While known to many as Cpl. Lebeau on Hogan’s Heroes, Robert Clary was a multi-talented entertainer. He was also the only survivor in his family of the Holocaust, with his parents and 14 siblings dying in the camps. His life ended yesterday at 96 years of age, but his story will live on for the ages because of his efforts to share his story and bear witness to what he saw in the camps. Read a bit more a bout him and the untold story of Hogan’s Heroes. Godspeed.
Category: Into The Light
Into The Light: Denny Wilson
Bleep. When he made it home, I had hoped he was on the mend. Sadly, it was not to be. Denny (Dennis) Wilson, aka the Grouchy Old Cripple, was one of the early bloggers and he stayed with it until the end.
His “Asshole of the Week” and “Saturday Boobage” posts on Saturday could overshadow his musical posts on Sunday in some ways, but the latter presented an amazing array of talent and musical ability that always entertained and usually had me in awe of the musicians. He had a way with words and his posts were indeed entertaining.
At a blogger meetup in Atlanta, he was, I think, amused at how fast everyone said he was picking the wine to go with the dinner. Not that bloggers were or are ever a cantankerous bunch who rarely agreed on anything… Fact was, Denny was a member of the Sommelier Guild of Atlanta (hobby, after the Navy he worked with computers at IBM) and his choices weren’t just good but amazing.
Godspeed! You are missed already.
Into The Light: Sunny Cone
This weekend, my friend and brother from another mother, John Leonard (Sunny) Cone, Jr. passed away. For all that I had hoped there would be more time, it was not unexpected. Sunny knew his time was likely short, but swore those that knew to secrecy as he didn’t want people to worry.
That, and a dedication to helping his friends, were Sunny in a nutshell. We first met in kindergarten, then came together again in grade school and high school. He was everything this introvert was not: outgoing, sociable, mischievous, with a ready wit. Even then, he looked after his friends and those he “adopted” for lack of a better word. He was a preacher’s son, but his wild was tempered and any shenanigans he or any of us together may have gotten up to were never harmful.
To this day I still laugh every time I think about him serenading our 8th grade biology teacher (and the class) with the tune ‘I believe in sphericals’ sung to the tune of “I believe in miracles (you sexy thing you).” His humor, and he himself, were delightfully irrepressible. At least to us, his classmates. I’m not prepared to swear the teachers always agreed with that.
He also never hesitated to, metaphorically at least, kick our ass if he felt we needed it. Get up, get going, the future is up to you and glorious if you move, move, move. Pretty good about taking it too, when needed.
Life put us on different paths, but brought us back together every now and then. In recent times, we both had some changes in fortune and health. Sunny, sadly, lost his first wife unexpectedly. He was then blessed to meet Monica and marry her, and she was by his side high or low until the end. Like me, he had some memory issues though his were caused by some falls. He had other things crop up, and we encouraged each other and did what we could for each other.
Typical Sunny, even as things were grim he was looking for ways not just to get back on his feet, but to help take others along as well. He thought he had an angle I could do even with my memory issues. Sadly, it was not to be as he recently took a turn for the worse then passed. There will be a celebration of life in November, and I’m going to do what I can to be there. Meantime, one of his college friends has started a GoFundMe to help Monica with medical and other expenses.
Godspeed my friend. May God wrap you in his light and love brother. May your light and love join with his and shine down on Monica and those you leave behind.
I would end by saying ‘until Valhalla’ but if I did, Sunny would find a way to greet me on the other side wearing a cheesy Viking horn hat playing a kazoo instead of blowing a horn. Guaranteed.
An Era Ends
The Queen is Dead! God Save The Queen.
For all that I am glad I don’t live under any monarchy, I liked Queen Elizabeth II; I admired a number of aspects about her; and, I respected even more. She was a better friend to the U.S. than many may ever know or realize. From all accounts she would be the first to admit she wasn’t perfect, but she set a standard few can measure up to.
