A Liberal With Sanity: Ed Koch

 

Edward Irving Koch was born in New York City on December 12, 1924.  He was the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants and was of the first generation of his family born in America.

By the time he graduated from high school, America was embroiled in World War 2. He was drafted into the Army and served in France, where he earned a number of medals for outstanding service.  Following the end of the war, he was sent to Bavaria, where his knowledge of the German language was put to good use.  Koch helped to remove Nazi officials still in office.

After he was discharged from the service, Koch returned home, where he attended the City College of New York.  He'd go on to earn a law degree and open his own firm, helping to reform the politically corrupt Tammany Hall. 

Koch began his political career in 1967, when he was elected to the New York City Council.  From there, he went to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served from 1969 to 1977. That year, he made his first bid for the Mayor's Office, a seat he would hold throughout the 1980s.

In the late 1980s while still in public office, Koch suffered a mild stroke.  It was the first of several health issues that would plague him in his final years, including, most seriously, a heart condition. He ultimately died of heart failure on February 1, 2013.  He was 88 years old.

Koch was laid to rest at Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• A lifelong democrat, Koch referred to himself as "a liberal with sanity."
  
  
• Koch's headstone includes a quote from Daniel Pearl, a Jewish reporter beheaded by Al Qaeda.  "My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish."
  
  
• President Obama did not attend Koch's funeral, asking former President Bill Clinton to speak on his behalf.
  
  
• Koch never married and had no kids, leading many to speculate about his sexuality.  Although he never declared it himself publicly, the New York Times identified him as a gay following his death.
  
  
• From 1997 to 1999, Koch presided over The People's Court. Check out this episode "What a Drag" featuring drag queen Hedda Lettuce on YouTube.
  
  
• Koch wrote a number of books, including Murder on 34th Street (a whodunit), The Little Red Book of New York Wisdom (published after his death), and Giuliani: Nasty Man.  Pick up your copies at Amazon.
  
  
• Other notable interments at Trinity Cemetery include Law and Order star Jerry Orbach, John Jacob Astor IV, who went down with the Titanic, and environmentalist John James Audubon.

Cartoons in a Cartoon Graveyard

 

Back in 2018, this blog brought you the final resting place of artist Bil Keane, famous for creating the long-running comic strip The Family Circus. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, Keane's grave is notable for its use of his many iconic characters and artwork.

Keane is not the only cartoonist to have a memorial to his creations.  Charles M. Schultz has an entire park devoted to his grave and his characters from the classic comic strip Peanuts.  One day, this blogger will visit that site in Sonoma, California.

I have however been to two similar graves honoring classic cartoonists and their creations, both of which are on the East Coast.

Addison Morton "Mort" Walker created not one but two iconic comic strips, Hi and Lois and Beetle Bailey, the latter of which adorns his headstone in Westport, Connecticut's Willowbrook Cemetery.  Walker died from pneuemonia on January 27, 2018.  He was 94 years old.

Prior to his passing, his two sons Brian and Greg assumed production responsibilities for Beetle Bailey, which still runs in more than 1,800 newspapers today.

George Gallagher, sometimes credited as George Gately, created the comic strip Heathcliff in 1973.  He continued to do so until his passing in 2001, at which time his nephew Peter continued production of the series.  Today, Heathcliff appears in more than 1,000 newspapers every day.

The orange mischievous cat, a model that would be perfected five years later by Jim Davis's Garfield character, adorns Gallagher's headstone, which you'll find in Tenafly, New Jersey's Mount Carmel Cemetery.

Ryan White

 

Ryan Wayne White was born in Kokomo, Indiana, on December 6, 1971.  He was born with hemophilia, a genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots. As such, he required regular blood treatment sessions.  During one such episode in 1984, he contracted HIV from a contaminated blood source and was given just six months to live.

In response to his health status, White was barred from attending in-person classes at his school, instead having to listen in via telephone.  A legal battle ensued for nearly a year, but on April 10th, 1986, he was ultimately allowed to return to class.  As a result of the media generated by the case, White became a national figure and the face of AIDS, a disease that was still being understood.

On March 29th, 1990, White was admitted to an Indianapolis hospital with a respiratory tract infection and was placed on a ventilator.  His condition only worsened, and he ultimately passed on April 8th.  He was just 18 years old.  He had outlasted his doctor's expectations by more than five years.

Ryan White was laid to rest at Cicero Cemetery in Cicero, Indiana, near his mother's home.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• More than 1,500 people attended White's funeral, a standing-room only event.  Notable attendees included Donald Trump, Barbara Bush, Michael Jackson, Phil Donahue and Howie Long.  Elton John performed his hit "Skyline Pigeon."
  
  
• As noted in the pictures above, White's memorial was donated by actor Matt Frewer, most famously known for his portrayal of Max Headroom.
  
  
• A year before his death, White's story was told in the made-for-TV movie The Ryan White Story, starring Judith Light and Lukas Haas.  You can watch it in its entirety on YouTube.
  
