Famous people who died, and you cared

spoofilyj wrote:

Only Deaths that really effected me badly were.

David Gemmell renouned fantasy writer.

whoa whoa whoa when did gemmell die? i was looking on play and hes got two new books comming out!

man if this is true it sucks. knights of dark reknown was the first book i read by him that got me into reading on a regular basis (thank you 15 yrs of school:rolleyes: ) and led me to the amazing peice of work that is "legend", not to be confused with the crap film staring cruiz:D , for years me and me mates used to have drunken arguements over who would make the ideal druss (my moneys on sam elliot, can definetly pull off scary old military type) or jon shannow.

ah crap dude youve depressed me now:(

Payne Stewart, mostly because I met him a few weeks before he died. Nice bloke and a great golfer. Remember him winning the US open on an 18 hole playoff many years ago.

Another couple I forgot to mention earlier was Bertie Fisher and his son Mark. Having stood in the cold and wind and rain at various rallies over the years waiting to catch a glimpse of Bertie's Toughmac-sponsored BMW and Subaru Legacy and Impreza's, hearing he had died and in a helicopter crash of all things really hit me hard. The fact his son Mark, a very talented up-and-coming young rally driver in his own right (much like Neil Shanahan was to racing, as Kersh mention earlier), also died in the crash just added to the tragedy. Two great drivers wiped out in the same instant. In fact, a couple of my prized possessions over the years were a Bertie Fisher 'Team Toughmac Subaru' rally jacket and an autographed 'Team Toughmac Subaru' sticker he gave me during a service halt at the Circuit of Ireland rally 10 years ago.

Was also saddened to hear of the death of Frank Meagher, another rally driver (1995 Irish Tarmac Rally Champion, in fact), in a testing crash a few years ago. Anybody who follows rallying will know that Frank was one of the most likeable characters you could ever meet and always had a big smile on his face.

Hearing that Joey Dunlop had died also saddened me greatly but, for some strange reason, I wasn't really shocked at the news. In fact, it was something that myself and I think a lot of his fans had worried about for many years, that someday his luck would run out and I think many of us wished deep down that he would retire from racing before the inevitable happened. Watching his funeral live on television is something that I'll never forget and I think it's a true testament to the man when you see the massive crowds of people, some of whom came from all over the world, who attended his funeral. A great racer, a great humanitarian who did so much for charity out of pure kindness and love without looking for any publicity whatsoever and a bloody great bloke into the bargain. Sadly missed.

For me it has to be Ayrton Senna. I was only 16 at the time but was a a big motorsport fan and had been closely following Senna's career for several years. He was a great talent and was only in his thirties when he was killed. Also his death was sudden and violent and occured with myself and millions of others watching live on TV.

Also I'll never forget the next day in school certain individuals made a big joke about the whole thing and taunted anyone known to be a motor racing fan.

There have been many deaths in motorsport over the years. Everyone knows it is dangerous still deaths are shocking when they happen. Very often deaths have been due to
-someone making a small mistake or rash judgement which has fatal results
-bad luck or a freak occurence
-bad organisation such as poor marshalling
-car and circuit design which seems safe before a death happens but with hindsight seems unacceptable. The day before Senna died Roland Ratzenberger was killed at the same race meeting, As well as being sad it also shook up many people who had been lulled into thinking that drivers couldn't die anymore in F1. Suddenly F1 drivers seemed a lot more vulnerable in their cars than they had a week previously

Add to all that that the deaths are usually violent, sometimes gory and the victims are usually only aged 20-40 and their life is taken away in an instant.

Dermot Morgan - he made me cry laughing and was a national treasure

Kenny Everet - I grew up watching him - I adored him, he always made me laugh

Kurt Colbain - such a waste of such a great talent - why?

Steve Irwin - he seemed to be a really nice guy who died young doing what he loved

Pope John Paul II - The pope that I grew up with and respected

Michael Hutchence - He was sexy but he died young

Dennis Potter - The Singing Detective was a great play and he was a very interesting character

Veronica Guerin - if mum and I had not spent longer having coffee that day we might have been near by when it happened

Gregory Peck - old fashioned charm, he reminds me of my dad

Douglas Adams - I loved his books and he died so young, the world lost a great writer

George Harrison - as he looks like my dad

Mo Mowlan - she was cool

Eddie Guerrero