Simonetta, You're Alive to me, Simonetta...

Hey, at least she didn't die in a car crash with Mark Paul Gosselaar and Stephanie from Full House. I think this is why you don't take sides against the family.

First, she was killed in a bomb blast as Apollonia, the Sicilian wife of Al Pacino, in the 1972 film "The Godfather." Then in 2006 she was pronounced dead of cancer at the age of 51 in Internet reports that persist to this day. But Italian actress Simonetta Stefanelli, who was 17 when she captivated audiences with her dark Mediterranean looks in the gangster classic, said reports of her premature death are, to borrow a phrase, greatly exaggerated.

[Newsday]

TWID - Halloween Edition

This Week in Death brings you: Notes and news covering a week's worth of health and the absence of health. How are the Cambodian and Fijian leaders doing? Will that affect peace in the middle east? What does Keith Richards have in common with World Series MVP Mike Lowell? Is it true that two food pioneers from the 1960s died this week, and neither of them was Clarence Birdseye? Who discovered Dolly Parton? The answers to these questions, and to life itself, are answered below. We're back with this week's stellar Halloween edition of This Week in Death!

Stock up on candy, because these people can still Trick-or-Treat, but Sihanouk, at least, does not want your candy...

Jerry Lee Lewis Too Old to Dance, Still has a "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On..." in his Hands, Mostly.
Jerry Lee Lewis showed he's still got some life in him at 72, though he's lost a step or two since his last Bridge School appearance in 2005. He's still a serious boogie-woogie piano player, however, and the closing "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" brought the crowd to its feet, but his voice quavered noticeably during his country crooning and he wasn't doing the piano gymnastics he's been known for over the past 50 years.
[Mercury News]

Cambodia's Sihanouk Turns 85. Remains Bitter, Bitter Old Man
Cambodia's retired but still revered King Norodom Sihanouk said he wants no gifts, correspondence or other fanfare for his 85th birthday. Sihanouk is asking people, including members of the royal family, to heed his words "to not call on him, to not dispatch to him messages of greetings and congratulations, even on the occasion of his birthday,'' the statement said. Sihanouk hopes to avoid "gifts, fruits, cakes, culinary dishes and other things.'' Sihanouk's request also applies to Christmas, the international Jan. 1 New Year and Cambodia's traditional Khmer New Year, celebrated in April, the statement said.
[The Star]

Keith Richards was Erratic. If You Forgot How Much Coke He has Done, This is News
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards made an erratic appearance at last night's Scream Awards, sparking new concerns for his health. The musician, who takes daily medication to prevent seizures after brain surgery last year, struggled to stay upright and slurred his way through his acceptance speech. He said: "Thank you all fans for voting me in, you know. It's a first - it's not my land, usually, to do this sort of stuff, but due to enormous public pressure... I've got to say thank you very, very much and also to Johnny - who insisted that I play his father."
[Daily Mail]

Fiji Finished? Iloilo's Health not Ratu-fied
A Fiji human rights commissioner is concerned about whether the country's president is fit to be able to make his own decisions. The interim prime minister and the president's secretary maintain that President Ratu Josefa Iloilo's ill health and old age do not hamper his ability to do his job. But Shamima Ali dismisses this and says there is concern that the president is unfit to make decisions and fulfill his role. President Iloilo made no comment last year when the military commander purported to be the president for a month after the coup.
[Radio New Zealand]

Halloween costumes? They'll be going as ghouls. Except Peg bracken. She'll be going as a slutty ghoul...

