Slipped off this mortal coil 2011

Here's  my annual roundup of people who have died this year. Some are deeply lamented, some are unsung:

January

January saw the death of film composer, John Barry aged  77. But for him there would be another James Bond theme

Dorothy Thomspn, leading historian of the Chartist movement died on 29 January at the age of 87. She was also the widow of social historian E P Thompson

 Ugandan Gay Rights activist David Kato Kisule murdered by hompohobes on 26 January. Accused murderer Sidney Nsubuga Enoch was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison on 10 November 201. Sadly the murderous attitudes towards gays across much of Africa remains as bad as it was

February

James Gruber, the last of the founding members of the Mattachine Society, died aged 82. The Mattachine Society were an early gay rights organisation founded in 1950.



Former Thin Lizzy guitarist (not to forget his long and successful solo career!) Died 6 February

Jane Russell died on 28 February at the age of 89. Need I say anymore?

March

Harry Coover, the inventor of superglue died on 26 March at the age of 94. Thanks to Harry, pranksters need look no further when they want to glue the testicles of a "mate" to any surface. Harry Coover you are one of the true greats!

Tawfik Towbi, the last surviving member the first Knesset.

Who is Tawfik Tubi? A Knesset member,
a Communist, an Arab who sits
in that House by full right...
That's democracy, not always easy,
but if we don't understand this part,
we haven't gotten anything at all

By poet Nathan Alberman
 

Former Elnad test Cricketer Fred Titmus died after a long illness on 23 March. He was 78 years old. What better tribute to the man than the Half Man Half Biscuit song

The passing of a great

There was a man who was perhaps responsible for more things being tightly glued to otherThings (and quite a lot of people glued to things too) than anyone else. That man was Harry Coover , who dies last Saturday aged 94.

In 1942, while searching for materials to make clear plastic gun sights, Coover and his team at Eastman Kodak first worked with cyanoaryltates but rejected them. Nine years later, Coover was overseeing Kodak chemists investigating heat-resistant polymers for jet canopies when cyanoacrylates were once again tested. That time around, however, Coover recognized that he had discovered a unique adhesive. In 1958, the adhesive Super Glue was introduced for sale.

Coover held 460 patents. In 2004, he was inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame. In 2010, Coover received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Dr Coover, we salute you