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Magee, John Gillespie, Jr.
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Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
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John Magee was an 18-year old
American who crossed the border to join the Canadian Air Force and
participate in World War II. He rose to the rank of Pilot Officer
and flew Spitfires during the Battle of Britain. Shortly before
his death in a collision with another plane, he sent his parents, who
lived in Washington DC, a short poem he had written about flying titled
"High Flight." His parents shared the verse with Archibald
MacLeish, then the Librarian of Congress, who was so impressed that he
included it an exhibition of poems, "Faith and Freedom," in 1942, and
its popularity was instantaneous and overwhelming. His epitaph includes
the first and last lines of the poem.
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| Maris,
Roger Eugene |
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Roger Maris
was trade to the New York Yankees in 1959, and the following year he
led the league in slugging, rbi's, extra base hits, and total
bases. He also won a Gold Glove and was named the American
League's Most Valuable Player. Still, the New York fans and press
couldn't stand him, and his midwestern attitude. The following
year he and Mickey Mantle both attacked Babe Ruth's long standing
record of 60 home runs in a season. The press and fans openly
routed against Maris and for Mantle. When Mantle went down with a
leg injury, the New York fans and sportswriters continued to hope that
Maris would not eclipse the Bambino's total. Throughout the
ordeal, Roger maintained his cool and silence, which seemed to further
infuriate his detractors. He broke the record on the last day of
the season before only a few thousand fans in Yankee Stadium.
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For more
information:
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Marx, Karl
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Workers of all lands unite. The
philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point
is to change it.
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When Marx
died in 1883 and was buried in a non-descript grave, only eleven people
attended his funeral. It wasn't until 1970 at the height of
Soviet imperialism that the Communist Party of Great Britain erected a
monument at the London site, which included the last words of his Communist Manifesto. Today,
with the collapse of Communism and complete revelation of its inherent
flaws, his short-lived Marxist and Marxian economic, political, and
social theories lie discredited except for within the leftist bastions
of academe. So the questions are, should anyone care about Marx
or his ideas today, and should anyone bother to read his tedious
works? Perhaps.
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| Mencken, H. L. |
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If after I depart this vale you ever
remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner,
and wink your eye at some homely girl.
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Mencken suggested this
epitaph in "The Smart Set." After his death, it was inscribed on
a plaque in the lobby of The Baltimore Sun. |
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For more
information:
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| Menkaura |
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Osiris, King of the North and South,
Men-Kaur-Ra, Living for ever!
The heavens have produced thee
Thou wert
engendered by NUT [the sky]
Thou are the
offspring of SEB [the earth]
Thy mother NUT
spreads herself over thee
In her form as
a divine mystery.
She has
granted thee to be a god.
Thou shalt
never more have enemies,
O King of the
north and south,
MEN-KAU-RA
Living for
ever!
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Menkaura was the pharaoh who built the third, and smallest, pyramid at
Giza.
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For more
information:
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| Murphy, Audie |
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MEDAL OF
HONOR
DSC - SS & OLC
LM - BSM & OLC
PH & 2 OLC
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Audie Murphy was the most decorated
serviceman of World War II. Following the war, he became a
successful movie star, country-western singer, and rancher. His
best movies were The Red Badge of
Courage and To Hell and Back,
a movie retelling of his war experience. |
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| Nichols, Mary Ann "Polly" |
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Victim
of
"Jack the Ripper"
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Poly Nichols
was Jack the Ripper's first confirmed victim. She was found early
in the morning in front of a gate stable in Whitechapel, approximately
two hundred yards from London Hospital.
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Norton, Joshua A.
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NORTON I
EMPEROR
Of the United States
and
Protector of Mexico
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Joshua Norton
was an eccentric or possibly insane resident of San Francisco, who
declared himself Emperor of the United States in 1859. He
was humored by citizens of the city, who even issued money in his name
for use at the establishments he frequented. He had a propensity
for issuing grand proclamation, such has his decree that Congress be
disbanded by force. Mark Twain allegedly based his Huckleberry
Finn character, The King, on Emperor Norton.
