Farewell Raquel, Farewell Hurricane Hazel

RIP Raquel Welch (pictured at left), the GOAT Hollywood sex godess. She was always Walt's favourite. There hasn't been one like her, before or since. 

Of course I admired her for her mind. (She wrote a book, you know.) She liked to play strong women, characters of substance, and wrote that she disliked almost all of the roles she was offered. But hey, it was a living.

If I may be permitted a small personal recollection... Many years ago, I paid what was then a small fortune to see her Vegas/nightclub act, up close and personal. I was surprised to find that she was not as tall as you'd think if you just looked at her legs in the still pictures. She stood 5'6" in her bare feet. The rest of her stats, at her peak (I know you want to know!) were 37-22-35.

After a short illness, Raquel Welch died yesterday, aged 82. 

"Hurricane Hazel" McCallion (the one on the right) was smaller, but feistier. She got her nickname from the storm which devastated parts of Peel County, west of Toronto, in 1954, when Mrs McCallion (she eschewed the PC "Ms") was 33.

She was a businesswoman (not "businessperson"), politician and human dynamo, a force to be reckoned with in any arena in which she set foot. Yes, she skated and played hockey well into her golden years! 

She was elected and re-elected as Reeve of Streetsville ON. When Streetsville and an agglomeration of other towns, villages and hamlets became the City of Mississauga, "Hurricane Hazel" became its mayor in 1978. She served in that capacity until her retirement in 2014, making her the longest-serving mayor in Ontario (and possibly Canadian) history.

On her very long watch, Mississauga tripled in size -- it's now Canada's sixth-largest city -- while remaining debt-free. Her accomplishments are too numerous to be listed. We can only say, as we did of Raquel Welch, there wasn't another one like her, before or since.

Hazel McCallion died of pancreatic cancer at the end of January, and was buried in Mississauga on Valentine's Day, which would have been her 102nd birthday. RIP

Rush Limbaugh, RIP... plus: death watch

In Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One, (((Zev Chafets))) quotes Rush Limbaugh as saying, "In my heart and soul, I know I have become the intellectual engine of the conservative movement." Walt would agree. Mr Limbaugh was a powerful influencer -- an inspiration, in fact -- as well as a voice for millions of conservatives, libertarians, fundamentalists, nationalists, populists and others on the right. His death from lung cancer was reported by his family yesterday. RIP.

Mr Limbaugh first announced his diagnosis a year ago, saying he would take time off for medical tests and to determine treatment. He said he intended to continue to work as much as possible, as well as focus on what he called his "deeply personal relationship" with God. A day after he announced his diagnosis, during the State of the Union address,President Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

I have a feeling that next year's posts on People Who Left Us in 2021 will be voluminous. Britain's Prince Phillip entered the hospital yesterday (under his own steam, apparently) "for observation". He is 99. His better half, HRH Queen Elizabath II, will turn 95 in April.

April will also see the 94th birthday of Joseph Alois Ratzinger, aka Benedict XVI, sometime Pope of Rome. If he dies, the Roman Catholic Church will be left with only one pretender to the Chair of Peter.

And then there's Hazel McCallion, longtime mayor of Mississauga ON, who turned 100 on St. Valentine's Day. Walt wishes "Hurricane Hazel" many more years!