I always kinda thought that she'd live forever... RIP.

...

RIP Howard Zinn.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...howardzinn.jpg

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=123063395

Zinn literally rewrote history, telling the story of the People and giving the Liberals a voice in history.

true.....I wouldn't doubt if they make a video game about this Legend.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA240_.jpg


Producer and former studio executive David Brown, who produced Oscar-winning films including "The Sting" and "Driving Miss Daisy," died Sunday, after a long illness, at the Manhattan home he shared with his wife, Helen Gurley Brown.

He was 93.

http://www.newyorkcool.com/archives/...ter1_david.jpg

Partnered for many years with onetime studio boss Richard D. Zanuck, Brown produced hits of the 1970s and '80s including "Jaws," "Cocoon" and "The Verdict," his personal favorite.

A courtly man, fastidious about his attire, Brown was a voracious reader and dedicated storyteller. Few commanded his knowledge of studio lore and his talent for summoning up stories about the Hollywood titans of generations ago. He and Zanuck seemed an ideal team, given his zeal for writing and Zanuck's dealmaking prowess.

Born in New York and educated at Stanford and Columbia, Brown started his professional career as a reporter, horoscope writer, drama critic and as editor-in-chief of Liberty magazine and managing editor at Cosmopolitan.

His pairing with Zanuck, son of 20th Century Fox's Darryl F. Zanuck, was one of the longer-lived production associations in Hollywood. The two had a history that began in the 1950s, shortly after Brown caught the eye of Darryl F. Zanuck and joined Fox in 1951 as a story editor. He then moved up to head the story department. In 1967, Brown became VP of story operations at Fox and then exec VP of creative affairs.

During their joint tenure, Fox turned out "The French Connection," "Patton," "The Sound of Music," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "MASH," as well as costly disappointments "Doctor Dolittle," "Star" and "Hello Dolly."

Then, in 1970, Zanuck was ousted by his father in a power struggle, which saw Brown lose his job, too. In early 1971, Warner Bros. hired Zanuck for its No. 2 position; Brown came in as an exec VP.

Both Zanuck and Brown sued Fox and, in 1973, agreed to a deferred compensation settlement that was a fraction of their demands but a victory nonetheless.

Brown and Zanuck remained at WB for only 18 months before launching the Zanuck/Brown Co. in 1972.

"We realized we could have much more fun when we formed Zanuck-Brown and moved to Universal," Zanuck explained.

Universal won its first best picture Oscar in many years with Zanuck-Brown's "The Sting," which grossed more than $156 million in the U.S. The pair also produced Steven Spielberg's first film, "The Sugarland Express," and Clint Eastwood's "The Eiger Sanction." In 1975, they hit paydirt with "Jaws," which became the highest-grossing film for some time.

According to Brown, Spielberg at first didn't want to do the movie about a giant shark terrorizing beachgoers in a summer resort town.

"He said, 'There are movies and there are films, and I want to make films.' And we said, 'Well if this works, you can make films.'?" The movie set the standard for summer blockbusters and helped launch Spielberg's run of hits. Brown and Zanuck produced "Jaws II" in 1978.

In 1980 Zanuck and Brown returned to Fox, where, over the next three years, they turned out the Oscar-nommed "The Verdict" and had another success with "Cocoon." In 1983, they rejoined Warner Bros. (They eventually produced "Cocoon II.")

Brown split with Zanuck in 1988 and launched the Manhattan Project production shingle. "He wanted to stay in New York and produce for Broadway," said Zanuck. They remained close friends and reteamed for Robert Altman's "The Player" in 1992. One of their last pics as a producing team, the 1989 "Driving Miss Daisy," scored a best picture Oscar.

Zanuck and Brown were awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Award at the 1990 Oscars. Among Brown's other honors were the David O. Selznick lifetime achievement award from the Producers Guild and Showest producer of the year.

During the 1990s, Brown continued to turn out high-profile films such as Rob Reiner's "A Few Good Men," "Angela's Ashes," "Kiss the Girls" and "Road to Perdition." His 2000 production "Chocolat" was again Oscar-nommed for best picture. For television, he was exec producer of miniseries "A Season in Purgatory" and two movies for HBO.

Brown produced several plays, including Broadway musical "Sweet Smell of Success" as well as "Tru," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "A Few Good Men" and "The Cemetery Club."

A prolific short story writer, Brown wrote five books of memoirs and humorous essays.

Helen Gurley Brown is his sole survivor.

Oh wow. Great book. He leaned a little too far to the sides a lot of times even for my taste, but had some great thought provoking essays on the history of America. The chapter on Columbus was particularly thought provoking.

RIP

Alexander McQueen killed himself yesterday

sad day

he was obviously troubled but I just can't seem to work up sympathy for someone who kills themselves.

His death has made me profoundly sad.
I didn't even know who he was till I saw something on facebook and then read more about him...

And I understand the mentality of the strong love life lump it etc but I also identify strongly with wanting out and being in so much pain you cannot see any options and life being complete blackness even when its perfect weather with the sun shining.
None of us know his personal darkness...might have been a way to save his family seeing him suffer through a terminal illness...we will never know.

I for one feel this strangers death with immense sadness because I understand it intimately.
I was at that edge 2 years ago looking at that same abyss and I know he did not make an easy decision.

Same here, I didn't really know who he was till I googled him,after I heard about his death.

That sucks. That guy was a real original.

I feel for people that commit suicide.I've actually tried it myself and I glad to be alive.But I can totally relate and understand how someone can feel like that is the only option.