thank you, teddi…

Yesterday morning Teddi Winograd passed away in her Beverly Hills home from cancer, her family by her side. She was 87.

I may not have mentioned Teddi in these pages before, and to be honest, I didn’t know her all that well. I worked for her daughter Marcy last year, when Marcy ran for Congress against Jane Harman. It was through Marcy that I met Teddi and attended several events and meetings in her home. She always impressed me as being kind, warm and generous, welcoming to all who entered her home. She seemed to be strong of heart and mind, didn’t suffer fools gladly and was fiercely devoted to her family.

She was also quite the activist, sure to be on the front lines and in the front rows of numerous protests and progressive events, many of those events in her own home. Her convictions drove her to fight for peace and justice and the real American Way.

I didn’t know Teddi well, but I was amongst those who could count themselves as lucky for knowing her at all.

Thank you for your hard work, your graciousness and your positive energy, Teddi. You will be missed by many.

Teddi Winograd: The “Maternal Heart” of Progressive Democrats

good night, mr. fishman

Hal Fishman died this morning of colon cancer, which had been diagnosed last week after he had been rushed to the hospital for a serious infection.

For those of you not in the L.A. area, Hal Fishman was one of those news anchors who seemed to have been around since forever. He was a bit of an icon in these parts and was one of those guys whom you trusted to give you the straight news, even as local news became more and more sensationalist. Along with the late Jerry Dunphy and Harold Greene (who also anchored in San Diego when I lived there), Hal Fishman seemed to be a part of my life since my family moved to Los Angeles in 1981, when I was 15.

RIP, Hal. You’ll be missed.

so it goes, mr. vonnegut

I came to Kurt Vonnegut’s work late. My first sit-down was Slaughterhouse Five, picked up from a Bookcrossing meeting in 2004. Much like my first experience with John Irving that same year, I wondered what had taken me so long to immerse myself in his worlds. I later found that I enjoyed Hocus Pocus better than his seminal work, but I still have so much Vonnegut to read.

RIP, Mr. Vonnegut. Writers – indeed, people – like you are few and far between. Your wit and brilliance will be sorely missed.

So it goes.

more about the walk…

As many of you may know by now, yesterday Molly Ivins passed away, after a long struggle with breast cancer. She was 62.

It’s sobering to look at her age, to realize that when she died, Ms. Ivins was younger than my mother is now.

My commitment to this walk is even keener. Not only am I doing this in honor of my mother – a wonderful woman who’s had too much of life’s darker side kick her in the head – but now in memory of a keenly sharp woman who’s life work was to skewer the pomposity and over-weening arrogance of those who purported to be in service of the American people. She called ‘em like she saw ‘em, and she saw ‘em as clear-eyed as anyone did, and clearer-eyed than most.

RIP, Ms. Ivins. You’re already missed.

puttin’ on the ritz…

Peter Boyle has died.

In my thoughts, you’ll always be wearing a white tie and tails, dancing a little soft shoe and sending Madeline Kahn into song.

Rest in peace, Mr. Boyle.

puttin’ on the ritz…

Peter Boyle has died.

In my thoughts, you’ll always be wearing a white tie and tails, dancing a little soft shoe and sending Madeline Kahn into song.

Rest in peace, Mr. Boyle.