If You Weren't a Porter Fan yet, It's Never to Late to Jump On His Band Wagoner
Porter Wagoner, a Grand Ole Opry institution and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, died Sunday. Known as the Thin Man From West Plains, he was 80 and had been hospitalized sinceOct. 15. Wagoner was an early cast member of ABC's Ozark Jubilee (1955-56), but he left the show in 1956 and moved to Nashville, where he was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry cast the next year. Hosting The Porter Wagoner Show was a tall, thin, close-cropped young man whose solemn seriousness contrasted markedly with his sometimes silly exuberance of later years, but his voice and demeanor made him the perfect salesman for the company's products.
[Country Music Television]

Every Time the Bells Ring in the Commercial, DeDomenico Gets His Wings
Vincent M. DeDomenico Sr., who with his brothers invented Rice-A-Roni, one of the classic kitchen helpers of the 1960s, died Thursday at his home in Napa, Calif. He was 92. The DeDomenicos invented their signature product in 1958 after watching a sister-in-law mix a can of Swanson's chicken broth with rice and vermicelli. As a brand, Rice-A-Roni traded heavily on the city of its origin, calling itself "The San Francisco Treat," weaving the images of cable cars and their bells into its television advertising.
[New York Times]

Killing Joke's Bassist Suffers Ironic, Humorless Death. Quoth the Raven: Nevermore
Paul Raven, bassist with post-punk band Killing Joke, has died of a suspected heart attack aged 46. Killing Joke had hits including Love Like Blood and Pandemonium, and were covered by Metallica and Foo Fighters. Bandmates Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker described Raven as "possibly the funniest man on planet Earth and a brother to us all".
[BBC]

Bracken Knocked Down a Peg. No Longer Needs to Worry about Making Dinner
Peg Bracken, an advertising copywriter who nearly half a century ago parlayed her irreverent wit — and her passionate dislike of a traditional womanly duty — into a subversive best seller, "The I Hate to Cook Book," died on Saturday at her home in Portland, Ore. She was 89. "Some women, it is said, like to cook," Ms. Bracken's book began. "This book is not for them." In Ms. Bracken's culinary canon, ingredients should be cheap, common and above all convenient. Canned soups loomed large in her recipes. So did alcohol, though in many cases her instructions called for it to bypass the cooking process entirely and proceed straight down the cook's throat.
[New York Times]

Stern Collection for Women, Bringing His Sum to Wife
Hans Stern, a poor Jewish immigrant from Germany who used Brazilian precious stones to build a global jewelry empire, died here on Friday. He was 85. In 1945, he founded H. Stern here as a gemstone trading business, to harvest the potential he saw in marketing Brazilian gems — a trade then practically nonexistent. Today, 170 stores are franchised in
26 countries.
[New York Times]

This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
October 26: Shelley Morrison (71)
October 28: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (51)
October 29: Maurice Clarett (24)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!

It's called the top 5 for a reason. That reason? They have the 5 highest scores in Death Pool.
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. Yiz-score - 74.3 points (5 deaths)
3. The Ex-Parrots - 62.3 points (6 deaths)
4. Kraut's Picks - 60.9 points (8 deaths)
5. Life's a Bitch - 53.9 points (8 deaths)

Sorry, if we spooked you, it's just us...
The Commissioner's Council

Dividing Up The Estate of Dead Celebs

Questions about who inherits the estate of a dead celebrities are not new controversies. Those who die leaving no natural heirs create issues that only the courts could tackle.

With some nudging from the Screen Actors Guild and the [Marilyn] Monroe estate, the California Senate drafted clarifying legislation. Senate Bill No. 771, affectionately known as the Dead Celebrities Bill, passed without objection and was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this month.

New York’s Legislature tabled a bill similar to California’s Dead Celebrities Bill this spring and it is expected to be reintroduced this fall. A coalition that includes Al Pacino and Jackie Robinson’s widow is among the bill’s supporters.

Here's hoping that this bill is met with strong support. We wouldn't want to see it die.

[New York Times]

TWID - United Nation's Day Edition

This Week in Death brings you: Notes and news covering a week's worth of health and death. How Old is Ruby Mohammad, you ask? What's the latest on Ted Kennedy blocked artery? Is it true that Big Moe really died? Did someone actually fall off a roof? These questions and more answered below, in this week's edition of This Week in Death!

We'll miss two people who we lost with points this week: Deborah Kerr took her Golden Globes to Dirt-Colored Earth and Joey Bishop went from hanging with the Rat Pack to hanging with a pack of rats. We will miss you both. As always - we start with health news...

