Ink Lake

Clarence Clemons

Saddened to read of the death of Clarence Clemons, following a stroke, at the age of 69. As a member of the E Street Band, he brought joy to a lot of people, me included. His 40-year friendship and collobaration with Bruce Springsteen is a great part of rock and roll history. In a statement, Springsteen said,

“Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them  love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner, and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band.”

 Here are two songs, both B-sides, not heard a lot, but both feature Clemons, and both make me happy.

 

Janey Don't You Lose Heart

 

Be True [Live]

 

Rosalyn Yalow — Nobel Prize Winning Physicist & Typist

I read in the Times today, Nobel laureate Rosalyn Yalow passed away this past Monday, at the age of 89. I knew of her because thirty years ago, she spoke at my high-school graduation.

She was a medical physicist and only the second woman to win the Nobel Prize in medicine. She received it in 1977 for developing a way to use radioactive isotopes to measure minute amounts of antigens in the blood.

She was a lifelong New Yorker, and though she graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College at the age of 19 as its first physics major, she faced an uphill battle breaking into her chosen field. The Times obituary says that Purdue University turned her down for a graduate position, noting

“She is from New York. She is Jewish. She is a woman.”

 This is from her auto-biography on the Nobel web site,

I was excited about achieving a career in physics. My family, being more practical, thought the most desirable position for me would be as an elementary school teacher. Furthermore, it seemed most unlikely that good graduate schools would accept and offer financial support for a woman in physics. However my physics professors encouraged me and I persisted. As I entered the last half of my senior year at Hunter in September 1940 I was offered what seemed like a good opportunity. Since I could type, another of my physics professors, Dr. Jerrold Zacharias, now at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, obtained a part time position for me as a secretary to Dr. Rudolf Schoenheimer, a leading biochemist at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S). This position was supposed to provide an entrée for me into graduate courses, via the backdoor, but I had to agree to take stenography.

Hope Reichbach and Chris Hondros

 

I’m very saddened to hear of the passing of Hope Reichbach, the 22-year old Communications Director for Councilman Steve Levin. She was found dead in her Boerum Hill apartment on Wednesday. An autopsy is planned, but no foul play is suspected.

She was smart, full of energy, and committed to making Brooklyn a better place. I didn’t always agree with her politics, but never doubted she cared deeply about her neighborhood and her neighbors.

I was looking forward to working with her on pedestrian safety — an issue she worked hard on.

My deepest condolences to her family, and all who loved her.

A memorial service is planned for noon Sunday, at Congregation Mt. Sinai, 250 Cadman Plaza West.

******

 

This past Wednesday, over 1,000 people gathered in a Carroll Gardens church for the funeral Mass of Chris Hondros. The award-winning photographer was killed April 20th, while on assignment in Libya. Hondros spent his professional career in places like that. Seven tours in Iraq. Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Kosovo.

In an intereview with the New York Times  he said, “Unless it happens right in front of you, you can’t make a picture of it.” 

Hondros not only showed the human face of war, he had a big heart. After the conflict in Liberia ended, he paid the tuition of a Liberian militia-man he had photographed, so the man would learn some other trade beside killing.

The 41 year-old was engaged to be married. His fiancée Christine Piaia spoke at the service, in the church where in August they were going to be wed.

“Oh, how I wish this were our wedding day.”, said Piaia, as many openly wept.

Bruce Springsteen once said, “It’s a hard world that asks you to live with a lot of things that are unlivable.”

Rest in peace, both of you.