Ken Norton, former heavyweight champion of the world and the man who broke Ali’s jaw.
Richard C. Sarafian, film and television director, perhaps most famous for Vanishing Point.
(He also directed the “Living Doll” episode of the original “Twilight Zone”; there’s a funny story in the LAT obit about that, which I won’t spoil here.)
Ellie Rucker has also passed away. This means little to anyone who didn’t live in Austin during the 1980s and early 1990s, but Ms. Rucker was the Statesman “consumer columnist”. This meant, in the pre-Internet/pre-Google days, that she answered questions from readers such as “Where can I find beeswax?”, ran handy household tips, and sometimes even mediated disputes between customers and businesses.
I always liked Ms. Rucker’s column, as did many of my friends. When she retired and was replaced by another writer, we continued to refer to that column as “Not Ellie Rucker”, in her honor.
(You’ll note that I didn’t link to Ms. Rucker’s actual obit. That’s not by choice; of course, the Statesman wants you to pay to read it.)
My mother would have loved to read your kind words. She meant the world to my two sisters and me, and her readers meant the world to her.
Thank you for acknowledging our “one of a kind” mom.
Allison:
I am sorry for your loss. I never had the privilege of meeting your mother, but just from reading her column, she seemed like a very nice person. I wish that I had met her, and I missed her writing long after she retired.
Did your mom have a favorite charity that we can donate to?
Hi, This is Julie Bradshaw, one of Ellie’s other daughters. You are so kind to ask about her favorite charity. She very much enjoyed volunteering with the wounded warriors at The Warrior and Family Service (WFSC) at Ft. Sam Houston.
She loved to talk with them and help them in any way and was so appreciative of the sacrifices they made in order to protect the freedoms of our great country the United States of America.
Thank you again for your kind words!
Warm regards, Julie