Aloha Danno! James MacArthur R.I.P

James MacArthur who starred as Danny, "Danno," Williams on Hawaii Five-O died at 72.

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/james-macarthur-original-hawaii-five-0s-danno-dies-at-72/49728.

Robert B. Parker

Yesterday, we lost one of the pillars of detective fiction, Robert B. Parker. I posted my thoughts on his passing on Make Mine Mystery and don't have much to add to what I said there. One of the points I made, however, is that Parker blew life into a fading genre with his Spenser series. Spenser is a tough guy, romantic who is in a long-term, committed relationship with Susan Silverman. This was an innovation in the genre, and even though many readers hate Susan, and even though their relationship is sometimes overly cute, it changed detective fiction forever. No longer are detectives loners, unable to commit to anyone, hopping from bed to bed with a succession of empty-headed women. Now we find them in complex relationships with strong intelligent men and women.

Spenser met Susan in 1974's God Save the Child. It probably didn't seem like much at the time, but 36 years later, the romance is still strong.

Here is the scene that started it all.

"Why don't you take off your coat?" she said.
"Well, it's supposed to make me look taller," I said.
"Sitting down?"
"No, I guess not," I said and stood up and took it off.
"I don't think you need to look taller, Mr. Spenser," she said. When she smiled, the color of her face seemed to heighten. "How tall are you?"
"Six one," I said.
"Really? That's surprising. I must admit you don't look that tall."
"Even with the raincoat?" I said.
"Even with that," she said. "You're so wide. Do you work with weights?"
"Yeah, some. How could you tell? Your husband lift?"
"Ex-husband," she said. "Yes, he played tackle for Harvard and stayed with the weights afterward."

God Save the Child. Robert B. Parker

Robert B. Parker was a master of stories that are always readable and entertaining. He died at his desk. We'll miss him.

R.I.P. Mary Travers

Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary, passed away of complications following a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. She was 72.

Peter, Paul and Mary were the group that inspired me to take up the guitar. At one time, I think I was able to play all of their songs. My wife has all of their albums.

Mary's ringing voice on "If I Had a Hammer" and "Leaving On A Jet Plane," were as inspiring as the group's championing of social causes.

She will be missed.

Adios Amigo, R.I.P Patrick Swazye

Sad news about Patrick Swazye passing away. Most women probably remember him for Dirty Dancing. My favorite Swayze movie, however is Point Break. I never pass it up when it comes on television. It ostensibly starred Keanu Reeves as Johnny Utah, but the movie really belonged to Swayze as zen surfer, bank robber Bodhi (Bodhisatva).

Bodhi and his gang of ex-presidents are adrenaline junkies. Nothing is more adrenaline spiking than the skydiving sequences. They were totally unrealistic. No first time jumper is going to get trimmed up to fly like Reeves did. And how high long did that jump last? It seemed like that first jump went on forever, but if they jumped at 10,000 feet and screamed through the sky at 1,000 feet every ten seconds, they had, at most, 90 seconds of free fall before opening at 1,000 feet. That second jump where Utah leaves the plane without a parachute to catch up to Bodhi was an impressive stunt, but believable, for a jumper with one dive under his belt? No way! Still, it was exciting and I can't turn away whenever it come on.

Swayze did his own stunts for that. Awesome!

As Bodhi said when he exited the plane, "Adios Amigo."

Les Paul RIP

Sad news from the entertainment industry. Les Paul, musician and inventor passed away at 94. He invented the Gibson solid body guitar and multi-track recording. Without him, there would be no rock-n-roll.

His latest recording was "Les Paul and friends: American Made, World Played" in which he traded hot licks with some of the greatest guitar heroes.



Rock on, Les.

Bob Bogle, Guitarist, R.I.P

Bob Bogle, the guitarist who co-founded The Ventures, one of the most influential rock bands of all time, passed away. You can read about it here. The Ventures produced such great instrumental hits as "Walk, Don't Run." "Diamond Head," and what is, in my humble opinion, the greatest TV show theme of all time, "Hawaii Five-O."

That brings up a contest. Did you know that there are lyrics to "Hawaii Five-O?" There are, and they were sung by, who else but, Don Ho. The first person who enters the complete lyrics to "Hawaii Five-O" in the comments section will receive a copy of Pilikia Is My Business. Make sure you enter your snail mail address.

Bob Bogle and The Ventures were inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. Thanks Bob, for some of the greatest boomer music ever.

Aloha Les Keiter, 1919-2009

Legendary Hawaiian broadcaster, Les Keiter, affectionately known as "The General" after a role he played on an episode of Hawaii Five-O, died yesteday in Castle Hospital. Les was the voice of the Hawaiian Islanders for many years and a sportscaster for KHON television. He is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. His death was reported in the Honolulu Star Bulletin. His segments of the news each evening was one of the highlights of my day.

