Peace Tree Farm

Gone in 2005 (Part 3)

Halfway through March 2006, and I’ve finally worked my way through the necrology for March 2005. Maybe I’ll end up following Linkmeister’s month-by-month model after all…

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The war that George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney chose to start in Iraq took the lives of 35 American men and women in March 2005. Combined with the previous two months, the first quarter of the year totalled 200 losses resulting from that arrogant misuse of American money, resources, prestige, and lives.

But those were hardly the only notable deaths during the third month of 2005. You may (or may not) recall these passages:

Hans Bethe (March 6, age 98): One of the giants of modern physics, Bethe won the 1967 Nobel Prize for his research on stellar nucleosynthesis—the reactions within stars that create the nuclei of heavier elements. Emigrating from Germany very soon after Hitler gained power, Bethe joined the faculty of Cornell University in 1935, remaining there for the rest of his life. Like many other American physicists, he joined the Manhattan Project; recognizing his prodigious skills, Oppenheimer named him Director of the Theoretical Division, irking (not for the last time) Edward Teller, who thought he deserved the appointment. In Los Alamos, Bethe contributed mightily to both the uranium and plutonium bombs. Like Oppenheimer, he was opposed to developing the fusion bomb, and Bethe remained an activist for peace and progressive policies throughout his life. In 2004, he was one of 48 Nobel laureates who signed an open letter in support of John Kerry’s presidential candidacy.
Chuck Thompson (March 6, at 83, stroke): Broadcasting the Orioles for nearly 50 years, Thompson defined baseball memories for thousands and thousands who grew up in Baltimore and Washington. Known for his sporty hats as much as for his staccato amiability, he won the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award in 1993. Hey, who can say anything bad about a guy whose signature phrase was “Ain’t the beer cold!” (even if the brew he was shilling for was Natty Boh? Another baseball personage who left us on the same day was
Danny Gardella (March 6, 85 years old, congestive heart failure): Not much of an outfielder, Gardella remains the only player to win a case against the reserve clause in federal court. After jumping to the “outlaw” Mexican League in 1946, Gardella was banned from MLB by Commissioner Happy Chandler. The next year, Gardella filed suit against Chandler and MLB, resulting in revocation of his banishment in an out-of-court settlement. However, he got only one more major league at bat after winning his case, as a pinch-hitter for the Cardinals on April 20, 1950.
Glenn Davis (March 9, age 80, prostate cancer): On the great Red Blaik-coached US Military Academy football teams of the mid-1940s, Davis was “Mr. Outside” to Felix (Doc) Blanchard‘s “Mr. Inside”. Their West Point team went 27-0-1 in 1944-1946, with Blanchard winning the Heisman Trophy in 1945 and Davis in 1946. The pair scored 97 touchdowns as teammates, a total not eclipsed until last season, by USC’s Reggie Bush and LenDale White. The speedy, elusive Davis averaged 11.5 yards per carry in 1945. Davis and Blanchard shared the cover of Time on October 23, 1945.
Betsy Cronkite (March 15, at 89, cancer): Married for 65 years to perhaps the finest television journalist in history, the former Mary Elizabeth Maxwell was, it seems, quite sharp of wit and tongue herself. As noted in this reminiscence, she was lunching with friends the day after Richard Nixon’s 1962 gubernatorial loss ("you won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around any more"). After one of her friends said “I felt so sorry for Pat Nixon last night”, Mrs. Cronkite snarked in response “I feel sorry for Pat Nixon every night.”
Dick Radatz (March 16, 67 years old, head trauma due to a fall): A huge, intimidating relief pitcher, “The Monster” began his major league career with three brilliant seasons (1962-1964) for the Red Sox. Arm trouble sidetracked him thereafter, and his career was over by 1969 at the age of 32. The former Michigan State basketball and baseball star stayed in the game as a pitching coach.
