Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Monday, September 28, 2015
60 Years Ago James Dean Was Killed & It Wasn't His Fault
Yes, believe it or not, James Dean was killed in a two car crash 60 years ago on September 30th. His Hollywood career was just beginning it's meteoric rise after appearing on dozens of television shows, six films and starring in three films in a row. Only one of those films was released in his lifetime, "East Of Eden" (1955); but he had the big buzz, ya dig daddy-o?
After finishing his part of the principle photography in "Giant" (1956) in September, 1955, Dean was ready to go do some racing. He had recently purchased a Porche Spyder, which he nicknamed 'Little Bastard', and wanted to race it for the first time. Dean had entered the Salinas Road Race scheduled to be held in Salinas, California on October 1st and 2nd. On September 30th Dean left Los Angeles for the event with his mechanic, Rolf Wutherich, friend and stunt man Bill Hickman and photographer Sanford H. Roth. Originally, Dean was going to tow the Spyder on a trailer hooked to his new station wagon, but Wutherich suggested Dean drive the Spyder to Salinas because it had low break-in miles. Dean, with Wutherich as his passenger, drove the Spyder, while Hickman, with Roth as his passenger, drove the station wagon towing it's now empty trailer.
At 3:30pm, near Wheeler's Ridge, Dean was pulled over by a CHP officer (as was Hickman) and given a written citation for speeding, 10mph over the 55mph posted limit. After going over the Grapevine, the group stopped at Blackwell's Corner before going on the next leg to Paso Robles for dinner. Once back on the road, Roth took the final picture of a living James Dean before the station wagon fell behind the faster roadster. About thirty minutes later, Dean would be killed.
The "Y" intersection of then highways 466 and 41 is where the auto accident occurred. In some accounts that began to appear only 40 or more years after the event, one could be forgiven for believing the highway was packed with cars. It's sort of like the stories that began circulating in the days immediately following Dean's death. One would think that half of Hollywood warned Dean his new car was "cursed", "evil" or "haunted". There's even an 'account' that cars were three abreast across the highway as Dean was madly speeding and passing cars with no regard for safety. Yep, dead men can't defend themselves after the fact.
It was approximately 5:45pm when the accident happened as Dean's Spyder approached the "Y" intersection and a 1950 Ford Tudor Coupe driven by 23 year old Cal Poly student, with the odd name (considering) of Donald Turnupseed, coming in the opposite direction, began to turn left onto highway 41. The resulting crash was a violent one, with Turnupseed's car spinning about 45 feet and Dean's car spinning about 35 feet and into a ditch next the highway. The damage to both vehicles was significant, but of the three people involved, only Dean's injuries were fatal. Turnupseed had facial lacerations and a bloody nose and Wutherich, after being thrown from the car, had several broken bones that required immediate care.
According to a crash recreation, estimates are that Turnupseed was traveling about 55mph and Dean was going about 70mph. The left side of the Coupe hit the left side of the Spyder as Turnupseed inexplicably decided to turn left onto highway 41. James Dean's head bounced off the left headlight of the Coupe and he remained trapped by the legs in the Spyder as it spun to stop. The initial injuries were certainly the fatal ones. However, the accident was not his fault as is, to this day, commonly believed.
It has rarely been mentioned in the lore, history or mystique surrounding James Dean's death, but a CHP diagram of the accident shows two different sets of skid marks for the Ford Tudor. Lore has it that Dean's last words were about the car up ahead, "That guy'll stop. He's gotta see us." Whether the utterance was true or not, Turnupseed did see him as the first set of skid marks indicate. Then, he decided to make his turn and again, he saw the Spyder and braked once again producing the second set of skid marks which ended with the impact.
Why, if Turnupseed saw the car that caused him to locked his brakes the first time, did he decide to go ahead and make the turn anyway? Dean did try an evasive maneuver to the right but there just wasn't enough time. Turnupseed's decision to make the left turn means the accident was not Dean's fault. As to the why, there is not enough evidence to make even an educated guess. Turnupseed never talked about the accident publicly and all that exists is a mention of it in a letter to a friend. All he does is mention the accident in passing and spends most of time talking about what it will take to fix his car!