  
• The autobiographical book Ryan White: My Own Story, was released two years after the author's death.  Pick up a copy on Amazon.
  
  
• Four months after White's death, President George H.W. Bush signed the Ryan White CARE Act into law.  It provides grants to improve the quality and availability of care for individuals and families affected by HIV.  It has since been re-authorized twice.
  
  
• White passed just one month shy of his high school graduation.

President Abraham Lincoln

 

This blogger loves taking road trips, finding famous graves and unique roadside attractions. A recent trip through Springfield, Illinois, provided the opportunity to see both, as the city is home to not only Lincoln's Presidential Library (see Trivia below) but his final resting place as well.

The Lincoln Tomb is pretty unique as far as celebrity graves go.  It has a tall, one-story base shaped like a trapezoid with an obelisk rising nearly 120 feet into the air.  Construction began on April 16, 1865 - one day after Lincoln died at the hands of actor John Wilkes Booth.

Following his assassination, Lincoln lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda for two days, allowing visitors to pay their final respects to the fallen president.  His casket was then placed on a train for his final journey back to Springfield, taking a circuitous route that lasted three weeks, allowing citizens in a number of cities to pay their respects as well.  He was finally laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery, in this unique mausoleum, which is today its own tourist attraction.

Rest in peace, Mr. President.

Trivia

• Lincoln's remains lie ten feet below the granite structure that bears his name.
  
  
• Springfield is also home to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.  This blogger cannot recommend it enough.  Go today.
  
  
• Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is home to another unique attraction, the Lincoln Train Museum.  Here you will board a railcar and re-create Lincoln's final journey following his assassination.  You'll ride with a sarcophagus covered in flowers while a holographic Lincoln tells you of that fateful journey.  This is another attraction that is not to be missed!
  
  
• Not to be forgotten is the Lincoln Museum in Hogdenville, Kentucky, the 16th President's birthplace.
  
  
• As noted in the photos above, Mary Todd Lincoln and three of the couple's children are also entombed in the shrine.

Trigger!

 

Years ago, I heard a fantastic urban legend.  It went that Roy Rogers, Hollywood's famed crooning cowboy and restaurant pioneer, had his four-legged co-star Trigger taxidermied upon his death.  It was too fantastic to believe, but a true story nonetheless.  I recently discovered the famed steed's location and knew this was a story I had to cover.

Trigger was born in San Diego, California, on July 4, 1934.  His foal name was "Golden Cloud."  When he was just three years old, he was sold to Hudkins Stables in Hollywood, which rented horses to the film industry. 

His first major motion picture was 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood, in which he was ridden by screen legend Olivia de Haviland.  That same year, he was first teamed with Roy Rogers on the set of Under Western Stars, and the two became inseparable.

"He could turn on a dime and give you some change," Rogers famously recalled. He had been so impressed with the horse's ability to respond quickly to whatever he was asked to do.  

Rogers would acquire Golden Cloud for $2,500, later renaming him Trigger.  Longtime Rogers' sidekick Smiley Burnette first suggested the name, after noticing "how quick on the trigger" the horse really was.  Over the next two decades, Rogers and Trigger would appear in more than 80 films together as well as 101 episodes of The Roy Rogers Show.

Trigger passed away on July 3, 1965, one day shy of his 31st birthday.  Rogers hired what is today known as Bischoff's Taxidermy and Animal FX in Burbank to preserve his beloved co-star.  The hide was professionally stretched over a foam likeness of the horse and the result was put on display at the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in Victorville, California. 

The museum closed in 2010 and its contents, including Trigger, were sold by famed Christie's Auction House.  His selling price was $266,500. 

For several years, his whereabouts remained a mystery, but he recently surfaced at the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit in Fort Worth, Texas.  That's where this blogger caught up with him.  Although he isn't for sale, you'll find him in the gift shop.

Rest in peace, Trigger.

Trivia

• Followers of this blog will recall that this is the second stage horse this blogger has paid his respects to, the first one being Mister Ed, of course.  To read about that trip and how it got this blogger on the news, click here.
  
  
• Believe it or not, there is a Trigger biography.  You can pick up a copy of author Leo Pando's Trigger: The Lives and Legend of Roy Rogers' Palomino, from Amazon.
  
  
• Trigger was often portrayed by other palominos throughout his career.
  
  
• Friend to this blog Mark Miller believes that the astroturf in the Trigger display conceals a pair of slats connected to the star's rear hooves.  This blogger agrees.
  
  
• After Trigger was taxidermied in 1965, an investigation revealed that the horse meat was illegally sold to several small eateries in the Southwest, in violation of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954.  Unwitting diners had no idea they were gobbling up a star of the silver screen.  The butcher who sold the meat was sentenced to five years in prison.
  
