Trust: America's Best Chance by Pete Buttigieg

 

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Trust is essential to the foundation of America’s democracy, asserts Pete Buttigieg, the former presidential candidate and South Bend mayor. Yet, in a century warped by terrorism, financial collapse, Trumpist populism, systemic racism, and now a global pandemic, trust has been squandered, sacrificed, abused, stolen, or never properly built in the first place. And now, more so than ever before, Americans must work side by side to reckon with the monumental challenges posed by our present moment.

Interweaving history, political philosophy, and affecting passages of memoir, Buttigieg explores the strong relationship between measures of prosperity and levels of social trust. He provides an impassioned account of a threefold crisis of trust: in our institutions, in each other, and in the American project itself. Today, these perilous patterns of distrust have wreaked havoc on nearly every sector of society, as Americans increasingly resent the very government that needs to be part of the solution. With the internet and partisan television networks acting as accelerants, Americans jettison any sense of shared reality, lose confidence in experts and scientists, and cope with the grim national tragedy of a pandemic that has only further exemplified the lethality of distrust.

Buttigieg contends that our success, or failure, at confronting the greatest challenges of the decade―racial and economic justice, pandemic resilience, and climate action―will rest on whether we can effectively cultivate, deepen, and, where necessary, repair the networks of trust that are now endangered, or for so many, have never even existed.

I’ve admired Pete Buttigieg for quite a while now, and reading Trust only deepened that admiration. During his presidential campaign, he and his husband Chasten carried themselves with a level of dignity and respect that often feels rare in modern politics. Even in a very intense national spotlight, they remained gracious, grounded, and consistently decent. As a gay man, that meant a lot to me then, and it still does now.

What stands out most in Trust is how clearly Buttigieg explains the growing crisis of mistrust in our institutions — and how complicated the reasons for that mistrust actually are. He writes about the erosion of confidence in government, the news media, and other institutions that shape our public life, and he does so thoughtfully rather than defensively. If I’m being honest, it’s one of the most balanced discussions of the issue I’ve read, and that approach really resonated with me.

He is also careful to acknowledge that mistrust didn’t simply appear out of nowhere. In many cases it was earned — particularly among marginalized communities that have historically been excluded, ignored, or even harmed by the very institutions now asking for their trust. At the same time, he addresses the rise of purposeful misinformation and how it has deepened existing fractures. In many ways, that deliberate misinformation feels like pouring gasoline on a fire that was already burning.

When I finished Trust, I felt that the problem he describes is serious but not hopeless. Buttigieg clearly believes our democratic institutions are worth repairing, and I appreciated his willingness to engage the issue directly. The country could use more leaders willing to do that — and honestly, I’m begging him to run for president again someday.

I Have Something to Tell You by Chasten Buttigieg

 

If you even remotely paid attention to me on Facebook, you would know who my favorite candidate was during the Democratic primaries. Going into them, I actually had three favorites: Buttigieg, Castro, and Harris.  They were the three individuals that I had been paying attention to for years, and will always hold a lot of admiration for. In the beginning, the three of them were pretty much grouped together, with no real order of preference. For that matter, I would have been in heaven had anyone found a way to set up triumvirate government, with the three of them sharing power. 

As the primaries slogged on, Pete started to edge ahead of the other two. And by the time he dropped out, he was my first choice. I won't go into the policy issues that pushed me his way, though I could list quite a few, this just isn't the place to do that. Stylistically, he was also the one I was able to connect to the most.  Again, since this isn't the real point of this post, I'll skip over that as well.  Which leaves us with the deeply personal connection I felt to him and his campaign, and his husband, Chasten, had a lot to do with that.  

As a gay man, who struggled with acceptance as a kid, seeing an out man have a real chance at the White House, was something I never thought I would see in my lifetime.  Seeing my lived experience as a gay man, in someone who could easily be President of the Untied States, was nothing short of life affirming.  Getting to know him, as well as you can through the media and his own book, was something I would have loved to experience when I was younger.  The visibility and example he lives, gives our youth a glimpse of what it means when we say, It Gets Better.

