Death List '11

Four members of my death list passed away this year. They all died fairly early in the year, leading me to believe I'd break my record of 5, but it did not happen. Al Haig, John Wooden, Floyd Dominy, and Stewart Udall all died. Sad about Udall and Wooden.

This year's list (new members have an asterik)

1. Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand*
2. Mike Wallace*
3. Margaret Thatcher
4. Rev. Sun Myung Moon*
5. Fidel Castro
6. Luis Echeverria
7. Ernest Borgnine
8. Andy Rooney
9. Clark Terry
10. Little Jimmy Dickens*

Mr. Trend's Death List, 2011

I once again somehow only managed to accurately divine the losses of two people (J.D. Salinger and John Wooden) last year, even though I had two centenarians. Even 93-year-old Zsa-Zsa Gabor managed to live in spite of a broken hip (which I've been informed is usually the death sentence for the elderly). Clearly, ending up on my death list means you'll most likely never die. So congratulations, Nelson Mandela, Nancy Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher - you get a new lease on life.

1. Elliott Carter

2. Oscar Niemeyer

3. Billy Graham

4. Zsa-Zsa Gabor

5. Luis Echeverria

6. Jorge Videla

7. Abe Vigoda

8. Nancy Reagan

9. Nelson Mandela

10. Margaret Thatcher

Floyd Dominy

Floyd Dominy has died at the age of 100.

Shockingly, major newspapers haven't picked this up. I imagine they will in the next couple of days. No single person did more to reshape the American West in the second half of the twentieth century than Floyd Dominy. As the head of the Bureau of Reclamation from 1959 to 1969, Dominy made it his personal mission to dam every river in the West. He even wanted to dam the Grand Canyon. Famously, writer John McPhee took Dominy and Sierra Club head David Brower on a raft trip through the Grand Canyon, let them argue about the dam, and then wrote about it in Encounters with the Archdruid. Until his dying day, Dominy had no apologies for his attitude of putting rivers to work. He saw no inherent value in an untamed river. Because of Dominy and a handful of others, virtually no rivers in the West run undammed.

Dominy is largely responsible for one of the greatest environmental catastrophes in American history: the Glen Canyon Dam. Despite the unnecessary damage and destruction of some of the nation's most beautiful places, Dominy said, “Glen Canyon Dam and the creation of the most wonderful lake in the world, Lake Powell, is my crowning jewel."

He lost his job in 1969 only because the Nixon Administration got sick of dealing with him. By all accounts, Dominy bullied everyone to get his way, including his own employees. He also had a habit of trying to sleep with every woman around him, which was not overly endearing to the people he met. Still, we cannot overstate Dominy's importance in our history.

In addition, Dominy's death means that 3 people on my 2010 death list have passed.

Death List 2010

2009 marks my worst death list performance ever, only 2--Carl Pohlad and Robert McNamara. Any Twins fan can tell you which was more evil.

Ernest Borgnine and Andy Rooney replace them.

So I assume 2010 will be a banner year. Watch out!

1. Al Haig
2. John Wooden
3. Margaret Thatcher
4. Floyd Dominy
5. Fidel Castro
6. Luis Echeverria
7. Ernest Borgnine
8. Andy Rooney
9. Clark Terry
10. Stewart Udall

Mr. Trend's 2010 Death List

In spite of the numerous famous people who died in 2009, I managed to only divine the deaths of two, and two of my three centenarians lived while the likes of Michael Jackson, Natasha Richardson, and Brittany Murphy died (as I always say, "they got out while the getting was good"). Maybe 2010 will bode differently. Here are my candidates for this year.

