The Silver Screen Oasis

Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023). RIP.



https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/mu ... a-nations/

A true Canadian national treasure.

Love his music, as they always especially made a great soundtrack to any road trip I ever ventured out on. "Carefree Highway" always being a particular favorite of mine.

(...R.I.P., Gordon)

Two more....

Jim Brown, who was 87.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/jim- ... 5619369/#!

And Helmut Burger, who was 78....

https://variety.com/2023/film/global/he ... 235618509/

A friend sent this to me so I don't know the original source ....

When asked about Jim Brown’s acting abilities, Lee Marvin replied, “Well, Brown’s a better actor than Sir Laurence Olivier would be as a member of the Cleveland Browns.”

The only surviving members of the original Dirty Dozen convicts from the 1967 film are now numbers 2, 5, and 7: Donald Sutherland, as well as the rather obscure Stuart Cooper and Colin Maitland.

Not a movie person, but Andy Rourke, bass player for The Smiths has passed at age 59. R.I.P. Andy.



https://www.npr.org/2023/05/19/11770383 ... layer-died

Tina Turner has died. Surprised no one has posted this yet. Very sad news.

https://apnews.com/article/tina-turner- ... 565eb80662

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/arts ... -dead.html

Well you know.....we never do things nice 'n' easy. R.I.P. Tina.

Hibi wrote: ↑May 24th, 2023, 3:59 pm Tina Turner has died. Surprised no one has posted this yet. Very sad news.

https://apnews.com/article/tina-turner- ... 565eb80662

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/arts ... -dead.html

When Jagger was young? Tina is 4 yrs older than him! He makes it sound like she was much older than him!

Her passing was the lead story on all 3 networks!

So sad. Absolutely love Tina Turner. She's been a favorite since the 1960's. She was such a remarkable performer, a dynamo. So full of life and energy.

RIP Wonderful Tina Turner

Tina was one of the greatest of all rock stars. Just a master of it all. I guess in a way, the news should not have been so shocking of her passing. Her 2021 HBO documentary felt like her farewell to her friends and she didn't make a transatlantic voyage when she was reinducted in the Rock and Roll hall of fame last year. But she had always seemed so full of life, so much so that the news still shocked me. She will be greatly missed.

This will be a sad story for many of you... About my dear wife Annie...

One that I was reluctant to share, but having so many friends on here, I thought many of you would want to know. So here goes...

Some here from the TCM message board know of my involvement with my wife's various illnesses over the years. She was diagnosed with Lupus in 2003. Lupus is a disease that occurs when a person's immune system attacks their own tissues and organs (autoimmune disease). Inflammation caused by Lupus can affect many different body systems, including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart and lungs. In 2016 it was revealed that my wife's left diaphragm had collapsed causing a great deal of breathing problems in her left lung which resulted in her having to receive oxygen 24/7. She has also had to deal with other medical issues including Factor V Leiden, a blood clotting disorder, Sjorgren's Syndrome, another auto immune disease that attacks the glands that create tears for the eyes and saliva in your mouth. She also had heart disease, though not a smoker, she developed this after Lupus. She had two major neurogical diseases. One was Epilepsy that she had since a child and was well under control and she also suffered from Cerebellar Ataxia, that causes sudden loss of muscle movement and gait issues.

So she had a lot of medical issues to deal with. More than many people would ever see in a lifetime. She was hospitalized three times since October with breathing issues brought on by her collapsed diaphragm. Apparently a build up of carbon dioxide was happening in her left lung and she had to be placed on a special Bipap machine for a week each time. This Bipap machine extracted those gases from her lung and she was much better each time. Her last hospitalization in February caused her to rethink her very existence.

She did not want to go back into the hospital for any reason. She had for five years been having more and more hospitalizations mainly due to Lupus and she wanted to let nature take it's course. She was ready to transition to another place...

So we spoke with a Palative care doctor at the hospital she was at and she recommended that Annie be placed in a hospice program. Knowing full well what a hospice program would be like in a care facility (Annie had been a Hospice Care Manager for many years) she decided to go the Hospice at Home program that one of their recommended providers had.

So on March 1st, Annie came home and within a week of coming home, and not being able to walk or even stand on her own, a bed was brought to our home and she was placed in the bed and never got out again. What followed was a general eight week decline of her health. She was ready to transition. Before she went completely deaf, we spoke at length about what she wanted and more important to her, what she wanted me to do without her. She wanted me to move on, and find a place where I would be happy. More on this later.

She wanted to have her body donated to medical research. Thats was what she was all about. Always a nurse, wanting to help others in need. And what better way to help but to have her body donated so that parts of her body could be used in various ways.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, April 29th Annie passed away. Age 71. Married to me 25 years as of last October 18.

She passed away very peacefully. For the preceeding few days, she had been mostly sleeping, not eating or drinking much. The last two days she was having more difficulty breathing. The last time I spoke with her was Thursday. We embraced and hugged one another and she whispered to me that I was the love of her life and that she would love me forever as I told her the same. She knew she had very little time left. Early Friday morning she drifted off to sleep and she did not wake up again.

That was it. It was only a matter of time.

After she passed, the nurse who had been there since 7pm the previous night called in her death and another nurse and chaplain came out to our home. The chaplain stayed with me until the medical donation provider came to pick up Annie's body. After they all left, I was alone. Needless to say I broke down for several hours. There was a relief to me that she had passed away very peacefully and I firmly believe that her soul is in a much better place now, a place where there is no pain, no suffering, just happiness and joy.

She has been reunited with her parents, her sister, many other family and friends who passed before her, and our beloved Bella, our basset beagle.

At least that is where I hope she has gone.

Since that day, her body was taken to a facility where her remains were handed over to medical researchers and they got what they wanted, according to a letter sent to me from the organization. I will be receiving her cremated remains in a few days. Her wish made long ago was to have me spread her ashes near Mt. Princeton in Colorado near the town of Buena Vista.

That will happen sooner rather than later. I will be relocating to the Denver area in September so that I can be closer to her sister and her family. I have always had a special relationship with Annie's sister Edie and her family. I will continue to drive for Uber until my retirement in four or five years. Much better market than here in Chicago I have been told.

I hope that this does not violate any policy here, but I have created a GoFundMe page to help pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance while Annie was ill. I presently do not have the funds available to me so I am reaching out to family, friends and others to see if they can help. Here is the link. There is a link to a you tube video I made explaining everything. I hope you all will be able to spend a little time looking at it.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-rey-cat ... nies-death

Writing this type of story actually helps clear my mind and I can actually focus on something for a while without being too sad or melancholy.

Thank you all for reading this. God Bless you.

Rey

George Maharis has died.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/geo ... 32187.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/28/arts ... -dead.html