I suppose the belief that Dean was reckless and was the cause of his own death feeds into the mystique of such a bright star meeting a sudden and violent end. Perhaps the strange behavior of Turnupseed just prior to the accident and his subsequent closed-mouth publicly simply isn't as mysterious or ghostly for the usual narrative. Regardless, a brilliant actor was killed before he could use all his true talent or grow old into a tiresome actor who wound up co-starring in a soap opera or a combination of both.
After finishing his part of the principle photography in "Giant" (1956) in September, 1955, Dean was ready to go do some racing. He had recently purchased a Porche Spyder, which he nicknamed 'Little Bastard', and wanted to race it for the first time. Dean had entered the Salinas Road Race scheduled to be held in Salinas, California on October 1st and 2nd. On September 30th Dean left Los Angeles for the event with his mechanic, Rolf Wutherich, friend and stunt man Bill Hickman and photographer Sanford H. Roth. Originally, Dean was going to tow the Spyder on a trailer hooked to his new station wagon, but Wutherich suggested Dean drive the Spyder to Salinas because it had low break-in miles. Dean, with Wutherich as his passenger, drove the Spyder, while Hickman, with Roth as his passenger, drove the station wagon towing it's now empty trailer.
 |
| (James Dean with the Porche Spyder at Blackwell's Corner. The station wagon and trailer can be seen in the background. Dean would be killed in about 30 minutes. Photo by Sanford H. Roth; Fair Use) |
At 3:30pm, near Wheeler's Ridge, Dean was pulled over by a CHP officer (as was Hickman) and given a written citation for speeding, 10mph over the 55mph posted limit. After going over the Grapevine, the group stopped at Blackwell's Corner before going on the next leg to Paso Robles for dinner. Once back on the road, Roth took the final picture of a living James Dean before the station wagon fell behind the faster roadster. About thirty minutes later, Dean would be killed.
 |
| (Last photo of James Dean. Photo by Sanford H. Roth; Fair Use) |
The "Y" intersection of then highways 466 and 41 is where the auto accident occurred. In some accounts that began to appear only 40 or more years after the event, one could be forgiven for believing the highway was packed with cars. It's sort of like the stories that began circulating in the days immediately following Dean's death. One would think that half of Hollywood warned Dean his new car was "cursed", "evil" or "haunted". There's even an 'account' that cars were three abreast across the highway as Dean was madly speeding and passing cars with no regard for safety. Yep, dead men can't defend themselves after the fact.
It was approximately 5:45pm when the accident happened as Dean's Spyder approached the "Y" intersection and a 1950 Ford Tudor Coupe driven by 23 year old Cal Poly student, with the odd name (considering) of Donald Turnupseed, coming in the opposite direction, began to turn left onto highway 41. The resulting crash was a violent one, with Turnupseed's car spinning about 45 feet and Dean's car spinning about 35 feet and into a ditch next the highway. The damage to both vehicles was significant, but of the three people involved, only Dean's injuries were fatal. Turnupseed had facial lacerations and a bloody nose and Wutherich, after being thrown from the car, had several broken bones that required immediate care.
 |
| (Turnupseed's car, note the heavily damaged left side. There is also a spider break in the windshield indicating Turnupseed smacked his head against it. Photo by Sanford H. Roth; Fair Use.) |
 |
| (Dean's car. It should be noted that there are no released photos of the car before Dean was removed, so there is some damage attributed to getting him out of the car. Considering the car he hit, the Spyder is in better condition than it should be because it bounced off after the initial impact. Photo by Sanford H. Roth; Fair Use.) |
According to a crash recreation, estimates are that Turnupseed was traveling about 55mph and Dean was going about 70mph. The left side of the Coupe hit the left side of the Spyder as Turnupseed inexplicably decided to turn left onto highway 41. James Dean's head bounced off the left headlight of the Coupe and he remained trapped by the legs in the Spyder as it spun to stop. The initial injuries were certainly the fatal ones. However, the accident was not his fault as is, to this day, commonly believed.
