Quite a few readers wrote last week to ask if they can nominate people for the Honorary Unsubscribe, mostly due to the death of Don Knotts (Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, among other roles), but also for actor Darren “Mike Hammer” McGavin. And Monday I learned that Dennis Weaver, who lived just a few miles from me, died on Friday. He was Chester in Gunsmoke, and also played a New Mexico marshal working in New York in McCloud. McGavin was 83; Knotts and Weaver were 81. All three were pioneers in early television.
Anyway, the answer is generally no: when people are splashed all over the front pages of the newspaper when they die, I figure they’re pretty well covered and there’s little point in featuring them.
I prefer the H.U. be used for the unknown (or the forgotten) — people you haven’t heard of — or had, but the media had forgotten about by the time they died.
I do think that actors and other entertainers are well qualified for the honor. Indeed, Jack Lord of the hit TV show Hawaii Five-O was the inspiration for the whole concept: his death was virtually ignored by the media, even though he had been a “big star” before he retired and dropped out of the limelight.
So… How To Do It!
Sometimes I am tipped off by readers about more obscure people, though the timing has to be just right: I prefer to feature people within a week of their deaths, 10 days at the outside (which requires extraordinary circumstances). Remember I write them on Mondays in the hours before the Premium edition comes out.
So if you see someone’s death reported all over the place, consider them well covered. If you only see an obit of someone interesting in a small local paper and hear nothing elsewhere, and it’s the Saturday to early Monday timeframe, that is the time to let me know. (See? It’s tough! That’s why I say “generally no”….)
So if you can meet all of that, email me links with information. Please use the subject “Honorary Unsubscribe Nomination” so it’s more likely I will notice it in my bulging inbox. Don’t have my address? It’s here. Thanks.
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A bit of a coincidence for me that you bring this topic up this week, as when I read online that Harvey Korman had died, I was half way through a nomination email when I remembered you saying that you would prefer not to get them.
I felt sure though, that you would give him a mention – or indeed, a “harrumph”. (It’s my favourite movie too).
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You’re right: I should have given him a harrumph in my brief salute. When it came to choosing him or Dick Martin, though, I had to go with Martin. He was not only not covered nearly as well in the media, but I had to acknowledge his ground-breaking work. “Laugh-In” was truly a breakthrough. -rc
I heard of the death of Mary Previte this morning on the Sunday Today show (which may eliminate her from HU). Interesting story of a young girl who was held in an internment camp by the Japanese during WW II, grew up to be a member of the NJ Assembly and an advocate for children.
Thanks for everything you do Randy! I love This Is True!