Tom Petty, a songwriter who melded California rock with a deep, stubborn Southern heritage, died on Monday after suffering cardiac arrest. He was 66 and had lived in Los Angeles.

Tony Dimitriades, Mr. Petty’s longtime manager, confirmed the death.

Recording with the Heartbreakers, the band he formed in the mid-1970s, and on his own, Mr. Petty wrote pithy, hardheaded songs that gave a contemporary clarity to 1960s roots. His voice was grainy and unpretty, with a Florida drawl that he proudly displayed.

Mr. Petty’s songs were staples of FM rock radio through decades, and with hits like “Refugee,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Free Fallin’” and “Into the Great Wide Open,” Mr. Petty sold millions of albums and headlined arenas and festivals well into 2017. He played the Super Bowl halftime show in 2008 and entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. But his songs stayed down-to-earth, with sturdy guitar riffs carrying lyrics that spoke for underdogs and ornery outcasts. In his 1989 hit, “I Won’t Back Down,” he sang, “You can stand me up at the gates of hell/But I won’t back down.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/arts/music/tom-petty-dead.html

Jim Marrs, best-known for his work researching the various theories surrounding the JFK assassination and UFOs and a guest on many talk shows, died this week at the age of 73.

According to his official Facebook page he died of a heart attack on Wednesday. He had recently been put on dialysis.

According to his online biography, Marrs was a former Fort Worth Star-Telegram staffer starting in 1968 and was a police reporter and general assignments reporter. After a stint serving in the Army in Vietnam he came back home and began writing about military and aerospace technology.

His 1989 book "Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy" was a New York Times Paperback Non-Fiction Best Seller and became a basis for the Oliver Stone film "JFK" in 1991. He served as a chief consultant for the film.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Jim-Marrs-JFK-conspiracy-theory-dead-at-73-11731000.php

Gary Mack, a Dallas broadcaster whose fascination with the Kennedy assassination led him to become a widely consulted expert on the event and, eventually, the curator of the Sixth Floor Museum, which is devoted to the assassination, died on Wednesday in Arlington, Tex. He was 68.

The museum said on its website that he had died after a long illness. The Dallas Morning News reported that his wife, Karin Strohbeck, said the cause was a rare and aggressive cancer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/us/gary-mack-kennedy-assassination-expert-dies-at-68.html

Gabe Pressman, the senior correspondent for WNBC-TV and the indefatigable dean of New York’s television reporters, who chased breaking news, interviewed countless celebrities and covered the hoopla of politics, protests and parades for more than six decades, died early Friday morning in Manhattan. He was 93.

A spokesman for the station confirmed the death, at Mount Sinai Hospital.

A matinee-idol anchorman Mr. Pressman was not. To generations of mayors, governors and ordinary New Yorkers, he was Gabe: the short, rumpled, pushy guy from Channel 4 who seemed always on the scene, elbowing his way to the front and jabbing his microphone in the face of a witness or a big shot.

Over the course of a storied career, Mr. Pressman covered — and, at times, sparred with — every New York City mayor from Robert F. Wagner to Bill de Blasio. He kept at it long past the age when most people retired and kicked back, a steady presence in a rapidly changing media landscape.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/23/nyregion/gabe-pressman-wnbc-dead.html

Prodigy, Rapper Who Helped Forge the Sound of New York Hip-Hop, Dies at 42

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/arts/music/prodigy-mobb-deep-dead.html



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOV0_VZEvGI

Gregg Allman, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, the incendiary group that inspired and gave shape to both the Southern rock and jam-band movements, died on Saturday at his home in Savannah, Ga. He was 69.

His death was announced in a statement on Mr. Allman’s official website. No cause was given, but the statement said he had “struggled with many health issues over the past several years.”

The band’s lead singer and keyboardist, Mr. Allman was one of the principal architects of a taut, improvisatory fusion of blues, jazz, country and rock that — streamlined by inheritors like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band — became the Southern rock of the 1970s.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/27/arts/music/gregg-allman-dead-allman-brothers-band.html

Zbigniew Brzezinski, the hawkish strategic theorist who was national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter in the tumultuous years of the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970s, died on Friday at a hospital in Virginia. He was 89.

His death, at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, was announced on Friday by his daughter, Mika Brzezinski, a co-host of the MSNBC program “Morning Joe.”

