RIP, Dolly Parton

Very sad news out of the music world today.

Dolly Parton, a famous country music singer and actor died after a mostly private battle with cancer. She was 80 years old.

I am old enough to remember, back in my childhood, when Dolly Parton was known as this blonde bombshell. She seemed to epitomize the dream of what every man would want: a voluptuous blond with big breasts and a terrific figure.

Also, she had an obvious Southern accent. And her country music background, plus roles in certain movies which, admittedly, I never saw kind of gave me the impression of her being more or less of the redneck culture. 

But I was wrong.

In fact, however, she was not only very talented as a songwriter, but she was intelligent and thought-provoking, as well. She was tirelessly advocating causes which would cause redneck culture to have a collective heart attack, such as gay rights. She was critical of MAGA and Donald Trump.

Surprisingly, President Trump ordered flags to be flown as half mast for a week in honor of Parton's passing. He usually is quite petty with people who were critical of him, even after death. 

But she will certainly be missed.

Rest In Peace, Dolly Parton.

RIP, WWII Icon ‘Rosie the Riveter’

Sad news to report today.

The woman known as ‘Rosie the Riveter’ died at 100.  

Of course, that was not her real name. Jeanne Gibson is her actual name, but she is most famous for portraying Rosie the Riveter during World War II, in an effort to rally women and others to work and help out in the war effort.     

Seems like the last famous people from that whole era are going fast. Not really surprising, but it is sad nonetheless.

Rest In Peace, Jeanne Gibson.

WWII welder Jeanne Gibson, 100, honored at Rosie the Riveter Park July 21, 2026By Staff Report          

https://richmondstandard.com/community/2026/07/21/wwii-welder-jeanne-gibson-100-honored-at-rosie-the-riveter-park/

WWII welder Jeanne Gibson, 100, honored at Rosie the Riveter Park - Richmond Standard

Beloved ‘Rosie the Riveter’ dies at 100  Jeanne Gibson, who represented the WWII Rosie the Riveter movement, died Thursday. By HNN Staff Published: Jul. 30, 2026 at 

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/07/30/beloved-rosie-riveter-dies-100/

Beloved ‘Rosie the Riveter’ dies at 100

RIP, Bonnie Tyler

Sad news to report this morning.

This is breaking news, actually. Welch singer Bonnie Tyler has died at 75 in Faro, Portugal.

She enjoyed success in the 1980's, particularly with two huge hits: "Holding Out For a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

What a talent!

She will be missed.

Rest in Peace, Bonnie Tyler.

RIP, Browning Nagle

Former New York Jets quarterback Browning Nagel has died after a battle with colon cancer. He was just 57 years old. 

Any football fan my age - especially in the greater New York/New Jersey metropolitan area - should remember Browning Nagle. He had a solid college career with the Louisville Cardinals before being drafted by the New York Jets 34th overall in 1991. Then, he became the starting quarterback for the Jets in 1992, after the Jets had enjoyed a playoff season in '91. There was hope that Nagle would be the next solid quarterback for the team, especially after a very strong opening game to start the season. However, things fell apart after that, and he had an admittedly dismal season. As did the Jets overall, for that matter.

By the 1993 season, the Jets had begun rebuilding and picked up former Super Bowl quarterback Boomer Esiason, who assumed the starting role. Nagle was relegated to being a backup.

The Jets released Nagle in 1994. He then went on to play with the Colts and the Falcons, before he went to the Arena Football league, where he played with the Orlando Predators and the Buffalo Destroyers.

Louisville University alerted the public to the news in a statement yesterday:

'His leadership on the field and passion for the game left a lasting mark on our program. Our thoughts are with his loved ones and teammates during this time.'

Rest in Peace, Browning Nagle. 

Former New York Jets quarterback dead at 57 after cancer battle Story by James Cohen • April 10, 2026:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/former-new-york-jets-quarterback-dead-at-57-after-cancer-battle/ar-AA20Bha2?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=69d9e01dd6584c94bd7b7ac1356a8831&ei=14

Former New York Jets quarterback dead at 57 after cancer battle

RIP, Country Joe McDonald

Sad news in the music world today.