George F. Kennan (March 17, age 101, natural causes): Kennan may have had more impact on American foreign policy since World War II than any other person. Diplomat, political scientist, historian, researcher, professor—he was the leading light of the doctrine of containment of Soviet expansionism during the Cold War and wrote its founding X document (a paper, signed “X”, in the July 1947 issue of the journal Foreign Affairs). Within a few years, though, his view of the Soviet Union as a diplomatic opponent rather than a military enemy lost influence in Dean Acheson’s State Department. Except for occasional ambassadorial assignments, Kennan spent the remainder of his long career in teaching, research, and foreign policy criticism at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He was an outspoken opponent of American involvement in Indochina, Reagan’s military expansion, and the current Iraq debacle.
John De Lorean (March 19, at 80, stroke): The gull-winged sportscar he designed turned out to be a co-star of the Back to the Future series of movies in the late 1980s. Previously the engineer of the Pontiac GTO and an executive at General Motors, the flamboyant De Lorean decided to design and build his own cars in Northern Ireland, but his poor management and profligate ways put the company into receivership within a year after the first De Lorean DMC-12 rolled off the line in 1981. In all, fewer than 10,000 were built before the factory was shuttered in November 1982. At about the same time, De Lorean faced a trial for selling cocaine; he was found not guilty due to entrapment in 1984.
Bobby Short (March 21, age 80, leukemia): I saw Short perform once, probably about 25 years ago. It was at the Cafe Carlyle, of course, where the self-styled saloon singer had been holding court since 1968, where he continued to perform until 2004. The debonair Short was, in fact, the consummate cabaret singer, interpreting Porter, Ellington, Strayhorn, Mercer, et al. with elegance and aplomb.
Paul Henning (March 25, 93 years old, natural causes): Longtime writer and producer of radio and television programs, beginning in the earliest days of TV, Henning was the mastermind (if such be the appropriate term) behind The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction. This was a particularly bad day for pioneers of cheesy TV, as March 25 also took:
Greg Garrison (March 25, age 81): Starting as a television director even earlier than Henning, with Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theater in 1948, Garrison attained his greatest repute as Dean Martin‘s producer-director for many years. Garrison created both Martin’s eponymous 1965-1974 variety show and the series of “roast” specials that were spun off from that series.
Bob Casey (March 27, at 79, liver cancer): You may not know the name, but if you watched the 1987 or 1991 World Series, or if you ever saw the Minnesota Twins play a home game before 2005, you know the voice. Bob Casey was the public address announcer for the Twins from their creation in 1961 until his death. He’s the one who would famously introduce “playing centerfield, number 34, Kir-byyyy PUCK-ETTTTT!!!!” If you’re not a baseball nut, I suspect you don’t have the slightest idea what I’m talking about.
Johnny Cochran (March 29, age 67, brain tumor): Already famous in Los Angeles legal circles as a flamboyantly brilliant defense attorney, Cochran became a nationwide sensation as the leader of O.J. Simpson’s Dream Team. A brilliant courtroom performer, Cochran represented many other celebrity defendants in his successful and high-profile practice.
Fred Korematsu (March 30, 86 years old, respiratory failure): A brave and patriotic American, Korematsu tried to evade the authorities when the Japanese internment camps opened. After he was captured, convicted, and sent to Utah, he sued the United States, eventually losing a 6-3 Supreme Court decision in 1944. Losing that case didn’t stop him. Korematsu continued to fight for civil liberties on behalf of his fellow internees and others unfairly treated in and by the United States. His conviction was overturned nearly 40 years later, and in 1988 all internees were compensated (a piddling $20K apiece) for the injustice perpetrated on them. Always a passionate activist, Fred Korematsu was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.
Frank Perdue (March 31, age 84): "It takes a tough man to raise a tender chicken." Frank Perdue built his family egg farm into one of the giants of poultry production. Key to the success of his business was his decision to star in his own commercials. Let’s face it, with his rural Maryland Eastern Shore accent, gangly arms, bald pate, and hooked nose, the guy was authentic ... he looked like a chicken! Perdue knew how to make fun of himself, and his TV ads were well known—and well loved—by those of us who grew up in the Northeast (you can watch some of them at the Frank Perdue tribute on the company’s website). At the same time, he was a savvy businessman with a commitment to technological innovation and the highest quality standards.
Terri Schiavo (March 31, age 41, many years too late): ‘Nuff said.