The truly joyful part of Pete's campaign, was getting to see and "know" his husband, Chasten. If you have ever followed Chasten on social media, how he comes across there, is the same way he comes across in his memoir. His intelligence, loving heart, and wit are on full display. He doesn't pull punches, but he wraps them in both understanding and humility. He owns up to the mistakes he made, and seems to be someone who truly knows who he is. He comes across as humble, but with the understanding that he and his husband represent a sense of hopefulness for the future in terms of LGBTQ+ acceptance in a country that doesn't always feel welcoming, and oftentimes dangerous. 

When I first saw their Time magazine cover, with the words First Family, I cried. If I had seen that as a kid, it would have been everything to me, like seeing Norm on the first season of The Real World or watching the 1993 LGB March on Washington. I hope this book  an be that touchstone for some of today's youth, just looking to know they aren't alone. 

We Need to Stop Blaming the Victims

I've started this post off with about 17 different opening lines so far, but none of them have been able to get across my deep seated frustration at what I see happening to victims of sexual harassment and assault. Frankly, frustration is probably too mild of a term. Seething anger may be a more apt description of how I feel. All too often, even when the victims are believed, they are still blamed for what happened to them. They are told they shouldn't have put themselves in that situation, they should have dressed differently, they should have had less to drink, they simply misunderstood, or a myriad of other bullshit excuses, designed to shift the blame onto the victim, instead of the perpetrator. How about we start holding those who can't keep their hands to themselves, responsible for their own behavior?  Let's stop making excuses. Stop saying boys will be boys, as if rape and harassment are inherent to being a man. Stop saying it's locker room talk. Quit gaslighting victims. Why do we place so much of the responsibility and the guilt onto those who were exploited and hurt, all the while doing everything we can to protect the one responsible for the damage?

I could split this post off into several different tangents, including how when the victim is man, we treat them even worse, but I won't, because it all comes down to the same thing. We need to stop acting like the victim is responsible for bringing down these powerful men, and women, and start blaming the perpetrators themselves for ending their own careers. 

We need to do better.

We have to do better.

What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Part Of The Synopsis From Dust Jacket: 

For the first time, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules.  

Fair warning, a little of my political side comes out in this "review".

Frankly, I don't know how to objectively review this book. Even if I could somehow manage to be objective, how do you "review" a first person narrative of an election that is still tearing our country apart? I voted for Sec. Clinton in both the Democratic primary, and in the general election. What's more, I would do it again with a joyous heart.  But right now, my heart is broken by the wasted opportunity this country had to be lead by someone of her caliber. Instead, we have a man in the White House who is currently blaming hurricane survivors in Puerto Rico for their own suffering, while he's playing golf. He's poking at the leader of North Korea, his Justice Department is now saying it's okay for employers to fire you for being gay, and Dreamers are just months away from being deported. I told you I couldn't be objective about this.

In What Happened, Sec. Clinton is pretty frank in how she sees the mistakes she made, the fake email controversy and Director Comey's role, divisions on the left, and Russian interference combined into a perfect storm she just couldn't figure out how to navigate. This could be my own biases showing, but I think she's right. Throughout the book, Sec. Clinton lays out her case and does it without whining.  She accepts blame when she should, but doesn't hold back in holding others accountable when it's appropriate to do so.

Sen. Sanders used right wing propaganda to weaken her with his supporters. He painted a corrupt narrative of her that some voters, primarily younger who didn't really know her, bought into. They didn't understand the primary process, couldn't believe she was beating him in the primary, so they bought into this whole notion of the primary being stolen. The fact that it was the same primary system that allowed then Sen. Obama to beat her, was immaterial to their anger. They labeled her corrupt, badgered her supporters online, and a few in WI, PA, and MI threw hissy fits and either didn't vote, or voted for Dr. Stein, who has her own ties to Russia.

The letter Comey wrote to Congress days before the election truly was the final nail in the coffin. She is right when she says the momentum was on her side, but that the letter stopped it cold. It was an unprecedented act of interference in our election system by the FBI. His whole manner was suspect, from his initial statement to that final letter, he behaved in a most unseemly  manner.