Country Joe McDonald died. He was 84 years old. 

His real name was Joseph Allen McDonald, although he was better known by his stage name of "Country Joe."

The most famous, even iconic moment that he had, a moment which lives on still today, came at Woodstock back in the summer of 1969.

Here was a little snippet from the MSN article by Carson Holaday, in which he described it:

McDonald, who was known for fronting the sixties group Country Joe and the Fish, famously led the crowd at the 1969 Woodstock festival in the anti-Vietnam War protest anthem “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag.” The solo performance included the “Fish Cheer,” a call-and-response to “Gimme an F” that prompted the audience to spell out “f***.”

Yup. That's what I remember him best for.

Of course, the first time I heard that, it was during childhood. So naturally I found it appealing and enormously funny.

Over the years, however, my understanding of Woodstock and what it meant, and how it challenged societal standards and, in particular, the Vietnam War, it felt like it took on very different connotations.

I had tried to see as many of the original Woodstock artists as possible. However, I never did see Country Joe live, although I had checked fairly regularly. But he seemed to have retired from performing live shows years ago. That said, he was supposed to be at the Woodstock 50 show, although that turned out to be a disaster and was canceled weeks before it was supposed to take place, after numerous artists pulled out. Country Joe was one of the biggest names to pull out relatively early.

Anyway, a large part of our memories of Woodstock died today.

Rest In Peace, Country Joe. 

Country Joe McDonald dies at 80 Story by Carsen Holaday • 10h 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/country-joe-mcdonald-dies-at-80/ar-AA1XMbz7?ocid=socialshare&fbclid=IwY2xjawQbHXtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEedocD13BIdFUNgBVbcJ6RUlFiIr2B9b6XNkUJLS27JxlkCrTwd8RG-YkGeAk_aem_luRqq2uvOkUXHyaiQlvwsA

Country Joe McDonald dies at 80

RIP, Eva Schloss, Anne Frank's Stepsister, Reflects on Auschwitz and the Holocaust



Earlier tonight, I heard that Eva Schloss, an Auschwitz survivor and the stepsister of Anne Frank, died last month. She was 96 years old.

Schloss was the stepsister of Anne Frank, who became famous after her diaries were published. Schloss wrote some books of her own and made some public appearances, where she spoke of her experiences during the Holocaust. I actually attended one of these lectures, at Washington Township at the Bergen County YJCC, which felt like a privileges. She was intelligent, thoughtful, and illuminating. 

In fact, I wrote a blog entry on it, which I am republishing here now, under this blog entry. It seemed like a fitting tribute to Schloss.

Personally, I appreciated very much the opportunity to see her, and to learn more about this dark chapter in history with an intimacy with seeing the person in front of you which you often cannot get from a book. 

Rest In Peace, Eva Schloss. You will be missed.

Eva Schloss, Holocaust Survivor and Stepsister of Anne Frank, Dies at 96 Eva Schloss dedicated her life to Holocaust education and sharing her experiences with audiences around the world.  January 5, 2026:

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/eva-schloss-holocaust-survivor-and-stepsister-anne-frank-dies-96

Eva Schloss, Holocaust Survivor and Stepsister of Anne Frank, Dies at 96 | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

Eva Schloss, Anne Frank's Stepsister, Reflects on Auschwitz and the Holocaust

This was originally published on November 16, 2014:

On the evening of October 27th, Eva Schloss spoke about surviving the Holocaust and Auschwitz, as well as her famous stepsister to Anne Frank, spoke at

After her talk, I started reading her book Eva's Story, which I admittedly had not read before (nor even heard of before hearing of this speaking engagement, I am sorry to admit). But I reflected on what she said. Some of the new things that I had learned, such as that some Jews had tried to throw their support behind Hitler and get in with him when he first came to power, apparently not taking the anti-Semitic parts of his platform all that seriously.

I thought about my trip last year to Auschwitz (which I reviewed on July 25, 2013), and seeing that place in person. You hear so much about the horrors there, such as the showers and the ovens. There was an execution wall, where people were lined up to be killed. But I also remember seeing some things that hit me like never before about the grim reality of the horror. There were these very tiny makeshift rooms that, if you did not know any better, looked like chimneys, with little openings on the bottom. Some poor Jews, after working all day doing surely exhausting work, would have to crawl in there and share that kind of a space with up to three other guys. That meant that it was so tight in there, it was standing room only. They would have to spend the night, crammed and standing all night long in the pitch black. What provokes people to do such things to others?

The thing is, though, that when you are born and grew up after such a huge event like World War II, it begins to feel almost surreal. The events already happened, and they swell to an almost mythic proportion. The battles, the names of places and events and the prominent people. All of it seems like it could have happened no other way, and that is when it becomes immobile history.

What we need to understand with all of this is that these events really happened. Living people made decisions under often difficult circumstances. Some decisions were good, and showed strength. Some were bad, and showed cruelty. Those who came to the conclusion that a "final solution" to exterminate the Jews was needed at the Wannasee Conference made decisions, and the death camps were constructed as a result.

With Eva Schloss, you have a real life person who actually lived through such horrific events. She and her family, like her famous stepsister Anne Frank and that family, had their lives interrupted because of the huge, larger than life events going on around them. The Nazis have earned their reputation as the ultimate bad guys, and we still see them featured in this role often today in books and movies and even comic books, nearly seven full decades after these events finally came to a close. We know how they took over and occupied much of Europe. But when you see someone in the flesh, who lived through it all as a victim, and managed, against all odds, to survive, it brings it home in a way that other things simply cannot.

Seeing someone in the flesh, as I did a couple of weeks ago with Eva Schloss, and as I did some years ago when I went to see Elie Wiesel, makes you aware that these events, these tragedies, happened in real life, and not just in movies or books. They affected real people, who's everyday lives were disturbed because of the ideologies of hatred from people that managed to get into power, and to wage a war against the people that they hated, taking over more and more territory in Europe, and wiping out the Jewish population as they went.

It is a testament to the human spirit that some people did nonetheless manage to survive to tell their tale, as both Eva Schloss and Elie Wiesel (as well as others that I did not see, such as Primo Levi) did, writing books that will immortalize these events forever, so that we should never forget.

I would recommend, however, going to see any presentations or lectures such as this one by Holocaust survivors. After all, these events were a long time ago, and people who were around back then and old enough to remember many of these events are starting to be sparse, let alone people like Eva Schloss that were very directly affected, and had their lives interrupted by what we now view as history. It was a very interesting night and discussion! At the very least, pick up a book on the subject, so that you can get a better grasp on exactly what happened, and make sure that people do not forget!



Anne Frank's stepsister to speak Oct. 27

http://www.northjersey.com/community-news/anne-frank-s-stepsister-to-speak-oct-27-1.1105590




Eva Schloss Memoir Coming: Anne Frank's Stepsister Highlights Post-Holocaust Traumas

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/08/eva-schloss-memoir_n_3038415.html




'Living in the shadow of Anne Frank was a burden’

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9995358/Living-in-the-shadow-of-Anne-Frank-was-a-burden.html

RIP, Jesse Jackson

Earlier this morning, I learned about the passing of the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Jackson was the last surviving prominent figure of the American Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. He stood close to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, on the day when Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot. 

Jesse Jackson continued to advocate civil rights. During the 1980's, he ran twice for the White House. I remember him making a splash in 1984, yet it was in 1988 when he temporarily became the frontrunner for the Democratic nominee. In the end, however, Michael Dukakis won the primary. Despite being too young to vote, Jackson was my preferred candidate both in 1984 and 1988, although it was clear that he really had no chance of winning the Democratic primary, let alone the general election.

He had a bizarre relationship with eventual President Barack Obama, having been caught saying something when he thought that the microphones had been turned off (I think he claimed he wanted to cut is nuts off). Nevertheless, Jackson could be seen in tears once Obama actually won the White House on Election Day in 2008. 

