The Dead Thread

[slapshot™]

Teddy sniffing glue he was 12 years old
Fell from the roof on East Two-nine
Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug
On 26 reds and a bottle of wine
Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old
He looked like 65 when he died
He was a friend of mine

Refrain:
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends, and they died

G-berg and Georgie let their gimmicks go rotten
So they died of hepatitis in upper Manhattan
Sly in Vietnam took a bullet in the head
Bobby OD'd on Drano on the night that he was wed
They were two more friends of mine
Two more friends that died / I miss 'em--they died

Repeat Refrain

Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room
Bobby hung himself from a cell in the tombs
Judy jumped in front of a subway train
Eddie got slit in the jugular vein
And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others,
And I salute you brother/ This song is for you my brother

Repeat Refrain

Herbie pushed Tony from the Boys' Club roof
Tony thought that his rage was just some goof
But Herbie sure gave Tony some bitchen proof
"Hey," Herbie said, "Tony, can you fly?"
But Tony couldn't fly . . . Tony died

Repeat Refrain:

Brian got busted on a narco rap
He beat the rap by rattin' on some bikers
He said, hey, I know it's dangerous,
but it sure beats Riker's
But the next day he got offed
by the very same bikers

Repeat Refrain; repeat song to Eddie

Rather than have individual threads for each person who died lets put them all into one mega-death thread.....

[slapshot™]

Elmer "Len" Dresslar Jr., who extolled vegetables to generations of TV watchers as the booming voice of the Jolly Green Giant, has died. He was 80.

Full story here -> Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/25/AR2005102501529.html)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Tr_stand.jpg

R.I.P. Greenie....you'll be missed.

[bluemeanie]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Tr_stand.jpg

R.I.P. Greenie....you'll be missed.

Didn't the other big green guy... you know... the one who played the Hulk, he died too didn't he? I'll have to re-think my Halloween costume this year.:conspire:

Sleep easy Jolly.

[slapshot™]

As sad day for the US Thanksgiving Day....

Cook who helped create Stove Top stuffing dies

30-year employee of General Foods was among four who perfected recipe


EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Ruth M. Siems, a home economist who helped create Stove Top stuffing, a Thanksgiving favorite that will be on dinner tables across the country this year, has died at 74.

Siems, who worked for General Foods for more than 30 years, died Nov. 13 in Newburgh, Ind., after suffering a heart attack in her home.

Siems helped develop Stove Top in 1971 while working at General Foods? technical center in White Plains, N.Y. She was listed first among four inventors when the patent was awarded in 1975 for the quick and easy way of making stuffing without actually stuffing a turkey.

Kraft Foods, which now owns the Stove Top brand, sells about 60 million boxes each year around Thanksgiving. The five-minute stuffing comes in several flavors, including turkey, chicken and beef.

As a member of the research and development staff for General Foods, Siems helped find the ideal bread crumb size for making instant stuffing with the same texture as the real thing, said her brother, David Siems.

Siems grew up in Evansville and graduated from Purdue University in 1953 with a home economics degree. She later took a job at a General Foods plant in Indiana, researching flour and angel food cake mixes.

She retired in 1985 and settled in a historic house in Newburgh, near Evansville.

http://www.homegrocer.com/images/products/web-stove-top.jpg
RIP Ruth

[a4l]

George Best a former Man U player died earlier this morning. In his day he was by far the best player in the land.

[bluemeanie]

'Karate Kid' star Pat Morita dies

Actor Pat Morita, whose portrayal of the wise and dry-witted Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid earned him an Oscar nomination, has died. He was 73.

Morita died Thursday at his home in Las Vegas of natural causes, said his wife of 12 years, Evelyn. She said in a statement that her husband, who first rose to fame with a role on Happy Days, had "dedicated his entire life to acting and comedy." rest (http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/2005/11/25/1323068-ap.html)


http://windowmanager.blogspot.com/miyagi.jpeg

Perhaps he swallowed a fly... I don't know why.

rip

[slapshot™]

The Karate Kid earned him an Oscar nomination

That's understandable. Riveting stuff.

