age than expected.
It's still sad, make no mistake, but in all fairness to Mr. Hawking he defied all kinds of odds by living this long. He wasn't expected to make it past 5 years with his disease, but he did. He was a survivor in every sense of the word.
The Mod with the Migraine
It's really poetic.
Cape Malleum Majorem
It's amazing that he survived for 50 years after being first diagnosed with ALS.
Someone once described him as "A perfect mind in an imperfect body."
This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
... Uh, just to be safe, we're not derailing here, are we?
edited 17th Mar '18 4:23:24 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Did you know this section has a character limit?
Depending on your religious beliefs, that could be used as evidence for or against.
They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
Atheists are often told that when their health fails or things get otherwise tough, we'll come around to accepting faith and finding comfort in thoughts of the afterlife, or that we'll find faith through our desperate prayers for help from above.
Atheists who do go through a fatal illness without changing their position, such as Hitchens and Hawking, prove that religion is not necessary for a person to come to terms with a long-term illness or with death.
Of course, advocates of religion might still resort to lies about deathbed conversion, as they tried with Darwin.
edited 17th Mar '18 4:56:13 PM by BestOf
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Well, fortunately I'm not of any of either type of religious people that you mentioned.
That's definitely true, at least to certain extentsnote .
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
The majority of religious people probably aren't the type to use the arguments mentioned in my post - but enough of them are that most atheists probably have experience of encounters with them.
In any case, the suggestion that a lack of faith makes Hawking less admirable as a person is exactly as bigoted as the suggestion that belief in a given faith over another makes him more or less admirable as a person.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Something a bit different but important nonetheless: Sudan, the last male northern white rhino has died. Now the only hope to save the species is through IVF using a surrogate rhino as the two remaining female northern white rhinos are unable to carry a caff to term..
Screaming Into The Void
Aww, I'd heard he was sick but I was hoping he'd pull through...
No longer a forum herald
In a bit of poetic tragedy, Charles Lazarus, the founder of Toys 'R' Us, has passed away at the age of 94, right as the store chain begins to shut down in the U.S. due to bankruptcy.
🍊orange fursona🧡
Such a franchise and the man who founded it to pass away like that. 
http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2018/03/passings-nokie-edwards-of-ventures-1935.html
Guitarist/Bassist Nokie Edwards of the famed instrumental rock group The Ventures has passed away at the age of 82 from an infection he caught after hip surgery. Edwards was originally the bassist for the group before switching to guitar and becoming their most notable lead guitarist.
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?