Strangely, I actually saw Jesse Jackson in person, although it was quite accidental. My brother and a friend of mine and I went to Washington to protest the Iraq war, back in either 2002 or 2003. Suddenly, everyone stopped to listen to a man speaking maybe a hundred feet behind us. It was Jesse Jackson, and he was leading a prayer. 

Anyway, it seemed worth nothing his passing today.

Rest In Peace, Jesse Jackson.

RIP, Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall, a former Oscar-winning actor, died earlier today. He was 95 years old.

I am not Mr. Hollywood, or anything. But I do remember Duvall in some roles in major films which I enjoyed. Movies like the Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and some others which are not immediately coming to mind.

Recently, I watched Falling Down again. I had not seen it since maybe 1993 or so, back when some friends rented it and I was over at their home. It had slipped my mind that he was in it. But he was good in that movie, too.

He was a solid actor.

Rest In Peace, Robert Duvall.

Robert Duvall, Oscar-winning actor and ‘Godfather’ mainstay, dead at 95  by Bob Thomas, February 16, 2026:

https://apnews.com/article/robert-duvall-dead-6ddb67ba5e2242ba9dd96f29b4ce242a

Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall dies at 95 | AP News

RIP Rob Hirst

Sad news to pass down.

Rob Hirst, the drummer and co-founder of the Australian band Midnight Oil, has died at 70. He had fought cancer for three years. 

The first time that I remember hearing of Midnight Oil was in the 1980's. They had a hit, "Beds Are Burning," which I absolutely loved. There was something about it which, at the time, sounded wicked, almost evil. Foolishly, that was what I thought back then.

Later, after I had matured with the years, I heard what the song was actually about. Far from evil, the message hut differently. It was a song coming to terms with past societal wrongs. Granted, it was an Australian band, and so the lyrics are perhaps about Australian issues, particularly. Yet, it felt (and still feels) to me that it has a universal feel and appeal.

Then somewhere in the late 1990's or early 2000's, I found some Midnight Oil albums for a very decent price, and went ahead. That was when I gained a whole new appreciation for this band. I still love their music, and it still holds up well.

In fact, "Beds Are Burning" is one of the few songs which I must have heard hundreds of times in my life, yet never remember ever having gotten tired of yet.

They are a great band with an inspiring message. And Rob Hirst was a great drummer. He will be missed.

Rest in peace, Rob Hirst. 

Music industry rocked by the death of Rob Hirst, the powerful engine behind Midnight Oil Revered Midnight Oil co-founder and legendary drummer Rob Hirst has died after a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer, leaving a towering legacy.  Kathy McCabe Kathy McCabe @McCabeRadar 3 min read January 20, 2026 - 

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-deaths/music-industry-rocked-by-the-death-of-rob-hirst-the-powerful-engine-behind-midnight-oil/news-story/2d36147f5758be0cc94b0c6082aed5e1

Midnight Oil legend Rob Hirst dies at 70 after cancer battle | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site for latest headlines

RIP, Bob Weir

Sad news to relay today.

Bob Weir of Grateful Dead fame passed away earlier today, at the age of 78.

Weir was the guitarist and co-founder of the Grateful Dead. Probably the most iconic member of Grateful Dead after Jerry Garcia.

He died earlier today after a battle with cancer.

With the Grateful Dead, Weir was present at some of the most iconic moments of the 1960's. They were the only band to have been at some of the arguably most iconic music events of the 1960's. They were at the Human Be-In in San Francisco in 1967, the Monterey Pop Festival later that year, and of course at Woodstock in 1969. 

They also were there at the ill-fated Altamont Festival in December of 1969, although they did not have a good feeling about what was going on, particularly the violence, and decided to turn around and leave. I give them credit for that, actually, given how it turned out. It altered their musical direction. From that point onwards, the band seemed to embody the very best of sixties/hippie idealism, and went on to a legendary career over the span of decades, until the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995.

Later, Weir and other surviving band members were joined by John Mayer, where they performed classic Dead tunes. I actually caught a show in 2019, and thought it might be good to post a picture from that show for this post.