Miyagi (http://imdb.com/name/nm0001552/): [sighs] Daniel-san, must talk. Man walk on road. Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk down middle, sooner or later, get squished
[makes squish gesture]
Miyagi (http://imdb.com/name/nm0001552/): just like grape. Same here. You karate do "yes," or karate do "no." You karate do "guess so,"
[makes squish gesture]
Miyagi (http://imdb.com/name/nm0001552/): just like grape. Understand?
Daniel (http://imdb.com/name/nm0001494/): Yeah, I understand.
Miyagi (http://imdb.com/name/nm0001552/): Now, ready?
Daniel (http://imdb.com/name/nm0001494/): Yeah, I'm ready.

To me he will always be Matsuo 'Arnold' Takahashi from Happy Days.

RIP Arnold...err, Pat

[TimmyTabasco]

Perhaps he swallowed a fly... I don't know why.



:laughing:

Sorry . RIP

[slapshot™]

Twenty-five years ago - December 08, 1980, John Lennon was shot dead in front of his home, the Dakota, in New York City.

For many of the younger posters here that might not have an impact. For the older posters (eg: Rusty) it has a dramatic significance. To us, we remember what we were doing at the time we heard about Lennon's untimely death.

We remember, just as the generation before us, recall where they were the day JFK was assassinated.

To me, Lennon was the leader of the Beatles. He gave peace a chance. He was no longer a house-husband and had just released the album Double Fantasy and was embarking on a new chapter of his musical career.

Here is a good story by Bill Brioux of the Toronto Sun that sums it up well...

Lennon Death Still a Haunting Memory (http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2005/12/02/pf-1334377.html)

also...

Lennon's Last Minutes (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17471494%255E2902,00.html)

http://www.bumpermorgan.com/blogpix/lennon1.jpg
RIP John

[bluemeanie]

RIP John

RIP John, indeed. A huge loss to this world. There are some great documentaries airing this week on Lennon. If you're not familiar with John's life or work out side of 'love me do'... I suggest checking your local listings and watching one of these episodes...

The John Lennon Assassination
Description: Bill Kurtis probes the mind of Mark David Chapman, a Beatles fan who grew up admiring John Lennon, then stalked and murdered him in December 1980.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Lennon: Gimme Some Truth
Description: The recordings of John Lennon's album ``Imagine.''
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Final Days
Description: John Lennon is murdered outside a New York apartment building in 1980.


and of coarse 'Imagine' the movie.

I read the news today, oh boy....

[KB in Kelowna]

Believe it or not I was reading the Playboy Interview with John and Yoko, and listening to the radio. My mother was also born October 9 1940. When I heard the news I ran upstairs to tell her. She never did find my hiding place for the Playboys:laughing:

[slapshot™]

Almost Famous.

Cool story...check it out.

As the world pauses this week to remember that night 25 years ago when John Lennon was gunned down outside his New York City apartment, lawyer Jerry Levitan has a fonder memory of the music legend.

Eleven years earlier, in 1969, Levitan was only 14, "a total Beatle freak," when he had a moment that recalls the Cameron Crowe movie Almost Famous.

Hearing news reports that Lennon and Yoko Ono were holed up at the city's King Edward Hotel during their give-peace-a-chance tour -- they were still days away from their bed-in in Montreal -- Levitan made a bold decision.

He skipped school, "borrowed" his brother's Super 8 movie camera and headed downtown. The plan was to find the Lennon hotel suite, pass himself off as press and secure an exclusive.

Complete story, here -> London Free Press (http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Music/2005/12/06/1340244-sun.html)

[a4l]

To-day marks the anniversary of the Montreal massacre. RIP to the 14 young women who were shot.

[charlio lemieux]

To-day marks the anniversary of the Montreal massacre. RIP to the 14 young women who were shot.

Ya that was bad. Poor girls.

Damn, isn't tomorrow Pearl Harbour? What is up with December?