Like his predecessor Henry A. Kissinger, Mr. Brzezinski was a foreign-born scholar (he in Poland, Mr. Kissinger in Germany) with considerable influence in global affairs, both before and long after his official tour of duty in the White House. In essays, interviews and television appearances over the decades, he cast a sharp eye on six successive administrations, including that of Donald J. Trump, whose election he did not support and whose foreign policy, he found, lacked coherence.

Mr. Brzezinski was nominally a Democrat, with views that led him to speak out, for example, against the “greed,” as he put it, of an American system that compounded inequality. He was one of the few foreign policy experts to warn against the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/us/zbigniew-brzezinski-dead-national-security-adviser-to-carter.html

Martin McGuinness, a former Irish Republican Army commander and Sinn Fein political leader who helped negotiate peace in Northern Ireland after decades of sectarian violence, and became a senior official in its power-sharing government, died on Tuesday in Derry. He was 66.

Sinn Fein said Mr. McGuinness had died after a short illness. When he resigned from the Belfast government in January, The Irish Times reported that he had amyloidosis, a rare condition caused by the abnormal buildup of protein deposits in tissues and organs.

In bombings and killings that raged from the 1960s to the ’90s between Protestant and Roman Catholic forces — the Troubles that left 3,700 dead — Mr. McGuinness was widely believed to have joined, and later directed, terrorist activities. He denied the allegations. His only convictions, in the early ’70s, were for possessing explosives and ammunition and for belonging to the outlawed I.R.A.

But in his 40s he evolved into a peacemaker and politician. He was chief negotiator for Sinn Fein, the political arm of the I.R.A., in a complex Good Friday Agreement in 1998, in which Britain, Ireland and the political parties of Northern Ireland created a framework for power-sharing in Belfast and for eventual resolution of issues like sovereignty, civil rights, disarmament, justice and policing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/world/europe/martin-mcguinness-northern-ireland-ira.html



http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/martin-mcguinness-death-thousands-pay-tribute-to-sinn-fein-veteran-in-west-belfast-candlelight-vigil-35553585.html

David Rockefeller, the banker and philanthropist with the fabled family name who controlled Chase Manhattan bank for more than a decade and wielded vast influence around the world for even longer as he spread the gospel of American capitalism, died on Monday morning at his home in Pocantico Hills, N.Y. He was 101.

He was the last surviving grandson of John D. Rockefeller, the tycoon who founded the Standard Oil Company in the 19th century and built a fortune that made him America’s first billionaire and his family one of the richest and most powerful in the nation’s history.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/business/david-rockefeller-dead-chase-manhattan-banker.html

Jimmy Breslin, the New York City newspaper columnist and best-selling author who leveled the powerful and elevated the powerless for more than 50 years with brick-hard words and a jagged-glass wit, died on Sunday at his home in Manhattan. He was 88, and until very recently, was still pushing somebody’s buttons with two-finger jabs at his keyboard.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/19/business/media/jimmy-breslin-dead-ny-columnist-author.html

Chuck Berry, who with his indelible guitar licks, brash self-confidence and memorable songs about cars, girls and wild dance parties did as much as anyone to define rock ’n’ roll’s potential and attitude in its early years, died on Saturday. He was 90.

While Elvis Presley was rock’s first pop star and teenage heartthrob, Mr. Berry was its master theorist and conceptual genius, the songwriter who understood what the kids wanted before they did themselves. With songs like “Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over Beethoven,” he gave his listeners more than they knew they were getting from jukebox entertainment.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/arts/chuck-berry-dead.html

Tweet

var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

Credit: www.knappsworldwide.net

Editor's Note: As a tribute to Errol, we offer an article penned back in January of '08–may he rest in peace.–FW

As it is with UFOs, Errol Bruce-Knapp is an ongoing phenomena unto himself, and believe me—we’re much better off for it! For those not in the know Errol is a veteran of broadcast media, and those erudite in Canadian AM Newstalk Radio are no doubt aware of his last roost at Newstalk 1010 CFRB in Toronto, with his program entitled, Strange Days Indeed,” having aired on Saturday's, at 9:00 - 12:00 pm.

By Frank Warren The UFO Chronicles © 1-10-08

Sadly that broadcast came to an end recently, much to the chagrin of his regular listeners; however, just like the ever-elusive UFO, Errol keeps coming back!

Barely, skipping a beat, Errol has reinvented himself via a Podcast and for those who require their Strange Days fix, it can now be accessed 24/7!