Rest in Peace, Bob Weir.

RIP, Brigitte Bardot

Just heard the sad news of the passing of legendary French actress, singer, and model Brigitte Bardot. She died earlier today in Saint-Tropez at the age of 91.

Bardot was huge back in the 1950's and 1960's. She became virtually iconic back in those days as a sex symbol of sorts.

Later in life, she also championed animal rights, becoming an activist. 

There was not much for me to say about Bardot, other than I remember one time, back in high school, having picked her randomly from a list of choices for topics on some school project, or maybe a book report of sorts. Not even sure what it was, although I know that I got Bardot. However, my teacher said that he wanted to talk to me when my turn came to announce my topic. He pulled me aside when he found out that I was supposed to do Brigitte Bardot, and told me that she had been a "porn star." Those were his words. I would need to do another topic or person.

At the time, I did not have any particularly strong feelings about the subject matter, and just shrugged and picked another topic. I don't remember ever having seen her movies or even heard of her before that. But then I asked some people after school, and they had a different take on her. Said that she was quite a bit more than merely a porn actress, which was inaccurate, in any case.

Not even sure why I am sharing that particular story, other than that this story is what I always remember whenever I thought of Brigitte Bardot. 

From what I learned of her over the years, she seemed like a decent and intelligent woman. Far more than a mere "porn star," the way she was first described to me.

Rest in peace, Brigitte Bardot. 

RIP, Rob Reiner

Wow!

This news is just coming in: director Rob Reiner and his wife were found dead in their home in Brentwood, California, which appears to be near Los Angeles. They were the victims of an apparent homicide.

Right now, we do not know who the perpetrator was or what the motive may have been. 

Reiner was a pretty amazing director. Some of his movies include favorites of mine, including The Princess Bride, Stand By Me, Misery, and This is Spinal Tap. He also directed some very famous movies beyond that which was considered classics, including When Harry Met Sally (which I watched literally a few days ago), A Few Good Men, and Bucket List. He was also one of the main actors in the seventies sitcom All in the Family. 

Crazy to think that he is now gone.

I enjoyed watching him and Archie Bunker feud all of the time on reruns of All in the Family when I was growing up. And again, he was one of my favorite movie directors.

Clearly, he will be missed.

Rest in peace, Rob Reiner.

RIP, Ace Frehley

Everybody was talking about the recent passing of Ace Frehley, the former lead guitarist of legendary rock act KISS.

Now, I never met the guy or anything. However, my brother and I did go to see KISS once, at MSG back in the summer of 1996. It is still a concert that I am glad to have seen.

When I was a kid, KISS seemed fascinating. While I was too young to really get into them, and came around too late to see their cartoon or join the KISS Army, they did appeal to me. However, I got into them as a young man.

And while I kind of tired of them - particularly Gene Simmons - my favorite member of KISS remained Ace Frehley. He always felt like the most relatable, real member of the band. 

RIP, Ace Frehley. You will be missed. 

RIP, John Lodge of the Moody Blues

John Lodge, the singer and bassist for the rock band Moody Blues, has died. He was 82 years old. 

The Moody Blues, of course, were a highly successful and influential band. Lodge was responsible for writing some of the band’s best known songs, including “Ride My See-Saw” and “I’m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band).” 

On a personal level, I went to see the Moody Blues back in 1999 at what was then known as the PNC Bank Arts Center, and formerly had been known as the Garden State Arts Center. Admittedly, I do not remember that show particularly well, although I remember being excited to see them. 

My favorite song from the band is, perhaps predictably, "Nights in White Satin." Funny story about that: when I was younger (like, a teen), I heard that song and, for some reason, thought that it was "Knights in White Satin," and a sad song about the Ku Klux Klan. Clearly, I was not paying too close attention to the lyrics.

Anyway, I am far from the only person who enjoyed the Moody Blues over the years. It is sad to see so many great artists aging and leaving us.

RIP, John Lodge. You will be missed. 