[Amoroq]

Comedian Richard Pryor dies at 65

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/10/pryor.obit.ap.ap/index.html

My 2 favorite Richard Pryor movies are Silver Streak and Brewsters Milions

RIP Richard :(

[Iced Tea]

Comedian Richard Pryor dies at 65

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/10/pryor.obit.ap.ap/index.html

My 2 favorite Richard Pryor movies are Silver Streak and Brewsters Milions

RIP Richard :(I'm sorry but I thought he died a few years ago. :o

RIP to one of the best comedians ever.

[Bob burns]

Interesting read on Richard Pryor here...

In 1999, PETA honored Richard Pryor with its Humanitarian Award, but the kind and compassionate actor was just getting started on more than a decade of work to help get animals out of laboratores, circuses, and slaugterhouses. On Saturday, December 10, we lost a dear friend when Richard Pryor died of a heart attack after suffering for 19 years with multiple sclerosis. The disease prompted him to speak out for animals in laboratories, such as when, one year, his Christmas cards to friends and family urged people to donate only to charities that don?t test on animals. ?May your heart leap with joy this holiday!? Richard wrote inside the card. ?And if the season finds you sharing your good fortune with others, please don?t give to charities that fund experiments on animals. A gift of goodwill should help end suffering, not cause it.?

Richard was also involved for several years in helping PETA pressure the fast-food companies. He wrote to Burger King franchise owners and to Safeway and starred in an ad urging KFC to make significant changes for the 850,000 million chickens the corporation raises and kills every year.

But the issue seemingly dearest to his heart was the plight of elephants in circuses. Richard urged UniverSoul Circus to eliminate its animal acts and asked Ringling Bros to retire its elephant performers. He wrote an op-ed comparing the chaining and abuse of elephants in the circus to modern-day slavery, stating, ?But for the use of physical punishment by, and fear of, their oppressors, animals would never be a part of a circus.? A Chicago native, the pending Chicago ordinance to ban the bullhook (a hooked tool used to punish and intimidate animals in the circus) caught the comedian?s attention, and he not only spoke in favor of the ordinance but recently wrote a letter to another famous Chicago native, Oprah Winfrey, urging her to support the measure as well, writing the following:

I wanted to let you know about a situation in Chicago that I?ve been tracking closely, with the hope that you might consider getting involved. ... A word from you would make all the difference.

As you probably know, there is an elephant-protection ordinance, sponsored by Alderman Mary Ann Smith and about a dozen other aldermen, pending in Chicago that would prevent circuses from using sharp metal bullhooks and electric prods on elephants. It would also ban chaining, which would give the elephants a bit more freedom, and it would require that zoos provide 10 acres of land for each elephant.

I?ve been involved in promoting the kind treatment of animals for some time now and have worked with PETA quite a lot in recent years. During this time, I?ve seen some really horrible video footage of circus trainers beating elephants with bullhooks and using electric shock prods. And there?s a growing concern about inadequate space and improper care, which was reiterated last year when three elephants died prematurely within an eight-month period at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Won?t you please help ??

Animals have lost a true hero, and it is our hope that in his memory, the Chicago City Council will pass the elephant ordinance, which will make such a huge difference to the animals who meant so much to this amazing man. Richard Pryor will be missed.

His death is a tragedy but we must remember his tremendous contributions to the world when he was alive, and what his work and our memories of him will bring to the world in the days, weeks, months, and years following his death. He will be missed by many, but never forgotten.

[charlio lemieux]

RIP Mrs Gretzky.

Phyllis Gretzky, mother of hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky, dies at 64



posted December 19 @ 23:29, EST

TORONTO (CP) - Phyllis Gretzky was the glue that held her family together.

Gretzky, who had battled lung cancer since being diagnosed in the autumn of 2004, died Monday night. She was 64. ''Throughout my career, she was in the background but she was the glue,'' Wayne Gretzky said at the time of her diagnosis. ''She's always been the toughest in the family.''

The Hockey Hall of Famer and coach of the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes took a leave of absence from the Coyotes and from his position as executive director of Canada's Olympic hockey teams on Dec. 17 to fly home as his mother's condition worsened.

