Post by Laurie MannMaybe we need a "pending" list, but these are the sorts of lists that
one or two people can invent rumors constantly for.
Or maybe we should pay attention to the idea of a "trusted source."
Some random person (especially on the Internet) isn't a "trusted
source." I can't tell you the number of phony deaths passed to me over
the years by unknown sources. I always ignored them unless I could
verify the information.
Example: I'm a science fiction fan and I'm active on monitoring
various lists. The writer Charles L. Grant was announced as having
died. Occasionally, bogus information is passed on these lists, but
since the news first appeared on Grant's Web site posted by his wife,
it seems like a safe bet to be true. So even without a mention in a
newspaper article, I added Grant's death to Dead People Server.
Writers' deaths normally aren't picked up by AP/Reuters as quickly as
actors' anyway.
I'm thinking back to Paul Winchell's death...first I heard of it, I couldn't
find anything in the "official" places either, so I tried the first thing that
came to mind, i.e. www.aprilwinchell.com...there I read her blog entry from the
night before, talking about what a great time she had with her "dad", and
including a rather vicious reference to her biological father...surely, I
thought, she wouldn't say something that nasty on the day of his death, even if
their relationship was rather strained....
On the basis of that bit of deduction, I decided the death report must have been
a hoax or rumor...the next day, the official sources picked up the obit, and
April's dig at Mr Winchell had been edited out of the blog....r
--
"Screwing Type Gloomy - Giant Swing" --- Gloomy makes your world turn
around! Watch out for this charming toy teddy-bear that amazes you with
his agile walking skills through a special wind-up mechanism. Enjoy the
joyful company of this active playing wonder right away!