R.I.P. Eartha Kitt

The sad news this Christmas is the passing of Eartha Kitt, the sexy-voiced chanteuse. The one song that stands out above all the insipid holiday fare is her rendition of "Santa Baby." This is a song that could only by sung by someone with her glorious voice. You won't hear some boy's choir doing it. It's as smoking as a Mickey Spillane novel.

Santa Baby,
Just slip a sable under the tree
For me
Been an awful good girl
Santa Baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight


She was the hottest catwoman, rivaled only by Julie Newmar and Hallie Berry. She was also a real-life hero for her opposition to the war in Vietnam and for standing up to Lady Bird Johnson.

We will miss Eartha Kitt.

Michael Crichton, RIP

We are losing too many great authors. The Andromeda Strain came out when I was in college. Everybody I knew read it. It was all we could talk about. A few years later I discovered some other works written under the pseudonym John Lange. Great genre fiction. Andromeda Strain is still my favorite because it was so different from anything else I'd read. I wanted to believe all the science in the book.

R.I.P. Studs Terkel

There were three people I knew always told the truth. Mike Royko, Molly Ivins and Studs Terkel. Now they are all gone. Who will tell us the truth now?

R.I.P Tony Hillerman

Sad news today. Tony Hillerman died at age 83. He opened up the Southwest and Navaho culture to me and to many others. We once took a family trip through parts of the Southwest with one of his books as a map. He was one of the few novelists whose books I bought on his name alone. I'll miss him, but Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn will live long after him.

James Crumley, R.I.P.

This is a very sad day for mystery fans. James Crumley, one of the most influential crime writers upon the current generation of working writers, has died at the age of 68. When I started writing, Joe Lansdale told me that before writing another word, I should read "The Last Good Kiss." What an epiphany. It is still one of the best mystery novels ever written. I had the very great pleasure of meeting Crumley at Conmisterio in Austin and spending an evening with him. You can read about it in my post of August 6, 2006.

James Crumley will be greatly missed.

Sad News

Cluelass is closing down. If you are a mystery fan, you have known Cluelass all these years as a source of information about all things mystery. Read the announcement here: http://cluelass.com/. Over the years I have grown to depend on The Deadly Directory, The Bloodstained Bookshelf and the Mystery Calendar. I understand Kate Derie wants to move on with her life and I appreciate that. Nevertheless, Cluelass will be sorely missed. Thanks for all the years, Kate.

Edward D. Hoch, 1930-2008

Ed Hoch, a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, author of over 900 mystery stories and the only author to have a story in every issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine for the past 35 years, died of a heart attack last week. I met Mr. Hoch once at Bouchercon in Last Vegas. I was privileged to be a part of a session on short mysteries and he was the featured speaker. He was a delightful and gracious man. His stories are wonderfully entertaining. Ed Hoch will be sorely missed.

No more Miss Snark

Miss Snark announces that she is retiring her blog, one of the most helpful sites for writers seeking agents.

Aloha Don Ho

Hawaiian crooner and legendary entertainer, Don Ho died yesterday. We mourn his passing everytime we hear his signature song.

Tiny bubbles in the wine
Make me happy, make me feel fine.

Aloha, Don

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 1922-2007

If ever there was a novel that influenced my thinking, it was "Slaughterhouse Five." The novel came out when the Vietnam War was always on my mind and spoke to me about the futility of war and the insanity of leaders who wage it. Thirty-eight years later, I still get choked up when I reach the end of the book and read about Bobby Kennedy being shot the day before.

His other works, including "Cat's Cradle" and "The Sirens of Titan," contained great satire, wonderful black humor and thought-provoking social commentary. The world will miss Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., one of the great literary lights of the twentieth century.

So it goes.

Richard S. Prather

From Rara-avis comes the sad news that Richard S. Prather passed away. Prather created the Shell Scott detective series that was very popular in the 50's and 60's. Shell was something of a Mike Hammer with a sense of humor. The stories always featured gorgeous women and the covers were something to hide under the mattress.

Scott was six-two and 205 with "short white hair that sticks up into the air as if a small bleached porcupine were curled up on my scalp."

He had a way with descriptions of women, as this from Stripped for Murder:
"She had a nice body, too, though a trifle slim for my taste, but what she had was all hers for sure. When it comes to clothes, sometimes the more money women have, the more they spend for less, and this gas was wearing so little that she must have been a billionaire. The dress was dark green, strapless, clinging, and almost off."

The mystery world will miss Richard S. Prather and Shell Scott.

A sad day

Molly Ivins lost her fight to cancer. Who will tell us the truth now?