These People are at least healthier than those in the next section...

"We Meant: As Fit as a Really Sick, Weak, and Old Young Person," His Doctors Later Explained
"Iran," President Shimon Peres said, "is an imperialist state and it is no secret that they want to take over the Muslim world, the Middle East and anywhere else they can reach." The president also rejected rumors about his health. Peres said he was feeling well and added that his doctors said he was as fit as a young person.
[Jerusalem Post]

Ruby May Not be as Tarnished as Believed, This Could Effect Appraisal
Ruby Muhammad (born March 20, 1897 or March 20, 1907) is the Mother of the Nation of Islam. In 2007, research by supercentenarian tracker Filipe Prista Lucas indicated that Ruby Muhammad was most likely 'only' 100 years old (born in 1907), based on an April 1910 census listing of 3 years old.
[Wikipedia]

Next Question. Dear Billy Graham: You've Long Been Diagnosed with an Incurable Disease. Can You Give me Any Reason Not to Take Your Life Right Now? -- God
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: I've just been diagnosed with an incurable disease that will leave me weaker and in more and more pain as the months go by. Can you give me any reason not to take my own life right now? — D.G. DEAR D.G.: The greatest burden you could ever place on your family would be for you to take your own life. Their confusion, hurt and guilt would be almost endless (no matter what you told them), for they would constantly wonder what they could have done to prevent such a terrible act and why you chose to reject their love and concern so decisively.
[Kansas City Star]

Kennedy Out of General Hospital, Back to Bold and Beautiful Self. These are the Days of His Life
Sen. Ted Kennedy is resting in his family's Hyannisport compound after he was released from Massachusetts General Hospital following surgery to clear blockage in a major neck artery. His office said he'll rest there for a few days before returning to the Senate. The blockage in his left carotid artery was discovered during a routine physical and MRI on Kennedy's back, which was injured in a 1964 plane crash.
[Boston Now]

These people are not healthy. They are dead.

McGee Takes It To The House; Lands Dead in the Coffin Corner.
Max McGee, the free-spirited Green Bay packers receiver who became part of Super Bowl lore after a night on the town, died when he fell while clearing leaves from the roof of his home. He was 75. "I just lost my best friend," former teammate Paul Hornung [said], "He shouldn't have been up there. He knew better than that." McGee caught the first touchdown pass in Super Bowl history in 1967. He didn't plan to play in the title game against the Chiefs because he violated the team curfew and spent the night before partying. "When it's third-and-10," McGee once said, "you can take the milk drinkers and I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time."
[ESPN]

For Big Moe, Cough Syrup Was the Nighttime, Snuffing, Snorting, Guzzling So You Can Sleep Forever Medicine
Big Moe, a Houston rapper whose 2002 album reached No. 3 on Billboard's hip hop charts, has died. Big Moe, whose real name was Kenneth Moore, was 33. Bryan McLeod, a spokesman for the county public hospital system did not release a cause of death, but numerous hip hop Web sites said the obese rapper suffered a heart attack. Big Moe was a member of the late DJ Screw's rap collective the Screwed Up Click. DJ Screw died of a heart attack in 2000 after a reported overdose of codeine-laced cough syrup. The titles of Big Moe's first two albums made reference to it. His first album was called "City of Syrup" and his most successful offering was 2002's "Purple World," for the color most often associated with the drug.
[Click2Houston.com]

Kar·ma /ˈkɑrmə/ [kahr-muh]–noun: (def.) fate; destiny. (example) When the Indians Lose to the Red Sox, One Week After Bellecourt Dies
Vernon Bellecourt, an Ojibwa Indian who waged a long campaign for native rights, most visible in battling the use of Indian nicknames by sports teams, died Oct. 13 in Minneapolis. He was 75. It was as president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media that Mr. Bellecourt achieved his greatest visibility. When teams with names like the Indians, the Redskins or the Chiefs appeared in high-profile contests, he was often there to protest. He was arrested twice for burning an effigy of the Cleveland Indians' mascot, Chief Wahoo, and protested the Washington Redskins at the Super Bowl.
[New York Times]