It has rarely been mentioned in the lore, history or mystique surrounding James Dean's death, but a CHP diagram of the accident shows two different sets of skid marks for the Ford Tudor. Lore has it that Dean's last words were about the car up ahead, "That guy'll stop. He's gotta see us." Whether the utterance was true or not, Turnupseed did see him as the first set of skid marks indicate. Then, he decided to make his turn and again, he saw the Spyder and braked once again producing the second set of skid marks which ended with the impact.
Why, if Turnupseed saw the car that caused him to locked his brakes the first time, did he decide to go ahead and make the turn anyway? Dean did try an evasive maneuver to the right but there just wasn't enough time. Turnupseed's decision to make the left turn means the accident was not Dean's fault. As to the why, there is not enough evidence to make even an educated guess. Turnupseed never talked about the accident publicly and all that exists is a mention of it in a letter to a friend. All he does is mention the accident in passing and spends most of time talking about what it will take to fix his car!
I suppose the belief that Dean was reckless and was the cause of his own death feeds into the mystique of such a bright star meeting a sudden and violent end. Perhaps the strange behavior of Turnupseed just prior to the accident and his subsequent closed-mouth publicly simply isn't as mysterious or ghostly for the usual narrative. Regardless, a brilliant actor was killed before he could use all his true talent or grow old into a tiresome actor who wound up co-starring in a soap opera or a combination of both.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Et Tu, Cancer? Part 1 - The Birds
Recently, I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. But, you know me, not just any ol' cancer, but a tumor that started to grow in an pre-existing diverticulum of my bladder. A cancer that is aggressive and not treatable with chemo or radiation. A cancer that can only be removed by removing the bladder itself. And the prostate. And the pelvic lymph nodes. Now, I should have had surgery many months ago, but that story is not what this article is about. That story is found here in this excellent article.
With these series of articles, I wish to express how I have felt during this time and will feel in the times to come. It won't often be pretty and my prose will not often be below an "intense R rating". Past and present and future tenses might be maligned somewhat, but so what. These articles will also not be in any particular chronological order. I'd like to begin with a story just before and after my oft-delayed surgery; what wound up being my first surgery.
"THE BIRDS"
When the surgery with my new urologist was finally set, May 20th (a month after my birthday), I was also awaiting my biopsy results. Two days before the surgery, the obvious (to some) was confirmed: the tumor was malignant. That didn't surprise me much, but I was more than a little fucking pissed off because when the tumor was first seen (in February) it was about 1cm in size in the diverticulum. Now it was well over 3cm. My urologist/surgeon was concerned he couldn't remove the entire tumor without perforating the bladder. The surgery was scheduled to be day surgery and it was also non-invasive. Think of a long tube-like instrument that goes you know where and then into the bladder.
It was partially successful. The doctor removed as much as he could but not the rest for fear of the perforation, which would have been bad, going from stage 2 to stage 4 cancer with all those cells now floating around my body. Also, the tumor had now grown to 5cm at least. So, I went home. On some pain killers and such. I sat in my room for awhile - in a daze. My mind wasn't quite remembering everything due to whatever it was they had knocked me out with. I recall labeling it "alien probe forget drug". I think after sitting awhile, I had a swig, then a smoke and fell into a strange semi-drugged induced and mostly exhausted sleep. The next morning, only in slight pain, I made some coffee and went outside whereupon I saw this:
During the last two days, when my mind was upon other things, two very industrious birds had built a nest on one of the support beams above the front porch. I became instantly fascinated by this post-op discovery of a new house being built. I knew that my next step with removing the cancer was going to be removal of my bladder, so maybe I was caught up in some sort of nostalgia or melancholia, or both. But, I decided to run with it. So, the next day I spied this:
With these series of articles, I wish to express how I have felt during this time and will feel in the times to come. It won't often be pretty and my prose will not often be below an "intense R rating". Past and present and future tenses might be maligned somewhat, but so what. These articles will also not be in any particular chronological order. I'd like to begin with a story just before and after my oft-delayed surgery; what wound up being my first surgery.
"THE BIRDS"
When the surgery with my new urologist was finally set, May 20th (a month after my birthday), I was also awaiting my biopsy results. Two days before the surgery, the obvious (to some) was confirmed: the tumor was malignant. That didn't surprise me much, but I was more than a little fucking pissed off because when the tumor was first seen (in February) it was about 1cm in size in the diverticulum. Now it was well over 3cm. My urologist/surgeon was concerned he couldn't remove the entire tumor without perforating the bladder. The surgery was scheduled to be day surgery and it was also non-invasive. Think of a long tube-like instrument that goes you know where and then into the bladder.