For me, you gotta love that as a teenager facing the Blitz, she learned to shoot Winston Churchill’s tommy gun; reportedly received rather extensive weapons training as both she and her father said no to leaving in the face of invasion (rumor has it the initial response was rather pithy, and the public statement was a bit more diplomatic but also blunt). In addition, she learned car repair/mechanics and drove an ambulance during the blitz. When not driving, she worked on said ambulances. Fearless is one of the descriptors used in regards her driving, again rumor suggests a few others were applied as well. She reportedly retained a keen interest in both the military and intelligence throughout her life, possibly to the dismay of certain prime ministers. She also had a quick way with people who, er, got on her bad side. Personally driving the Saudi monarch around on a tour after that gentleman had made some comments in public about women drivers was just one of them. There is more I could say, but for now, I will simply say:
God Bless Queen Elizabeth II! May God have mercy on the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, and all those who morn her passing. We will not see her like again anytime soon.
Into The Light: Mikhail Gorbachev
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. For those in the West, we were indeed not only in a good time, but heading into a golden age in many respects. For those not in the West, particularly behind the Iron Curtain, the times truly sucked on a scale that few today can conceive. That so many now look back on the time with nostalgia says something about how fucked up things are today…
I noted yesterday that I have mixed emotions on the passing of Gorbachev. That is being polite. The man was the enemy, on more than one level. Yet, I have come to have respect for the man, for reasons and because Boss had respect for him.
It was that respect, along with understanding, that allowed Reagan to run the board. To use information from a number of sources, including Agent Farewell, to put Gorbachev into a position where he had no choice to but to bow to the inevitable. Make no mistake: the man fought long and hard to keep the CCCP going, and remained a Leninist, if not a Marxist, to his dying day. He was murderous, vicious, and more.
Yet, he did two things that indicated a moral clarity, or at least honesty, that I’m not sure to this day if any other Soviet/Russian leader has the capacity to do. One, well, rather than a certain former astronaut Gorbachev may be responsible for my first silver hairs, and the other is the fact that at the end, he realized that he and Soviet communism had lost and accepted it. Not easily, not well on some levels, but he had lost and he knew it. He then worked towards making it a soft landing, at least for some. That doing so helped others [see the (in) famous Pizza Hut commercial] may or may not have been an intended benefit.
I admit that now I wish I had taken the opportunity to hear him speak. Perhaps even in a small group setting, as it would have allowed a different, perhaps better, understanding of some of what is happening today. Thing is, Gorbachev was/is despised by most current Kremlin leadership (including Vladimir) because he was NOT a slavophile, but looked to the West. He felt very strongly that the best future for Russia lay with and through engagement with the West and adopting Western modes and thoughts. Word from various sources is that he was, er, not happy, with Vladimir for destroying “his legacy” of engagement with the West.
That said, I also admit that in many ways rather than sharing a cognac with Gorbachev I would much rather have had a beer or three with Lech Walesa, some time with Vaclav Havel, or the honor of a meeting with John Paul II. For all I would like to understand more of how the loss was handled, I feel that there is an even greater need — particularly now and not just with the Russia/Ukraine war — to understand all the ways that led to us winning. If the West and its legacy of thought is to be saved, we need look to these men (and Boss).
To steal from another classic, I come here today not to praise Gorbachev, but to bury him. Would that we could and were burying the murderous legacy of communism and socialism along with him. Sadly, we are not and even as we deal with the hopefully dying heads of the hydra that is the legacy of Marx and Lenin there are lessons to be learned from his life.
