Actually, there were two deaths that I felt that I was stunned and shocked (and a little bummed out of it) is the deaths of actress Erin Moran (died April 22nd) of Head and Neck Cancer she was 56 years old at the time of death.

I don't follow Baseball that much, and another death that shocked and bummed me out is Roy Halladay (November 7th) on an aviation accident and he's one of my favorite pitcher in Baseball; he was 40 years old at the time of death.

My only vote in other counts for two.

Bruce Forsyth's passing was a real shame because he really was the last of those old, great all round entertainers that came out of Music Hall -- and the fact that Forsyth isn't on the list is a travesty! But yeah, that death really did mark the end of an era of British entertainment.

Tom Petty's death was quite shocking, and I am a big fan of his classic 70s, 80s and early 90s output, but it's not as if he had any great music left in him. He was creatively spent IMO, so it's not like I'll be lamenting the songs he was yet to write or anything.

However, to be perfectly honest, I don't think any celebrity death has actually made me feel properly sad. I only feel sad when people I actually know and like die.

There weren't any celebrity deaths in 2017 that effected me over-much. No Merle Haggard or Guy Clark, two that really bothered me in 2016.

I voted for Adam West and Tom Petty. West and the Batman television series are why I'm here. They led me to comic books and by extension to science fiction. But it was the character and the show as much as West.

I was a bit surprised by how I felt when Petty died. I was a fan but I didn't wait with bated breath for everything he did, like I did with, say, Guy Clark. But he was always there particularly in high school and college with great singles and good albums and he just seemed like a terribly likeable person. His music permeated my formative years.

The other one I might have considered voting for would have been Hugh Hefner. I think he had as much effect on the second half of the 20th Century as almost any other person.

Absent from the list is Bernie Wrightson. One of those Young Turks of the late 60s and 70s who really changed American comics.

I created this list with pop culture icons in mind and none of the comic professionals would be recognized by many non comic book fans.

David Cassidy - Forget the Brady Bunch, as a kid, my family was the Partridge Family on re-runs. A great show with great music, I still have the vinyl albums and 45 record singles of their music. Plus, I loved the Hardy Boy Mysteries which premiered later in the 70s which featured his half-brother Shawn Cassidy (and even still have the 45 record singles of some of his biggest hits as well).

To me, he represented fun and youth, energy and music and to learn of his passing really left me feeling sad in a way, as if something wonderful has been lost.


Bill Paxton - I was more shocked than anything over learning of this. Paxton was one of my favorite actors, he had a passion and energy that was hard to contain even on the big screen. Aliens, of course, is a huge favorite which lead to my long-standing wish that he and Michael Behn would be cast in their own duo film. The closest I came to that was Tombstone, one of my absolute favorite Westerns. But even with minor supporting roles, he was fantastic. I don't think I was sad upon learning of his passing, more like 'That can't be right'. I haven't felt anything similar since John Ritter passed away.