Just when I thought that no one cared about my doctoral thesis on the Origins of Confirmation, I got a couple of letters that showed that someone cared about it. During the mid-1980s I got a letter from Rev. Paul Turner, who wanted to write his doctoral thesis on the history of Confirmation. He wanted to know if he could read my thesis. I had no idea how he found out about it. However, I decided to send it to him. He returned it to me a couple of months later. He told me that there was nothing left for him to do since all he would do was repeat my work. He later published a work at Collegeville in 1993 called the Sources of Confirmation: From the Fathers Through the Reformers that translated into English many of the original text documents that I had cited in my work. However, he also did some work on Confirmation at the time of the Reformation, since my work only went up to the 13th century. Another letter that I got was from the Graduate Theological School at Berkeley, California. They wanted to know if I would give them permission to make a copy of my doctoral thesis. I decided to call them to find out what this was all about, since they listed a phone number and name. Why did they want to make a copy? I wanted to know how they got my original work. I then called and spoke to the person who sent me the letter, the Libarian at the Graduate Theological Union, at Berkeley. She had obtained a copy of my thesis from the University of Notre Dame. However, she told me that Collegeville, Minnesota, also had a copy. I wondered how they got copies. She had no idea. She only wanted my permission to make a copy for her library. She had assumed that I gave permission for the copies at Collegeville and Notre Dame, but I had not. I was happy to give her permission to copy my thesis. The more people who read it the better, since so few people cared about it. The only thing that I could figure out is that Professor Balthasar Fischer from Trier, Germany, had given permission to Notre Dame and Collegeville, since he had been a visiting Professor and Summer Professor at those places in the USA. I have since personally seen my thousand-page manuscript bound in 4 volumes at the University of Notre Dame library, where it dominates the section on Confirmation with the title the “The Origins of Confirmation”. I later found out that in 1984, Dr. Gabriele Winkler, a liturgical scholar, writing from Collegeville, Minnesota, in Worship on “Confirmation or Chrismation? A Study in Comparative Liturgy” cited my work five times in her article. Besides, in 1985, Dr. Gerard Austin, OP, published Anointed with the Spirit – The Rite of Confirmation: The Use of Oil and Chrism (Pueblo) that cited my work in the bibliography with the following comment “This extremely thorough study is available through the University of Notre Dame library.” I knew him from Trier in the late 1960s. Thus, in theological academic circles, the value of my work on Confirmation did not go unnoticed. Has something that you did fifteen years earlier still had an impact later?
The results of the Chernobyl atomic blast
The radioactive fallout from the accident was concentrated near Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. At least 350,000 people were forcibly resettled away from this area. After the accident, traces of radioactive deposits unique to Chernobyl were in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere. The response involved more than 500,000 personnel as the worst nuclear disaster, and the most expensive disaster in history. In 2016–2018, the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement was constructed around the old sarcophagus to enable the removal of the reactor debris, with clean-up scheduled for completion by 2065. The nearby city of Pripyat was not immediately evacuated and the townspeople were not alerted during the night about what happened. However, within a few hours, dozens of people fell ill. Evacuation began one and a half days before the accident was publicly acknowledged by the Soviet Union. At first, the Soviets only conceded that a minor accident had occurred, but once they began evacuating more than 100,000 people, the full scale of the situation was realized by the global community. This was the first time that the Soviet Union had officially announced a nuclear accident. A Russian commission was established later in the day to investigate the accident. This delegation soon had ample evidence that the reactor was destroyed and that extremely high levels of radiation had caused several cases of radiation exposure. Eventually, there were 135,000 long-term evacuees. However, between 1986 and 2000 the total number of permanently resettled people from the most severely contaminated areas rose to nearly 350,000. Estimates of deaths resulting from the accident vary greatly due to differing methodologies and data. The Russian government commission was concerned that the molten core would burn into the earth and contaminate groundwater. In the months after the explosion, attention turned to removing the radioactive debris from the roof. Soon after the accident, the reactor building was quickly encased by a mammoth concrete sarcophagus, with a lifespan of only 30 years. This was the world’s largest nuclear fuel storage facility, expected to hold more than 21,000 fuel assemblies for at least 100 years. This land would be habitual again in approximately 300 years to multiples of 20,000 years, because of the half-life of Plutonium-239. Although it is difficult to compare the Chernobyl accident with an air burst nuclear detonation, it was estimated that Chernobyl released about 400 times more radioactive material than the combined atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945. However, the Chernobyl disaster released only about one-hundredth to one-thousandth of the total radioactivity released during nuclear weapons testing at the height of the Cold War. The Chernobyl tragedy has inspired many artists across the world to create works of art, animation, video games, theatre, and cinema about the disaster. Filmmakers have created documentaries that examine the aftermath of the disaster over the years. No one believed the first newspaper reports, which patently understated the scale of the catastrophe and often contradicted one another. After Chernobyl, the role of nuclear energy and power in human life has become a subject of much debate and discussion. What do you think about nuclear power?