SOME PREVIOUS POSTS:
Answers, Ramblings, And A Bit More On Vladimir And The Ukraine
Your Must Read For The Day On Russia
The Puzzles In Play, And The Missing Pieces
Quick Thoughts On Ukraine/Putin
Missing Pieces And Surprise Pieces
Accuracy, Reliability, And More
Putin, Trump, And The Coming Storm
War, Ag, Demographics, And The Worst Is Yet To Come
Past, Present, And A Hungry Future
If It’s Wednesday, This Must Be Moldova
*****
If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
Into The Light: Eric Flint
I’m sorry to report that Eric Flint passed away this weekend. The man was unique, with a background that gave him a profound appreciation for and understanding of the American worker. More than that, his background shaped him into not just an author — he was 50 I believe when he began to conquer that field — but someone who advanced the field by bringing in and up so many other writers.
Most will know him from his 1632 series, and it is a good way to share how unique he was with the world. How many authors do you know who would invent an entire new universe and then open it up to not just published authors, but unpublished or fan-authors around the world? Who would see someone with a good idea or take, and encourage them to write a good story and sell it?
Eric was also the person who got the Baen free library going, as I understand it talking the late (and much missed) Jim Baen into offering that first hit for free. Into including CDs with a mix of free stories into new hardcovers, betting that readers would find one or more other stories/series to go buy and read. Sheer marketing genius.
I did not know him personally, and that is my loss. Those who did shared with me a man who, though in a number of ways my political/philosophical opposite, was great to talk to and even fun to talk to. A man who had a knack of getting people to look at things from a different perspective, and was willing to do the same. He also had a wicked sense of humor.
I have to admit I enjoyed his works with other authors, particularly David Weber, as such collaborations seemed to work well and take some rough edges off both. To me, they were a bit richer than his single-author works, though that is a highly personal thing.
He was talented, generous to a fault (particularly with new writers), and a cheerful curmudgeon who enjoyed that status. We are the richer for his life and talent, and while his loss leaves a void in the field he did his best to fill that void and leave the field richer than before. That’s a hell of a legacy. Salute.
*****
If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your help and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
Into The Light: Chuck Yeager
Many people have talked or written about the man over the years, but I’m not sure anyone has truly done him justice. What can you say about a man who enlisted in 1941 and rose to be one of the top fighter pilots in the war? Who then became a test pilot and at the age of 24 became the first pilot to break the sound barrier in level flight? Who did so despite being busted up from a riding accident, and with the help of a friend hid both the injury and the section of broom handle he used to close the door to the plane since his injury wouldn’t let him do it otherwise? Who then rose through various commands in the Air Force and was prepared to bomb Russia in planes who’s pilots knew they could reach the targets, but not have enough fuel to get home and so would have to “walk home” from behind enemy lines? A man who’s work helped create the technology that launched the space age?
I had the honor of meeting him at the premier of “The Right Stuff” movie in Atlanta. Somewhere in the small aerospace library I donated to Purdue is the booklet from that premier, that had his and other autographs. I was especially glad to meet him, and to get that autograph. I had the feeling he was both amused and bemused at the attention being paid to him; and, I also suspected from that meeting and his writings that he was not entirely pleased with how he was portrayed in the book. After all, all he had done was to do the job no matter what, which was his basic ethos. Why make such a big deal about it? It was clear that he was uncomfortable being a celebrity, and struck me as a man who would be much more comfortable talking anything else than his celebrity over a beer.
His contempt for a later generation of pilots that would not/were not willing to fly to a target knowing they could not get back was clearly stated in his works. I can only imagine what he thought of the spoiled, coddled, and ignorant generation today. His ethos, that mirrored many of his generation and background, was that you worked hard and did the job no matter what and to the best of your ability; and, that you played hard as well. You took care of your people, and if regulations got in the way, well, if not broken they could be bent for the right reasons. After all, if you (and they) couldn’t have fun, what was the point?
If you have only read “The Right Stuff” or seen the movie, you are only getting a fraction of the man. Read his own works, and mourn not that such a man has passed at the ripe age of 97. Instead, give thanks that he and others like him lived as without them we would not have the aerospace world of today.
