Oklahoma journalist George Tomek (January 1, 2026) served in
Vietnam before landing in OKC, serving for years as anchor and news director at
KFOR.
Actor Sidney Kibrick (January 2, 2026) was most famous for
appearing as “Woim” in over two dozen Our Gang shorts, 1933-39.
Facing the end of government funding, the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting was dissolved by its board of directors on January 5, 2026.
Actor TK Carter (January 9, 2026) was known for appearances
in The Thing (1982), Space Jam, and TV’s Punky
Brewster. He also voiced a
character on Jem.
Composer Ted Nichols (January 9, 2026) stirred the
imaginations (and funny bones) of millions of TV viewers with his music for Scooby-Doo,
Where Are You!, Josie and the Pussycats, Shazzan,
Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, and many others.
Humbug artist, plagiarist, and charlatan Erich von Däniken (January
10, 2026) treated facts like toilet paper, but his writings on the “possibilities”
of ancient alien contact or technology stimulated the hopes and imaginations of
millions to use real science to investigate mysteries of the past and present.
Musician Bob Weir (January 10, 2026) was a co-founder of the
Grateful Dead, shaping pop (and acid) music history for generations of
Deadheads and other fans.
Satirist Scott Adams (January 13, 2026) earned worldwide
fame for his strip Dilbert.
He also wrote on other topics and won a lot of flack for his outspoken
views on politics and current events.
Claudette Colvin (January 13, 2026) struck a blow for
freedom when she was arrested, at age 15, for not yielding her bus seat to a
white, in Montgomery, AL.
Playwright-animator Roger Allers (January 17, 2026) worked
on such Disney successes as Beauty and the Beast and The
Litle Mermaid, and was most known as co-director of The Lion King.
Mathematician Gladys West (January 17, 2026) began working
for the Navy in the 1950s as a computer programmer and analyst of satellite
data. He research reached to Pluto’s
orbit and was foundational to the development of GPS.
Country-music singer and platter spinner Billy Parker
(January 19, 2026) charted 20 singles with Billboard and was named Disc Jockey
of the Year several times in the late 1970s.
On Tulsa’s KVOO, his overnight show reached from Canada to Mexico.
American writer Jean Rabe (January 19, 2026) collaborated
with Martin H Greenberg and Andre Norton and wrote a mystery series starring Piper
Blackwell. Her biggest genre splash,
however, must be from her work creating accessories and novels in the worlds of
Dungeons & Dragons.
Fashion designer Valentino (January 19, 2026) was a big
influence beginning in the 1960s, known for pushing retro designs into haute
couture.
Comics artist Sal Buscema (January 24, 2026) worked
primarily for Marvel, including ten years on the Hulk and eight for Spider-Man.
Dr William Foege (January 24, 2026) was the tenth director
of the CDC. As a result of his international research and advocation for
vaccination, smallpox was declared officially eradicated from the Earth in
1979.
Lowell Fillmore “Sly” Dunbar (January 26, 2026) was a
Jamaican drummer and two-time Grammy winner, best known as part of the duo Sly
and Robbie.
Shirley Raines (January 27, 2026) helped change the lives of
many by founding the non-profit Beauty 2 the Streetz, which provides hygiene,
beauty products, and other items to folks living on LA streets.
Actress-comedienne Catherine O’Hara (January 30, 2026) stomped
into our hearts beginning with Canada’s SCTV, and charmed and/or
astounded us in films including Beetlejuice, Home Alone,
Dick Tracy, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie,
and a TV show called Schitt’s Creek.
Singer-songwriter Chuck Negron II (February 2, 2026) was
lead vocalist and a founding member of Three Dog Night. After overcoming a long heroin addiction, he
launched a solo career with at least six albums and an autobiography, Three
Dog Nightmare.
First a Navy aerial photographer and then a pitcher for the
LA Dodgers, LaMonte McLemore (February 3, 2026) made his biggest pop-culture
impact as a founding member of the Fifth Dimension singing group.
Tulsa-area
guitarist Tommy Crook (February 4, 2026) played with folks like Merle Haggard
and Leon Russell. He was known for
replacing his two lowest guitar strings with bass strings, to get a combo sound
from one instrument.
The discontinuation of all Minute Maid frozen juices was
announced February 5, 2026.
Longtime Soonercon friend THE James K Burk (February
7, 2026) was a programming participant in 11 Soonercons though 2018 and a
writer of fantasy, as well as a gunslinger at Wichita’s Joyland Amusement Park. We’ll always miss him and his fancy duds.
Nicknamed “Grandfather of the Internet,” Dave Farber
(February 7, 2026) worked for Bell and several universities. He helped develop the ESS-1 switching system and SNOBOL programming
languages. His concept of DCS
(distributed computer system) was the basis for networking, modularization, and
multitasking across computers. His
students developed SMTP and IANA.
Meredith Kimani (February 8, 2026) was active in the
Oklahoma film scene as a set medic and locations manager, as well as an
advocate for those with disabilities and special needs.
Actor Bud Cort (February 11, 2026) was known for roles in Harold
and Maude, Brewster McCloud, and M*A*S*H. he also voiced Toyman across the DC Animated
Universe.