Life to Death, It's an 82 Year Trip, as the Crowe Flies
Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., who as chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs in the Reagan administration signed an agreement with Soviet military leaders that helped reduce tensions between the superpowers, died yesterday in Bethesda, Md. He was 82. Admiral Crowe [said] the pact showed how far "the courage of our political leaders has brought us toward developing a more sustainable larger relationship."In his four years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Crowe brought a deft diplomatic touch to a number of difficult situations.
[New York Times]

He Photographed Dr. King, But Still Took Pictures in Black and White
Ernest C. Withers, a photographer whose voluminous catalog of arresting black-and-white images illustrates a history of life in the segregated South in the 1950s and '60s, from the civil rights movement to the Beale Street music scene, died on Monday in Memphis. He was 85. Mr. Withers worked as a freelance photographer at a time when events of the day were not just newsworthy but historic occasions. He photographed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. resting at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis after the March Against Fear in 1966, and riding one of the first desegregated buses in Montgomery, Ala., in 1956, along with the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy.
[New York Times]

This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
October 16: Suzanne Somers (61)
October 17: Robert Jordan (59)
October 17: Evel Knievel (69)
October 18: Chuck Berry (81)
October 18: Jesse Helms (86)
October 21: Whitey Ford (79)
October 22: Annette Funicello (65)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!

Joey Bishop accomplished many things in his life, and in death he can add one more: putting Life's a Bitch in the Top 5, booting Struck Down by Yahweh. Deborah Kerr on the other hand, helped last week's #4 move up to #2 and cut the leader's margin to the smallest its been in months . The Top 5...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. Yiz-score - 74.3 points (5 deaths)
3. The Ex-Parrots - 62.3 points (6 deaths)
4. Kraut's Picks - 60.9 points (8 deaths)
5. Life's a Bitch - 53.9 points (8 deaths)

We are alive and kicking,
The Commissioner's Council

TWID - White Cane Safety Day Edition

This Week in Death brings you: This Week in Death! Below are all the notes and news to cover a week's worth of health and death. There are more health notices than the sight-less can read, and more death than blind people on freeways. How is Tim Johnson this week? What's the latest on Fidel Castro? Which Music or TV persona - whom I have never heard of - died? (Hint: It's Bud Ekins) We don't need a seeing-eye dog to lead us down this path, we have TWID to mark the way....

No points deaths... means we jump right to Health...

With Kennedy, It's More Removing the Artery from the Blockage
Sen. Ted Kennedy was released from the hospital Saturday, following a procedure Friday to remove an artery blockage, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Democrat said."Senator Kennedy was released from Massachusetts General Hospital today following Friday's successful surgery to remove blockage in his carotid artery. After a few days of rest at home in Hyannis Port, the senator will return to the Senate," said Melissa Wagoner. Kennedy's office said the blockage was discovered "as part of a routine evaluation of Senator Kennedy's back and spine."
[CNN]

Next Time on the Castro/Chavez Super Fun Variety Hour... Fidel and Hugo Perform a Special Version of "Afternoon Delight"
Fidel Castro made his first live appearance on Cuban airwaves since falling ill 14 months ago, sounding lucid and in good humor as he exchanged praise and jokes Sunday with the Venezuelan president. Castro's telephone call to a television and radio program came minutes after visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez aired a new videotape of their weekend meeting in which he sang revolutionary hymns to Castro and called him "father of all revolutionaries." "I am very touched when you sing about Che," Castro told Chavez during his hour-long call to Chavez's "Alo, Presidente!" program — referring to revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara, to whom the program was dedicated. "There is electricity in the air," Chavez said, obviously pleased with Castro's call.
[Yahoo!]

