In Memoriam: John William McKenzie Brady

John William McKenzie Brady (16 January 2004 – 31 December 2012).
(Image from: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100115784359039&set=a.10100116350684119.2278370.2803809&type=1&theater)

On Friday, January 4, 2013, the funeral for John William McKenzie Brady (16 January 2004 – 31 December 2012), affectionately known as “Mack”, the eight-year-old son of Penn State Schreyer Honors College Dean, and my friend and colleague, Dr. Christian M. M. Brady, and his wife, Elizabeth Brady, will be held at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 208 W. Foster Ave. and Fraser Street, State College, PA, at 10 a.m. with the Rev. Larry J. Hoffer officiating.

I and my fellow scholar-bloggers are asking that you take a moment to reflect on the passing of this beautiful young child. You can send Dr. Brady your condolences with a message. Or, you can post a picture of Mack (available at Dr. Brady’s blog) on your blog or Facebook page as a show of support.

I’d also like to encourage you to contribute to the scholarship Penn State is establishing in the memory of Mack Brady:

The Bradys ask that memorial gifts be directed to a scholarship being established in Mack’s honor to benefit a member of Penn State’s men’s soccer team. In announcing the scholarship, Dean Brady said that through such an annual award to a player his son “will, in some sense, ‘be on the field’ that he had hoped to play on someday.”

Memorial gifts may be made online at http://givenow.psu.edu or by sending a check, payable to Penn State with “In memory of Mack Brady” in the memo line, to: Penn State University, One Old Main, University Park, PA 16802.

Please take a moment to remember Mack and the Brady family tomorrow at 10 am.

Rest in peace, Mack.

RIP MCA

MCA / Adam Yauch

Rolling stone is reporting that Adam Yauch, AKA “MCA”, the gravelly-voiced member of the Beastie Boys has died at the age of 48. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2009.

I first heard the Beasties in Jr. High, and never stopped listening to them. In fact, they are still my first choice any time I need to get movin’.

I never met him, but he was always there in every drive up to Yosemite, every jog through the Santa Monica mountains, every poker game with the boys, and every time my wife Roslyn and I just wanted to groove.

Rest in peace Adam.

Here are some of my favs:

rest in peace christopher hitchens

Rest in peace, Christopher Hitchens. Thank you for making us all think a little harder about what we know, what we believe, and the difference between the two. Thank you for your intellect, your wit, and your commitment to the pursuit and defense of knowledge. May you rest in peace.

Christopher Hitchens

bill schniedewind’s heartfelt tribute to dr. anson rainey

Dr. Anson Rainey

My professor, Dr. William Schniedewind, has written a wonderful tribute to one of his professors, Dr. Anson Rainey, upon his passing. It has been published on the SBL website here.

It begins:

A Personal Reflection on the Life and Work of Anson F. Rainey (January 11, 1930–February 19, 2011)

Bill Schniedewind, UCLA

The foreword to The Sacred Bridge concludes by recalling Genesis 6:4 and a time when there were giants in the land. Anson Frank Rainey belonged to a bygone era when giants walked the land, and I cannot help but feel that one of the giants has passed away—my teacher, mentor, and friend, Anson Rainey.

If you get a chance, give it a read.

35 years ago and the legend lives on (from the chippewa on down…)

One of the greatest memorial ballads ever written preserves the legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald. 35 years ago Wednesday, the boat about which Gordon Lightfoot sang  sank in Lake Superior, November 10, 1975. Lightfoot’s song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (lyrics), was a staple around my house. So to those sailors who lost their lives 35 years ago, including David E. Weiss of my current home, Agoura, California, rest in peace.

Read Jim Kavanaugh’s excellent article at CNN.com.

Listen to radio chatter from the night of the wreck (from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum).