agreed! For Bob and Ida, also for my Grandfather, Raymond Dare S., a kinder heart or a keener intellect I doubt I will ever encounter.

I too honor and salute the lives of those mentioned, Tory. R.I.P. Ida (glorious soldier!), Bob, and Alan. May I add to this list some other names of lost notables, not associated with the movement but memorable just the same:

Barbara Billingsley, age 94, died Oct. 16. Mrs. June Cleaver of “Leave It To Beaver” — Hollywood’s perfect homemaker. She also could speak Jive fluently.

Tom Bosley, 83, died Oct. 1. Best known as Howard Cunningham — father of Richie and one of the few people Fonzie looked up to — on TV’s “Happy Days.”

Dixie Carter, 70, died April 10. Before she hit it big on “Designing Women,” Carter played Maggie, mother of the annoying redhead Sam, in the latter days of “Diff’rent Strokes.”

Gary Coleman, 42, died Feb. 8. Speaking of “Diff’rent Strokes,” Coleman was one of the most-recognizable faces on TV of the 1980s as Arnold Jackson. “Wha’choo talkin’...” Ah, I won’t go there.

Tony Curtis, 85, died Sept. 29. One of the silver screen's biggest stars in ‘50s and ‘60s (“Some Like It Hot” and “Spartacus”) and a very popular guy with the ladies. Curtis was married five times.

Corey Haim, 38, died March 10. If you were a teenage girl in the late 1980s, you loved him. Even if you were a boy, you thought “The Lost Boys” was pretty cool.

Dennis Hopper, 74, died May 29. Hollywood rebel, but I’ll always remember him telling Jimmy and the boys not to “get caught watchin’ the paint dry” in “Hoosiers.”

Lena Horne, 92, died May 9. Still smooth and ultra cool until the day she died.

Bob Guccione, 79, died Oct. 20. He created “Penthouse” magazine... but only for the articles.

Peter Graves, 83, died March 14. Achieved fame on “Mission: Impossible,” but might be more well-known for his deadpan delivery as Captain Oveur in “Airplane!”.
WEB-darth_vader.jpgCourtesy photoHow would you have liked to have been the one to tell Darth Vader his first take wasn't good enough?

Irvin Kershner, 87, died Nov. 27. Accomplished filmmaker directed “The Empire Strikes Back” — the best of the six “Star Wars” films, in my honest opinion.

Art Linkletter, 97, died May 26. “Kids Say The Darnest Things” creator. They still do.

Leslie Nielsen, 84, died Nov. 28. Yes, it was a rough year for fans of “Airplane!”. He just wants “to wish you both good luck. We’re all counting on you.”

Teddy Pendergrass, 59, died Jan. 13. Soulful singer from the ‘70s went on to be an activist for spinal injuries after being paralyzed in a 1982 auto accident.

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Thanks for all the ways you entertained us!

Indeed, I always wished I'd had a chance to meet (or at list talk to) Bob Minton. I did get to meet Ida, and she was an inspiration. Rest in peace.