gatorcast from paul smith

I remember him as a young kid watching TV…and Listening.. RIP. Don

Los Angeles (CNN) — Don Cornelius, the founder of the “Soul Train” television show, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head Wednesday, authorities said. He was 75.

Cornelius died of a gunshot wound at a house on Mulholland Drive, said Los Angeles police Officer Tenesha Dodine. Police responded to the call about 4 a.m. (7 a.m. ET), Dodine said.

Cornelius was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to Lt. Larry Dietz of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.

Los Angeles police investigators reported to the coroner that Cornelius died from a “self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter said. The coroner’s office will perform an autopsy to confirm the cause of death.

Shortly after the turn of the millennium a quiet, very small, black terrier came to the Healy house in Munich on vacation. When her owner returned a month later, Cherry refused to leave. She quickly became a leader in our home, stopped being silent, and travelled across Europe with us regularly. In her free time she volunteered at Innere Mission Home for Girls as a lay therapist. She facilitated some very tough cases with her partner Gaby.

In her private life, Cherry was a bit of a style queen and known to be a diva. This side of her was most noticeable when she stayed at hotels and went to restaurants. Despite this, she was usually very polite and friendly. She counts as the only dog among Gaby’s five “Prinzessinen”.
Cherry turned 17 y.o. on January 1st, 2012. Soon after, her health began to decline consistently. Pacquito, Gaby and Joe have spent the long goodbye with her these past weeks. Cherry has had 24/7 care and companionship. She has left us peacefully today. She sends her fond goodbyes to all her friends and family. We will all miss her.

Cherry Ettischer-Healy

Jan. 1st, 1995- Ɨ Jan. 27th, 2012

~ Gabriele Ettischer-Healy

Stand By Me…

Funny I don’t remember seeing his picture before, but I would know his voice anywhere..I will miss his  insight.

(CNN) — Veteran broadcast journalist Daniel Schorr died at a Washington hospital Friday morning, according to National Public Radio. Schorr was 93.

Schorr, who began as a foreign newspaper correspondent in 1946, helped launch CNN as its senior Washington correspondent in 1980 after two decades with CBS.

NPR, which Schorr joined as senior news analyst in 1985, said he died peacefully after a short illness.

(CNN) — Dennis Hopper, the one-time Hollywood enfant terrible who portrayed such indelible characters as “Easy Rider’s” biker Billy and “Blue Velvet’s” and huffing villain Frank Booth, died of prostate cancer Saturday morning at his home in Venice, California, his wife said. He was 74.

Hopper, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer last October, was surrounded by his children when he died, his wife, Victoria Hopper. told CNN.

(CNN) — Condolences continued to pour in late Sunday night following the death of heavy metal rocker Ronnie James Dio, who lost his battle with stomach cancer earlier in the day.

“Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. 16th May,” his wife, Wendy Dio, said in a message on his official website.

Dio, 67, followed Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath’s lead vocalist in 1979.

“Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away,” she wrote. “Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all.”

The rock community paid tribute to Dio in messages late Sunday.

“In addition to his powerhouse vocal ability, Ronnie was a true gentleman who always emanated great warmth and friendship to us and everyone around him,” KISS said. “We will miss him.”

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian called Dio’s death a big loss.

“So many memories of Ronnie. Toured together many times. He always had a kind word and a smile, and he loved the Yankees,” Ian said.

Musician Slash summed up the loss in one sentence: “Ronnie died at 7:45 a.m., but his music will live for eternity.”

Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx, who became friends with Dio while touring Europe, said the rocker will be missed.

“I still have this image of him standing on stage in front of 100,000 belting out ‘Man on the Silver Mountain’ and remember the shivers it sent up my spine,” Sixx said.

He called Dio “one of the kindest souls I have ever met and his talent was beyond inspirational to so many of us.”

“Those of us that had the opportunity to know Ronnie can tell you what a wonderful and passionate man he was,” Sixx said.

Dio most recently was touring with Heaven and Hell, a version of Black Sabbath renamed for legal reasons. All shows were canceled last March because of his illness.

His last public appearance was in April at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards when he accepted a vocalist of the year award for his work on last year’s Heaven and Hell album. Dio appeared frail, but he spoke while accepting his award.

Born Ronald James Padavona in 1942, Dio’s professional music career began as a high school student in the late 1950s.

His 1960s rock group The Electric Elves evolved into Elf by the early 1970s, when the group played heavy blues rock.

Dio’s rock became darker with his band Rainbow, which he left in 1979 to join Black Sabbath.

Black Sabbath released three albums with Dio, including “Heaven and Hell” in 1980, “Mob Rules” in 1981 and “Live Evil” in 1982.

Dio left that band in 1982, but he had a brief reunion with the group a decade later.

He formed the group Dio in 1982 and later Heaven and Hell.