The Dream Quest of Unknown Me

OMG - I just read this on SciFiWire:

Andy Hallett, who starred as Lorne ("the Host") on the TV series Angel, died of heart failure last night at age 33, his longtime agent and friend Pat Brady to E!Online.
Hallett, who was a fan favorite, died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles after a five-year battle with heart disease, with his father Dave Hallett by his side, the site reported.

He was only 33 which meant that he was about 24 when he first appeared as Lorne! He really was too young to pass on. My condolences to his family and friends.

I just read that Majel Barrett Roddenberry has passed on at age 76. She was with "Star Trek" for over 40 years beginning with "The Cage, the first "Star Trek" pilot, where she played Number One then continuing as Nurse Christine Chapel in TOS, Troi's mom Lwaxana in "ST: TNG" and was the voice of the various StarFleet computers including the reboot movie directed by J.J. Abrams coming out in May. One by one the original cast is dying off but as long as "Star Trek" exists (and it seems like it will continue far into the future unless this new movie delivers the coup de grace) they will live on in that 23rd century.

ETA: there's a sweet fan tribute to her on YouTube (where else?). It's funny but I can name every TOS ep shown but have forgotten how many ST:TNG eps she was in or that she even appeared in ST:DS9!

I just heard that Arthur C. Clarke passed away at age 90. He was the author of the short story that was turned into "2001: A Space Odyssey" plus countless other works. I've read most of his fiction and non-fiction books over the years including one of my favorites, The Nine-Billion Names of God. He was the last of the trio of great science fiction writers of the 20th century along with Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein and he will be missed. Requiescat in pace.

On a different note - we're striking on Friday by not posting or commenting that day to protest LJ's latest moves. Read more about it here.

ETA: OTH liz_marcs has made some valid points regarding the strike here so who knows what I'll end up doing.

I learned last night that Molly Ivins , the columnist who bestowed upon our president the nickname Shrub, passed away from breast cancer. Having read several of her books and articles I know I'll miss her take on contemporary America. Somewhere Molly Ivins and Ann Richards are laughing and gossiping together about the antics of Shrub. However here on Earth we're still stuck with him - TANJ!!

Here are some places to read her articles:
Alternet
Working for Change
Star Telegram
The Free Press

I found out last night that Jane Wyatt aka Spock's mother Amanda died at age 96. She truly made Amanda "worthy of being loved". Read more here.

Over at MSN the Quote of the Day is: "Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen." - Leonardo da Vinci

OMG I just found out that Nan Dibble passed on yesterday. She was the author of one of the most incredible series of BtVS fanfics out there, one I call The Blood Series (don't know if it had an official name). The series begins post-"Showtime" and is S/B oriented. I love these stories because the vampires in them are so not-human. Nan created the most alien vampires that I have encountered in the fandom. The Supplice d'Allegance sequence between Spike and Angel is quite horrifying. There are 4 complete books in the series and a fifth one that I'm afraid will remain forever unfinished. She was an extremely gifted writer who, years ago, also wrote SF under the name Ansen Dibell. I intend to list the series as a Favorite Fic when I get to my few Spuffy recs--I'm sorry I didn't do it in time for her to know but I have complimented her in lj comments and nominated her fics in the past. Read the news here.