  
• Roy Rogers taxidermied his canine co-star as well, forever memorializing Bullet the Wonder Dog.  He too is on display at the John Wayne exhibit in Fort Worth.
  
  
  

I Love Lucy's Two Graves

"I have an everyday religion that works for me.  Love yourself first and everything else falls into line."

Lucille Desiree Ball was born in Jamestown, New York, on August 6, 1911.  Her father died unexpectedly when she was just three years old and her mother soon remarried.  Then in 1923, her stepfather encouraged her to audition for a stage show being produced by his Shriner's organization.  Ball took to the stage and never looked back.

She began her career as a model in 1929, but soon found herself on the Broadway stage.  Hollywood took notice, and she signed as a contract player with RKO Radio Pictures. She was often cast as a chorus girl in B movies of the time.

In 1940, Ball met Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz.  They eloped just a few months later, becoming a power couple the likes of which Hollywood had never seen.  The marriage produced two children and an iconic television comedy series, I Love Lucy, which ran for six seasons and countless reruns.  The marriage wasn't meant to last however, and the two divorced in 1960.

In 1962, Ball returned to television with a new series, The Lucy Show.  She was joined by her longtime castmate and real-life nemesis Vivian Vance in a series that would also run for six seasons.  When it ended in 1968, she jumped right back in with yet another series, Here's Lucy, which like its two predecessors, ran for six seasons.

In 1985, Ball took a dramatic role, playing a homeless woman in the made-for-TV movie, Stone Pillow.  You can watch the film in its entirety on YouTube.  The following year, she returned to sit-com life with her final series, Life With Lucy.  Unlike its predecessors however, the new series failed to find an audience and was canceled after just one season.

By 1989, Ball's health was in decline. On April 18, she was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with a dissecting aortic aneurysm.  She underwent emergency valve replacement surgery, which ultimately bought her one more week of life.  She died on April 26th at the age of 77.

Ball was cremated and her ashes were initially interred at Forest Lawn Cemtery in Los Angeles.  Then in 2002, her family moved her remains to the family plot at Lake View Cemetery back in Jamestown.
 

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• Jamestown is also home to the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Museum/National Comedy Center.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• In 1987, Ball published her memoirs.  Pick up a copy of Love, Lucy from Amazon.
  
  
• In 1937, Ball shaved off her eyebrows for a role in the film Roman Scandals.  They never grew back. (Editor's Note: The film is definitely a product of its time.)
  
  
• Ball stated that I Love Lucy was the result of divine intervention, claiming that Carole Lombard, who died in 1942, came to her in a dream and said "give it a whirl."  
  
  
• Trekkies the world over, including this blogger, will tell you that her company, Desilu Productions, produced the original Star Trek television series, which began in 1966.  The company also produced other TV hits, including The Untouchables and Mission: Impossible.
  
  
• In 2002, Ball was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
  
  
• As a favor to her grandfather, Ball was briefly registered as a communist.  No wonder she had red hair.

Number 36

 

Lyndon Baines Johnson, or LBJ, was born in Stonewall, Texas, on August 27, 1908. Born to a political family, he was destined for politics, and began his career as a Congressional aide.  In 1937, he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for six terms.

In 1948, he was elected to the U.S. Senate.  Over the next twelve years, he'd serve in a variety of positions, including Majority Whip, Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Minority Leader, and eventually Majority Leader.

In 1960, LBJ made his first bid for the White House, but was ultimately bested by John F. Kenndy, Jr., who shocked pundits and the public alike when he asked his former rival to serve as Vice-President.

Following Kennedy's assassination in 1963, LBJ was sworn in as President. The following year, he'd win re-election in a landslide victory over Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater.

When he left the White House in 1969, he returned to his native Texas, where he'd later pen his memoirs (see Trivia below). A lifetime of smoking would eventually catch up with him however, and he'd suffer multiple heart attacks.  The last one took his life on January 22, 1973, just two days after Richard Nixon was sworn in for his second term as President.

Johnson was returned to his ranch in Stonewall and was buried in the family cemetery, just a few yards from the very shack in which he was born.  Today, its a national historical park overseen by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about LBJ, take a voyage to your public library.  It's all in books.
    * Lyndon Baines Johnson, Robert Dallek (2023)
    * Judgment Days: LBJ, MLK, and the Laws That Changed America,
       Nick Kotz (2005)
    * The Vantage Point: Perspectives on the Presidency,
       Lyndon Baines Johnson (1972)
  
  
• Additionally, there are a number of LBJ documentaries on YouTube, including:
    * How Lyndon B. Johnson Carried on JFK's Legacy
    * LBJ: The 36th President of the United States
  
  
• One day after his death, a ceasefire was reached in Vietnam.
  
  
• At the time of his death, LBJ was the only living former president.  Harry Truman died one month earlier, a funeral attended by LBJ.
  
  
• LBJ's favorite song was Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water.
  
  
• LBJ was the last democrat to win the state of Alaska in a Presidential election.