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| Paige, Leroy "Satchel" |
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How to Stay Young
1. Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool
thoughts.
3. Keep the juices flowing by
jangling around gently as
you move.
4. Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in Society.
The social ramble ain't restful.
5. Avoid running at all times.
6. Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.
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Satchel Paige was one of the best baseball pitchers of all time. He
played professional or semi-pro ball for over for over 33 years, his
best seasons being with the Kansas City Monarchs of the old Negro
League. Paige claimed to have mastered 13 different, highly
unusual pitches including the Hesitation Pitch (which was eventually
ruled illegal), the Bat Dodger, the 4-Day Creeper, the Bee Ball, and
the Two Hump Blooper.
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For
more information:
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| Parker, Bonnie |
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As the flowers are all made sweeter
by the sunshine and the dew,
So this old world is made brighter
by the lives
Of folks like you
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Eighteen-year old Bonnie Parker
deserted her husband in 1929 and joined up with with a recently
released convict, Clyde Barrow. Together, along with Clydes
brother and a few other gang members, they began a murderous crime
spree throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, and
Louisiana that would last until they were killed in an ambush by
police. During that time, the gang, armed with Browning Automatic
Rifles, robbed at least ten banks and probably ten times that many
small stores and gas station, murdering approximately twenty people,
including ten police officers in the process.
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| Pinkerton, Allan |
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A friend to honesty and a foe to crime
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Allan Pinkerton and a Chicago
lawyer formed the country's first detective agency in the 1850s and
developed investigative techniques including undercover work and
shadowing that allowed them to solve a series of train robberies that
had received national attention. With the onset of the Civil War,
Lincoln requested that he head the Union's intelligence service.
Pinkerton agreed and prevented at least on assassination attempt on the
president. His agents worked undercover as Confederate soldiers
throughout the South and masqueraded as Confederate sympathizers in the
North. Following the war, Pinkerton returned to his lucrative
business of catching train robbers and his undercover agents eventually
played a major role in uncovering the terrorist activities of the
Mollie Maguires and other anarchic labor organizations. Pinkerton
died of of an infection in 1884, the result of biting his tongue
following a fall.
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| Poe, Edgar Allan |
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Fly
Quoth the Raven,
"Nevermore." |
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Poe was, of course, one of the
preeminent American Romantic writers. Best known for his poetry
and macabre short stories, he is also credited with inventing detective
and crime fiction.
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Pusser, Buford H.
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Buford
Pusser was a legendary Tennessee sheriff who despite repeated violent
attacks, including one that killed his wife, used his wooden club to
clean-up the the organized crime in McNairy County that had been long
sanctioned by the local Democratic political machine.
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For more
information:
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| Rich, Buddy |
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The abrasively obnoxious and occasionally
humorous self-
proclaimed "World's Greatest Drummer" began playing drums in vaudeville
at 18 months of age and starting in 1937 performed in jazz and big
bands for fifty years until his death in 1987 during a heart operation.
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| Rogers, Will |
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If You Live
Life Right
Death is a Joke
As Far as Fear is Concerned
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When Will
Rogers died in a plane crash with Wiley Post in 1935, he was the most
read newpaper columnist in America, hosted the most listened to radio
show in America, and was the number one male box office star in America. |
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information:
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Ruth, George Herman "Babe"
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May
That Divine Spirit
That Animated
BABE RUTH
to Win the Crucial
Game of Life
Inspire the Youth
of America
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Babe Ruth, named the
Greatest Baseball Player during major league baseball's centennial
celebration, died from cancer in 1948, shortly after he attended the
premier showing of The Babe Ruth Story in which he was portrayed by
William Bendix. John Cardinal Spellman wrote Ruth's epitaph.
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| Shakespeare, William |
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Good frend for Jesus sake forbeare,
To digg the dust encloased heare!
Blest be the man that spares thes stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.