It was partially successful. The doctor removed as much as he could but not the rest for fear of the perforation, which would have been bad, going from stage 2 to stage 4 cancer with all those cells now floating around my body. Also, the tumor had now grown to 5cm at least. So, I went home. On some pain killers and such. I sat in my room for awhile - in a daze. My mind wasn't quite remembering everything due to whatever it was they had knocked me out with. I recall labeling it "alien probe forget drug". I think after sitting awhile, I had a swig, then a smoke and fell into a strange semi-drugged induced and mostly exhausted sleep. The next morning, only in slight pain, I made some coffee and went outside whereupon I saw this:
During the last two days, when my mind was upon other things, two very industrious birds had built a nest on one of the support beams above the front porch. I became instantly fascinated by this post-op discovery of a new house being built. I knew that my next step with removing the cancer was going to be removal of my bladder, so maybe I was caught up in some sort of nostalgia or melancholia, or both. But, I decided to run with it. So, the next day I spied this:
Friday, June 6, 2014
Children's Deaths By Car Accident Not As "Sexy" As By School Shootings
Forward:
"Sexy" is a term used by news organizations describing something that is:
"3) interesting, exciting or trendy".
"Apples and Oranges" is a phrase that is often used as a crushing blow to an analogy when in fact, "denigrating an analogy by accusing it of comparing apples and oranges is, in and of itself, comparing apples and oranges."
When it comes to children's (usually defined as 17 years old or younger) deaths in school shootings, almost everybody gets wildly and irrationally emotional. Parents, educators and especially craven politicians' reactions to school shootings, whether they realize it or not, are fodder for both the Mainstream Media (MSM) and countless bloggers because the subject and reactions are just too darn "sexy" to pass up. When it comes to children's deaths in vehicular accidents, the reaction is, well, uh, fairly muted. In fact, children's deaths in vehicular accidents are so "un-sexy" that when one types in a Google search for, "politicians call for stricter laws on children deaths in car crashes", not only does one get over 861 million hits, but most of those hits are about children's deaths by school gun violence! A true "what the hell" if there ever was one. Apparently not only does the search parameters on Google think the shooting deaths are more "sexy", they also show that the "apples and oranges" argument is alive and well as, "comparing apples and oranges is, in and of itself, comparing apples and oranges."
Why is this so significant? Let us look at the numbers. Between 1980 and 2012, the number of people killed in shootings at school is 297, which includes mostly children, but also adults. The number of children killed in vehicular accidents is estimated at more than 51,000 for the same period. The numbers are so drastically different that the free-for-all reactions that happen in the MSM and in political houses across the country over school shootings show that the topic is not only "sexy" but "damn sexy" as well. Looking at the numbers alone, one would think that the reactions should be diametrically opposite, but, of course, they are not. Why?
I mean, look, even when typing a Google search for, "number of children deaths by accident in home per year", and one still gets trafficked to sites about children dying in school shootings by the multitude, one is forced to admit that something is wrong in how we are dealing with the deaths of children. As school shootings over the years have resulted in schools resembling prisons more and more, despite the fact that the odds of one's child being killed is so extremely rare, and the improvements to car safety lag so woefully behind in comparison, one is again forced to ask: why?
While after a school shooting it is now de rigueur for a parent (more often than not the father) to begin a media blitzkrieg condemning lax gun control laws before their child's body is even cold; there is no corresponding reaction to the daily toll of over three child deaths in vehicular accidents. Are there mass condemnations or protests in front of General Motors headquarters? No one suggests or even wants to put the head of Ford Motor Company's head on a pike and parade it down the street to the jeering cries of a multitude of people. Although that reaction would certainly be a "sexy" news item in the eyes of the MSM, it just never happens. In fact, the gap between reality and Americans' perception of horrible, out of control gun violence prompted the Pew Research Center to publish a reality check entitled, "Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware".