The Coyotes confirmed Phyliss Gretzky's passing late Monday night.

Brother Brent, who plays for the Motor City Mechanics, also took a leave of absence from the United Hockey League team to be by his mother's side.

The down-to-earth mother of five was perhaps the least known of the Gretzky family as she tried to maintain privacy for all her children amid the spotlight of son Wayne's celebrity status.

Wayne's phenomenal success created much curiosity about the family. His father was comfortable in the public eye, while his mother preferred to keep a low profile. She sought to maintain a normal lifestyle, and the community around her respected that.

Phyllis Hockin was born and raised in Paris, Ont., of British ancestry. She was a descendant of Isaac Brock, a general with British forces during the War of 1812.

She was 15 when she met Walter Gretzky, then 18, at a wiener roast on the Gretzky family farm, where their daughter Kim lives today.

''I took one look and knew she was the one for me,'' Walter Gretzky wrote in his book.

He described her as a ''very attractive, strong-willed and popular girl.''

She would attend his Jr. B hockey games, and he'd go watch her play softball.

They married three years later, in 1960, at the Anglican church in Paris, and they settled in Brantford. They purchased a home on Varadi Avenue, and never left.

Wayne Douglas Gretzky was their first-born child, and he learned how to play hockey on a backyard rink as his brothers would do after him.

The family's first brush with tragedy was in 1961 when Walter, working as a Bell lineman, suffered a fractured skull in a work accident. He was in a coma and after awaking was off work for 18 months. The accident left him deaf in his right ear. It was tough to make ends meet on his disability payments but the family made it through that difficult time.

He was transferred to another Bell department and became an installer and repairman.

''You had to be resourceful to get by, but both Phyllis and I came from big families, where you learned how to do that,'' he would write many years later in his book.

The family grew. Kim arrived in 1963, Keith in 1967, Glen in 1969 and Brent in 1972.

Walter was away with Wayne at a hockey tournament in the United States when Brent was born.

''Phyllis remembers that when I walked into her room in the maternity ward the first thing I said to her was, 'We won, we won,' '' Walter recalled. ''She looked at me like I was crazy and said, 'It's a boy, Walter.'''

Hockey was always front and centre in the Gretzky family. New curtains for the living room once were vetoed in favour of skates for the boys.

Phyllis would drive them to early-morning practices, and Walter would go to games after work in the evenings.

Walter drove the same model Chevrolet station wagon for years on end, and named each Blue Goose. He was a whirlwind, working and taking the boys to hockey games and tournaments, while Phyllis held down the fort at home and also attended as many games as possible.

''I looked after the kids and the house; Wally went to work and looked after the finances,'' Phyllis Gretzky said in her husband's book.

Wayne was becoming a hockey star but Phyllis and Walter gave equal attention to all of the children, travelling more than ever when Kim became a successful track and field competitor in her teens. Wayne moved to Toronto to play hockey when he was 14, which meant longer trips to watch him play.

Wayne's growing celebrity status could sometimes be annoying. Strangers would pull their cars up in front of the family home and take photographs, sometimes asking the parents to pose. Two young girls jumped out of a car one day and pulled up tufts of grass as souvenirs.

For their 25th wedding anniversary in 1985, Wayne bought his parents a blue Cadillac. He'd tried on several occasions to buy them a new home but they declined. They didn't want to be seen as living off Wayne's fame. They did put on an addition, and Wayne's wife, Janet, gave them a pool, which was built where the backyard rink was once flooded each winter.

Walter Gretzky's 1991 stroke at age 53, just after he'd retired from Bell Canada, resulted in a trying time for the entire family. His recovery was a painfully slow process. He wrote his book about it - On Family, Hockey and Healing - and a made-for-TV movie aired on CBC in November.

Ian Kohler, his rehabilitation therapist, married Kim. There is a thank you in the book to Sandi McLean, Phyllis' sister, whose support during the most difficult years of the recovery was never forgotten.

The inner strength of Phyllis Gretzky helped her husband regain a productive life, minus parts of his memory as a result of the stroke.