1. Elliott Carter
2. Oscar Niemeyer
3. Billy Graham
4. Zsa-Zsa Gabor
5. Luis Echeverria
6. John Wooden
7. Jorge Videla
8. Jose Alencar
9. J.D. Salinger
10. Abe Vigoda

Mister Trend's 2009 Death List

I was a bit more "successful" with my death list last year than Erik, with four of my candidates departing (Arthur C. Clarke, Bo Diddley, Studs Terkel, and Bettie Page, none of whom I wished any will, and Diddley's passing in particular was very sad). Thus, I have four new entries this year, and actually added some evil to it this year in the form of Echeverria (Erik must have read my mind in early December when I began compiling my 2009 list). That said, here's my 2009 list:

1. Elliot Carter
2. Claude Levi-Strauss
3. Oscar Niemeyer
4. Billy Graham
5. Zsa-Zsa Gabor
6. Luis Echeverria
7. John Wooden
8. Fidel Castro
9. Jack Klugman
10. Ted Kennedy

Death List 2009

There's no way to start a new year like the Death List.

2008 was a pretty moderate year for me, losing only 3 people from the list--Albert Hoffmann (inventor of LSD), Jesse Helms (Yes!), and Studs Terkel (sad).

I am making one change this year, dumping Ariel Sharon from the list. Despite his severe stroke of a few years ago, it's clear that the Israelis are going to keep him alive forever and then probably turn him into Lenin or something. So although I never drop people from the list, I'm doing it this year.

That means 4 new members--former Secretary of Defense for JFK & LBJ Robert McNamara, Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad, Stewart Udall, JFK & LBJ's Interior Secretary and enemy of fellow death list member Floyd Dominy, and former Mexican president Luis Echeverria. I figure that McNamara fills the evil quotient and Echeverria helps. So does Pohlad really, since he is so cheap and wanted his team contracted. Echeverria, Udall, and Pohlad all are good and obscure too. Who wants a Death List that looks like everyone else? Not me.

1. Al Haig
2. John Wooden
3. Margaret Thatcher
4. Floyd Dominy
5. Fidel Castro
6. Luis Echeverria
7. Robert McNamara
8. Carl Pohlad
9. Clark Terry
10. Stewart Udall

One More Note on Jesse Helms

Jesse gives me 2 on my death list this year, along with LSD inventor Albert Hoffmann. And it feels so good when the death of an evil man helps you directly in some way.

Mister Trend's 2008 Death List

I was once again 2-10 last year (Vonnegut and Bergman), which is ok with me, because I didn't wish anybody any ill will last year. And unlike Erik, I like to mix it up a bit, instead of just totally rehashing the previous year's list and plugging in newbies where the holes are (though I do repeat Gabor, Harvey, Levi-Strauss, and Niemeyer - the latter two are 99 and 100, for crying out loud!). I don't wish anybody on my list any ill will this year (I kept Thatcher off, due to my "Emperor [of Star Wars] Theory of Evil"). That said, here is my death list for 2008 (in alphabetical order).

1. Elliot Carter
2. Arthur C. Clarke
3. Bo Diddley
4. Zsa-Zsa Gabor
5. Billy Graham
6. Paul Harvey
7. Claude Levi-Strauss
8. Oscar Niemeyer
9. Bettie Page
10. Studs Terkel

Death List 2008

Assuming no last second deaths, I had four people from my Death List pass away this year--Lady Bird Johnson, Michaelangelo Antonioni, Jane Wyman, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

The 2008 Death List is:

1. Al Haig
2. John Wooden
3. Margaret Thatcher
4. Floyd Dominy
5. Fidel Castro
6. Ariel Sharon
7. Albert Hoffmann
8. Studs Terkel
9. Clark Terry
10. Jesse Helms

The 4 new members are Haig, Thatcher, Hoffmann, and Terkel. Haig and Thatcher are hopefuls--it's more fun when you want them off the face of the Earth. Also, my friend Blair, now serving as a Death List correspondent, was at a conference this fall where Haig was supposed to speak and he couldn't because of health problems. Hoffmann (the inventor of LSD) is like 101 and Terkel is in his mid-90s. So they seem like good bets, but obviously I'll be sad when Terkel dies.