When it comes to gun control, there are extremists on both sides of the issue and they both can outdo the other when it comes to outrageous behaviors, which are, of course, imminently "sexy" to both the MSM and the craven politicians. However, when it comes to somehow really curbing the death toll of children in vehicular accidents, there are no corresponding extremist positions and not really even a middle one. The best we have is Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), with no such opposing group such as Fathers For Soused Driving existing or even contemplated. MADD is a good group to have around, obviously, because a lot of the deaths of children in vehicular accidents are caused by drunk drivers.
Among the many things about the United States of America, love it or leave it, that make it so damn interesting, yes even "sexy", are the many inconsistencies and incongruities. From religion to mass entertainment or political discourse to sexual mores, the USA is a blooming basketful of apples and oranges. If one stops to think about it, one might wonder how the country has survived for as long as it has. Yet, while the continued overreaction to the woefully few children's deaths at school because of guns is undermining the education process itself and turning schools into prisons, any meaningful change in vehicular safety for the sake of "our children" is condemned to the "non-sexy" well of sickening silence.
"Sexy" is a term used by news organizations describing something that is:
"3) interesting, exciting or trendy".
"Apples and Oranges" is a phrase that is often used as a crushing blow to an analogy when in fact, "denigrating an analogy by accusing it of comparing apples and oranges is, in and of itself, comparing apples and oranges."
* * * * *
When it comes to children's (usually defined as 17 years old or younger) deaths in school shootings, almost everybody gets wildly and irrationally emotional. Parents, educators and especially craven politicians' reactions to school shootings, whether they realize it or not, are fodder for both the Mainstream Media (MSM) and countless bloggers because the subject and reactions are just too darn "sexy" to pass up. When it comes to children's deaths in vehicular accidents, the reaction is, well, uh, fairly muted. In fact, children's deaths in vehicular accidents are so "un-sexy" that when one types in a Google search for, "politicians call for stricter laws on children deaths in car crashes", not only does one get over 861 million hits, but most of those hits are about children's deaths by school gun violence! A true "what the hell" if there ever was one. Apparently not only does the search parameters on Google think the shooting deaths are more "sexy", they also show that the "apples and oranges" argument is alive and well as, "comparing apples and oranges is, in and of itself, comparing apples and oranges."
Why is this so significant? Let us look at the numbers. Between 1980 and 2012, the number of people killed in shootings at school is 297, which includes mostly children, but also adults. The number of children killed in vehicular accidents is estimated at more than 51,000 for the same period. The numbers are so drastically different that the free-for-all reactions that happen in the MSM and in political houses across the country over school shootings show that the topic is not only "sexy" but "damn sexy" as well. Looking at the numbers alone, one would think that the reactions should be diametrically opposite, but, of course, they are not. Why?
I mean, look, even when typing a Google search for, "number of children deaths by accident in home per year", and one still gets trafficked to sites about children dying in school shootings by the multitude, one is forced to admit that something is wrong in how we are dealing with the deaths of children. As school shootings over the years have resulted in schools resembling prisons more and more, despite the fact that the odds of one's child being killed is so extremely rare, and the improvements to car safety lag so woefully behind in comparison, one is again forced to ask: why?
While after a school shooting it is now de rigueur for a parent (more often than not the father) to begin a media blitzkrieg condemning lax gun control laws before their child's body is even cold; there is no corresponding reaction to the daily toll of over three child deaths in vehicular accidents. Are there mass condemnations or protests in front of General Motors headquarters? No one suggests or even wants to put the head of Ford Motor Company's head on a pike and parade it down the street to the jeering cries of a multitude of people. Although that reaction would certainly be a "sexy" news item in the eyes of the MSM, it just never happens. In fact, the gap between reality and Americans' perception of horrible, out of control gun violence prompted the Pew Research Center to publish a reality check entitled, "Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware".
When it comes to gun control, there are extremists on both sides of the issue and they both can outdo the other when it comes to outrageous behaviors, which are, of course, imminently "sexy" to both the MSM and the craven politicians. However, when it comes to somehow really curbing the death toll of children in vehicular accidents, there are no corresponding extremist positions and not really even a middle one. The best we have is Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), with no such opposing group such as Fathers For Soused Driving existing or even contemplated. MADD is a good group to have around, obviously, because a lot of the deaths of children in vehicular accidents are caused by drunk drivers.
