As a by now annual 'event', I offer you a list of those who have passed on and out of my life in the past year. Some, such as Richard Knerr, I had never heard of, but, hey, who hasn't had fun with a frisbee? Respect to them all.
And apologies to those I've missed.
January
--5. Rowan Ayers, 85, journalist, writer and television producer, and father of Kevin Ayres, founder member of Soft Machine.
11. Sir Edmund Hilary, 88, first man to climb Everest and drive overland to the South Pole.
14. Richard Knerr, 82, co-founder of the Wham-O toy company - hula hoops and frisbees.
17. Bobby Fischer, 64, American world chess champion (1972) and paranoid genius.
19. John Stewart, 68, singer-songwriter. Bombs Away, Dream Babies
20. Thomas Mossie McQuater Sr, 93, British jazz trumpeter,
27. Suharto, 86, Indonesia's second President, of "multiple organ failure". At last.
February
--3. Bill Guerin, 61 (?), long term Jakarta expat, journalist and friend.
--5. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 91, spiritual leader who advocated transcendental meditation
10. Roy Scheider, 75, film actor (Jaws & French Connection).
19. Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero, 82, record producer (Miles Davis & Dave Brubeck) and composer.
21. Joe Gibbs, 65, pioneering Jamaican reggae producer.
26. George "Buddy" Miles, 60, rock drummer (Jimi Hendrix)
29. Michael George Smith, 64, musician (Dave Clark 5)
March
--3. Norman "Hurricane" Smith, 85, record producer (Beatles, Pink Floyd) and singer.
11. Rose Hacker, 101, "the oldest newspaper columnist in the business."
12. Brian Richardson, 80, architect and pioneering advocate for self-builders and Travellers.
18. Anthony Minghella, 54, film, TV and opera director (The English Patient, Grange Hill, Madame Butterfly)
19. Paul Scofield, 86, stage and screen actor (King Lear, Man For All Seasons)
19. Arthur C. Clarke, 90, sci-fi author (2001) and visionary (communications satellites, computer networks, interplanetary travel)
20. Brian Wilde, 80, actor (Last of the Summer Wine, Porridge)
24. Neil Aspinall, 66, Beatles gofer.and business manager.
30. Dith Pran (and here), 65, Cambodian photographer and inspiration for the film Killing Fields.
April
--6. Charlton Heston, 84, film star (Ben Hur, Soylent Green) & gun advocate.
24. Tristram Cary, 82, musician, "father of British electronic music" - inc. Dr. Who theme.
24. Jimmy Giuffre, 86, jazz musician, arranger and composer.
24. Jimmy McGriff, 72, jazz-blues Hammond organ pioneer.
25. Humphrey 'Humph' Lyttelton, 86, jazz musician, writer and broadcaster.
29. Albert Hoffmann, 102, chemist, discoverer, in 1943, of LSD.
29. Julie Ege, 64, Norwegian 'sex symbol' and nurse.
29. Mickey Waller, 66, drummer, Jeff Beck, Hendrix, Stones, et al.
May
--5. Irvine Robbins, 90, ice-cream entrepreneur and first franchiser.
--7. Tom Tuohy, 93. His bravery averted a possible British nuclear catastrophe
26. Sydney Pollack, 73, film director. They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
28. Beryl Cook, 81, painter
Beryl Cook 1926 - 2008
