Should auld acquaintance be forgot . . .

I have been tracking deaths since February, and I offer you this list of 2003's notable deaths. Some are old, some are young. I am glad you are not on the list!

2003 Deaths

Earl Hindman, actor, 61
Isabelle Stevenson, chairman of the board of the American Theatre Wing, 90
Anita Mui, Hong Kong pop star, 40
Bob Monkhouse, British comedian, 75
Alan Bates, actor, 69
Gary Stewart, musician
Les Tremayne, actor, 90
Patrick (Paddy) Crean, director, 93
Jeanne Crain, actress, 78
Paul Simon, former senator, 75
Ruben Gonzalez, Cuban musician, 84
William Roth, former senator, 82
Keith Magnuson, athlete and coach, 56
Madlyn Rhue, actress, 68
Otto Graham, athlete, 82
Jenifer Estess, theater producer, 40
Hope Lange, actress, 70
Ethel Winant, first television network female executive, 81
Keiko, killer whale, 27
Earl Bellamy, TV director, 86
Ellen Drew, actress, 89
Joe Skeen, Ex-Congressman, 76
David Hemmings, actor/director, 62
Gertrude Ederle, first woman to swim English Channel, 98
Eddie Gallaher, radio legend, 89
Richard Thomas Goldhahn, singing cowboy, 88
David Holt, former child actor, 76
Tony Canadeo, athlete, 84
Ken Brett, athlete, 55
Hugh Danaceau, newscaster and commentator, 74
Derek Prince, author and biblical scholar, 88
Eugene Kleiner, Silicon Valley pioneer, 80
Warren Spahn, Hall-Of-Fame Pitcher, 82
Snowflake, albino gorilla, 38-40
Gene Anthony Ray, actor, 41
Kellie Waymire, actress, 36
Jonathan Brandis, actor, 27
Dorothy Fay Ritter, actress and celebrity mother, 88
Canaan Sodindo Banana, first black president of Zimbabwe, 67
Robert Hodges, America's oldest veteran, 115
Penny Singleton, voice of 'Jane Jetson', 95
Irv Kupcinet, Chicago columnist, 91
Tony Thompson, Chic, Power Station drummer, 48
Art Carney, actor, 85
Bobby Hatfield, Righteous Brothers singer, 63
Franco Corelli, opera singer, 82
Rod Roddy, 'Price Is Right' announcer, 66
Madame Chiang Kai-shek, driving force in Taiwan's Nationalist gov't, 106
Michael Hegstrand, pro wrestler 'Hawk', 46
Fred Berry, TV's 'Rerun', 52
Elliot Smith, singer-songwriter, 34
Jack Elam, actor, 86
Manuel Vazquez Montalban, Spanish author, 64
Eleanor Lambert, fashion world icon, 100
Don Lanphere, jazz musician, 75
Carolyn Heilbrun (aka Amanda Cross), author, 77
Eugene Istomin, pianist, 77
Baba Jallow, suspected penis snatcher, 28
Israel "Izzy" Asper, founder of Canada's largest newspaper publisher, 71
Wally George, 'combat TV' host, 71
Marge Bong Drucker, "most shot at girl in WWII", 79
Elena Slough, oldest American, 114
Dan Snyder, NHL Atlanta Thrashers, 25
William Steig, illustrator and author, 95
Robert Kardashian, businessman and lawyer, 59
Elia Kazan, director, 94
Althea Gibson, first black to win Wimbledon, U.S. Open, 76
Sonora Webster Carver, horse rider, 99
Stanley Fafara, former child actor, 53
Donald O'Connor, entertainer, 78
George Plimpton, writer, 76
Herb Gardner, playwright, 68
Robert Palmer, singer, 54
Frank O'Bannon, Indiana governor, 73
Jay Morton, writer and artist, 92
Anna Lindh, Swedish Foreign Minister, 46
Harold Rose, horse trainer, 92
Gisele MacKenzie, singer, 76
Larry Hovis, actor, 67
Wesley Willis, schizophrenic street singer, 40
Kirk Varnedoe, art historian and curator, 57
Ramon Serrano Suner, Spanish minister, 101
Charles Bronson, actor, 81
Bobby Bonds, former baseball player, 57
Idi Amin, former Ugandan dictator, 78-80 (?)
Gregory Hines, Actor-dancer, 57
David Hampton, "Six Degrees of Separation" inspiration, 39
Strom Thurmond, Former U.S. Senator, 100
Lester Maddox, former Georgia governor, 87
Larry Doby, Baseball Hall of Famer, 79
Hume Cronyn, actor, 91
Gregory Peck, actor, 87
David Brinkley, newscaster, 82
June Carter Cash, country music pioneer, 73
Nina Simone, jazz and soul singer, 70
Karen Morley, actress blacklisted in the '30's, 93
Fred Rogers, every child's TV neighbor, 74
Ty Longley, musician, 31

So join me in some revelry:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
And days of auld lang syne, my dear,
And days of auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?

We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine.
We've wandered mony a weary foot,
Sin' auld lang syne.
Sin' auld lang syne, my dear,
Sin' auld lang syne,
We've wandered mony a weary foot,
Sin' auld ang syne.

We twa hae sported i' the burn,
From morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin' auld lang syne.

Sin' auld lang syne, my dear,
Sin' auld lang syne.
But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin' auld lang syne.

And ther's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine;
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

A Happy and healthy new year for you and yours.

Peace.