ThereWillBeDeaths7

In a wonderful schizophrenic turn of events, I put Kaczynski on my list for the Inverse as well as on my shadowlist (#43) for the year. Luckily I didn't totally bomb my chances as he's only at #21 here.

Francis, but Silvio will die first

Author and former D66-politician Jan Terlouw (91) has been visited at home by current D66-leader in parliament, Jan Paternotte. Terlouw looks quite well for his age I'd say, could see him living to 95+ at this point. Mr. Terlouw has had a decades long political career (Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education, senator, party leader et al.), wrote more than a dozen young adult fiction books like Oorlogswinter (1972), and is an activist for sustainable development and animal welfare. At times he still commentates on the current political situation in the Netherlands (like in most other countries at the moment, shit) and attends meetings with other former D66-leaders.

Rolf Harris receiving his honorary doctorate from the University of East London in 2007

John Hemingway again, please

I'm on holiday in London with my girlfriend for the next couple of days, having arrived this evening and leaving sunday afternoon. We haven't planned much as of yet (besides Hamilton the musical, gf is a big fan and I appreciate most of the songs as well), but with the crowning done (with loads of crowds) and Eurovision fans off to Liverpool I guess, it might actually be a great time to be here!

Perhaps with the exception of most of the candidates for her senate seat as Newsom would handpick one of them (Barbara Lee?) as her replacement. Even more so as there has only been one open senate seat in California for the last 30 years. Imagine spending millions on a senate campaign only for the old senator to pass away and your opponent being chosen to fill her seat and essentially being able to stay in the senate for the next 30 years!

On the other hand, she would need a stroke of luck to finish her term

John Hemingway for me

I would be surprised if she were still alive at the end of 2024, let alone be remotely capable to serve as a senator

That makes it 11 out of 40 names who have passed away since the end of 2016, just over a quarter. I'd imagine quite a few of the surviving ones will pass away in the next five years - when the class of 1937 will be 90-91. Some of the most talked about names out of the above on the forum recently: - Vanessa Redgrave (has looked frail for years, health setbacks like a near-fatal heart attack in 2015, lungs working at 30 per cent capacity due to emphysema caused by years of smoking) - Roberta Flack (ALS diagnosis announced in November 2022, unable to sing) - Harald V of Norway (multiple hospitalisations in the last years, surgery to replace a heart valve in 2020 and suffering from "not exactly looking the picture of health" for some years now) - Jack Nicholson (retired from his acting career in 2010, multiple rumours as to his health in recent years. Years in which forum members have debated "he hasn't been seen for years, he has been diagnosed with Alzheimers years ago", as well as "he still attends public events and actually looks quite well for his age") - Bill Cosby (all health setbacks could - and should, in my opinion - be seen with a grain of salt due to most news coming from his attorneys and him being convicted of aggravated indecent assault in 2014. Legally blind as of 2016, has cancelled plans for his comeback for the time being as of September 2021) - Bobby Charlton (dementia diagnosis announced in November 2020, wasn't able to attend the funerals of his brothers in 2020 and 2023 due to illness) - Jane Fonda (multiple cancer scares, non-Hodgkin lymphoma in September 2022 which has been in remission as of December last year)

Just now realised I had Barry Humphries in my team. Four out of six hits as of now, did not expect that! If I can still submit my award picture for mr. Humphries, I present you: Barry Humphries receiving the Wizard of Oz award from (then) Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall for his fictional character Sir Les Patterson at the Oldie Of The Year Awards 2021. This happened at The Savoy Hotel in London. If not, look! Elderly Dame reluctantly accepts a framed picture which says "I'll die" from a future Queen and dies within two years!

Ah yes, my bad! I first considered Simon Cowell (the wildlife one) but decided to choose Frank Field MP instead, after which I forgot to remove the bit in brackets.

My team, mostly filled with the usual suspects but might be worth something Jimmy Carter Daniel Ellsberg Rolf Harris Steve McMichael Joanne Woodward Roberta Flack James Whale Rosalynn Carter Giorgio Napolitano Linda Nolan Jean-Marie Le Pen Pope Francis Khamtai Siphandone Silvio Berlusconi Henry Kissinger Dianne Feinstein Frank Field (MP) Dick van Dyke Willie Nelson Gloria Molina Jonnie Irwin subs: Bob Barker Franz Beckenbauer Rob Burrow

Comedian Paul van Vliet (nl) has passed away aged 87 after a brief illness. He became popular nationally in the 1970's and 1980's and has since been a mainstay in the Dutch comedy scene. Additionally, his often linguisticly inventive comedy has given us some new phrases in Dutch like "Daar hebben wij ’t volgende op gevonden", We've found the following (as a solution to a problem or an issue). This is turning out to be a bad year for Dutch 20th century comedy legends after the deaths of Wim de Bie and now Paul van Vliet.

