The 12/28/21 edition of the USA Today had a look at those celebrities (for lack of a better term) that passed away in 2021. They separated the names by category, such as sports, music, entertainment and the like. As I do not recall ever doing a post such as this, I thought I would comment on the ones I will miss the most.
In sports, it would the great Hank Aaron. His 755 career home runs easily beat Babe Ruth's 714. Aaron consistently hit 30 or more home runs in a season, and did so for 15 of his 23 playing years. He finished with 2,297 runs batted in, and a .305 batting average. Although his home run record was technically broken by Barry Bonds, I never accepted that. Bonds broke the record during the steroid era, and so Aaron has remained the home run champ to this writer. Aaron was 86 years old.
Jackie Mason has long been my favorite comedian. He started out as a Rabbi. He made fun of his fellow Jews, politicians and others, and was definitely not politically correct. He was conservative, and a strong supporter of Israel. Mason always knew how to set up a joke, and then deliver it with perfect timing and with his distinctive voice. Mason died at 93.
I will also miss another strong supporter of Israel - Sheldon Adelson. Adelson was the Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands. He and his wife donated huge sums to the Republican Party. He also donated $140 million to the Birthright Israel Foundation, which provides an all expenses paid trip to Israel to young Jews in the Diaspora. He spent $25 million to build a high school in Las Vegas, and donated $7.5 million to various universities to fund medical research. As with this writer, he started out as a Democrat, then switched to being a Republican. Adelson died at 87 years of age, and is buried at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel.
In the field of music, I was sad to see the passing of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers. Unlike the Righteous Brothers, Don and Phil were actual brothers. Much of their music is from the 1950's, and I am only familiar with it because I have a brother who is four years older, and who constantly had the radio on. Who so it seemed. The Everly Brothers had classic hits, such as: "Bye Bye Love," "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have To Do Is Dream," and "Cathy's Clown." Don was 84.
The list would not be complete without mentioning Rush Limbaugh. I only listened to him occasionally. Dennis Prager's show generally aired at the same time, and I have always preferred the give and take style of Prager with his callers, to the more frequent monologues of Limbaugh. Yet, so many conservative talk radio hosts have made it clear that they owe their careers to Limbaugh. In that sense, he was the father of conservative talk radio. Rush was 70 years old.
Last, but certainly not least, is Bob Dole. He was a true war hero, serving in the Army's 10th Mountain Division. It is well known that he lost the use of his right arm during WWII. It happened while trying to rescue a fellow soldier. He served in the House and the Senate, and ran as Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976, but Ford lost to Jimmy Carter. He made a run for the presidency three times, but only one of those times was he his party's nominee. That was in 1996, and he lost to Bill Clinton. Dole served as Senate Majority Leader on two separate occasions. He was a Republican and a conservative, but was able to work across the aisle, at a time when that was still possible. In helping to defeat the Nazis and totalitarianism, he truly was a member of the Greatest Generation. Dole was 98 years old.
Actually, there is one more name. But, as the list in the USA Today was published on 12/28, I could not have seen the passing of this woman on 12/31. Betty White was a mere 17 days from her 100th birthday. She had a career that stretched over seven decades. My best recollection of her was from the Mary Tyler Moore show, portraying Sue Ann Nivens. White was a volunteer in the wartime American Women's Voluntary Services, during which time she had various stateside duties. A major passion of hers was the welfare of animals. A shame that she could not have had a big 100th birthday celebration.
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