Actor James Van Der Beek (February 11, 2026) was most famous
for his role as Dawson Leery in TV’s Dawson’s Creek.
Paul Brainerd (February 15, 2026) was a businessman and
programmer. He co-founded Aldus in 1984
and helped bring the revolutionary PageMaker to market. He invented the term “desktop publishing.”
Actor Robert Duvall (February 15, 2026) was known for roles
in To Kill a Mockingbird, True Grit, THX-1138,
Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, and scads more.
Animator Jane Baer (February 16, 2026) worked on several
notable films including The Black Cauldron and Who Framed
Roger Rabbit.
Jesse Jackson (February 17, 2026) was a fierce advocate for
all rights for all people. He ran for
president a couple of times and founded the organizations which became the Rainbow/PUSH
Coalition.
Actor Eric Dane (February 19, 2026) appeared in X-Men
the Last Stand, Grey’s Anatomy, and Charmed,
among others.
Willie Colón (February 21, 2026)
was a trombonist, singer, and writer in the salsa scene. He was also active in NYC and other political
realms.
Horror/sf writer Dan Simmons (February 21, 2026) was
responsible for several notable series and standalones, winning the World
Fantasy Award in 1985. Early work
appeared in the 1970s Twilight Zone magazine; series include
Hyperion Cantos; Ilium/Olympos; and Joe Kurtz.
Robert Carradine (February 23, 2026) appeared on TV in his
brother Keith’s series Kung Fu and films like Coming Home
and Wavelength, reaching a big audience in the Revenge of the
Nerds series.
James “Bo” Gritz (February 27, 2026) was a US Army officer
who got involved in politics in the ‘80s and ‘90s. His exploits contributed to the fictional
characters Rambo, Kurtz in Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, and Hannibal
Smith of The A-Team.
Singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka (February 27, 2026) produced
500+ songs for himself and other artist, including “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,”
“Laughter in the Rain,” and “Love will Keep Us Together.”
Actress
Jennifer Runyon (March 6, 2026) was known for appearing on Charles in
Charge and Ghostbusters.
“Country Joe” McDonald (March 7, 2026) co-founded the
psych-folk-rock group which bore his name.
Psychiatrist Judith Rapoport (March 7, 2026) was a big
advocate for those enduring childhood-related behavioral and mental disorders,
including her 1989 book The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing.
USAF officer and later aide to
President Nixon Alexander Butterfield (March 9, 2026) oversaw the installation
of tape-recording equipment in the White House.
He really affected history when, during the Watergate hearings, on July
13, 1973 he revealed the taping system’s existence to the public.
Tommy DeCarlo (March 9, 2026) was lead singer for Boston,
2007-2026.
Writer-editor Lee Martindale (March
10, 2026) produced several anthologies for Yard Dog Press, received the Kevin O’Donnell
Jr. Service to SFWA Award in 2019, and appeared at five Soonercons 1995-2007.
Welsh musician Phil Campbell (March 13, 2026) was most known
as guitarist for Motörhead, 1984-2015.
American writer and biologist Paul
Ehrlich (March 13, 2026) had a big bee under his saddle concerning population
growth, leading to a sensationalist 1968 book, The Population Bomb,
which promised that “the battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s
hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash
programs embarked upon now.” Feel
hungry?
Len Deighton (March 15, 2026) wrote cookbooks and history
works, but is most famous for a few dozen spy novels which were also adapted
for TV and film, including books featuring Bernard Sampson and Harry Palmer.
Comics writer-artist Sam Kieth
(March 15, 2026) was co-creator of the Sandman and creator of Zero Girl and the
Maxx. He wrote several miniseries for DC
featuring Lobo and Batman, and the graphic novel Arkham Asylum: Madness.
TV host and actress Kiki Shepard (March 16, 2026) was
co-host of the syndicated Showtime at the Apollo from 1987 to
2002.
Chuck Norris (March 19, 2026) worked as a martial-arts
instructor for Hollywood before launching his own action career, including
films like Lone Wolf McQuade, Code of Silence, and Firewalker. In 1993 he began nine seasons of Walker,
Texas Ranger. Rumor has it that Norris
didn’t die ... he just roundhouse-kicked his way into another dimension.
Actor-artist Nicholas Brendon (March 20, 2026) is most known
for roles as Xander Harris in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Kevin
Lynch in Criminal Minds.
Actress Valerie Perrine (March 23, 2026) appeared in Lenny
and Slaughterhouse-Five, but is most remembered as Luthor squeeze
Miss Tessmacher in Superman: The Movie and Superman II.
Dash Crofts (March 25, 2026) achieved fame as half of the
musical duo Seals & Crofts, with hits in the 1970s like “Summer Breeze” and
“Diamond Girl.”
Actor James Tolkan (March 26, 2026) was a familiar face from
appearances in several Back to the Future films, Dick Tracy, and Masters
of the Universe.
Author Thomas Tessier (March 26, 2026) was known for poetry
and novels of horror fiction like The Nightwalker and Finishing
Touches.
Sugar the Surfing Dog (March 30, 2026) became the first
canine inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame.
Dying at age 16, she was a five-time surfing world champion.
These people and
things impacted the pop-culture REALM, and thus the whole world. Thanks for reflecting on some of those who
went before.