Chernobyl Disaster, April, 1986
On April 26, 1986, a mishandled safety test at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, USSR, killed at least 4,056 people and damaged almost $7 billion in property. The number 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, one of only two nuclear energy accidents rated as maximum severity on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The other was the 2011 Fukushima, Japan, nuclear accident. These Chernobyl operators carried out this test despite an accidental drop in reactor power. Due to a design issue, their attempt to shut down the reactor in these conditions resulted in a dramatic power surge. Then the reactor components ruptured and lost coolants. The resulting steam explosions and meltdown destroyed the Reactor building no. 4, followed by a reactor core fire that spread radioactive contaminants across the Soviet Union and Northern Europe. This test was to be conducted during the day-shift of April 25, 1986 as part of a scheduled reactor shutdown, but was not. Thus, the night shift had very limited time to prepare for and carry out the experiment. The combined effect of these various actions was an extremely unstable reactor configuration. The reactor was producing only 5% of the minimum initial power level prescribed for the test. While the reactor was at a low power level, there were unstable core temperatures and coolant flow. Then the reactor output jumped to around 30,000 MW thermal, 10 times its normal operational output, the last reading on the control panel. Some estimate the power spike may have gone 10 times higher than that. It was not possible to reconstruct the precise sequence of the processes that led to the destruction of the reactor and the power unit building, but a steam explosion appears to have been the next event. This is believed to be the first explosion that many heard. A few seconds later, a power spike occurred, and the core overheated, causing some of the fuel rods to fracture. This explosion ruptured further fuel channels, as well as severing most of the coolant lines feeding the reactor chamber. As a result, the remaining coolant flashed to steam and escaped the reactor core. The second more powerful explosion occurred about two or three seconds after the first. This explosion dispersed the damaged core and effectively terminated the nuclear chain reaction, but it compromised more of the reactor containment vessel and ejected hot lumps of graphite moderator. The ejected graphite and the demolished channels still in the remains of the reactor vessel caught fire on exposure to air, significantly contributing to the spread of radioactive fallout. The explosion was estimated to have had the power equivalent of 225 tons of TNT. According to observers outside Unit 4, burning lumps of material and sparks shot into the air above the reactor. Some of them fell onto the roof of the machine hall and started a fire. About 25% of the red-hot graphite blocks and overheated material from the fuel channels was ejected. Parts of the graphite blocks and fuel channels went out of the reactor building. As a result of the damage to the building, an airflow through the core was established by the core’s high temperature. The air ignited the hot graphite and started a graphite fire. The nuclear meltdown was underway. Have you ever heard of Chernobyl?