Big Stein to Have Plenty of Time for Ham and Cheese with the Fancy Mustard
The George Steinbrenner era is apparently all but over. According to a report in the New York Post, the "Boss" has handed over control of the New York Yankees to his sons Hank and Hal Steinbrenner as he faces up to declining health. George Steinbrenner, 77, was seldom seen at Yankee Stadium this season, attending only three games as his health kept him away. The Post reported that the final details of the new arrangement are yet to be determined — something that will happen in meetings scheduled for Tampa, Florida next week — but Hank and Hal Steinbrenner are to take over the day-to-day running of the team.
[MSNBC]

♪ Hey, Dakotans, it's me. I bet you thought that I was dead. But when I left the Senate I just had a stroke and got a hemorrhage in my head! ♫
A gathering here Wednesday billed as a forum to discuss farm legislation with Sen. Tim Johnson was from the start as much an opportunity for South Dakotans to assess the health and progress of their ailing senior U.S. senator. Johnson, who suffered a brain hemorrhage last December, took several months to rehabilitate before returning to work in September. He still shows signs of weakness on his right side, has slow speech and has difficulty walking - all effects of the stroke-like illness that suddenly afflicted him. But as Johnson tours South Dakota this week - earlier in Rapid City and on to Sioux Falls today - he says he feels stronger than when he visited the state in late August."I feel good. I feel better ... I hang in there, and it's going good, and I look forward to getting better and better," he said Wednesday.
[Argus Leader]

From health, it's just one small skip to death....

God, This Bud's For You. You'll Know He's Fully Cold When the Mountains on His Skin Turn Blue... Like Your Eyes.
Bud Ekins, a devil-may-care motorcyclist who went from racing through the mountain trails and desert rambles of Southern California in the late 1940s to renown as the stuntman double for Steve McQueen in a 65-foot flight over a barbed-wire barrier, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 77 and lived in Hollywood. The death was confirmed by his daughter Susan. Though known for that spine-tingling, if not vertebrae-crunching, leap to freedom while on the run from a German P.O.W. camp in "The Great Escape" (1963) and for some dazzling car stunts as well, Mr. Ekins was far more famous among ardent bikers and weekend fans of motorcycle racing.
[New York Times]

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye
Werner von Trapp, a member of the musical family made famous by the 1965 movie "The Sound of Music," has died, his family said. He was 91. Von Trapp died Thursday at his home in Waitsfield. The cause of death was not announced. The family confirmed his death, but declined to comment further. "The Sound of Music" was based loosely on a 1949 book by his stepmother, Maria von Trapp, who died in 1987. It tells the story of an Austrian woman who married a widower with seven children and teaches them music. Born in 1915 in Zell am See, Austria, von Trapp was the fourth child and second son of Captain Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead. In the movie "The Sound of Music," Werner von Trapp was depicted by the character named Kurt.
[Yahoo!]

Edwyn Owen Did Believe in Miracles. Unfortunately, His Came Playing Hockey
Edwyn Owen, who played on the 1960 team that won the first Olympic gold medal in ice hockey for the United States, was found dead Friday in a burning car near a park here. He was 71. Autopsy results released Monday said that Owen, who was known as Bob, died of smoke inhalation, thermal burns and heart disease. Investigators have not determined the cause of the fire but said part of the engine probably made accidental contact with dry grass, leading to flames that spread to the car. Owen played on the team that won the gold in Squaw Valley, Calif. He did not play professional hockey after the Olympics. He supported Topeka's minor league hockey teams over the years.
[New York Times]

You Win, Soe, you Lose Soe, Soetimes you Die
Burmese Prime Minister Soe Win has died in a military hospital after a long illness, state media said. Relatives said Gen Soe Win, 59, had been battling acute leukaemia. Since May his duties have been performed by an acting prime minister, Thein Sein. Soe Win's death comes after Burma's military launched a deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters led by the country's revered Buddhist monks. Analysts say his death is unlikely to have much impact on the aftermath.
[BBC]

Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan -- You're 12th Man Has Arrived
Alec Kessler, a Georgia basketball star who played four seasons for the Miami Heat before becoming an orthopedic surgeon, died after collapsing during a pickup game. He was 40. He appeared to have had a heart attack Saturday in Pensacola, Fla., and was pronounced dead a short time later at Gulf Breeze Hospital, the university said Sunday. Kessler, 6-foot-11, was the captain of Georgia's 1990 Southeastern Conference championship team and became a first-round NBA draft pick. Kessler was an orthopedic surgeon in Pensacola. He graduated from Georgia with a microbiology degree and from the Emory School of Medicine in 1999.
[Yahoo!]

