Celebrities Passing in 2019

I was watching one of those shows about the celebrities who died in 2019.  It hit me that I had met several of them.  I realized that I am very glad that my path got to cross with theirs.

They mentioned Petper Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars films.  We actually met him a few times here and there at comic and sci-fi cons when we were younger.  He was always a pleasant matter of fact kind of guy.  He was a giant too.  When I shook his hand the tips of his fingers would just about touch my elbows.  I recall watching one of the more recent Star Wars films and my wife and I both realized that the guy playing Chewbacca couldn't be Peter Mayhew.  The movements and mannerisms weren't the same.  We stuck around to watch the credits and realized that another actor had taken over.

At some of the same venues, we met Sid Haig many times.  Sid was an actor who had been around for forever (I saw an old A-Team episode the other day that he was in).  He had a major acting comeback appearing in Rob Zombie movies, and man, was he appropriate for Rob and the horror genre!  Sid always seemed happy to meet fans and talk about his films.

80s Icon Eddie Money was mentioned.  We saw a show of his one night in Akron Ohio.  He stuck around afterwards and signed autographs.  He was very friendly and seemed to appreciate his fans.  "Take Me Home Tonight" is one of my all time favorite songs.  I remember him saying something about not having a lot of fans....  but that he had a lot of friends.

I was glad that the show I was watching felt the need to mention the passing of Nick Clifford, who I mentioned here recently.  Nick was the last living carver who worked on Mount Rushmore.  It was a real thrill meeting him.  He seemed like a pleasant, but maybe somewhat shy fellow.  he signed his book in the gift shop at Mount Rushmore.

AND I was thrilled to see a few mentions of the passing of Eva Kor, who we met in 2013.  Please read my post on her and google around a bit about her.  I hate it that another holocaust survivor is no longer with us, but she left behind a heck of a legacy.