David Bowie Made The World a Safer Place for the Alien in Us All

David Bowie, who just died of cancer aged 69, had an incalculable impact on pop culture throughout his shape-shifting career. But perhaps more than any other musician, he also had a tremendous impact on science fiction. He changed the way we thought about the alien, the uncanny, and the familiar.
Natalie Cole, R&B Icon, Has Died
Natalie Cole, the singer whose career spanned four decades and who was the daughter of Nat King Cole, died Thursday in a Los Angeles hospital from congestive heart failure, TMZ reports. She was 65.
Bounty Hunter Shoots, Kills Country Star Randy Howard
Randy Howard was an early ‘80s country star who toured with the likes of Willie Nelson and released novelty numbers like “All American Redneck” (“He’s got a pick-up truck/he loves to fuck”) and “My Nose Don’t Work No More” which is, obviously, about snorting too much cocaine. Unfortunately, like all the best country…
Nobel Prize Winning Author Doris Lessing Dead at 94
Doris Lessing, the British author of several novels including The Grass is Singing and The Golden Notebook, has died at the age of 94. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007.
Elmore Leonard Was Great To Women
Elmore Leonard passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 87 of a stroke, "at home surrounded by his loving family." If you're not familiar with this man with a particularly notable name, he was an author who wrote best-selling books about, as the AP put it in one particularly artful tweet, "schemers, clever conmen…
Awful New York Times Obit for Rocket Scientist Rhapsodizes About Her Beef Stroganoff
Yvonne Brill, a rocket scientist who in the 70s invented a propulsion system to help keep satellites from straying out of their orbits like distracted puppies, died on Wednesday at the age of 88. Brill's system became the industry standard for satellites, and her contribution to the rocket science racket proved so…
Broadway Star and Oscar-Winner Celeste Holm Dies at 95
Celeste Holm, best known for her role in the original 1943 production of Roger and Hammertein's Oklahoma!, as well as an Oscar-winning turn in Gentleman's Agreement, died on Sunday from a heart attack brought on by severe dehydration at the age of 95. Holm's acting career spanned more than 70 years, and though she…
Celebrated Feminist Poet Adrienne Rich Has Died
Adrienne Rich, one of the feminist movement's most powerful, influential, and accomplished writers, has passed away at the age of 82. The New York Times has a long obituary which is worth reading in full, but they summarized her impact nicely:
Obituaries Are the Best Place for Score-Settling
After 94 years of life, Josie Anello was probably looking forward to ascending to Heaven and spending eternity far away from her bickering children. So she must have been quite disappointed to pass the Pearly Gates and pick up the newspaper (yes, they have newspapers in Heaven) and find this gem of an obituary, which…
Details of Whitney's Death Emerge: Xanax and Alcohol May Be to Blame
If you don't already know, let me be the first to apologize for ruining what should have been a placid Sunday of Grammy-snarking — Whitney Houston, the diva that even Bret Easton Ellis's misogynistic, socially-numb serial killer held in high esteem, died last night at the heart-breaking age of 48. Houston's…
Penn State Football Coach Joe Paterno Dies at 85
Joe Paterno, former football coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, died this morning shortly after 10 am ET in State College, PA after experiencing serious complications from his lung cancer treatment. Paterno's 46-season, two national championship legacy was tarnished in November with allegations that assistant…
