Man, you take some time off for Christmas, and Death decides to be even busier than usual.
As an expert on insects, Dr. Wilson studied the evolution of behavior, exploring how natural selection and other forces could produce something as extraordinarily complex as an ant colony. He then championed this kind of research as a way of making sense of all behavior — including our own.
As part of his campaign, Dr. Wilson wrote a string of books that influenced his fellow scientists while also gaining a broad public audience. “On Human Nature” won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1979; “The Ants,” which Dr. Wilson wrote with his longtime colleague Bert Hölldobler, won him his second Pulitzer in 1991.
Dr. Wilson also became a pioneer in the study of biological diversity, developing a mathematical approach to questions about why different places have different numbers of species. Later in his career, Dr. Wilson became one of the world’s leading voices for the protection of endangered wildlife.
Jean-Marc Vallée. THR. Credits include “Dallas Buyers Club” and the “Big Little Lies” series. (Hattip: Lawrence.)
Desmond Tutu, for the historical record.
Sarah Weddington, attorney in the Roe v Wade case. (Hattip: Lawrence.)
Wanda Young, of the Marvelettes.
I’ve read (and thoroughly enjoyed) Rogue Warrior and, believe it or not, Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior and The Real Team: Rogue Warrior (affiliate links). Oddly enough, though, I never met Mr. Marcinko. I say “oddly” because he was actually one of the guests of honor at a convention Lawrence and I went to years back, but I never sought him out. Both of us were busy hanging out with one of the other guests.
Bruce Todd, former Austin mayor.
Todd served two terms as mayor, first elected in June 1991 and retired in June 1997. In his time as mayor, he and the council considered issues such as airport relocation, wilderness preservation and transferring the city-run hospital to Seton. He also helped recruit major employers to the city, like Samsung, AMD and Applied Materials.
He also helped pass the city’s no-smoking law, banning cigars and cigarettes in all restaurants and bars.
Todd also led the effort to get the U.S. Airforce to transfer then-Bergstrom Air Force Base to the city when the base was being decommissioned. He succeeded and also worked to pass a $600 million bond election to transform the base into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
(Hattip: Lawrence.)
This is a little old, and has been touched on by other folks, but I did not find a good obit until now: Edward D. Shames.
…
Entering combat as a sergeant with Easy Company, he was among its many paratroopers who found themselves scattered and lost upon hitting the ground behind Utah Beach before dawn on D-Day.
“I landed in a bunch of cows in a barn,” he recalled in a July 2021 interview with the American Veterans Center. “I had no idea where I was.”
He rounded up his men and found a farmhouse. The farmer didn’t speak English and he didn’t speak French, but he took out his maps and, through the farmer’s gestures, found that he was in the town of Carentan, some five miles from a bridge where he was supposed to have touched down. When he got there with his men, he received a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant for his resourcefulness.
Mr. Shames was the last surviving officer of Easy Company.
I met Richard Marcinko at a gaming convention in 1990. He interrupted a conversation he was having with another guy and, by way of introduction, kissed me on the cheek. Then he said, ‘Oh, is that sexual harassment?’ I said, ‘No, if I sexually harass you, you’ll know, you won’t have to ask.’
He looked baffled for a moment and then went back to his conversation about selling rights and contracts.
I have read a couple of Dick Marcinko’s books. I was impressed by him, but at one point I heard of a couple of other SEAL’s who spoke out against him, and his character. So I really don’t know what to make of him, other than to say what I always say to those who have served this nation. Thank you, for your service, and may you rest in peace, with the rest of the fallen.
It seems that Lt. Shames was one more of our heroes that has left us. I read an article today by some leftist, who was trying to say that his generation was not really the greatest generation, but just another bunch of draftees, who were forced to go to war, when they didn’t want to, to defend a nation that they really didn’t care about, you know the usual leftist speak.
Now, i know that after some of them came home, they had issues, just like men, and women, of any war. But I doubt that they didn’t go to fight for the freedom of the entire planet, knowing that there was a good chance that they might not come home, when they could have tried to go someplace and hide. No, they went willingly and did what they felt they had to do.