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Shakespeare
is buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. It is said
that he personally composed his epitaph.
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| Spector's Father, Phil |
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To Know Him is to Love Him
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Phil Spector
was one of the most creative and influential rock 'n roll producers
during the early sixties. He created the "Wall of Sound" and was
the principal orginator of "girl groups." He started on his
career in 1958 by forming a high school recording group "The Teddy
Bears." The group's second recording sky-rocketed to #1 on the
Billboard Chart. Its title, "To Know Him is to Love Him," was
taken from the epitaph on the gravestone of Spector's father.
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Starr, Myra Maybelle
Shirley "Belle"
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Shed not
for her the bitter tear
Nor give
the heart to vain regret
Tis but the
casket that lies here
The gem
that filled it sparkles yet
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According
to legend,the Bandit Queen Belle Starr had been a spy, a Confederate
General, the brains behind many outlaw gang, and the consort of nearly
every western badman including all of the Younger Brothers. In
1889, she was killed by a shotgun blast while horseback riding.
Although there were multiple suspects including both of her children,
the killer was never identified
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| Swift,
Dr. Jonathan |
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Here lies the body of Jonathan Swift,
Professor of Holy Theology, for thirty
years Dean of this cathedral church,
where savage indignation can tear his
heart no more. Go, traveller, and if
you
can, imitate one who with his utmost
strength protected liberty. He died in
the year 1745, on the
19th of October,
aged seventy-eight
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No doubt, Swift has been the most
stingingly effective political satirist ever to write in English, and
as such he developed. Swift lived in fear that he become mentally
unstable, once remarking to a friend while viewing a tree whose crown
had whithered, "I shall be like that tree, I shall die from the
top." He suffered a stroke in 1742 that left him
unable to speak. His friends, fearful that he would be cheated
out of his savings, had Swift declared "unsound in mind and memory," in
order to protect his fortune. When Swift died several years
later, the bulk of his money was used to found a hospital for the
mentally ill.
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| Unknown
U.S. Soldier |
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Here Rests
in
Honored Glory
An American
Soldier
Known But to God
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Williams,
Hiram "Hank" King
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Thank you
for all the love you gave me.
There could be no one stronger.
Thank you for the many beautiful songs.
They will live long and longer.
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Hank William's
long-time addiction to alcohol and morphine caught up with him on a
cold winter night somewhere between Knoxville, Tennessee and Canton,
Ohio. Williams, who had recently been fired from the Grand Ol'
Opry because of his drug and alcohol abuse, was scheduled to perform a
show in Canton. He climbed into the back of his limosine, having
already loaded up on morphine. When the chauffeur pulled over for
gas, he found Williams dead in the back seat along with a few empty
beer cans and the lyrics to an unfinished song, "Then Came That Fateful
Day." |
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For more information:
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| Wilson,
Samuel "Uncle Sam" |
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In Loving Memory
of
UNCLE SAM
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On 15
September 1961, Samuel Wilson, an early 19th century meatpacker,
was officially recognized by Congress as the namesake of Uncle
Sam, "Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives that the
Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor
of America's National symbol of Uncle Sam." Sam Wilson provided
meat to U.S. soldiers stationed in upper New York during the War of
1812 in barrels stamped with the U.S. The soldiers, in turn,
began to jokingly refer to the shipments as gifts from their Uncle Sam.
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more information:
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| Woolf,
Virginia |
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Against you
I will fling myself,
unvanquished and unyielding, O Death!
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Woolf is
regarded as one of the best of the modernist authors. Plagued
throughout her life by severe mood swings, whe committed suicide in
1941 by loading her pockets full of stones and wading into a river near
her home.
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| Wren,
Sir Christopher |
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LECTOR, SI
MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE
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Christopher Wren was the greatest
architect of his time, designing the Royal Observatory, the Great Fire
Monument, the library at Trinity College, and his most spectacular
work, St. Paul's Cathedral, where he was buried following his death in
1723.
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