The scope of Russian interference is staggering. Giving the Trump campaign opposition research, hacking the email systems of the DNC and John Podesta including the planting of fake emails, creating fake news stories, orchestrating anti immigrant rallies on US soil, taking out political ads on social media, employing thousand of social media trolls, stirring up racial tensions online, and only they know what else they did. The investigation is for from over, but what's already known should chill the blood of every American.

If you couldn't tell by my tone, I'm still a little bitter about the election. I wish I could find the grace and humor that Sec. Clinton shows in this book. Her pain and disappointment are on full display, but so is her warmth and compassion for those she feels she let down. This is a deeply personal memoir, and if it hurt for me to read it, I can't imagine how it felt for her to write it.

It's obviously a book by someone who is never going to run for office again, it's far too candid for that. And that's what hurt the most. Granted I've admired her for years, but seeing this openness from her cements the idea that regardless of how or why it happened, the missed opportunities that were only possible with her in office are a national disgrace.

One Day, What Happened In Orlando, Will Never Happen Again

I've been trying to get a review written for a little over 2 hours now, and no matter how many times I get it started, neither my brain, nor my heart is really in it tonight. Every time I blink, every time I let my mind wander, even for second, the images of the early morning attack in Orlando, FL is all I can see.  What has now been determined to be the largest mass shooting in United States history, has taken fifty lives, with countless others still fighting to stay alive.  It has claimed brothers and sons, mothers and fathers, husbands and lovers.  It has robbed the LGBT community in Orlando of a place they thought would be safe.  I has robbed the national LGBT community of our collective sense of safety.

The man who did this, and at this point in time, I could really care less what his motivations were, was a monster.  I know some want to jump up and down and scream it was Islamic extremism rearing it's head, and if that's the talking point you need to spout, go for it.  I won't name the shooter here, because I think he is getting enough attention already, but from what I'm reading, this guy sounds like a unstable, homophobic bastard who decided it was his place to teach us a lesson. Whether his motivation was religion, hate, or a combination of the two, it doesn't change the results of his actions.  Fifty people are dead.  Fifty people will not be able to go home ever again.  Families are left grieving as they read texts sent to them from inside the club, as their loved ones were dying.  Communities are left reeling, and it will be a long time before many will really feel safe again.

This isn't new though.  The LGBT community has had a target on our backs for far longer than any of us really care to think about.  This guy is no different from Eric Rudolph who bombed an Atlanta gay bar in the 1990s.  He's no different from the folks at Westboro Baptist Church, who called this shooting a righteous act of God.  He's not different than the arsonist who killed 32 people in a New Orleans club in 1973. He's no different than Scott Esk, the Oklahoma politician who, in 2014, called for the stoning of gay men and women.  He is no different from Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, the two men who beat Matthew Sheppard, before tying him to a fence post to die.  He's no different than the regime that sent gay men and women into gas chambers during WWII.  He is no different than those who sent gay men and women into asylums, to be experimented on like guinea pigs. He is no different from the doctors who used electrocution, chemical castration, and lobotomies to try and cure us. He's no different than the American "Christian" organizations that helped pass the death penalty for gay people in a few African countries. He is no different from the monsters in the Middle East, and elsewhere, who are willing to use religion to take the lives of gay teenagers.  He is no different from the parents who kick their gay children out of their home, and force them to fend for themselves on the streets.  He's no different from every other person who has beaten, spat upon, or killed someone simply for being gay.  He's no different from every other person who sees us, and our relationships, as worth less then themselves.

One day, this won't be an issue.  One day, we will be able to live our lives without worrying that we could lose our families, or our lives, by being true to ourselves.  One day, coming out won't be a term anyone remembers.  One day, we will be able to go out in public and not worry about being attacked if we show even a little bit of affection to our partner.  That one day, needs to get here soon.

All I Love And Know by Judith Frank

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

For years, Matthew Greene and Daniel Rosen have enjoyed a contented domestic life in Northampton, Massachusetts.  Opposites in many ways, they have grown together and made their relationship work.  But when they learn that Daniel's twin brother and sister-in-law have been killed in a Jerusalem bombing, their lives are suddenly, utterly transformed.

