Octopus Overlords

Kraken wrote:I saw Freeman Dyson's name in a news story yesterday. Didn't know he was still alive and kicking and apparently doing enough science to merit inclusion in a news story.

Wow--I was just about to post about Freeman Dyson when I saw this thread title!

It seems he's still writing at 92. (I've seen essays by him in the NYRB within the past 2 or 3 years.) I would have assumed that he was older because I knew he was involved in RAF bomber planning during WW2. Must have been a whiz kid.

coopasonic wrote:Misao Okawa - 5 March 1898 - 1 April 2015

from an article written about her last year (when she was still alive):

She has been a widow for 84 years, her husband having died in 1931. Okawa was married in 1919 and had three children, two of whom are still living and are in their 90s.

dbt1949

dbt1949 wrote:dbt1949

It can't be reasoned with; it can't be killed.

coopasonic wrote:Misao Okawa - 5 March 1898 - 1 April 2015
Jeralean Talley - May 23, 1899- June 17, 2015
Bernice Madigan - July 24, 1899 - January 3, 2015

Susannah Mushatt Jones - July 6, 1899 ->
Emma Morano - November 29, 1899 ->

Three down, two to go.

Susannah Mushatt Jones - July 6, 1899 -> May 12, 2016

I just noticed that the Smothers Brothers are still alive.

Yo!

Clare Hollingworth

The journalist who broke the news about the start of World War Two turns 105 on Monday. Before becoming a reporter, Clare Hollingworth helped rescue thousands of people from Hitler's forces. One of the people she saved has sent her a birthday message - almost 80 years on.

Robert Wagner. I thought he was dead until I started seeing commercials with him in it for NCIS.
I also thought he died on that show.

Me. I wake up every morning wondering how/if Im still alive.

Walter Koenig

Richard Chamberlin

Peter O'Toole

Jaymann wrote:Peter O'Toole

Died a few years ago.

I thought so!

Captain Caveman wrote:

Jaymann wrote:Peter O'Toole

Died a few years ago.

I believe he is survived by his daughter Plenty O'Toole.

Professor Irwin Corey (kids, ask your parents grandparents dbt)

Debbie Reynolds

This month Slate did a whole series of articles basically on the theme Dammit, we're going to celebrate Stevie Wonder while we still have him.

Not to mention people older like Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard.

Max Peck wrote:Clare Hollingworth

The journalist who broke the news about the start of World War Two turns 105 on Monday. Before becoming a reporter, Clare Hollingworth helped rescue thousands of people from Hitler's forces. One of the people she saved has sent her a birthday message - almost 80 years on.

Clare Hollingworth (10 October 1911 – 10 January 2017). She had a good run.

Although she lost her sight later in life, Clare Hollingworth, a true journalist's journalist, retained an acute interest in world affairs right to the end.

She was once asked where she would want to go if the phone rang with a new assignment.

"I would look through the papers," she said, "And say, 'Where's the most dangerous place to go?', because it always makes a good story."

Were you really thinking about Clare Hollingworth though?

James Earl Jones. Was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong after watching Rogue One.

McNutt wrote:Were you really thinking about Clare Hollingworth though?

I was when I posted that she was still alive back in October. And I was again when I saw her obituary on the BBC. I'd have posted a RIP thread, but since she wasn't somebody important like a pop star or sci-fi actress, I thought that nobody else would give a shit and so I settled for a follow-up in this thread. And somebody still showed up to let me know that they don't give a shit. Go figure.

It was actually a serious question. I had never heard of her, so it would be like me being surprised that the 1964 Nobel winner for Economics is still alive. I guess I'm impressed with your knowledge of her.

McNutt wrote:It was actually a serious question. I had never heard of her, so it would be like me being surprised that the 1964 Nobel winner for Economics is still alive. I guess I'm impressed with your knowledge of her.

You are kidding right?

I mean, you do know there was no 1964 Nobel winner for Economics, right? Yeesh. 1969 was when that even started.

I think I was a little premature with Debbie Reynolds.

dbt1949 wrote:I think I was a little premature with Debbie Reynolds.

It happens to most men a few times in their life. Try thinking of baseball or your gramma coughing up a loogie or something next time.

Unagi wrote:

dbt1949 wrote:I think I was a little premature with Debbie Reynolds.

It happens to most men a few times in their life. Try thinking of baseball or your gramma coughing up a loogie or something next time.

Yogi Berra always works for me.

tgb wrote: Yogi Berra always works for me.

He's dead too.

Jeff V wrote:

tgb wrote: Yogi Berra always works for me.

He's dead too.

That helps, I'm sure, quite a bit.

Dead Yogi Berra

Unagi wrote:

Jeff V wrote:

tgb wrote: Yogi Berra always works for me.

He's dead too.

That helps, I'm sure, quite a bit.

Dead Yogi Berra

I thought this was a thread about living people.

I'm always shocked that Dick Van Dyke is still alive. That guy was in films that my dad saw when he was 9.

naednek wrote:James Earl Jones. Was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong after watching Rogue One.

I saw James Earl Jones on stage last year in the screwball You Can't Take It with You. He had a lot of energy and didn't seem his age at all.

Norman Lear. The guy who created Sanford and Son just put out a new show on Netflix (One Day at a Time) at the age of 94. I had just assumed he was dead.

McNutt wrote:It was actually a serious question. I had never heard of her, so it would be like me being surprised that the 1964 Nobel winner for Economics is still alive. I guess I'm impressed with your knowledge of her.

Sorry, I'm not used to the intertubes being used for anything other than snark, disinformation and porn.

I don't recall having heard of her prior to the article about her 105th birthday. I posted about that in this thread because my initial reaction was surprise that the journalist who filed the very first story about the start of WW2 was still alive.

More like people who are still alive that I'd have assumed were dead if I'd given it any thought prior to hearing news of their latest activities, but anyway....

I would not have guessed Chuck Berry was still with us prior to being informed he'll be releasing an album. Not exactly new news, but the thread did make me remember it.

Kinda late to start this, but it might be fun to do a dead pool.

Participants name (x) celebrities in any field who will die in the next year. Each hit scores 100 points minus the person's age. So it pays to swing for the fences -- if a 90-year-old predictably croaks, you get 10 points, but your 27-year-old shooting star is worth 73 if s/he pays off.

I guess we'd just play for points. (x) usually = 10 in the games I've joined. "Celebrity" is understood to mean someone whose name everyone participating should recognize. When people play for money they designate an authority (like a Who's Who database; wiki would be too broad) or a judge to settle disputes.

Ideally we'd have people's lists in by 1/1, but we could start on 2/1 instead. Any takers? We should start a new thread if so (maybe in Forum Games, where I never visit...for all I know there's one there already!).

So I'm worth what, 18 points?

dbt1949 wrote:So I'm worth what, 18 points?

I'd figure we'd be risking giving up points selecting you.