Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011)

I was very saddened today to hear of the death of Gil Scott-Heron.  Scott-Heron, 62, died at a Manhattan hospital Friday.  The cause of death wasn't disclosed, but he had a long, painful history of substance abuse.

If you read through some of the obituaries you'll see Scott-Heron credited as a progenitor of rap music.  That's true in a way -- a lot of his work was just spoken-word pieces (mostly his poems) set to music, but the music was much jazzier than anything you might consider rap today.

He never achieved much more than cult status, but was best known for "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox in 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, brother.

Scott-Heron, who had a masters in creative writing from John Hopkins University, wrote a couple of novels and a couple of books of poetry, and recorded fifteen studio albums and nine live albums.  Other noteworthy songs include "We Almost Lost Detroit," "The Bottle," "Home Is Where the Hatred Is," and cover versions of Bill Withers's "Grandma's Hands" and Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues."  My favorite was "B Movie," a scathing protest against Ronald Ray-Gun and us for electing him -- "We're all actors in this, I suppose."

Come with us back to those inglorious days, when heroes weren't zeros, before fair was square, when the cavalry came straight away and all-American men were like Hemingway, to the days of the wondrous "B" movie.

Norman Borlaug: 1914 - 2009

Image via Wikipedia

Norman Borlaug, agricultural scientist, died at his home in Dallas, Texas, Saturday from complications from cancer.  He was 95.

When I was a kid (we're talking the Dark Ages here, the late 60s), Dr. Paul Erhlich published his book The Population Bomb in which he predicted that population growth would very shortly outpace agricultural growth.  Erhlich looked at the exponentially-growing population and declared that "the battle to feed all of humanity is over ... In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now."

That Erhlich's predictions have yet to come true is largely the result of the work of Norman Borlaug.

From the New York Times...

Dr. Borlaug’s advances in plant breeding led to spectacular success in increasing food production in Latin America and Asia and brought him international acclaim. In 1970, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

He was widely described as the father of the broad agricultural movement called the Green Revolution, though decidedly reluctant to accept the title. “A miserable term,” he said, characteristically shrugging off any air of self-importance.

Yet his work had a far-reaching impact on the lives of millions of people in developing countries. His breeding of high-yielding crop varieties helped to avert mass famines that were widely predicted in the 1960s, altering the course of history.

Largely because of his work, countries that had been food deficient, like Mexico and India, became self-sufficient in producing cereal grains.

“More than any other single person of this age, he has helped provide bread for a hungry world,” the Nobel committee said in presenting him with the Peace Prize. “We have made this choice in the hope that providing bread will also give the world peace.”

Borlaug was one of only five people to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.  In an episode of Penn and Teller: Bullshit! that deals with genetically modified food, Borlaug is referred to as "the greatest human being who ever lived" and is credited with saving the lives of a billion (with a 'B') people.  And he also got a nice mention in an episode of The West Wing.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Norman Borlaug: the controversial environmentalist (guardian.co.uk)
• The man who fed the world (junkfoodscience.blogspot.com)
• Never enough of a Memorial for this person (firedoglake.com)
• Norman Borlaug, Father of 'Green Revolution', Dies At 95 (takepart.com)

Jim Carroll: 1949 - 2009

 Jim Carroll, poet, punk rocker, and author of The Basketball Diaries, passed away Friday.  He died of a heart attack at the age of 60.  I first became aware of him back during my college radio days when The Jim Carroll Band released "Catholic Boy."  This song from the album seems like a fitting tribute...



His NY Times obit

Senator Edward Kennedy Dies

I was flipping through my Google Reader feeds and the news broke around me that Senator Edward Kennedy has died. From ABC News (where I saw it first, via memeorandum)

Sen. Ted Kennedy died shortly before midnight Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 77.

The man known as the "liberal lion of the Senate" had fought a more than year-long battle with brain cancer, and according to his son had lived longer with the disease than his doctors expected him to.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," the Kennedy family said in a statement. "He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it."

It's a strange reaction to the passing of a person I don't really know, like the passing of a favorite uncle. I've always admired Senator Kennedy. I saw him as a tireless public servant, working hard in many key legislative battles all the way back to the Civil Rights Act. He was always fighting the good fight on such issues as equal rights, education and, yes, health care legislation.

George Carlin: 1937-2008

One of my heroes and the best comedian of all-time, George Carlin, died Sunday of heart failure. He was 71.

Carlin's comedic career spanned five decades. He started out as a straight-laced comedian, not too different from the other guys, then reinvented himself in 1970...

“I was entertaining the fathers and the mothers of the people I sympathized with, and in some cases associated with, and whose point of view I shared,” he recalled later, as quoted in the book “Going Too Far” by Tony Hendra, which was published in 1987. “I was a traitor, in so many words. I was living a lie.”

He gradually evolved from a counterculture hero into a scathing social critic. It was comedy that made you think as much as it made you laugh. His most famous routine, the one that made the most waves was "Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV," but I always liked his routines about more conventional language. My favorite routines were "A Place for My Stuff" and this gem about baseball and football...



Carlin saved his most scathing criticism for religion...



...including the 10 Commandments...



...and occasionally politics.



Goodbye, George. You'll be missed.

Dan Fogelberg -- 1951 - 2007

I was saddened to learn of the death Sunday of Dan Fogelberg. He had been battling prostate cancer since being diagnosed with the disease in 2004.

Fogelberg made some beautiful music. He fit neatly into that soft-rock niche that the Eagles and James Taylor made popular at the time. The peak of his career came with 1981's "The Innocent Age." Three songs from that album, "Hard to Say," "Same Auld Lang Syne," and "Leader of the Band," made the Top 10. Other hits include "Longer," "Heart Hotels" and "Run for the Roses." His better songs could always be found a little deeper into the albums.

Allmusic has a huge biography, discography, and other info on his musical career.

In "Same Auld Lang Syne," which is obviously autobiographical, he talks about meeting an old lover by chance...

Met my old lover in the grocery store,
The snow was falling Christmas Eve.
I stole behind her in the frozen foods,
And I touched her on the sleeve.

She didn't recognize the face at first,
But then her eyes flew open wide.
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse,
And we laughed until we cried.

We took her groceries to the checkout stand,
The food was totaled up and bagged.
We stood there lost in our embarrassment,
As the conversation dragged.

We went to have ourselves a drink or two,
But couldn't find an open bar.
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store,
And we drank it in her car.

We drank a toast to innocence,
We drank a toast to now.
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness,
But neither one knew how.

She said she'd married her an architect,
Who kept her warm and safe and dry,
She would have liked to say she loved the man,
But she didn't like to lie.

I said the years had been a friend to her,
And that her eyes were still as blue.
But in those eyes I wasn't sure if I saw,
Doubt or gratitude.

She said she saw me in the record stores,
And that I must be doing well.
I said the audience was heavenly,
But the traveling was hell.

We drank a toast to innocence,
We drank a toast to now.
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness,
But neither one knew how.
We drank a toast to innocence,
We drank a toast to time.
Reliving in our eloquence,
Another auld lang syne.

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired,
And running out of things to say.
She gave a kiss to me as I got out,
And I watched her drive away.
Just for a moment I was back at school,
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home,
The snow turned into rain