Seamus Heaney - d. August 30th 2013

All I knew of poetry 
was a door into the dark; 
you painted the bogs 
with words, lit fires
along the Liffey,
laced Nordic skies 
with wonder.

Read about Seamus Heaney here 

Mike Winters - d. August 24th 2013

It must have hurt
to live at the edge

of the lens, yet, 

like all good feeds,

you knew,

the straighter the face
the louder the laughs.

Read about Mike Winters here

Elmore Leonard - d. August 20th 2013

We'll see your name everywhere;
ballistics reports, rap sheets,
held up in mugshots,
at the bottom of a shot glass,
drained to the dregs.

Read about Elmore Leonard here

Karen Black - d. August 8th 2013

We sing in praise

of an older woman;

occasionally up

on the marquee,

promising something

with those eyes

but never as easy

as titles suggested.

Read more about Karen Black here 

Ray Harryhausen - d. May 7th 2013

We were marooned

from birth

on a desolate isle;

you sent Sinbad and Jason

to rescue us,

reimagined the world

in miniature,

to make it bigger.

Read about Ray Harryhausen here 

Angelo Dundee - d. February 1st 2012

You had a plan 
for every punk; 
jab and move, 
stay on your toes 
and off the ropes.
The ring 
has four corners;
you were there
in all of them.

Read about Angelo Dundee here 

Mel Smith - d. July 19th 2013

'eard the news?
What?
That comedian. Croaked.
Well, he did have a face like a toad.
'Ave some respect. I thought 'e was funny
Not now 'e isn't.

Read about Mel Smith here 

Bert Trautmann - d. July 19th 2013

After the war,
you found yourself
in the right place,
at the right time,
playing the game
your captors invented,
yet still
playing the game.

Read more about Bert Trautmann here 

Chester Harriott - d. July 15th 2013

Let me lift the lid

for the Liberace

of Fitzrovia,

his velvet fingers

itching for arpeggios,

but his keyboard

just one forgotten octave.

Read more about Chester Harriott here 

Alan Whicker - d. July 12th 2013

I imagine you
stepping off the plane
in Paradise,
dressed for safari, 
microphone in hand, 
looking for an angel
to quiz about the locals.

Read more about Alan Whicker here 
 

George Jones - d. April 26th 2013

To sing like that,
To tell those tales,
you must’ve been
on drinking terms
with Gabriel
and Lucifer.

Now all of us
will cry into
our beer tonight.

Read more about George Jones here