Leonard Cohen dead at age 82

Sad news: "Canadian poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has died at the age of 82."

Sad news

George Jonas has died.  Very sad, he was one of the very best.  R.I.P., George.

... Obituary;

... In his own words;

... Robert Fulford;

... letters.

R.I.P. Margaret Thatcher

BBC News: Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher has died "peacefully" at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke while staying at the Ritz hotel in central London.

The Toronto Star: Thatcherism influenced a generation of politicians and leaders all over the world with its brand of unstinting support of free market economies, a distrust of the state and disdain for unions.

The Guardian: "... groundbreaking but divisive leader..." ["divisive", 5 times in this column (left-speak for any conservative).]

Former Navy Seal, Chris Kyle, murdered at gun range

Sad story. Kyle, author of "American Sniper",

... had been volunteering his time to help Marine Corps veterans suffering from PTSD and mentoring them. Part of this process involved taking these veterans to the range where one of them snapped and killed Chris and his neighbor for reasons that remain unknown at this time. 

Here's Kyle in a recent interview:


... and with Bill O'Reilly last year:
:

R.I.P. Peter Falk

Peter Falk's Columbo at Dean Martin's Roast of Frank Sinatra:



[h/t Vinney]

And here's Mark Steyn's tribute to Falk.

Michael Crichton dies of cancer

Michael Crichton died of cancer yesterday at age 66. The famous novelist and movie and TV creator/writer/director had a fascination for scientific and medical subjects. This was no doubt closely connected with his formal training in medicine and biology:

He graduated from Harvard Medical School, obtaining an M.D. in 1969, and did post-doctoral fellowship study at the Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, from 1969 to 1970.

He will be remembered by me, for one, for his valuable contributions to fighting anti-scientific global warming hysteria.

R.I.P. Michael.

Update: Obituary (and review of 'Next') by Mark Steyn.