Tuesday 12/17

RIP NBA stalwart Dick Van Arsdale, 81. Born in Indianapolis, twin of Tom, the brothers shared the Indiana Mr. Basketball Award and the Trester Award for Mental Attitude as high school seniors. They earned athletic scholarships to Indiana University, where they excelled. Dick was both All-American and Academic All-American. He was selected by the Knicks in the second round of the 1965 draft, the tenth pick overall. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1966, as was Tom, who played for the Pistons. They were the first identical twins in the league. In ’68 Dick was selected by the Suns with their first pick of the NBA expansion draft. An All-Star in each of his first three seasons with Phoenix, he is known as “the Original Sun.” The team retired his #5. The brothers reunited with the Suns in 1976–77, playing their final pro season together. In twelve seasons Dick averaged 16.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 3.3 APG. He became the Suns’ general manager and senior vice president of player personnel, and also did color commentary on games. He is a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. The twins opened an art store to sell their own works. Awesome, Sir. Photo from Google Images:

RIP actress Diane Delano, 67, who succumbed to cancer after a brief illness. Born in L.A., her career spanned 1983–2024. There are 135 titles under her name at IMDb, but that doesn’t begin to tell her story. She did twelve episodes of Northern Exposure, 36 of Popular, 21 of Days of Our Lives, 16 of Fumbling the Pieces, six of L.A. Law, and she made numerous appearances on popular prime time fare. She was a master of voiceover animation. On the big screen she appeared in Heart Like a Wheel (1983), Miracle Mile (1988), The River Wild (1994), A Mighty Wind (2003), Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003), Paradise: A Town of Sinners and Saints (2024), to name a few. I was unable to find any info on her personal or family life. Well done, Madam. Photo from GI:

Do all Biden voters support his final moves? He was always a scoundrel, and folks looked the other way. Geez.

Long overdue, headline from nypost.com: “It’s time for a national conversation on left-wing violence | Reporter Replay.” Maybe it can be summed up in one sentence: The end justifies the means. Look no further than the support the murderer of the healthcare CEO is getting.

Gorgeous day in NYC, perfect for curbside business. My thanks to the woman who donated three books, and to Dina, who did a swap of Russian titles; and to the gentleman who overcompensated me for Batman 3D art; and to Sophie, who dropped off and picked up her husband Wolf after he bought a Russian CD and two novels by David Baldacci: Hour Game and Walk the Wire.

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