Among the many things about the United States of America, love it or leave it, that make it so damn interesting, yes even "sexy", are the many inconsistencies and incongruities. From religion to mass entertainment or political discourse to sexual mores, the USA is a blooming basketful of apples and oranges. If one stops to think about it, one might wonder how the country has survived for as long as it has. Yet, while the continued overreaction to the woefully few children's deaths at school because of guns is undermining the education process itself and turning schools into prisons, any meaningful change in vehicular safety for the sake of "our children" is condemned to the "non-sexy" well of sickening silence.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Remembering My Dad
Facebook pals and kids, you rarely like to be reminded of death. "Oh good grief", you say, "...please show us your latest lunch or dinner plate pix or whatever..."
Thirteen years ago, my Dad died. I will always remember those hours after I arrived at the hospital. All those memories, for good and bad. On both sides. I often wander into the corridors of my mind about what interesting conversations we would have had about the Bush/Obama regimes. "Oh, Rod!", the reader might think, "why must you always draw politics into such a...bla...bla...bla....". Well, it was politics which we often conversed about. For, how could we not?
This was a man who sat me down at the tender age of 13 and said I needed to watch these Watergate hearings on TV (ya know, back when government was actually a bit transparent). Not because it was so much historic, but because it was the exercising of Constitutional government, and he thought that was damn important and I should be a witness to it. And he was right! Although we talked years later about how Watergate was just a cover-up of the bigger cover-up (shhhh, JFK), I never really knew if he felt the same way. The point is, I wouldn't be such a rabble-rouser if it wasn't because of my Dad, even though if some you met him you'd think he be a bit conservative.
I was the third boy in the family he had to deal with and so my memories of him, today, deal mostly in that cloudy young adulthood and onto the later parts of my adulthood. As a writer, he was critical of a particular work, I recall. "Why must there be so many cuss words?", he asked. I said, "That's how people talk". And you know...I do not quite remember the rest of that conversation. And because I don't think it matters. He asked a question and that made me think, I remember that. Miss you Dad.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Is Newly Released Photo Of George Zimmerman Faked?
It's a tale of two noses folks!
One of these photos cannot be an accurate representation of George Zimmerman's nose the night he shot and killed Trayvon Martin (see my blog post here).
The newly released photo taken by Sanford Police the night of the crime shows Zimmerman with a bloody nose and/or lip and obvious swelling on the right side of his nose. However, a photo also taken by the Sanford Police at the police station later, shows no swollen nose and all that icky blood gone. Certainly the blood could have been cleaned off but swollen, so-called broken noses do not magically lose the swelling in less than 45 minutes. One of these photos cannot be a true representation.
So, I tend to believe that the second photo taken at the police station is the accurate one. There is no way a broken nose's swelling could have disappeared in less than 45 minutes. The truth is out there - right in front of your nose!
One of these photos cannot be an accurate representation of George Zimmerman's nose the night he shot and killed Trayvon Martin (see my blog post here).
The newly released photo taken by Sanford Police the night of the crime shows Zimmerman with a bloody nose and/or lip and obvious swelling on the right side of his nose. However, a photo also taken by the Sanford Police at the police station later, shows no swollen nose and all that icky blood gone. Certainly the blood could have been cleaned off but swollen, so-called broken noses do not magically lose the swelling in less than 45 minutes. One of these photos cannot be a true representation.
 |
| (This photo taken at the scene of the shooting shows obvious swelling on the right side of Zimmerman's nose. Source: Sanford Police Department) |
 |
| (This photo was taken at the police station less than 45 minutes later. The swelling has miraculously disappeared! Source: Sanford Police Department) |
So, I tend to believe that the second photo taken at the police station is the accurate one. There is no way a broken nose's swelling could have disappeared in less than 45 minutes. The truth is out there - right in front of your nose!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Make YOUR VOTE Pay!
STEP RIGHT UP, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, STEP RIGHT UP!
It's re-election time 2012 and we know you want the current administration to continue to give you things like the following:
Support for the repeal of that nasty don't ask, don't tell policy.
Signing a law that is hailed as sweeping bank reforms.
Suggesting for office the first black Attorney General.
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