Friday Reads

 Taxpayers should not be funding religious schools in any way.

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Abortions will continue in the state of Texas, at least for the time being.

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A second woman who has had to deal with Will "Lia" Thomas speaks out about his cheating travesty, aided and abetted by his coach, of course.

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Obituary:  Mike Nesmith, musician and actor, best known for his work with the "manufactured" and then legitimate rock group The Monkees, has died at the age of 78.   He died of heart failure.  His death leaves Mickey Dolenz as the last surviving member of the group.  Nesmith had performed with Dolenz as recently as November 14.

The Monkees was a group created for a television series (1966-1968) that was loosely based on The Beatles.  The Beatles were reportedly fans of the series, and then the actors/musicians of the group wanted to actually create their own songs and play their own instruments.  Nesmith and the late Peter Tork (1942-2019) were in fact musicians, while the late Davy Jones (1945-2012) and Mickey Dolenz were actors.  Because The Monkees were a "manufactured" group, they were hugely underrated despite having performed some of the most memorable records of the 1960s.

Snip:

A Houston, Texas native, Nesmith moved to L.A. after a short stint in the Air Force. Before becoming a household name, he had success as a song writer, with songs like "Mary, Mary," which was recorded by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and "Different Drum," which was recorded by Linda Ronstadt.

He landed a role on the TV series "The Monkees" in 1965. The series aired from 1966 to 1968. He went on to have a solo career and has been considered one of the pioneers of country rock.

In 1981 he won a Grammy Award for video of the year.

Fun fact:  His mother, Bette Nesmith, was the inventor of Liquid Paper.

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A couple more obits of note to note on this blog:

Director Lina Wertmuller, 93, known as the first female director nominated for an Oscar, died at her home in Rome:

Wertmüller directed her first film, “The Lizards,” in 1963. She built her reputation over the 1960s and ‘70s as a risk-taker whose films defied genre conventions. Her best-known films were made in the 1970s, beginning with “The Seduction of Mimi” in 1972, which was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Her next film, “Love and Anarchy,” was also a Palme d’Or nominee, and 1975’s “Swept Away” won the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Top Foreign Film. Wertmüller’s 1977 film “Seven Beauties” was an international success, receiving four Oscar nominations including Best Director and Best Writing (Original Screenplay) for Wertmüller. The last of her two dozen films was 2004’s “Too Much Romance… It’s Time for Stuffed Peppers.” In 2019, Wertmüller was recognized with the Academy Honorary Award for her career achievements.

Race car legend Al Unser, Sr., 83, died at his New Mexico home.  He won the Indy 500 four times.  His brother, Bobby, died earlier this year:

Unser came from a family of auto racers, known for their wins at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb as well as at the Indianapolis 500. His brother, Bobby Unser (1934–2021), was the first in the family to win the Indy 500, but Unser followed him two years later with his first win in 1970. He would go on to win at Indy in 1971, 1978, and 1987, becoming the oldest winner at 47 in 1987. He was the fourth driver to win two consecutive Indy 500s, and the second to win four times. His son, Al Unser Jr., is also a racing driver, with two Indy 500 wins. Unser holds a record for leading 644 laps over the course of his Indy 500 career. Unser also raced in NASCAR and IROC, coming in fourth at the 1968 Daytona 500 and winning the 1978 IROC championship. Unser and his family owned and operated the Unser Racing Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.