Keith works as an amateur scout for the Coyotes. Glen lives in Edmonton.

Phyllis Gretzky is survived by husband Walter, five children and 12 grandchildren.

[slapshot™]

http://images.tsn.ca/images/stories/20050301/gretzkys_42442.jpg

Rest in Peace Mrs. Gretzky

[bluemeanie]

Win one for Phyllis Canada...

[Madferret]

"Old School's" Blue Dies
By Josh Grossberg

You're our boy, Blue, and we'll miss you.

Patrick Cranshaw, a veteran character who racked up five decades' worth of credits but none more indelible than his turn as elderly frat boy Joseph "Blue" Palasky in the 2003 comedy hit Old School, has died. He was 86.

He died at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, of natural causes last Wednesday, his personal manager, Jeff Ross, told the Los Angeles Times.

Eagle-eyed moviegoers have spotted the thespian's distinct mustachioed mug popping up in dozens of high-profile pictures and TV series over the years.

He played the bank teller in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde; the hobo in 1985's Pee-Wee's Big Adventure; the ancient mail sorter in 1994's The Hudsucker Proxy; the grandpa in 1996's Everyone Says I Love You; the millionaire dog owner in 2000's Best in Show and the demolition derby owner in last summer's Herbie: Fully Loaded. He also appeared as a regular for two years on Alice and had guest stints on such shows as The Dukes of Hazzard, Mork & Mindy, ER, The Drew Carey Show, 7th Heaven, Just Shoot Me and Monk.

But it was Cranshaw's hilarious performance as the decrepit frat brother in Old School opposite Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn that made him a cult icon.

In the film, Blue's most memorable moment comes as he's about to wrestle two topless women. As he glimpses the buxom beauties, he gets so excited he dies of a heart attack. Ferrell's character, emotionally devastated by the loss, later delivers a stirring eulogy at his fallen housemate's funeral, crooning "Dust in the Wind" and crying out dolefully, "You're my boy, Blue!"

That line became immortalized by Old School aficionados, who created Website shrines dedicated to Cranshaw and would shout out the phrase whenever they spotted him in public--capped by a stadium full of baseball fans chanting the line when the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels invited him to a game.

"It was a great experience and an acknowledgment for him," Ross told the Times. "He loved the recognition and would turn back and say, 'I'm your boy, Blue.' "

Born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on June 17, 1919, Cranshaw embarked on an acting career after entertaining the troops with the Army Air Forces before World War II. His big-screen r?sum? also included parts in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band (1978 ), Private Eyes (1981), Moving (1988 ), and Bubble Boy (2001). His final film appearance will come in Air Buddies, a comedy due out later this year.

Cranshaw is survived by three children, Jan Ragland, Joe Cranshaw and Beverly Trautschold; his sister, Billy Vi Gillespie; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

http://www.pretzelfever.com/images/old_school_blue.jpg

[Newfie John]

I own that movie. You're my boy blue.

[Darsehole Tucker]

Hilarious. I never saw this thread before, but then I usually try to stick to the sens forum. But since it's here (even though kinda morbid) I might as well take advantage of it, even if the news is a little bit old. Any valley boys will probably relate to this:


Sol the hobo clown actor dies at 76
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Canadian Press

Actor Marc Favreau, who gained fame in Quebec playing Sol the hobo clown, has died. He was 76.

Favreau died of cancer in hospital on Saturday.

In Ottawa, Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean said Sunday she learned of Favreau's death with great sadness.

?Sol, the great magician of words, has left us,? she said in a statement, adding he won hearts over the years and opened eyes with his comedy.

?His voice will be sadly missed,? she said.

http://images.theglobeandmail.com/archives/RTGAM/images/20051218/wsol1218/sol.jpg

[bluemeanie]

"Old School's" Blue Dies http://www.pretzelfever.com/images/old_school_blue.jpg

I'll miss you Gramps....:wave:

[a4l]

Marc Potvin formerly of Detroit Red wings was found dead in his hotel room in Kalamazoo Michigan. The cause of death is unknown but foul play is not suspected.