John Lodge, Singer and Bassist With the Moody Blues, Dies at 82 by Alex Williams and Christine Hauser Oct. 10, 2025:

He wrote some of the band’s signature songs, including “Ride My See-Saw” and “I’m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band).”   

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/arts/music/john-lodge-dead-moody-blues.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwY2xjawNWx19leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHvG3hGV2gxX9dpz4dTlvgruvM9vWxvY-_C6InZA1Gqr_IsDsjbm_HrUX5NJW_aem_YBYJXizq1nMDN7D2HmlovQ

RIP, Jane Goodall

Noted British anthropologist Jane Goodall died yesterday at the age of 91.

Goodall stunned much of the world when she decided to dedicate her life to studying chimpanzees and advocating for wildlife preservation the world over. Many people were shocked that an attractive woman would seemingly separate herself from the modern world and all of it's creature comforts in order to go live in the jungle with chimps.

And yet, she made this choice quite deliberately. Many people also felt inspired by her. She tirelessly advocated for preservation of the wilderness. She also blasted modern humanity' reliance on technology and fixation on creature comforts and the generally destructive to the planet lifestyle which most of us mindlessly adhere to and do not know how to live without.

She tried to warn us:

“It seems these days everybody is so involved with technology that we forget that we’re not only part of the natural world, we’re an animal like all the others,” Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a conservation group, said last week during the Forbes Sustainability Leaders Summit in NYC. “We’re an animal like all the others. But we depend on it for clean air, water, food, clothing — everything.”  

And yet — “We’re destroying the planet,” she said.

That message about us forgetting that we are part of the ecosystem of the planet is something which I first really understood when one of my favorite authors, Daniel Quinn, said it in one of his books. He said that even when we might feel as far away from "nature" (those quotes was how he emphasized the paradox of our thinking we are separate from this thing called "nature'), whether we are working in our office space or in a mall or at a movie theater, we are still a part of this world's life cycle. We have the same bodily needs and basic functions as other lifeforms. It has not served us well when we seem to mysteriously lose sight of that. Jane Goodall was one of those people who also tried to remind us of this basic truth. Also, that we are not exempt from the ramifications of our inability to understand that and to continue - or even to accelerate - the human activities that are doing so much damage to our planet.

Just lust last week she added a dire warning regarding humanity's destructive activities:

In a separate conversation with the Wall Street Journal last week, Goodall said the problem is the pernicious idea that economic development should come before the environment. In reality, we’re on a planet with finite resources, and if we exhaust them, it could spell our own end. “Humans are not exempt from extinction,” Goodall said in the Wall Street Journal’s podcast, The Journal.

My own memories of her come mostly from documentaries and the occasional news report. However, I actually saw her in person once, albeit from afar. She was there at the Live Earth concert which I attended in the summer of 2007.

She will be remembered as a tireless advocate for the well being of Planet Earth, and for championing true coexistence and a peaceful way of life. 

RIP, Jane Goodall.

Below are the links to two articles. The first one is where I obtained the quotes which I used in the above blog entry:

Listen to Jane Goodall’s final — and urgent — message Her last interviews are essential listening for everyone.  by Benji Jones Oct 1, 2025:

https://www.vox.com/climate/463459/jane-goodall-chimpanzee-final-message

Jane Goodall’s Survival Guide by Anna Russell, September 27, 2021:

The eighty-seven-year-old naturalist knocks around her home on the south coast of England and explains why, despite the floods and fires and melting ice caps, she’s still optimistic about planet Earth.  

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/04/jane-goodalls-survival-guide?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=app.dashsocial.com/newyorkermag/library/media/589858886

RIP Rick Davies, Co-Founder and Singer For Supertramp

Sad news to report today, as Rick Davies, the keyboardist and singer for Supertramp, as well as one of the band's co-founders, has died. He was 81 years old. 

The band released this statement, announcing the death of Davies:

“The Supertramp Partnership is very sad to announce the death of Supertramp founder Rick Davies after a long illness,” the band wrote in a statement. “We had the privilege of knowing him, and playing with him for over 50 years. We offer our sincere condolences to Sue Davies.” A cause of death was not immediately available, but Davies had been battling multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, for over a decade.

