RIP Olivia Newton-John
A lovely lady with a lovely voice.
I knew that Newton-John had experienced a cancer recurrence, but I thought perhaps she’d cheat death one more time. But it was not to be.
Newton-John was British but was raised in Australia, and was a teenaged singer in Australia, much like the Bee Gees. She was friendly with the Gibbs and recorded some of their songs, including a favorite of mine I’ll highlight here. This is a live performance from 2003:
NOTE: I wrote about her relation to her grandfather, the physicist Max Born, in this post.
It’s atypical for breast cancer to be lethal. However, it has the unhappy property of being able to reappear at any time, so it hangs over your head for the rest of your life. Newton-John’s reappeared after an interval of 21 years. The comic actress Marcia Wallace also had a recurrence after 20+ years. The probability of a recurrence in a given year does decline for a number of years after your diagnosis, but it eventually lapses to a constant. The oncologist we consulted told us during the last appointment, “I’m due to see a patient who has had a recurrence after twenty years. About 2% of former patients do relapse every year. You need to know this can happen”.
RIP.
I’m sure Neo and her readers will name others; but, it seems to me that famous deaths happen in threes:
Ray Liotta, Tony Dow, and now Olivia Newton-John.
R.I.P.
Judith Durham (The Seekers) also died 5 August, 2022.
charles:
Ray Liotta? G-damn.
I was just watching him in “Blow” and thinking what a gracious, great job he did as the father of a gangster compared to his epic “Goodfellas” gangster role.
He was younger than me too.
***
Even in the 70s I never wanted to be mellow, but when I listened to Olivia, I considered it.
RIP David McCullough, historian, who also died earlier today.
McCullough was awarded Pulitzer Prizes for two presidential biographies. “Truman” was published in 1992 and topped The New York Times’ bestseller list for 43 weeks. “John Adams,” published in 2001, ranked No. 1 in the first week and went through dozens of more printings, according to the newspaper.
Regarding other chronicles of American history, he received National Book Awards for “The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal,” published in 1977, and “Mornings on Horseback,” published in 1981, detailing the life of the young Theodore Roosevelt and his family.
https://nypost.com/2022/08/08/beloved-best-selling-author-david-mccullough-dead-at-89/
McCullough’s wife Rosalee died earlier this year, on June 9; they had been married for 68 years. I remember him as the voice of the early American Experience videos, including one on the Johnstown Flood (McCullough was born and raised in Pittsburgh); he was also the narrator of Ken Burns’ The Civil War.
James Caan on July 6. Best known for The Godfather, but I really liked him in Thief. That film also marked the conversion of Dennis Farina from Chicago cop to actor.
My LA lawyer friend went to Pepperdine Law School with an Australian guy who had been one of Olivia N-J’s managers. They both graduated and passed the CA bar.
My friend got a job with a top LA firm.The Australian became an LA defender. He was a classic sociopath — totally charming, crazy, gonzo. He would show up in court on acid and get by on his nerve. He had the Devil’s Eyebrows.
I went to dinner with him once and afterward called him, “Mephistopheles.” My friend agreed.
No disrespect for Olivia.
PA+Cat,
I’ve been rereading McCullough’s books this summer. I’m currently reading his second to last book on the Wright Brothers which is typically good.
His ‘John Adams’ is in my opinion the greatest presidential biography ever.
As a young’n in the 1980s I first learned about the building of the Panama Canal and the story of the Brooklyn Bridge from McCullough.
He was a giant.
Art Deco,
If I am reading your comment correctly I wish your wife good health and a long, cancer free future.
Griffin (and others who may be interested):
I finally tracked down a YouTube copy of the hour-long documentary on the Johnstown Flood that David McCullough hosted. His concluding remarks include the following: “The lesson of the Johnstown Flood is this: It’s a great mistake– possibly even perilous– ever to assume that because people are in positions of responsibility, they are therefore behaving responsibly.”
And we are indeed living in perilous times.
You can watch the documentary here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD299nwDSRg&ab_channel=LaurelHighlandsHistoricalVillage
RIP 🙁
I second RTF’s comment, Art Deco. Best wishes. My dear mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 1960s, when that was often a death sentence. They did a radical mastectomy. About 25 years later, she had a recurrence, and her second surgery was less radical. She did not die of cancer.
Much obliged to everyone.
Meatloaf also died earlier this year (January).
Meatloaf also died earlier this year (January).