This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
October 10: Harold Pinter (77)
October 12: Bob Sheppard (97)
October 13: Sacha Baron Cohen (36)
October 13: Margaret Thatcher (82)
October 14: John Wooden (97)
October 15: Yitzhak Shamir (92)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!

The points drought continues and, honestly, it's all your fault. The Top 5 remain...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 62.3 points (6 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 60.9 points (8 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Struck Down by Yahweh - 53.6 points (6 deaths)

Paris Hilton may think Stars are Blind; We light the way with TWID...
The Commissioner's Council

TWID - Man Responsible for Oppression, Degradation and Genocide of an Entire Indigenous Population Day Edition

This Week in Death brings you: This Week in Death! Below are all the notes and news to cover a week's worth of health and death. There are more health notices than a hospital, and more death than Thanksgiving. How is Farrah Fawcett this week? What's the latest on Ronnie Biggs? Which Music or TV persona - whom I have never heard of - died? (Hint: It's Ned Sherrin) In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue; in 2006, the Commissioner's Council went for a dip in the Death Pool.

In honor of Columbus Day, we gave these people blankets to keep them health noticed...

His Ashes Aren't Blowing Anywhere
Weathered folk hero Bob Dylan performed to a full house at the Ryan Center on Sept. 29 - and he was in good company - joined by old pro Elvis Costello and newcomer Amos Lee. Unlike many of his peers, Dylan's still kicking: he's managed not to OD, get assassinated, or die in some other horrible, but legacy-cementing way, which makes him one of the few remaining representatives of his generation of artists.
[The Good 5¢ Cigar]

Sheppard's Voice Shows Up in October as Much as Yankees Do
Bob Sheppard, the voice of the New York Yankees, will miss the club's first-round playoff games with a bronchial infection, ending his string of 121 straight postseason contests behind the public-address microphone. Sheppard, who will turn 97 on Oct. 20, has been the announcer at Yankee Stadium for 57 seasons. He earned the nickname the "Voice of God'' for his unhurried introductions of Yankees players from Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter. "Doctors are monitoring my progress,'' Sheppard said in a statement. "And I am hoping to get back to Yankee Stadium to watch and announce Yankees playoff games long into October.''
[Bloomberg]

I'm Ronnie Biggs, Reminding You Kids that Crime Doesn't Pay... Not Counting the 2.6 million pounds. ♪ The More You Know ♫
Ronnie Biggs apologised yesterday for his role in The Great Train Robbery – and begged to be released from prison so he could die a free man. In a sensational letter to Government officials, the ailing 78-year-old admitted that crime does not pay, and conceded he had wasted his life. Biggs took part in the theft of £2.6million from a mail train in 1963 in which driver Jack Mills was hit over the head. Mr. Mills died seven years later from leukemia, having never recovered from the ordeal. Biggs earned his notoriety following his dramatic escape from Wandsworth Prison in 1965. Then began 30 years on the run in Australia and Brazil before his arrest in May 2001
[Daily Express]

If Our Family Was Ryan O'Neal, We'd Also Search for Alternative Approaches
Actress Farrah Fawcett and the late Coretta Scott King are among the thousands of people who have turned to alternative approaches to cancer treatment when conventional medicine has failed. It's often a last-ditch attempt to find a cure, one that brings the patient into a murky world of offshore clinics and unproven courses of treatment that are scorned by the medical establishment. "I would [tell a patient considering alternative treatment] that they are signing their own death certificate," said Barrie Cassileth, chief of the Integrative Medicine Department at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Cassileth has not treated Fawcett. "I would say they are wasting time they could otherwise spend happier and with their families."
[ABC News]

Although I think these people may have received smallpox blankets, accidentally...