Thought-provoking lyrics were always important to me with music. To that end, Supertramp had that in abundance. This was particularly true of my favorite track from them, which also apparently is the band's biggest hit, The Logical Song." It is one of the very few songs that I can think of which I have heard and often played a whole bunch of times, yet somehow never got tired of. The lyrics always speak to me, get my imagination going. Again, it's my favorite song from the band ("Long Way Home" would be another), and one of my overall favorite songs, probably in my top ten for all bands, and surely in the top twenty. Truly one of the greatest rock songs in history, as far as I am concerned.

So it seemed like it would be worth posting a video of that song, which really resonated with me as a teen and really throughout my life, right to the present.

Rest in Peace, Rick Davies.

Below is the link to the Rolling Stone article by Jason Newman which I used in writing this blog entry, and from which I obtained the band statement about the death of Davies:

Rick Davies, Supertramp Co-Founder and Singer, Dead at 81 by Jason Newman  September 7, 2025:

Keyboardist co-wrote many of the pop-rock group's biggest songs, including "Goodbye Stranger," "Breakfast in America," and "Bloody Well Right"  

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rick-davies-supertramp-dead-obituary-1235422832/

The Logical Song

Robert Michael Conn Services: A Celebration of Life

 

Earlier today, I attended the memorial visitation services for my friend, Rob Conn.

Attended "A Celebration of Life" for Rob Conn earlier today. Very moving. Saw some pictures of him from both younger and older years which I had never seen before. It was in Tom's River, which is far from most of his friends from the Bergen days, like me. That was about an hour and a half journey from me. But I fully intended to be there. In the end, I was there, and grateful for that much.

Had been years since I had last visited Tom's River or that general region of Jersey. On the admittedly long drive down, James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" came on, and it felt very moving under the circumstances. Even the toned down Star Wars music, along with other music, felt far more moving than I ever remember hearing it before. 

This offered me one last opportunity to honor our mutual friendship by wearing the Egyptian scarab which he gave me as a token of our permanent friendship many years ago. Also, to honor him in my own way one last time. 

Not surprisingly, it was quite moving. Looking at all of the pictures and other things, as well as family members (many of whom bore quite a resemblance) made me feel sad. Made me miss him that much more.

For a while, I sat next to Rob's father. We had met many years ago, although it was no surprise that he had no memory of that. We talked a bit, however. I offered my condolences. He spoke about how fast Rob's health declined, and how that deterioration seemed to take everyone by surprise. 

Also, I got a chance to talk to his two sisters and his brother, as well as some other family members. There was a sort of sermon by Rob's old childhood priest right at the end, and even that was both engaging and quite moving. 

He spoke about being at a party in Hollywood, and literally bumping into Stephen Spielberg. Spielberg asked him if he understood the religious connotations of Star Wars and E.T. in particular. Star Wars was a bit more obvious (such as with the virgin birth), although admittedly, E.T. was a different story. But Spielberg explained to him that it was a story about a visitor from the sky, from the Heavens, who came down to Earth and preached love to all, then suffered terribly. He dies, then is resurrected and in the end, he returns home. The priest explained that to his view, home is Heaven. That when someone departs this Earth, he returns home. 

The priest also read from Matthew, Book 5:16:

14 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 

15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Now admittedly, I am not a very religious person, although I appreciated this for this occasion. There were other passages from less religious sources. Such as the poem by Robert Frost about taking the path less chosen, and that this has made all the difference. That seemed fitting to remember Rob by.

Also, there was this beautiful passage from Shakespeare:

“And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. I would not change it.” 

― William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Here was another passage by another great English literary giant:

“It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.” 

― Robert Louis Stevenson

All quite moving. Indeed, it seemed a fitting tribute to honor the memory of Rob Conn.

Of course, I took some pictures of the pictures, as well as of the memorial to him in the front of the room. Below are those pictures, which seemed worth sharing here.

Enjoy.