Harry Belafonte being awarded the American Music Award, 1986 for We Are The World:

Singer Rob de Nijs (80) has been admitted to hospital in what has been described as a "worrying condition". According to his management he became unwell at home and had breathing difficulties yesterday evening. De Nijs has suffered from Parkinson's disease for multiple years and last year ended his career because of it. While this might not be his final decline, it feels kind of like the beginning of the end for him.

Philippe of Belgium, King of the Belgians has broken three ribs while kitesurfing in Spain. The accident as reported by national media happened in early April but has until now not been confirmed by the Royal House. Philippe (or Filip), 63, has since made a visit to French Guiana with his son to attend the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket (which will send a satellite into an orbit of Jupiter as part of the Juice mission by the ESA). According to reports he didn't look in peak physical condition and repeatedly put his hand on his right side to drive the pain away. The fact he could manage the long journey by plane suggests it's nothing major, but a health setback nonetheless.

I did like these short obits for candidates who died off the list. These shouldn't be as long as a regular candidates' one, but I found them interesting as they contained additional data like the lists these previous candidates were on and how some years the list could have had a higher number of hits if other people were kept on it.

Looking at his picture, he does have a fun chin

A couple of weeks ago I was told I passed my final research paper, which means I have obtained my bachelor at university! It's something I'm quite happy with. And all of that while taking part in deathpools, talking about having priorities And this evening I got the news we'll get a kitten, she'll be welcomed in our home in May if everything goes to plan. It'll be the first time we have a cat since our last one passed away aged 17 at the end of 2021. It will be quite a change to suddenly have such a young animal at home but I'm looking forward to it.

Ron Perlman is 73 today. He played the titular character in Hellboy (2004) and its sequel. He also portrayed the goblin Gnarlack in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), the role in which I first saw him. And actor Peter Davison is 72 today. He portrayed the Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who from 1981 to 1984.

Quite a shock to me reading his "career path" as of late. Convicted of driving under influence in 2015 as well as "attempted child endangerment" in 2021, being sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service for the latter. Seperated from his wife last year and this January it was reported Bell was seeking help for his "substance abuse". Looking back now, he could quite easily be seen as a suicide risk waiting to happen. But I'll wait with any further speculation until more is known about his disappearance. Having watched some episodes of Drake & Josh when I was younger, this wasn't really something I expected to see happen. I really don't have the information necessary to say what happened to him and perhaps he has gone off the rails in recent years. However I do quite hope they find him alive and well

Now I'm thinking about it, I actually had a DL related dream as well of late: A couple of weeks ago, Maria Branyas Morera passed away and I thought to myself: 1. how sad she didn't live longer as she still looked so sprightly and 2. how in the world Fusa Tatsumi actually lingered long enough to be oldest living person! And then I woke up, confused as to why my brains thought the subject of my dreams had to be supercentenarian women instead of like, women ninety years younger

Well, that's going great. Almost five months later and no minister or state secretaries have passed away. They can thank me for the gift of life The lack of political deaths led me to look into the wives of Dutch Prime Ministers. There have been fifteen PM's after WW2; all former ones had a wife or partner (only the current PM, Mark Rutte, is not and never publicly has been in a relationship). Partners of Dutch Prime Ministers: - Barbara Schermerhorn-Rook (1897-1986) [Schermerhorn, 1945-1946] - Jet Beel-van der Meulen (1895-1971) [Beel, 1946-1948; 1958-1959] - To Drees-Hent (1888-1974) [Drees, 1948-1958] - Maria de Quay-van der Lande (1901-1988) [De Quay, 1959-1963] - Mini Marijnen-Schreurs (1921-2013) [Marijnen, 1963-1965] - Truus Cals-van der Heijden (1915-1982) [Cals, 1965-1966] - Hetty Zijlstra-Bloksma (1921-2013) [Zijlstra, 1966-1967] - Anneke de Jong - Bartels (1915-2010) [De Jong, 1967-1971] - Mies Biesheuvel-Meuring (1919-1989) [Biesheuvel, 1971-1973] - Liesbeth den Uyl - van Vessem (1924-1990) [Den Uyl, 1973-1977] - Eugenie van Agt - Krekelberg (1930) [Van Agt, 1977-1982] - Ria Lubbers - Hoogeweegen (1940) [Lubbers, 1982-1994] - Rita Kok - Roukema (1939) [Kok, 1994-2002] - Bianca Hoogendijk (1960) [Balkenende, 2002-2010] The last Dutch PM's wife to pass away was Hetty Zijlstra in 2013, aged 92. The oldest living one is Eugenie van Agt (will be 93 on 6 July), the wife of Dries van Agt (92). The widows of Lubbers and Kok are in their early eighties. When playing in a smaller (or Dutch-themed) pool, all three could be potential candidates.