The deceased couple have left behind two young children, and their shocked and grieving families must decide who will raise six-year-old Gal and baby Noam.  When it becomes clear that Daniel's brother and sister-in-law wanted Matt and Daniel to be their children's guardians, the two men find themselves confronted by challenges that strike at the heart of their relationship.  What is Matt's place in an extended family that does not competently accept him or the commitment he and Daniel have made?  How do Daniel's complex feelings about Israel and this act of terror affect his ability to recover from his brother's death?  And what kind of parents can these two men really be to children who have lost so much?

The impact that this instant new family has on Matt, Daniel, and their relationship is subtle and heartbreaking, yet not without glimmers of hope. They must learn to reinvent and redefine their bond in profound, sometimes painful ways.  How does a family become strong enough to stay together and endure when its very basis has drastically changed?  And are their limits to honesty or commitment - or love?

When I finally got around to reading this book, I read it in one sitting.  I read all 420 pages, and did not put the book down once.  I didn't get up to go to the bathroom, I didn't quench the thirst I started to feel half way through, I ignored my phone, and I told everyone to leave me alone.  And strangely, I had this reaction to a book I'm not all that in love with, and I'm not even sure I realized that until I typed it.

And now that I've let the cat out of the bag, I guess it's on me to try figure out why I was so engrossed in a book, that I didn't love.  Normally, even when I'm really enjoying a book, I don't get so engrossed that I can't put it down.  And the two most recent times before this, The Absolutist by John Boyne and Gillespie and I by Jane Harris, were books that I truly loved.  They were books I would recommend to anyone and everyone, and will reread for the rest of my life.  I'm not sure how often I would recommend All I Love and Know, and I'm really not sure if it is a book I will ever reread.  And quite frankly, I'm still not sure I can tell you why, so I think I just wasted this entire paragraph.

I think part of this issue is my somewhat conflicted view of the entire Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  Like Matt and Daniel, I think what Israel has done to the Palestinians is pretty much the same as Apartheid in South Africa.  I think the idea of an entire Ethnic/Religious group, who has been subjugated by other for centuries, turning around and doing the same thing themselves, I find it puzzling and just a tad bit revolting.  It makes no sense to me.  But at the same time, I agree that Israel has every right to defend themselves against those who don't want them to exist as a nation.  But most of all, I don't have an answer.  I don't know what either side should do, though I think the fighting is taking its toll on way too many innocents.

But I think my general unease has more to do with the relationship between Matt and Daniel.  It's messy and complicated, they have a quasi open marriage, which I still do not understand, though I know it happens. And I think it's in that one little facet of their relationship, my own personal issues with it, that prevents me from loving this book.  With everything going on in their lives, with all the pain and conflict, I get why maybe turning outside the relationship for comfort would be something that could happen.  Especially when one of the partners is doing everything that he can to make it work, and the other has shut down and withdrawn so deeply into his pain, that neither one can see straight anymore. I get the need for connection in the face of pain, and I get the urge to get it anywhere you can when you are no longer getting that sense of worth from the man you love.

What I don't understand is how they allowed this to happen before the events of the book.  The openness, though maybe not occurring very often, and with a ton of rules, still went on.  They were happily in love, living together, but allowed each other to be intimate with other people.  Call me a prude, old fashioned, or naive, but I've never been able to understand relationships like that.  I try not to judge those who are in open relationships, and for the most part I don't, but I still don't get it.  And I understand it's not my place to get it, since I'm not in the relationship, but it does stop me from investing to much emotion into a fictional couple that I really wanted to love.  And I really don't understand why the author uses that openness as a vehicle for the couple to implode, or at least the proverbial last straw breaking the camel's back..

Since you can tell from the synopsis that it all works out in the end, I don't feel as if I'm spoiling anything for you, when I tell you that it does in fact have a happy ending.  And I can even go as far as saying that I'm happy it ended that way, and that I adore both Matt and Daniel.  I can even go a step further and tell you that I enjoyed the book, that I became invested in both the story and the characters, that I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with Matt and Daniel. I'm even willing to admit that it's my own personal hangups that kept me from loving what I read.

And now that I'm done typing, I'm even willing to concede that maybe I loved this book more than I did at the beginning of the review.  Maybe its as simple as uttering my relationship hangups out loud, albeit in type.  Could actually admitting your issues, no matter where they come from, allow you to get over them, to not let them cloud your judgement? Maybe it is that simple, or maybe, just maybe actually sitting down to write a review actually forces you to rethink the entire process over again.  No matter the reason, I'm now willing to admit that I loved the book, and that I would highly recommend. it.  I just hope you guys don't think I'm too schizophrenic now.