His most recent podcast features dialogue with mainstream journalist, as well as friend to Ufology, Billy Cox, along with regulars, Dave Furlotte and wordsmith, Alfred Lehmberg.

I found the interview with Cox most fascinating, and although he would undoubtedly deny it, he (Cox) is a Ufologist in his own right.

Cox offers his views on the mainstream media’s, what I call the “wide-berth effect,” as well as how he is able to write UFO pieces (for the Herald Tribune) from time to time. Additionally, current UFO matters were covered e.g., Kucinich’s recent comments, and the UFO Conference at the “National Press Club” etc.

Although Cox was Errol’s most recent interview, many familiar voices have stopped by to talk UFOs; of late, Leslie Kean, UFO icon, Dick Hall (a regular), fellow Canadian, Don Ledger, Stuart Miller, Frank Feschino, Wendy Connors (another regular) to name few.

Errol’s laid back style as well as his upbeat personality puts his guests at ease, and casts an aura that one might find in talking to one’s favorite uncle. That said, given his knowledge of Ufology, he also knows what questions to ask, which elicits some very stimulating privities, and captivating colloquies.

Errol’s widespread erudition of the UFO phenomenon stems in part because he is the architect and repository for the UFO Updates mailing list, which is one of the greatest, if not the greatest asset a Ufologist could hope for via the Internet!

Ufology’s elite, as well as its abecedarians have been drawn together as a result of Errol’s efforts for the past 11 years.

Access to the archives is a must for any researcher, novice and or seasoned veteran alike; not only does one discover the collected input from the best in the business, one will also find accounts of practically every UFO event of the last 11 years, as they happened, as well as discussion about major events in UFO history.

Against the advice of many, the wealth of information, as well as the untold hours of Errol’s time & labor were bestowed upon the public without compensation for over a decade; his toils were given freely, and his expenses absorbed without complaint; however, in these increasingly difficult pecuniary times to ensure that this great benefaction continues a small pittance in the form of a subscription is in place to help off-set some of the operating costs.

For readers and truth-seekers alike with a keen interest in Ufology, and those who prefer to “hear it from the horse’s mouth" as events happen, a subscription is a worthwhile investment (to say the least); for researchers, investigators and or journalists, the UFO Updates Mailing List, along with the SDI Podcast is a must have tool in the inventory!
Read more »

Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');

var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

It is with extreme sorrow I report the passing of long time Ufologist, former host of The Eye To The Sky radio show; friend and colleague, Dee Andrew. She lost her battle with cancer yesterday. Her beloved husband, David shared the sad news at FaceBook in part writing: My angel, the light of my life passed from this world at 2:57 pm today. She was in my arms when she passed and her daughter was sitting next to her and holding her hand. Our grandson was standing beside us as well so she was surrounded by people who love her when she moved to the other side.

By Frank Warren The UFO Chronciles 3-7-16

When Dee's show was in its prime her bio read:

Dee Andrew has been an avid UFO researcher for over forty years. Her personal journey as a UFO researcher began at age ten when she came across the book, “Flying Saucers-Serious Business” by Frank Edwards at the school library. As a voracious reader, she has amassed a huge collection of UFO related books and material.

Included in her research efforts, Mrs. Andrew is also the National Director for the International Community for Alien research (I.C.A.R.). Because she has researched and collected so much information on so many cases she is considered ICAR’s ufology historian as well as its resident expert on the Roswell incident.

As a trained abduction investigator she has worked many abduction cases for ICAR. UFO sightings are nothing new to her because she has had several sighting experiences of her own. She has been interviewed for a local television news story on UFO’s and was featured in an interview in UFO Magazine. Having published several online articles, her research and her efforts with the Eye to the Sky radio program have led to many of the top researchers in ufology being familiar with her work and her name.

It was my great privilege to be a guest on her show back in 2009, and as a tribute to her we present it below:
Read more »

I never had the opportunity to know the Masonic author Allen E. Roberts in person. He died in 1997, the year before I joined the fraternity. But his legacy lives on through his prolific writings, which are now predominantly published by the publishing company he started, Anchor Communications. Allen's son Ken Roberts continues to publish his father's books.

Word comes now from Brother Ken that his mother, Allen's wife Dorothy Grimes Roberts, passed away peacefully on July 9th, and was laid to rest beside her husband and her son Brian last week. Undoubtedly there are many of you who did know Allen and Dorothy. My deepest condolences to Ken and his family.