[a4l]

Shelley Winters: died today at 8%. She was in such movies as the Diary of Anne Frank anfd the Posiedon Adventure. She was also reknown for her affairs with many leading men.

[Kovalchuk17]

lol these grandpa pics are funny.

[J.R.]

Shelley Winters: died today at 8%. She was in such movies as the Diary of Anne Frank anfd the Posiedon Adventure. She was also reknown for her affairs with many leading men.8%? 8% what? 8% blood alchohol level? That must have been painful.

[Amoroq]

New England Patriots Jan 14th, 2006 R.I.P

[J.R.]

New England Patriots Jan 14th, 2006 R.I.P
It is indeed OVAH!

And they'll be crying in their CHOWDAH tommorow morning.

:toast:

[a4l]

8%? 8% what? 8% blood alchohol level? That must have been painful.

ummm 85. :curse:

[charlio lemieux]

Don Knotts is Dead.

He was in shows such as, The Andy Griffith Show, Three's Company and had a recurring role with his old buddy Andy on the show Matlock.
He also did several movies. I believe his last was as the TV repairman guy in Pleasantville.

Don Knotts: July 21, 1924 - February 24, 2006

I had a chance to go see him and Tim Conway at Casino Rama but my wife got sick on the ride up, and we had to turn around. Sucks that I won't get to see him. Although I'm sure he isn't too happy with his current situation either.

I always got a kick out of his facial expressions and funny voice. So long, Deputy Fife.
If you want to check him out here's a link to a tribute site. Don (http://www.worldofcheese.org/knotts/)

[KB in Kelowna]

Darren McGavin, of Kolchak the Night Stalker and the Dad In A Christmas Story died at age 83, and Dennis Weaver of McLeod fame died earlier to day as well. RIP gentelmen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_McGavin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Weaver

[Newfie John]

Mcgavin was 83? Holy crap.

[charlio lemieux]

RIP Mr Woods.

(AP) - Earl Woods, who was more determined to raise a good son than a great golfer and became the architect and driving force behind Tiger Woods' phenomenal career, died Wednesday morning at his home in Cypress, Calif. He was 74.

DOUG FERGUSON
"My dad was my best friend and greatest role model, and I will miss him deeply," Tiger Woods said on his website. "I'm overwhelmed when I think of all of the great things he accomplished in his life. He was an amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend. I wouldn't be where I am today without him, and I'm honoured to continue his legacy of sharing and caring."
Woods was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998 and was treated with radiation, but the cancer returned in 2004 and spread throughout his body. Last month, he was too frail to travel to the Masters for the first time. His son finished tied for third.

The last tournament Woods attended was the Target World Challenge in December 2004, when his son rallied to win and then donated $1.25 million US to the Tiger Woods Foundation that his father helped him establish. The Tiger Woods Learning Center, another vision inspired by his father, opened in February.

Woods decided not to play in the Wachovia Championship this week in Charlotte, N.C. Two of his best friends on tour, Mark O'Meara and John Cook, withdrew from the tournament and flew to California to be with him.

Jack Nicklaus, who also was 30 when his father died, said he had long "admired and related to the close bond" shared by Tiger and Earl.

"My father was my best friend, my mentor and perhaps my greatest support system. Earl was all of that to Tiger," he said.

Earl Woods was more than a golf dad, more than a zealous father who lived vicariously through his son's achievements.

He had played catcher for Kansas State, becoming the first black baseball player in the Big Eight Conference, and he had been a Green Beret for two tours in Vietnam. But he felt his true purpose was to train Tiger, and he watched his son evolve into the dominant player of his time - the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam - and one of the most celebrated athletes in the world.

"I knew Tiger was special the day he was born," Woods said in a May 2000 interview with The Associated Press.

Woods introduced Tiger to golf by swinging a club as his son watched in a high chair. Tiger appeared on the Mike Douglas Show at age two, played exhibitions with Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus, and his television appeal was solely responsible for quantum gains in PGA Tour prize money.

