RIP – SALVATORE LICITRA

EXPIRED: 09/05/11 –  Salvatore Licitra, 43, was to be the “new Pavarotti.”  Born in Bern, Switzerland, he grew up in Milan and started working as a graphic artist for Italian Vogue. When he was 19 he started singing classes and eventually enrolled at Carlo Bergonzi’s voice academy in Busseto, Italy.

He made his debut in Un ballo in maschera in Parma in 1998, and buoyed by positive audience reception, he auditioned for Riccardo Muti at La Scala. A year later he debuted at La Scala in La forza del destino as Alvaro, followed by roles in Tosca and Madama Butterfly and Forza. Milan honoured him with the Honorary Citizenship Medal, and Sony offered him an exclusive recording contract.

In 2002, he appeared at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera substituting for Luciano Pavarotti, then 66, who had cancelled his performance in Tosca just two hours before curtain time. There Licitra was dubbed the New Pavarotti.

On August 27th, 2011, Licitra was riding his Vespa through Modica, the famed “chocolate” city in the hills of Ragusa,Sicily. His girlfriend was on the back of the seat holding tight. Looking for parking space, he slammed into a wall. His girlfriend was wearing a helmet and was unharmed. He was not. Licitra went into a coma for nine days and was pronounced clinically dead on September 5th. His body lies in state in the Catania’s opera house, the Teatro Massimo Bellini.

By the way, although most Italians ignore the law, it’s illegal to ride without a helmet. This is a good reason to obey the law.

 

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RIP – JAMES WINNER

EXPIRED: 09/14/10 – James Winner Jr., 81, invented The Club® after his Cadillac was stolen, despite it having a factory-installed alarm. Too bad the Club didn’t keep him from crossing into oncoming traffic and plowing into another vehicle.

Winner, was born and raised on a farm in Transfer, Pennsylvania, proud of the fact that he was dirt poor. At the age of 5, he was up at 5 a.m. to milk the cows. He attended a one-room schoolhouse and graduated in a class of 8.
At age 13, after watching his parents work so hard for nothing, Winner decided that farming was not for him.

So at 17, he entered the Army and six months later found himself across the ocean in the middle of the Korean War.

Thinking back on his time in the Army, Winner remembered how he once secured his Jeep’s steering wheel with a chain to prevent anyone from stealing it. That memory led him to invent the No. 1 selling mechanical anti-theft device for cars and trucks.

The Club®

RIP – JOHN CALLAHAN

EXPIRED: 07/24/10 - John Callahan, 59, was a drunk at the age of 21.  The kid from Southern California would spend most days either drinking, drunk or hungover and looking to kill the burn with a hair of the dog.

July 22, 1972 was no different. Except on that day, he and a friend – in search of the next party to crash – slammed their car into a telephone pole at 90 mph. Callahan’s spine was severed. He was a C5-6 quadriplegic. And even this didn’t stop him from drinking.

After 6 years his rage-infused drinking got him kicked out of a nursing home, and he burned thru more night nurses than you can shake a stick at. Attempts to off himself didn’t help when the nurses forgot to leave the childproof cap off the damn-bottle-of-valium-like-they-were-asked-to-thank-you-very-much!

Then he finally met his match. A butch disabilities-transport van driver cursed him out for being an asshole. He was humiliated. When he got home he drew a cartoon of a construction site surrounded by a security fence, with a sign: WARNING! THIS AREA PATROLLED BY LESBIANS.

And that was that.

RIP – PIETRO TARICONE

EXPIRED: 06/28/10 – Pietro Taricone, 35, was a bodybuilder from Caserta, Italy who dropped out of Law school when, at the age of 25, reality TV came calling.

Italy’s version of Big Brother, a phenomenon called Grande Fratello, turned the charmingly cocky and quite handsome Taricone into a star. And although he didn’t win the big prize (he came in 3^rd place), he remained a celebrity long after the show completed its run.

He was flying sky high. And that was part of the problem.

RIP – JOE ROLLINO

EXPIRED:  01/11/10 – Joe Rollino, 104, was, at one time, the strongest man on earth. He didn’t eat meat, didnt smoke and didn’t drink. He ate oatmeal daily and swam in the ocean off of the Brooklyn seashore year round. And he’d walk 5 miles every morning, rain or shine.

That’s what got him in trouble.

When crossing the street on his way to a deli to buy the morning paper, something he did every day, he was no match for a speeding minivan.

RIP – JOCELYN QUIVRIN

EXPIRED: 11/15/09 – Jocelyn Quivrin, 30, “was one of the most seductive faces of French cinema.”

The French actor, whose next movie “La Famille Wolberg” comes out in December, was best known in France for his recent roles in Jan Kouneen’s popular comedy “99 Francs” and teen box-office sensation “LOL” opposite Sophie Marceau. Internationally, he was best known for his role in “Syriana.” All told, he made over 50 movies.

RIP – LEN KELLER

EXPIRED: 10/18/09 – Leonard Keller, 62, had just turned 19 when he was drafted into the Vietnam War. It was 1966 and he was stationed in the Mekong Delta.

Constant firefights with the enemy never got boring, but when another U.S. infantry company was ambushed by the Vietcong Private First Class Keller’s unit went to the rescue.