I want to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews, hopefully they will be more coherent than mine.

Here is Where by Andrew Carroll

If you didn't know that Edwin Booth saved the life of Robert Todd Lincoln, months before his brother assassinated President Lincoln, you aren't alone.  I had no clue, and that's the point of this book.  The author, Andrew Carroll, who had files upon files of little know historical oddities, decided to travel the United States, visiting the sites of pivotal points in American history, that most of us have forgotten about.  And forgotten is probably not the right word, let's just say this book is full of events and people that most of us never heard about, though we should have.

He had a few self imposed criteria. They had to be sites that were nationally important, not just some fun local event that didn't have that much of an impact, outside of the neighborhood it took place in.  But most importantly, they had to be unmarked, which most of the time, meant they were forgotten.

But this isn't just a book full of unconnected events and the personalities involved, instead its a travelogue that celebrates this country's past, and honors those that are trying to preserve it.  The author isn't just slapping down some dates and names, he's letting us in on the journey, allowing us to share in the discovery, to revel in our collective history.  Each trip is a separate journey, and we are right there with him, as he visits the sites and talks to the locals, gleaning information from everyone he meets.  You can feel the reverence and even the awe that he feels at times, being on location, where those we should honor, gave up their lives or fulfilled a life time of accomplishments.

He starts us off in Hawaii, not the most logical choice, nor his first choice.  Rather he is forced to accommodate his journey, to meet the demands of where he is going.  And it's with Hawaii that my studying began.  I was unaware of how a kamikaze pilot crash landed on the small island of Niihau.  Nor did I know of his capture by the locals, and how some trusted members of the community, who happened to be of Japanese heritage, tried to help him in escaping.  It's that incident that helped cement the distrust of Japanese Americans, and helped to land them in internment camps for the remainder of World War II.

What follows is a state by state tour, exploring other such events. But he doesn't go off willy nilly, or even follow in a way that makes the most geographical sense.  Instead he breaks the stops down into categories, using these events and places to explore broader themes running throughout our history.  He visits those who are trying to figure out who was here before us.  He delves into the darker side of expansion, discovery and growth.  He visits the homes of men and women who pushed our country forward through innovation and science.  He even touches upon the future, how our past teaches us about what is to come, and how there are those who are trying to preserve it for those generations to come.

And just to put out there one random fact that I never knew, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, started in Haskell County, KS.  I live in Kansas, but haven't been into the Western part of the state, I always knew that I never wanted to take a trip to Sublette.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books, for this review.

In Memoriam: January Through June, 2014

It's almost impossible for any of us to really pay attention to all those that have passed from the public eye.  Whether they are famous or not, every year we seem to lose those that have contributed to society in ways that we may never realize.  They are actors, musicians, entertainers, politicians, activists, scientists, and writers.  They enrich our lives through their works, and without them, our lives would be just a little bit more empty.  I would like to take this time to thank many of them for their contributions.  I obviously can't include everyone on this list, so I will let those I can include, stand in for those I can't.  Whether they are on this particular list or not, we owe all of them a big thank you.

January 2014

Phil Everly, 1939-2014. American Musician, The Everly Brothers; "Wake Up Little Susie" & "All I Have to Do Is Dream".

Larry D. Mann, 1922-2014.  Canadian Actor; The Sting & Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Harvey Bernhard, 1924-2014.  American Movie Producer; The Omen & The Lost Boys.

Russell Johnson, 1924-2014. American Actor; Gilligan's Island.

Dave Madden, 1931-2014.  American Actor; The Partridge Family & Alice. 

Hal Sutherland, 1929-2014.  American Animator; Sleeping Beauty & He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. 

Ben Starr, 1921-2014. American TV Producer; The Facts of Life & Silver Spoons.

James Jacks, 1947-2014. American Movie Producer; Heart and Souls & The Gift.

Arthur Rankin, Jr., 1924-2014.  American Animator; The Hobbit, Mad Monster Party?, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and a bazillion other TV Christmas specials. 

