When News Events Compete for the Headlines

Another memory that will stay with me when I reminisce in the future about Michael Jackson's death is  the death of Farrah Fawcett, which occurred earlier the same day (she got about 12 hours of full attention before the news about MJ broke). And although it appeared her passing would be marginalized it may actually turn out that it will become even more memorable as it will be linked by many to MJ's death.

Farrah's death is just one instance of a high-profile event occurring during the same news cycle and competing for top-billing in the headlines. Here are three other examples I remember:

The Ayatollah Khomeini died the same day that the student rebellion was crushed at Tiananmen Square (June 4, 1989). It was Sunday afternoon and I was watching the tanks advance on the students when CBS' Dan Rather mentioned the Ayatollah's death almost in passing. (I'm sure it got more attention in Tehran.)

Mother Teresa died during the week of worldwide mourning for Princess Diana  in the first week of September 1997.  (However, being the humble servant that she was,  I'm sure she was happy not be be the center of attention.)

Frank Sinatra died the same day as the final episode of Seinfeld, on May 14, 1998 (which also happened to be my birthday).  Since his death was reported that evening Sinatra was able to get the benefit of the next day's news cycle (although there was  plenty of discussion about Seinfeld's unsatisfying conclusion for the next few days.)

(And as American history buffs know, former presidents and Declaration of Independence signees Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the very same day, July 4, 1826.)

Recalling the Deaths of Three Music Icons

We've just experienced one of those headline grabbing events that years from now people will ask each other "Where were you when ...?"  Of course I'm referring to Michael Jackson's death on June 25, 2009.  When I started my blog at the beginning of this month little did I know that such a major event would occur while I was mining memories of momentous events from years past. What made it memorable for me was the fact that it was the first "oh wow!" event to occur since I joined Facebook (10 days ago).  Immediately upon reading of his death online via a NYTimes News Alert, I checked my Facebook account to read reactions of my roster of "friends" and to contribute a few poignant comments of my own. 

 

As a small tribute to MJ's passing I thought it fitting to write about what I was doing when I heard about the deaths of two other music icons: Elvis Presley and John Lennon.  And although Jackson was taken too soon, he outlived Elvis and Lennon, who were 42 and 40, respectively, at the time of their deaths

 

Death of Elvis (Aug. 16, 1977): I was listening to an afternoon baseball game between the Pirates and Cubs at home ( Pittsburgh) during summer break between my sophomore and junior years at Penn State when the play-by-play announcer reported the news.  (Looking back I'm shocked at how young he was, but at the time I thought of him as a washed-up has-been.) 

 

John Lennon Shot (Dec.8,1980): I was living in Bayonne, NJ where I first lived when I started working at my first job in New York.  I was watching Monday Night Football on my little black & white set when Howard Cosell interrupted the play-by-play with the startling news of John Lennon’s shooting death.  (You can watch the following link to see the video clip of Cosell's announcement: John Lennon)

 

Some Other Notable Singers: I was home sick from school (2nd grade) and playing in the living room while my mother was ironing and watching the 12 o’clock news.  One of the stories was about Nat King Coles’ death on Feb. 15, 1965. (I believe it was the first time I heard the term “lung cancer”.)  I heard the news of Karen Carpenter’s death (Feb. 4, 1983) on the radio in my office (at ad agency Young & Rubicam) which was tuned to oldies station WCBS.  (I had some sentimental attachment to her as my first 45-rpm "single" was by the Carpenters.) News of Marvin Gaye’s shooting death (by his father on April 1, 1984) was heard on the evening news as my boyfriend and I were preparing dinner on Sunday evening. (After the news we watched the ABC mini-series The Last Days of Pompeii.)  I found out about Kurt Cobain’s death (April 5, 1994) from a  co-worker, but it wasn’t that big a deal to me since I didn’t follow his group Nirvana (I was only vaguely familiar with their song Smells Like Teen Spirit); however, my younger staff was more shaken.  Finally, I read of Ella Fitzgerald’s death (June 15, 1996) in the Sunday NY Times while out at Fire Island.  (Ella happens to be the only one of the eight singers discussed here whose life wasn't cut short, as she lived to be 79.)