Oerter in the Court; Dismissed
Al Oerter was destined to become an athlete, although he often wondered what he might have been if not for a chance meeting with a discus. "I could throw a baseball, a football or a golf ball a country mile," Oerter told the Associated Press in an interview last year. "It was just easy to throw anything." The discus great who won gold medals in four straight Olympics to become one of track and field's biggest stars in the 1950s and '60s, died Monday of heart failure, less than two weeks after his 71st birthday.
[ESPN]

The Lesson, As Always: Duke Sucks
U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Virginia, died Saturday after battling breast cancer, her office said. She was 57. She was first diagnosed with cancer in 2005, according to a statement from her office, and had a recurrence earlier this year. "Davis had been receiving breast cancer treatment at Duke University and just recently had received positive reports on her condition," the statement said. "However, during the last week Davis' health took a turn for the worse."
[CNN]

Harry Made Quite a Dent Using a Tricky Dick in his Southern Strategy
Harry S. Dent Jr., who helped devise the "Southern strategy" that was crucial to Richard M. Nixon's winning the White House, died on Friday in Columbia, S.C. He was 77. The cause was complications of Alzheimer's disease. When President Lyndon B. Johnson championed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, some Republican strategists thought their party could reap the votes of white people uneasy with Democrats, or downright hostile to them, for advancing the cause of black people.
[New York Times]

We at TWID Salute our Forebears: TWTWTW
Broadcaster Ned Sherrin, who directed "That Was The Week That Was" news program in the early 1960s, has died of throat cancer Monday, his personal manager said. He was 76. Sherrin was proudest of his work producing and directing the British Broadcasting Corp.'s satirical show, which poked fun at current affairs and packed spoof news items between skits and songs.
[International Herald-Tribune]

This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
October 3: Gore Vidal (82)
October 4: Charlton Heston (83)
October 4: Anne Rice (66)
October 4: Run Run Shaw (100)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!

Were there any points deaths this week? Well, was Columbus really a Sephardic Jew? Actually, no. The Top 5 remain...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 62.3 points (6 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 60.9 points (8 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Struck Down by Yahweh - 53.6 points (6 deaths)

At least we got the day off from work, though...
The Commissioner's Council

TWID - Fourth Quarter Edition

This Week in Death brings you up to date on the week's events from the glorious afterlife. While the soothing light at the end of the tunnel may be a distance away, you'll find here the relevant information to secure the emotional bond that connects man and his soon-to-be corpses. Two roads diverge in Hades but only one leads to the Death Cup.

1. Health News

Castro Latest to Come Out with Shocking Celebrity Life Tape; Claims it was Made for Personal Use
Fidel Castro looked alert and healthier during an hour-long interview taped and aired on Cuban television Friday, responding to rumors of his death with a defiant ``here I am.'' In the first video of the ailing 81-year-old revolutionary seen in more than three months, a pale Castro stayed seated the entire time, spoke slowly and softly and didn't always look the interviewer in the eye. But he appeared to be thinking clearly. Early in the interview, Castro often trailed off mid-sentence, and needed some prompting by the interviewer. He had bags under his eyes, sunken cheeks and his thin gray beard looked as wispy as ever. But he appeared to get stronger and more comfortable as time passed.
[Guardian]

He Meant Howie Mandel, Dana Perino Said
Nelson Mandela is still very much alive despite an embarrassing gaffe by U.S. President George W. Bush, who alluded to the former South African leader's death in an attempt to explain sectarian violence in Iraq. "It's out there. All we can do is reassure people, especially South Africans, that President Mandela is alive," Achmat Dangor, chief executive officer of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said. References to his death -- Mandela is now 89 and increasingly frail -- are seen as insensitive in South Africa.
[Reuters]