February 2014  

Maximilian Schell, 1930-2014.  Swiss Actor; Judgement at Nuremberg & The Black Hole.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, 1967-2014.  American Actor; Capote & Doubt. 

Richard Bull, 1924-2014. American Actor; Little House on the Prairie.

Joan Mondale, 1930-2014.  Former Second Lady of the United States of America.

Shirley Temple Black, 1928-2014.  American Actress and Diplomat; Curly Top & Bright Eyes.

Sid Caesar, 1922-2014.  American Actor and Comedian; Your Show of Shows & Grease.

Ralph Waite, 1928-2014.  American Actor; The Waltons & Roots.

John Henson, 1965-2014.  American Puppeteer; The Muppet Show movies.

Mary Grace Canfield, 1924-2014.  American Actress; Bewitched & Pollyanna. 

Harold Ramis, 1944-2014.  American Actor, Director, Screenwriter; Ghostbusters & Caddyshack.

Jim Lange, 1932-2014.  American Game Show Host; The Dating Game & Name That Tune.

March 2014  

Glenn Edward McDuffie, 1927-2014. American World War II Veteran.

Joel Brinkley, 1952-2014. American Syndicated Columnist and Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist.

Berkin Elvan, 1999-2014. Turkish Student.

Ken Forsse, 1936-2014.  American Inventor & TV Producer behind Teddy Ruxpin.

Vincent Lamberti, 1928-2014. American Chemist & Inventor of Dove Soap.

James Rebhorn, 1948-2014. American Actor; Independence Day & Lorenzo's Oil.

April 2014 

Mary Anderson, 1918-2014. American Actress; Gone With the Wind & Lifeboat.

Mickey Rooney, 1920-2014. American Actor; National Velvet & Babes in Arms.

Frans van der Lugt, 1938-2014. Dutch Jesuit Priest Working in Syria.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927-2014. Colombian Novelist; One Hundred Years of Solitude & Love in the Time of Cholera. 

Rodney "Skip" Bryce, aka DJ E-Z Rock, 1968-2014. American Musician; "It Takes Two" & "Joy and Pain"

Bob Hoskins, 1942-2014.  British Actor; Who Framed Roger Rabbit? & Nixon.  

May 2014

John Ernest Dolibois, 1918-2014. American Ambassador to Luxembourg & Nuremberg Interrogator.

Jim Oberstar, 1934-2014.  U.S. Congressman from Minnesota's 8th District.

Tony Genaro, 1942-2014. American Actor; Tremors & Hearts & Souls.

Roger L. Easton, 1921-2014. Former Head of the Space Applications Branch of the Naval Research Laboratory. Creator of the Project Vanguard Satellite System, and Inventor of GPS.

Ed Gagliardi, 1952-2014. American Guitarist, Foreigner; "Cold as Ice" & "Hot Blooded". 

Matthew Cowles, 1944-2014.  American Actor; All My Children.

Michael Gottleib, 1945-2014. American Film Director; Mannequin & Mannequin Two: On the Move.

Stormé DeLarverie, 1920-2014.  American Drag King, GLBT Activist & one of the Stonewall Rioters. 

Lee Chamberlin, 1938-2014.  American Actress; The Electric Company & All My Children.

Maya Angelou, 1928-2014. American Author ( I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings), Poet ("On the Pulse of Morning"), Dancer, Stage Actress (Porgy & Bess, The Blacks),  Film Actor (Roots), Singer ("Run Joe"), and Activist.

June 2014 

Ann B. Davis, 1926-2014. American Actress; The Brady Bunch.

Ruby Dee, 1922-2014. American Actress & Activist; A Raisin in the Sun & Jungle Fever.

Carla Laemmle, 1909-2014.  American Actress; The Phantom of the Opera & Dracula.

Casey Kasem, 1932-2014. American DJ, Radio Host, and Voice Actor; American Top Forty, Scooby Doo: Where Are You?, Super Friends, & Transformers.

Eli Wallach, 1915-2014. American Actor; The Good, The Bad and the Ugly & The Magnificent Seven.

Meshach Taylor, 1947-2014. American Actor; Designing Women & Mannequin.