Passings

I heard journos talking about her on the BBC. All agreed she could be frightening!

Hey Wil, something else on that story in Poland was that she got the scoop because she 'borrowed' a diplomat's car — with flags etc., and drove across the border into Germany. The border was closed but the German guards assumed she was someone important and let her through. The journo offering her memories laughed and said 'borrowed, well that's a polite way of putting it' — seems she never actually asked the diplomat if she could borrow his car!

The same journo recounted a tale when she was in Russia or China (can't recall). Everywhere she went she was accompanied by someone from domestic intelligence to make sure she behaved. The journo met Hollingworth at a reception, and later the spook said, 'You know that women?' 'Yes, we're old friends'. The spook shook his head. 'She's a very difficult lady' he said.
 
Norma McCorvey died.

"Who?" you ask?

The main litigant in the landmark Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, which involved both privacy and abortion.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Vitaly Churkin, someone I met roughly thirty years ago, passed away. He was just one day shy of 65.

For those not exactly "in the loop", he was a long-standing ambassador from USSR/Russia, having participated in the SALT talks as well as being the permanent ambassador-in-residence at the United Nations for Russia. I met him when I did my first "stint" in college and he spoke on campus (he was rather personable, unlike one of the other members of the audience [I wanted to punch the audience member into unconsciousness just to shut him up].)

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Dr. Fred Kummerow passed away last Wednesday at the tender age of 102, but that's not why he was famous (nor the fact that he held lectures up until he was 101.)

"Who?" you ask?

He was one of, if not the scientist who discovered the negative effects of trans fats back in 1950, especially the artificially created trans fats.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Andreas Wurzer passed away in his sleep at the age of 95. His name might be vaguely familiar to StevePame.

"Who? Why?" you ask?

Dr. Wurzer was a veterinarian in the Chicago area, a German PoW during WWII (his plane was shot down during a bombing run) who initially treated Allied canine soldiers, eventually catching the attention of Allied veterinarians. One of the vets "adopted" him, training him for his DVM. Dr. Wurzer continued to practice even after he officially retired, taking in several of his patients (many "failed fosters" in his family's home!)

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Helmut Kohl passed away at the age of 87.

"Who?" you ask?

The last chancellor of West Germany/first chancellor of the reunified Germany. Tidbit of trivia: he visited Milwaukee with former President Bill Clinton and welcomed by former Milwaukee mayor John Norquist (Chancellor Kohl was more accessible than President Clinton, allowing the "commonfolk" access to him almost everywhere he went.) The only person that I can think of more accessible was the late ambassador Vitaly Churkin.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Liu Xiaobao passed away from liver cancer at the age of 61.

Practically everyone here has heard of him, especially recently (if you haven't, just ask who he was.)

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Maryam Mirzakhani passed away at the tender age of 40, succumbing to breast cancer.

"Who?" you ask?

Dr. Mirzakhani was a rather influential professor of mathematics (both Stanford and Princeton) and a former winner of the prestigious Fields Medal (the only woman to do so.) What made her more impressive is that she grew up in Tehran (born roughly two years before Khomeini returned after the Iranian "Civil" War/"Revolution".)

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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Stanislav Petrov passed away at the tender age of 77 on May 19th.

"Who?" you ask?

If it wasn't for him, nobody would be on this forum (or any forum, for that matter.) He disobeyed direct orders to launch Soviet nuclear missiles at the United States on September 26, 1983 (it turned out that the Soviet early-warning system malfunctioned, mistaking sunlight reflecting on clouds for a missile strike.)

https://www.rt.com/news/403625-nuclear-soviet-officer-died/

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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