President Reagan’s speech about the Challenger, January 28, 1986
“Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core over the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss. Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we’ve never lost an astronaut in flight. We’d never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger 7, were aware of the dangers and overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes. We mourn their loss as a nation together. To the families of the seven, we cannot bear as you do the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, “Give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with joy.” They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us. We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years, the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space and perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers. And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it’s hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted. It belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them. I’ve always had great faith in and respect for our space program. And what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don’t hide our space program. We don’t keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That’s the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for a minute. We’ll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights, and more shuttle crews and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here. Our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them, “Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades and we know of your anguish. We share it.” There’s a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime, the great frontiers were the oceans and a historian later said, “He lived by the sea, died on it and was buried in it.” Well, today, we can say of the Challenger crew, their dedication was, like Drake’s complete. The crew of the space shuttle honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.”
Do you remember this speech of Ronald Reagan?
The disaster of the Space Shuttle Challenger in January, 1986
The first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft while in flight took place on January 28, 1986. The Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, just before noon on the East coast, killing all seven crew members aboard, disintegrating 46,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This mission was the 10th flight for the orbiter and the 25th flight of the Space Shuttle fleet. On this flight was schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who was under the Teacher in Space Project. I know that my wife Margaret was devasted, since she had her junior high students watching it on TV as it happened. The cause of this disaster was the failure of the primary and secondary O-ring seals in a joint in the right Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster. The crew compartment, containing human remains, was recovered from the ocean floor after a three-month search and recovery operation. President Ronald Reagan created the Rogers Commission to investigate this accident. The commission criticized NASA’s organizational culture and decision-making processes that had contributed to the accident. The cold temperature in the joint had prevented the O-rings from creating a seal. The USA House Committee on Science and Technology also investigated the Challenger disaster, and released a report on October 29, 1986. The Space Shuttle fleet was grounded for two years and eight months, a 32-month hiatus in the Space Shuttle program, while the program underwent investigation, redesign, and restructuring. There have many TV shows, films, and documentaries about this disaster. President Ronald Reagan had been scheduled to give the 1986 State of the Union Address on January 28, 1986, the evening of the Challenger disaster. After a discussion with his aides, Reagan postponed the State of the Union, and instead addressed the nation about the disaster from the Oval Office in a beautiful speech. Do you remember the space disaster Challenger?
Television in 1985
VH-1 launched on January 1, 1985, aimed at an older demographic than MTV, expanding the music video landscape. The following channels began: The Nostalgia Channel, The Discovery Channel, CNN International, Financial News Network, Prime Ticket, and Universal Pictures Debut Network. The 2,000th episode of Sesame Street was broadcast. Norman Lear sold his Tandem Productions to the Coca-Cola Company for $485 million. The World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) telecast WrestleMania successfully to select pay-per-view areas. News Corporation and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation announced their intent on purchasing Metromedia’s television stations and Metromedia Producers Corp. for $3.5 billion that would lead to Fox Broadcasting Company in 1986. General Electric announced plans to purchase RCA, the owner of NBC for $6.3 billion, finalized in 1986. NBC became the first broadcast network in the USA to broadcast its primetime programs with stereo sound. During halftime of the Boston Celtics–Philadelphia 76ers NBA playoff game, CBS televised the first ever NBA draft lottery. The USA Network aired its final National Hockey League telecast, Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Kathie Lee Johnson (later Gifford) officially joined Regis Philbin as his co-host on WABC’s The Morning Show. Their chemistry proves to be successful, as it went into national syndication in 1988, as “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.” The Live Aid concerts were broadcast from London and Philadelphia by MTV. The first Farm Aid concert was telecast from Champaign, Illinois, by TNN. Jackie Gleason and Art Carney reunited in the CBS movie Izzy and Moe. The highest-rated shows of the year were “The Cosby Show” and “Dallas.” The following TV shows debuted in 1985: “MacGyver;” “The Golden Girls;” “Moonlighting;” “Mr. Belvedere;” “Saturday Night’s Main Event;” “Larry King Live;” “The Berenstain Bears;” “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling;” “George Burns Comedy Week;” “Spenser: For Hire;” and “Growing Pains.” Howard Cosell had his final assignment for ABC Sports. The PBS program “Electric Company” concluded after 8 straight years in reruns. The final episode of “The Jeffersons” did not have a proper series finale to its 8 year long run. ABC broadcast its 2,311th and last daytime episode of Family Feud with Richad Dawson after 9 years. “The Jetsons” left TV after 10 years, as did “The Twilight Zone” after 23 years. “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” left TV after 20 years, while “Insight” left after 25 years. “The Dukes of Hazzard” left after 6 years, while “Alice” left after 9 years. “The Battle of the Planets” left TV after 7 years. Despite the success of the “Cosby Show,” “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids” left the TV air after 13 years. What do you remember about TV in 1985?
