Year-ender: Saying Good-bye

As with every year, life goes on, and, every year, we say good-bye to people dear to us. Wikiepedia, in fact, has a running list of those who have passed on over the course of the year 2011. Scanning it, I can see a number of persons whose passing leaves the world a lot poorer, although in the case of Bin Laden and Jong-Il, their passing leaves the world a little safer than before.

1. Harry Morgan, 96 - while he is best known for his role as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on the hit comedy M*A*S*H, I will always remember him as the voice of Carolinus, the green wizard from the animated movie "Flight of Dragons".
2. Anne McCaffrey, 85 - sci-fi writer, creator of the world of Pern
3. Vaclav Havel, 75 - writer and leader of the Czech Republic
4. Joe Simon, 98 - co-creator of Captain America
5. Eduardo Barreto, 57 - comic book artist
6. Andy Rooney, 92 - "60 Minutes" commentator
7. Steve Jobs, 56 - the public face of Apple and innovator
8. Dennis Ritchie, 70 - creator of the C programming language
9. Randy Savage, 58 - "The Macho Man", wrestler
10. Osama Bin Laden, 54 - terrorist and architect of the 9/11 attacks
11. Michael Gough, 94 - actor. He played Alfred in the Michael Keaton "Batman" movies
12. Dwayne McDuffie, 49 - comic book and cartoon writer
13. Joe Frazier, 67 - boxer
14. Elizabeth Taylor, 79 - actress
15. Kim Jong-Il,  69 (?) - dictator of North Korea
16. Amy Winehouse, 27 - singer and songwriter
17. Gene Colan, 84 - comic book artist
18. Peter Falk, 73 - actor. He played the grandfather narrator in "The Princess Bride"
19, Pete Postlethwaite, 64 - actor
20. Harmon Killebrew - baseball player, and member of the 500-home run club

On the local side,

1. Edith Tiempo, 92 - writer, National Artist
2. Fe del Mundo, 99 - pioneering pediatrician
3. Agapito Lozada, 72 - Olympic swimmer
4. Regalado Maambong, 72 - '86 Constitutional Commission member
5. Alejandro Roces, 86 - statesman and writer
6. Federico Alcuaz, 78 - artist

And, of course, on the very local side, I will miss Manong Nelson Abilong, one of the long-time security guards in the High School.

At the same time, I will also remember the victims of the various tragedies both here and abroad, including those affected by the earthquakes in Japan, as well as the numerous victims of the Philippine typhoons, especially "Pedring" and "Sendong".