The first month of the new year isn't even over and there have already been some notable deaths.
Heath Ledger died Tuesday; he was only 28 years old.
The Oscar-nominated actor was found dead in an apartment; naked, face down in a bed with a bottle of sleeping pills near by. So sad. I loved him in "10 Things I Hate About You" and "The Patriot". Never saw him take it in the ass in "Brokeback Mountain", but I thought he had talent as an actor. He's the entire reason why I was looking forward to the next Batman movie, "Dark Knight".
Actor Brad Renfro died last week. He was only 25 years old.
The cause of death has yet to be determined, but with a troubled history that included drug abuse, it's assumed he died from a drug overdose. Once again, so sad. He showed promise as a young actor in his debut film "The Client" and proved he could be hardcore in a fucked up moved based on the true story of a group of Florida teens who kill their friend called, "Bully". It's worth a rent or Netflix order if you like drugs, drinking, sex, murder, teenage debauchery… ya know, the good old days (minus the murder and all).
One of the 20th century's greatest adventurers of all time died this month of heart failure.
Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to climb Mount Everest. Last year, the 87-year-old publicly criticized climbers who left a man to die on that mountain, saying "I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top. They don't give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress and it doesn't impress me at all that they leave someone lying under a rock to die."
The Grandmaster of Chess and World Champion, Bobby Fischer, also bit the big one this month.
The 64-year-old died of kidney failure at his home in Reykjavík, Iceland. The person who stayed with him until he died said his last words were "nothing soothes pain like the touch of a person".
I decided to do a search on who else has died this month and found a couple of interesting things.
Kenneth Parnell, a convicted sex offender charged with the 1972 kidnapping of a California boy, died at the age of 76 of natural causes in prison.
The case was made into a TV movie called "I Know My First Name Is Steven". I remember watching that growing up, something I'm sure my parents made me watch as a lesson never to go with strangers. Anyway, while reading up on Mr. Parnell, I came across some disturbing stuff. He was in and out of juvenile halls and mental institutions growing up, was arrested for sodomizing a young boy, impersonated a police officer, escaped from a mental hospital…and that was all before he was 20 years old. That's not even the half of it. In 1972, he kidnapped Steven, who finally escaped after 8 years. He even made Steven help him kidnap another child, who escaped with Steven after being held for just a few weeks. Here's where it gets even worse. In 2003, this sick man (who needed 24-hour-a-day nursing care at his home) tried coercing his caregiver into buying him a 4-year-old boy. She set up a sting operation with police, and according to her testimony, he requested the child have a "clean rectum". He dropped $100 for a birth certificate and another $400 to complete the "transaction". After his arrest that same day, he told authorities, "I wanted a family". Needless to say, he was sentenced to 25 years to life… or death in his case. Good riddance. I still don't think that was enough punishment.
While perusing the 2008 obit page on Wikipedia, I came across another interesting tidbit of info. A Kenyan marathon runner died during its ongoing post-election chaos there.
What grabbed my attention about Wesley Ngetich's death was that a poisoned arrow to the chest was to blame. If getting shot in the chest with an arrow during violent riots isn't bad enough, the tip has to have poison in it?!?! That's shitty. To make things even worse, he was supposed to be in Phoenix, Arizona this month for the "Rock & Roll Marathon", but was forced to withdrawal along with 13 others because of the violence there, which has left nearly 800 dead already. It's unclear if he was fighting or was attacked. Another Kenyan runner died New Year's Day, also because of the country's violence.
On a much lighter note (if there is such a thing while talking about death), the man who brought smiles to millions of kids around the world, including myself, passed away this month.
Richard Knerr invented the Frisbee and the Hula Hoop, and was also co-founder of the company Wham-O, which makes such products and Nerf ones as well. Those products aren't just for kids either; I hula-hooped just last summer while playing with the cousins.
Gemina the Giraffe… ahh Gemina.
She was best known for a deformity in her neck that caused her neck to bend almost 90 degrees. Zoo keepers at the Santa Barbara Zoo say she led an almost-normal life, despite being "special". She was even used as inspiration for kids with scoliosis. Germina was put to sleep after she stopped eating in her old age. What's "old age" in giraffe years?? 22.
