2007 In Review: Lost Voices R.I.P.

( – promoted by pfiore8)



Of all sad words of tongue and pen the saddest are these, what might have been.

John Greenleaf Whittier

 



Some speak to us, and some speak for us. Some will speak no more. Treasure and preserve their words.  

This is a tribute to those voices that have passed in 2007.

Rest In Peace



Molly Ivins

Dan Fogelberg

David Halberstam

Norman Mailer

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Yolanda King

Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

and last (but not least), an unsung hero, Zakia Zaki

 





In Loving Memory of  Molly Ivins, 1944-2007  ….from her last column, January 11, 2007:



“We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we’re for them and trying to get them out of there.”



Dan Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007)                                                                                        

Fogelberg used his music to address social issues, among them peace and Native American concerns. He was particularly outspoken about his commitment to the environment and to finding alternatives to nuclear power.



“And in the face of the beast, oh let mine be a voice

Until the breaths in me cease, oh let mine be a voice for peace”




A Voice For Peace, Dan Fogelberg




David Halberstam

(April 10, 1934 – April 23, 2007)

David Halberstam made his mark as a journalist during the early stages of the Vietnam War, working as a reporter for the New York Times. His criticism of the war angered American policy makers but established his reputation as a courageous and brilliant reporter, and earned him a Pulitzer Prize.  Author of “The Best and the Brightest” and “The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era.”



“If you’re a reporter, the easiest thing in the world is to get a story. The hardest thing is to verify. The old sins were about getting something wrong, that was a cardinal sin. The new sin is to be boring.”
David Halberstam


Norman Mailer

January 31,1923- November 10,2007

Called “the macho prince of American letters” by the Associated Press, Norman Mailer was one of America’s most famous and controversial writers in the years after World War II. Mailer twice won the Pulitzer Prize.



“America is a hurricane, and the only people who do not hear the sound are those fortunate if incredibly stupid and smug White Protestants who live in the center, in the serene eye of the big wind.”


Norman Mailer



Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

11/11/1922-4/11/2007

An iconoclast often compared to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut found ways to wring humor out of the apparent meaninglessness and absurdity of human existence. His novels, frequently set in alternate worlds, are a blend of science fiction, social commentary and personal philosophy; many have become countercultural classics.



“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the center.”


Kurt Vonnegut



Yolanda King, (November 17, 1955 – May 15, 2007)

A social activist, motivational speaker, actress, and eldest child of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.



“I know in my heart the dream will be realized. I choose to believe. And choosing is a powerful thing. It’s available to you at every moment. You can choose understanding over anger, believing over nonbelieving, action over inaction. It gives meaning to every choice we make.”


Yolanda King



Arthur Schlesinger Jr., 1917-2007

Schlesinger was a cofounder of the Americans for Democratic Action (1947). He served as an assistant to Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, and in 1961 President Kennedy appointed him special assistant for Latin American affairs. His study of Kennedy’s White House years, A Thousand Days (1965), won the Pulitzer Prize for biography.



“If we are to survive, we must have ideas, vision, and courage. These things are rarely produced by committees. Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself.”


Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.


Zakia Zaki

Died: June 5, 2007 (Kabul, Afghanistan)

Zakia Zaki was shot dead in her home while sleeping with her 20-month-old baby. She was the head of a private local radio station north of Kabul in a town called Jabal-us-Siraj. Zaki had received threats for a few months to take the station off the air. She was involved in women’s rights, politically active, and a headmistress of a high school for girls. Many think her death was at the hands of religious conservatives, who do not want women taking a prominent role in Afghanistan’s society.

“I created the first independent women’s radio in Afghanistan. Every beginning is difficult, but I overcome the obstacles… It started broadcasting from Jabul Seraj during the Talebans… We work with men as well as women because if men respect women’s sights, brothers to sisters, husband to wives, fathers to daughters, then women’s rights might become reality.”

Zakia Zaki


Peace in 2008 – Zwoof

20 comments

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    • Zwoof on December 28, 2007 at 14:14
      Author

    or contribute more quotes, go for it.

    • RiaD on December 28, 2007 at 14:40

    too many voices off, lives cut short….

    and btw…i love your zwoof graphic in the first box!

    • Zwoof on December 28, 2007 at 14:49
      Author

    On Dec 8th, 1980. We were glued to the toob when John Lennon was murdered.

    Alicia was 3 years-old and had been watching quietly.

    She started crying and said.”Poor John Lemon.”  

    • pfiore8 on December 28, 2007 at 16:40

    who died in 2007…she’s kinda funny yet interesting

    thanks for your essay zwoof!

  1. The minute I saw Molly’s name, I got teary. I still miss her. She was an original inspiration for me as another girl from Texas – and continued that inspiration for years.

    My only consolation in her loss is that I imagine she and Ann Richards sitting out on a porch somewhere with their feet up and cackling. I do so hope they’re having fun together – those great Texas women!

  2. Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand

       Kurt Vonnegut

    Such a huge part of my formative years….travel well Kurt.

    I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.

       Kurt Vonnegut

  3. – NLOB’s Sanity

  4. Some that made me pause, reflect, smile, grimace… this year:

    Luciano Pavarotti

    Beverly Sills

    Boris Yeltsin

    Bill Walsh

    Madeleine L’Engle

    Joe Zawinul

    Alan Ball

    Ira Levin

    Oscar Peterson

    Arabella Spencer-Churchill

    Admiral William Crowe

    Eve Curie

    Chauncey Baily

    Jan Benes

    Joey Bishop

    Enrico Banducci

    Mstislav Rostropovich

    Jerry Falwell (not endorsing, just noticing)

    Luther Ingram

    Arthur Ross

    Anita Roddick

    Paul Erdman

    Deborah Kerr

    Max Roach

    Frankie Laine

    Lady Bird Johnson

    Sean Kennedy

    Teddy Kollek

    Michael Kidd

    Victims at Virginia Tech

    Johnny Hart

    My best friend’s father

    Carlo Ponti

    Alexander Leighton

    Grace Paley

    Helen Hill

    Edward Astely

    General Francois al-Hajj

    Benazir Bhutto

    Here’s a wiki link for 2007 deaths.

    • Turkana on December 28, 2007 at 23:42

    max roach

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