Some ... of many: Those we've lost to coronavirus
They are our friends, our neighbors; people of renown, and just regular people. "Sunday Morning" takes a moment to remember just a few of the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic:
Matthew Seligman (1955-2020)
The English bass player was part of Robyn Hitchcock's The Soft Boys and the new wave group Thompson Twins, and recorded with Thomas Dolby, David Bowie, Morrissey, Tori Amos and Sinéad O'Connor.
Listen to Matthew Seligman perform on Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science":
Gene Shay (1935-2020)
An influential Philadelphia radio DJ for more than 50 years (he introduced Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell to the City of Brotherly Love), Gene Shay was co-founder, in 1963, of the Philadelphia Folk Festival (and its longtime face). He also worked as an advertising copywriter. He served as a board member of the North American Folk Alliance, and served on the board of Sing Out! magazine.
Beloved among radio colleagues and music fans, he was also fondly remembered for silly jokes and magic tricks.
Wynn Handman (1922-2020)
The acting teacher (whose students included Frank Langella, Mia Farrow, Michael Douglas, James Caan, Denzel Washington and Allison Janney) was co-founder and director of the American Place Theater, an off-Broadway institution that produced works by American playwrights, including Sam Shepard.
Handman was the subject of a 2019 documentary, "It Takes a Lunatic."
Henry Grimes (1935-2020)
The jazz bassist, who recorded with such greats as Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan and Sonny Rollins, made a comeback, in 2003, after having spent 15 years battling bipolar disorder and writing poetry in obscurity.
"He said very few words, but when he played, it was like kinetic radar waves," bassist William Parker told The New York Times. "He could listen; he could hear; he could push the music."
"Saturday Night What Th'," from the Henry Grimes Trio's 1965 album, "The Call":
Jack Bryant (1956-2020)
A member of the Stamford Board of Education, Jack Bryant was president of the Stamford NAACP for 10 years, after founding the NAACP Youth Choir. A deacon at Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, he was praised for bringing integrity to public life, as an educator, minister and mentor.
"He was a very positive person and a good role model in the community," his son, Stamford High School football coach Jamar Greene, told the Stamford Advocate.
Bob Lazier (1938-2020)
Indy racer Bob Lazier, the 1981 CART rookie of the year, was the father of 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier. Another son, Jaques Lazier, is also an Indy racer.
Brian R. Miller (c. 1968-2020)
"There was nothing that would stop him from doing anything he wanted to. He just did it," Jane McGinnis, mother of educator Brian Miller, told the Washington Post. Born with defective retinas, making him practically blind, Miller graduated from San Diego State University with a political science degree, and earned a master's and Ph.D. in history from the University of Iowa.
Miller worked at the Education Department's Rehabilitation Services Administration, helping students with disabilities. An inveterate traveler (he'd visited at least 65 countries) who spoke four languages, he wrote a blog for blind travelers.
"Nothing would stop him," McGinnis told the Post, "except this stupid COVID-19."
Cedric Dixon (1971-2020)
New York City police detective Cedric Dixon "had to be a cop," his youngest sister, Monique Dixon, told The New York Times. "That was always his goal."
Dixon served in the NYPD for 23 years, having been promoted to detective just last year. At 6'8", he was a towering presence at the 32nd Precinct in Harlem.
Known for playing piano and fixing electronic equipment, he was, his sister said, "the glue" of his family.
Ferdi German (1978-2020)
A subway car inspector for New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority, German was an Army veteran who played college baseball after an injury ended his military career.
Bennie Adkins (1934-2020)
Adkins served more than two decades in the Army, including as a Green Beret. Deployed to Vietnam three times, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism.
During a prolonged 1966 battle, he showed conspicuous gallantry when he and 16 other Green Berets came under heavy attack. Five of the Green Berets were killed and 12 were wounded, including Adkins himself.
After 38 hours of nonstop combat, helicopters finally arrived to help the survivors. Adkins went to retrieve a badly-wounded soldier, but when he returned, the helicopters were gone. He then led four other survivors for hours through the jungle, fighting off North Vietnamese, as well as a tiger that stalked them overnight.
By the time they were rescued, Adkins had killed an estimated 175 enemy combatants.
Adkins has displayed "gallantry above and beyond the call of duty," President Obama said at his Medal of Honor ceremony in 2014.
He retired from the armed forces in 1978 at the rank of command sergeant major. He later graduated from Troy University, and founded an accounting firm in Alabama.
Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: David Bhagat.