Music in 1985
The top 100 pop songs of 1985 featured various artists and genres, reflecting the diverse musical tastes of 1985, as pop and rock were side by side, with a mix of emerging artists and established stars. There were the Live Aid benefit concerts in London and Philadelphia that raised over 50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia. Various artists, under the group name USA For Africa, recorded the song “We Are the World,” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie that became the most popular song of 1985. The Farm Aid concert was also held in Champaign, Illinois. The 27th Annual Grammy Awards were in Los Angeles, hosted by John Denver. Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down won Album of the Year, while Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got to Do with It won both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Cyndi Lauper won Best New Artist. The South African Broadcasting Corporation banned Stevie Wonder’s music in response to his dedicating the Oscar he had won the night before to Nelson Mandela. One of the biggest music festivals in the world began in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with an audience of 1.5 million people. David Bowie became the first major artist to have his entire catalog converted to CDs. Madonna began her very first tour, The Virgin Tour, with her big hit “Material Girl.” Whitney Houston released her first album, Saving All My Love for You, that topped the Billboard Hot 100, the first of 7 consecutive number-one singles through 1988. Tears for Fears album Songs from the Big Chair debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart and remained on the chart for another 50 weeks until September 1986. A wax likeness of Michael Jackson was unveiled at Madame Tussaud’s in London. Michael Jackson also purchased the publishing rights for most of the Beatles’ music for $47 million, much to the dismay of Paul McCartney, against whom he was bidding. Wham! became the first Western pop group to perform in China. Some of my other favorite songs were “Centerfield” by John Fogerty, “Nightshift” by the Commodores, “The Night I Fell in Love” by Luther Vandross, “Bad Moon Rising” by Sonic Youth, “Across a Crowded Room” by Richard Thompson, The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys, Back to the Future Soundtrack, The Breakfast Club Soundtrack, St. Elmo’s Fire Soundtrack, “Old Ways” by Neil Young, “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne Warwick, Copacabana: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Album and Manilow, by Barry Manilow, “Dream Come True” by A Flock of Seagulls, “Say You, Say Me” by Lionel Richie, “Born in the USA.” and “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen, “The Boys of Summer” by Don Henley, “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon, “Careless Whisper” by Wham!, “Every time You Go Away” by Paul Young, “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston, “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News, and “Private Dancer” by Tina Turner. The fourteenth annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special was aired on ABC television, with appearances by the Four Tops, The Judds, Barry Manilow, The Motels, Tears for Fears, and The Temptations. What is your favorite song from 1985?