Godspeed Charles Elwood Yeager
Ad Astra
Into The Light: Ben Bova
The times I met him, he was always a gentleman and a cheerful warrior for getting us to the stars. He strongly encouraged a number of young science writers to do more and to expand the range of their writings, including me. I enjoyed his works, both literary and what he did to help get us to the stars.
Ad Astra.
Into The Light: Dame Diana Rigg
The Avengers was not a show my mother liked for me to watch, but watch it I did whenever I could. Usually re-runs on PBS, but for me the Diana Rigg years were the best of the series.
Over the years, I saw her in a number of television shows and movies. Sadly, I never did get to see her on stage. She could do everything from ultra-serious drama to high camp, and did so with grace and charm — and clearly had fun with most or all of the roles. They actually let her drive in the race scene in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and she admitted she had a huge amount of fun, though she also reported the cameraman in the car turned green… If I could have had the opportunity, I would have loved to ask her about a scene in The Avengers where her opponent broke into a series of ballet moves in hyperspeed. The look on her face was “WTF???” and I’ve always wondered if they did that just to get her reaction.
Sadly, cancer has claimed her at age 82.
Thank you for many years of solid entertainment, and all else you provided through your roles. May the light shine down on those you leave behind, and comfort and guide them now and in the days ahead.
Into The Light: Jonn Lilyea
There are times one knows one must write something, but you hope that such need not be done for years. You know the day is coming, but hope against hope it need not be today. However…
What can one say about a man who was, as Hondo notes, a man of honor and courage? Who faced challenges from the battlefield to the health problems that came from his service with both fortitude and humor? Who, at considerable personal expense, supported his fellow troops of all services and veterans? TSO has done an amazing job of it, yet, there is so much more that can be said.
Given the antics of his own cats, I suspect that Jonn would get a chuckle out of the fact that my landlord’s cat is grabbing my arm as I write this, demanding love. A chuckle that might turn into a smile as the cat runs away when I try to give her a skritch for him.
I honestly can’t remember when I first met Jonn, but I remember well the first night I had the honor of sitting in his home smoking cigars, enjoying fine aged Panamanian rum, and solving the problems of the world. That rum was a favorite of his, and is now a favorite of mine. It was a night of bonding, and discovering a friend who was one of those rare types that you feel you’ve been friends forever.
Over the years, I was one of many who benefited from his sage, sometimes gruff, advice. And, the occasional swift kick in the ass given as only a first sergeant can give. He was always there, not just for me, but for many. If you served, or were serving, he had your back. I suspect strongly that in the final tally he literally helped thousands indirectly through his writing and works, and more than can be counted directly.
He loathed poseurs, and spent time and money exposing them. It is worth noting that some he did not go after in public, dealing with them in private. It is also worth noting that if they came clean, he offered advice and encouragement to them. Those that didn’t, well… When I joined the Indiana Guard Reserve (state guard, not national) one of the first things I did was to tell him, both to share the news and to let him know that if he saw a photo of me in uniform that I had not gone off the reservation. He gave me some much needed advice (‘he’s an asshole here’s what you do’) more than once.
Jonn was gruff, crusty, and had a soft center that could even be gooey. He didn’t like to talk about his own problems, but was always there for so many to hear of life’s challenges and triumphs. His loss is a loss for the Republic and especially for his family and friends. Like TSO, I ask that if you are religious, please say a prayer for his family and friends. If you serve, or have honorably served, raise a toast to him.
I toasted him last night, and this morning raise my coffee mug to him remembering the last time I saw him. I had gone by his place for a visit, and Jonn insisted — as only he could — that I spend the night instead of pressing on with my journey. He equally insisted that I stay for breakfast, though the morning was too cold for us to smoke a cigar on the porch as planned. His loss has brought tears to my eyes, and smiles and laughter at some of the memories — he would approve of the latter.
He was a man of battlesteel-clad honor and integrity, and we are the richer for him and having known him. For all that his death leaves a void in many lives, I give thanks that I knew him and echo Patton in saying “Thank God that such a man lived.”
Godspeed Jonn.