LWCZ

Francisco San Martin, who played Dario Hernandez in Days Of Our Lives, dead at 39.

Planned Parenthood activist Cecile Richards reportedly dead at 67.

For some reason I thought Charles Wright (of Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band) has passed away ages ago, only to find out through a random IG post that he's still around these days. 84 and still going pretty strong, although a bit frail.

Former Egyptian defender and commentator Mimi El-Sherbini reportedly dead at 86.

If it's still possible, I'd like to make a last-minute sign-up (although, with my DL luck, I'll be out fast ).

Charles "Chuck" Doswell, prolific storm-chaser and meteorologist, reportedly dead at 79.

Amy Lau, interior designer and co-founder of the Design Miami fair, reportedly dead at 58.

I'll risk it with (Reverend) Jesse Jackson.

IIHF Hall of Famer Hans Dobida dead at 95.

Fitness and bull riding TikToker Chris O'Donnell, who went under the username Creeohdee (841K followers on TikTok), reportedly dead at 31.

This one is a bit more obscure and, say, perhaps a little less reliable but... Soul blues singer and some-time Bobby Womack and Sly Stone collaborator "Mighty" Joe Hicks seems to have actually passed in 1992! Today I came across "Life And Death In G & A" by Abaco Dream, for which Hicks reportedly provided vocals and I was wondering whether he's still around, as there is little to no information about him out there, other than that he "hailed from" (not that he was born in) San Francisco. As there were basically no records available on a Joe/Joseph Hicks from San Fran on FamilySearch History Search, I took to Facebook to see whether someone could have written anything about Hicks' whereabouts. After a while, I came across three FB profiles which are supposedly of Hicks' children (as they were all putting younger photos of him in their posts wishing their dad a heavenly birthday, along with actual older photos of Hicks from presumably late 80s and early 90s). The thing is that Hicks seems to have aged a lot in those years when compared with the 1973 Midnight Special show I linked to the word "Mighty" (although I'd argue that he's still recognisable in those photos-mainly for his eyes and teeth-, albeit after going basically bald and gaining a lot of weight). Moreover, one of the children also published a photo of his gravesite, but this is where it gets a little bit interesting. Seems like "Mighty" Joe Hicks was in fact born Horace J./H. Hicks (some records have J. in them, some have H., and some have zilch for his middle name) in 1926 (making him circa 47 at the time of the recording of the Midnight Special show, which is still kinda believable, although the later years must've been rough on Hicks). Moreover, when I searched for Horace Hicks through FamilySearch I found three main records, which would suggest that it's him. Firstly, there is a military draft registration card for a Horace Hicks born October 1926 in Texas, but living in Richmond, CA. Secondly, there is an entry from a residence database suggesting that Hicks resided in Los Angeles in 1981 and in Oakland in 1983. Given that Hicks recorded his album in Hollywood, he probably would have lived in Los Angeles at some point. Lastly, there is an entry in California's Death Index for the same Horace Hicks born in October 1926, who passed away in December 1992 in San Francisco, sending us back to the "hailed from San Francisco" bit from the beginning of the post, and who was later buried in Santa Nella. Although the information on him seems to be coming from all around California and seems to be rather strange, I still believe it's him. Additionally, the back cover for his 1973 album also has also a "special thanks" section, which includes names of his wife and children (f.e. one of his daughters nicknamed "Muppi", which is basically confirmed by Hicks' daughter in a reply to Hicks' supposed cousin Ernestine's message on a FB post).

25th January

I was working on my master's thesis while I came across Fred Darian, who had two minor hits that reached Billboard's Hot 100 in 1961 (and also worked on a few movies in the 50s and 60s). I noticed he was born in 1927 and wondered whether he's still around, but it looks like he "kinda" died off the radar in 2022 (which was confirmed by audio engineer Steve Hoffman on his FB page).

Healthwise, I'd vote for Clinton or Biden (with Biden probably dying first of the two). Nevertheless, I went for Trump (due to the not-so-miniscule possibility of him dying of either natural or unnatural causes).