Lisa, Anne, Barrett & Hody
RIP Lisa Loring, 64, best known for her turn as Wednesday on 64 episodes of The Addams Family. Born in the Marshall Islands to U.S. Navy personnel, her divorced mother moved from Hawaii to L.A., where Lisa began getting work as a child model. She was only six when the iconic sitcom began. Her career suffered from personal setbacks. Her mom died of acute alcoholism at 34. Loring also battled substance abuse but got clean in 1992. In all, she amassed only 16 credits, including seven episodes of the As the World Turns soap opera. Married four times, she was a mom of two daughters. Fortunately, her work lives on. Thank you, madam. Photo from Google Images:
Rip Anne Wersching, 45, who succumbed to cancer. Born in St. Louis, she trained in theater, then found success in TV. There are 48 titles under her name at IMDb, but that number only scratches the surface of a fine career. She appeared in 80 episodes alone of General Hospital, 37 of 24, 18 of The Vampire Diaries, 13 of Timeless, 32 of Runaways, 13 of Bosch, and multiple episodes and one-shots of other popular shows. Her work will likely last, as she was in one episode of Star Trek: Enterprise and six of Star Trek: Picard, playing the Borg Queen in the latter. She was a mom of three sons. Gone much too soon. Photo from GI:
RIP singer/songwriter Barrett Strong, 81. Born in Mississippi, he went north and found success in Detroit, working for Berry Gordy’s fledling label that would eventually become the world famous Motown. He recorded its first hit, Money (That’s What I Want), which hit #23 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1960, and which would be covered by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Kingsmen, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Guy and others. In the mid-’60’s Strong teamed with Norman Whitfield to write several classics: I Heard It Through the Grapevine, a hit for Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips; War by Edwin Starr; Smiling Faces Sometimes by the Undisputed Truth; and a bunch of hits for the Temptations: Cloud Nine, I Can’t Get Next to You, Psychedelic Shack, Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today), Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) and Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone. The latter won a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1973. Strong was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004. He recorded four solo albums. Awesome, Sir. Thank you. Photo from GI:
Amidst all the horror stories in today’s news, there’s a ray of light. From a foxnews.com article by Gretchen Eichenberg, edited by yours truly: Air Force veteran Hody Childress of Geraldine, Alabama, a farmer, passed away on New Year’s Day. For an entire decade he quietly delivered $100 to the local pharmacy on the first of every month, designed to help those who could not afford meds. When he fell ill, he enlisted his daughter to continue his generosity on the QT. After his passing, she revealed the secret. Now others, even from out of state, are continuing Childress’ legacy. Photo from GI:
My thanks to the kind folks who bought, donated and swapped books on yet another mild January 2023 day. Here’s what sold: four hardcovers in Russian, six kids’ books, and Stalker by Lars Kepler.
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