Movies in 1985
The 57th Academy Awards ceremony honored films released in 1984, but took place in March 25, 1985, in Los Angeles, hosted by Jack Lemmon, for the fourth time, and watched by 39 million TV viewers. Amadeus won eight awards, including Best Picture. For the first time in Oscar history, all five nominees for Best Original Song reached the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. I did not see three of the top movies of 1985, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rocky IV, and The Goonies. However, I did see a lot of other movies like Back to the Future, the number one movie, with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. I loved seeing the present from the prism of the past. I also liked The Color Purple, with Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Oprah Winfrey, directed by Steven Spielberg. Robert Redford and Meryl Streep were great in Out of Africa, directed by Sydney Pollack. I also liked Cocoon, with a great cast directed by Ron Howard. I loved The Jewel of the Nile, with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito. Witness, with Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis was another one of my favorites. Spies Like Us was a fun movie with Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd. The Falcon and the Snowman with Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn as drug smugglers was very interesting. One of my favorites was a John Hughes directed movie, The Breakfast Club with Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy, about a Saturday morning High School detention class. Chevy Chase was the detective in the movie Fletch. He also starred in National Lampoon’s European Vacation, also directed by John Hughes. Another John Hughes movie that I liked was Weird Science, with Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr. Dustin Hoffman was great in the Arthur Miller play Death of a Salesman. The Purple Rose of Cairo was a little disappointing from Woody Allen, with Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, and Danny Aiello. I thought that Cher was terrific in Mask, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Albert Brooks was very good in Lost in America, as was Rosanna Arquette and Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan. Richard Pryor and John Candy were hilarious in Brewster’s Millions. Prizzi’s Honor direct by John Huston was great with Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Anjelica Huston, and Robert Loggia. Another great ensemble movie about Indianapolis was St. Elmo’s Fire, with Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Mare Winningham, Andrew McCarthy, Martin Balsam, and Andie MacDowell. Another great western ensemble that I liked was Silverado with Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Rosanna Arquette, John Cleese, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum, and Linda Hunt. The movie A Chorus Line, with Michael Douglas, was good also. I also liked The Trip to Bountiful with Geraldine Page and John Heard. Do you have a favorite movie from 1985?
Sports in 1985
The inaugural WrestleMania was held in Madison Square Garden, with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T versus Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper in a tag-team match. Young driver Danny Sullivan beat veteran Mario Andretti to win the 1985 Indianapolis 500. In an all-Soviet match, 22-year-old Garry Kasparov defeated Anatoly Karpov to become the youngest-ever undisputed winner of the World Chess Championship. In Super Bowl XIX, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 38–16, as Joe Montana, was the MVP. Cincinnati Reds’ player/manager Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s All-Time Hit Record of 4,191 hits. Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox and Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees became the 17th and 18th pitchers to join the 300-win club in 1985. Rollie Fingers broke Sparky Lyle’s AL career record of 232 saves. The Kansas City Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3, becoming the first team to win the World Series after losing the first two games at home. The 1985 MVP Bret Saberhagen of KC pitched two complete-game victories in the series, including a shutout in Game 7. In 1985, Bill James, wrote The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, a seminal volume of baseball history by the leading saber metrician of the day that was later revised in 2001. In the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, two Big East teams saw Villanova win 66-64 with coach Rollie Massimino and Ed Pickney as MVP over Georgetown with coach John Thompson and Patrick Ewing. In NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, Old Dominion beat Georgia 70–65. In the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers coached by Pat Riley won 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics coached by KC Jones. 6 HOF Laker players, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper, Magic Johnson, Bob McAdoo, Jamaal Wilkes, and James Worthy defeated 4 HOF Celtics, Larry Bird, Dennis Johnson, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the MVP. The NBA Kansas City Kings franchise moved to be the Sacramento Kings. Michael Jordan competed in his first dunk contest, wearing the first edition of his now famous line of “Air” Jordan basketball shoes. In Boxing, Marvin Hagler knocked out Thomas Hearns in three rounds to retain the world’s Middleweight title. Héctor Camacho defeated José Luis Ramírez to lift the WBC’s world Lightweight title. Michael Spinks beat Larry Holmes by a decision in 15 rounds to become the first world Light Heavyweight champion to win a world Heavyweight title. Bernard Hinault of France won both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. In golf, the Masters was won by Bernhard Langer, US Open by Andy North, the British Open by Sandy Lyle, and the PGA by Hubert Green with the PGA Tour money leader Curtis Strange with $542,321. The Senior PGA Tour money leader was Peter Thomson with $386,724, while the LPGA Tour money leader was Nancy Lopez with $416,472. There was no Triple Crown winner since three different horses won one leg each. Once again, Wayne Gretzky, of the Edmonton Oilers was the NHL’s leading scorer during the regular season and won the NHL’s Most Valuable Player, as the Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup 4 games to 1 over the Philadelphia Flyers. There was no one Grand Slam winner in men’s and women’s tennis. The AP Male Athlete of the Year was MLB pitcher Dwight Gooden, and the AP Female Athlete of the Year was Nancy Lopez, an LPGA golf player. What do you remember about sports in 1985?