Yankee Doodle - Not So Dandy
The son of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has been elected as Chairman of the Board by the Yankees Board of Directors. That puts Hal Steinbrenner in line to one day run the team, something his father has done since the early 1970s. Hal Steinbrenner replaces Steve Swindall, who was removed as chairman after George Steinbrenner's daughter initiated divorce proceedings against him. The question of who would take over the team has been a major issue since the elder Steinbrenner's health has been in question recently.
[New York 1]

If Fawcett Leaves Earth Cast, Rumored to be Replaced by Cheryl Ladd
Former Charlie's Angels star Farrah Fawcett has suffered a relapse in her battle against cancer and plans to pursue alternative treatments in Germany, a celebrity magazine reports. "She is in Germany for therapy. She is getting informed about several treatment methods that would be possible for her," Kathrin Collins, a spokeswoman for the 60-year-old icon of the hit 1970s television series, told Germany's weekly Bunte which hits newsstands tomorrow. Bunte reported cancerous cells reappeared in her colon in May.
[The Age]

2. Death News

Benadryl Inventor Finds Death Relieves Allergy and Cold Symptoms
George Rieveschl, a chemical engineer (not a medical doctor) whom millions of sufferers of allergies, colds, rashes, hives and hay fever can thank for the relief they receive by swallowing a capsule of beta-dimethylaminoethylbenzhydryl ether hydrochloride — the antihistamine he invented and renamed Benadryl — died Thursday in Cincinnati. He was 91 and lived in Covington, Ky. The cause was pneumonia, his wife, Ellen, said.
[New York Times]

Overtime of Wirtz's Life Ends in Sudden Death
William Wirtz, the longtime owner of the Chicago Blackhawks notorious for driving a hard bargain, died Wednesday at age 77. In an announcement on the team Web site, the Blackhawks said Wirtz died at Evanston Hospital after battling cancer. Wirtz was chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Hockey League for 18 years and helped negotiate the merger of the NHL and the World Hockey Association in the late 1970's. Wirtz's stewardship of the Blackhawks was long questioned, with the criticism becoming more vociferous in recent years. Many fans blamed him for allowing too many good players to leave over the years, and for his refusal to televise most home games.
[ESPN]

Miss Moneypenny Only Lived Once, She Lived and was Let Die
Actress Lois Maxwell, who starred as Miss Moneypenny in a string of James Bond movies, has died aged 80. Maxwell starred in 14 Bond films as the secretary to M, the secret agent's boss and head of the secret service. She appeared in more movies than any of the actors who played the lead role in the spy series, including Sir Sean Connery and Sir Roger Moore. "I think it was a great disappointment to her that she had not been promoted to play M. She would have been a wonderful M."
[BBC]

Shapira Also Opposed Anatomical Concessions to Death
Rabbi Avraham Shapira, an Israeli Orthodox Jewish leader best known for urging soldiers to disobey orders to evacuate the Gaza Strip, died Thursday in Jerusalem. He was 94. Rabbi Shapira, a chief rabbi in Israel for 10 years beginning in 1983, spent much of his life fighting vigorously against territorial concessions to the Palestinians, emerging as one of the Jewish state's most divisive religious figures. In 2005, he called on observant soldiers to disobey orders to dismantle 21 Jewish settlements during Israel's withdrawal from Gaza that year. Rabbi Shapira also opposed the first Israeli-Palestinian peace accords in 1993, saying Jewish law forbade Israel from transferring holy land to the Palestinians.
[New York Times]

This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
September 25: Colin Friels (55)
September 26: Emilio Navarro (102)
September 29: Jerry Lee Lewis (72)
September 30: Deborah Kerr (86)
October 1: Tom Bosley (80)
October 1: Jimmy Carter (83)
October 1: Grete Waitz (54)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!

We've entered the last quarter of the race. No points deaths this week means no change in the Top 5, who remain...
1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 62.3 points (6 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 60.9 points (8 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Struck Down by Yahweh - 53.6 points (6 deaths)

T-W-I-D And TWID Was Its Name-O,
The Commissioner's Council