Even so, Woods said he never intended to create a champion golfer.

"I make it very, very clear that my purpose in raising Tiger was not to raise a golfer. I wanted to raise a good person," Woods told Golf Digest magazine about his book, Training a Tiger: A Father's Guide to Raising a Winner in Both Golf and Life.

Woods gave his son freedom to develop a love for golf on his own, not letting him play unless his homework was done, making him call his father at work to ask if they could practice. Along with the games they played, Woods taught him to be mentally strong by jingling change in his pockets and warning him of water hazards when his son was in the middle of his swing.

It all worked.

Tiger Woods set records that might never be broken by winning three straight U.S. Junior titles, followed by three straight U.S. Amateurs. In only 10 years as a pro, he already was won 48 times on the PGA Tour with 10 major championships, and he set a PGA Tour record by going seven years and 142 consecutive events making the cut.

In the forward to his father's book, Woods said: "In retrospect, golf for me was an apparent attempt to emulate the person I looked up to more than anyone: my father. He was instrumental in helping me develop the drive to achieve, but his role - as well as my mother's - was one of support and guidance, not interference."


PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said Woods will be remembered for providing Tiger every opportunity "to become the world's best golfer and an outstanding representative of the game and its values."

Foremost for Earl Woods was raising a son who could influence life beyond golf. Woods was black and his wife, Kultida, whom he met during one of his tours to Vietnam, was Thai and Chinese.

Tiger Woods won twice in his first seven PGA Tour events after turning pro in 1996 at age 20 and was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. Woods predicted greatness for Tiger on and off the course, telling the magazine that his son "will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity."

"He's the bridge between the East and the West," the father said. "There is no limit because he has the guidance. I don't know yet exactly what form this will take. But he is the Chosen One. He'll have the power to impact nations. Not people. Nations. The world is just getting a taste of his power."

Perhaps the lasting image of Earl Woods came the next spring, at the 1997 Masters, when he stepped onto the 18th green and wrapped his arms around a 21-year-old son who shattered records at Augusta National, a watershed victory that changed the appeal of golf and sent him to the greatness his father had always predicted.

Earl Woods was born March 5, 1932, in Manhattan, Kan., the youngest of six children. His parents died by the time he was 13.

His father wanted him to play for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues, and his mother stressed education. Woods wound up going to Kansas State, graduating in 1953 with a degree is sociology.

Woods did two tours during the Vietnam War as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. It was his second tour that shaped the latter part of his life.

He met Kultida Punsawad, who was working as a receptionist in Thailand, and married her in 1969. He fought alongside Lt. Col. Nguyen T. Phong of the South Vietnamese army, a friend he nicknamed "Tiger" because of his courage and bravery. Woods promised Tiger Phong that he would name a son after him.

Eldrick (Tiger) Woods was born Dec. 30, 1975.

Earl Woods moved to Cypress, Calif., - to the house where he died - and set up a makeshift practice range in the garage with a mat and a net, placing his son in a high chair as he practised.

The education went beyond swinging a club.

"I tried to break him down mentally, tried to intimidate him verbally, by saying, 'Water on the right, OB on the left,' just before his downswing," Woods once said in an AP interview. "He would look at me with the most evil look, but he wasn't permitted to say anything. That's the frustration. He couldn't say a word, but he always had an escape word. He never used it.

"One day I did all my tricks, and he looked at me and smiled," Woods said. "At the end of the round, I told him, 'Tiger, you've completed the training.' And I made him a promise. 'You'll never run into another person as mentally tough as you.' He hasn't. And he won't."

Woods was proud of saying he never left his son with a babysitter, but his goal was to eventually let Tiger run his own life.

"I had pulled back, one item at a time," Woods once told the AP. "Instead of going to several tournaments, it was a couple of tournaments, then one tournament. All of a sudden, he was running everything. I stood there and watched it happen. Because that was my job - to prepare him to leave."


Besides his wife and Tiger, Woods is survived by three children from his previous marriage.

A private service will be held Friday.