Deaths of 1985
Besides the death of my mother, Rose Finnegan, in 1985, a lot of other celebrities died, like Roger Maris, Yankee MLB player (1934-1985), Paul Castellano, American Mafia boss (1915-1985), Dian Fossey, American biologist (1932-1985), Harry Hopman, Australian tennis player and coach (1906-1985), Samantha Smith, American schoolgirl activist (1972-1985), Frank Oppenheimer, American particle physicist (1912-1985), Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (1954-1985), Charles Richter, creator of the Richter magnitude scale (1900-1985), Chester Gould, creator of Dick Tracy (1900-1985), László Bíró, Hungarian inventor of the ballpoint pen (1899-1985), J. Willard Marriott, founder of Marriott International (1900-1985), Heinrich Böll, German writer (1917-1985), Marc Chagall, Russian-French painter (1887-1985), Taylor Caldwell, Anglo-American writer (1900-1985), E. B. White, American writer (1899-1985), Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish founder of Narcotics Anonymous (1911-1985), Potter Stewart, American Supreme Court Justice (1915-1985), Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American politician (1902-1985), and Konstantin Chernenko, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1911-1985). Three members of the black listed Hollywood Ten screenwriters died in 1985, Albert Maltz, (1908-1985), Alvah Cecil Bessie, (1904-1985), and Lester Cole, (1904-1985). Some of my favorite entertainers died in 1985, Clarence Nash, American actor (1904-1985), Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American conductor (1899-1985), Alan A. Freeman, English record producer (1920-1985), Roger Sessions, American composer (1896-1985), Sir Michael Redgrave, British actor (1908-1985), The Singing Nun (Jeannine Deckers), Belgian nun and singer (1933-1985), Efrem Zimbalist, Russian-American violinist (1889-1985), Edmond O’Brien, American actor (1915-1985), George Chandler, American actor (1898-1985), Phil Foster, American actor (1913-1985), Margo, Mexican-American actress (1917-1985), Kay Kyser, American bandleader (1905-1985), Mickey Shaughnessy, American actor (1920-1985), Grant Williams, American actor (1931-1985), James Craig, American actor (1912-1985), John Welsh, Irish actor (1914-1985), Scott Brady, American actor (1924-1985), Margaret Hamilton, American actress (1902-1985), John Harmon, American actor (1905-1985), Louise Brooks, American actress (1906-1985), Kenny Baker, American actor and singer (1912-1985), Paul Harris, American actor (1917-1985), Ruth Gordon, American actress, (1896-1985), Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (1914-1985), Marvin Miller, American actor (1913-1985), George O’Brien, American actor (1899-1985), Paul Kligman, Canadian actor (1923-1985), J. Pat O’Malley, English actor (1904-1985), Edward Andrews, American actor (1914-1985), Ricky Nelson, American actor and musician (1940-1985), Lloyd Nolan, American actor (1902-1985), Rock Hudson, American actor (1925-1985), George Savalas, American actor (1924-1985), Nelson Riddle, American bandleader (1921-1985), Yul Brynner, Russian actor (1920-1985), Orson Welles, American actor and director (1915-1985), Phil Silvers, American entertainer (1911-1985), Johnny Olson, American game show announcer (1910-1985), Ricky Wilson, American guitarist (1953-1985), Stepin Fetchit, American actor (1902), Anne Baxter, American actress (1923-1985), Ian Stewart, Scottish rock musician (1938-1985), and Big Joe Turner, American blues singer (1911-1985). Do you know anyone who died in 1985?
Gene Finnegan Remembers Living Eighty Wonderful Years 