Elizabeth Taylor - Death of a Legend

There have been countless tributes and columns written about the death of Elizabeth Taylor yesterday. I will not try to out do them, but felt it appropriate to post a few thoughts and reflections. Taylor was a legendary actress and won two best actress Oscars in the course of making over 50 films. Yes, she had an often turbulent love life and multiple marriages. On one issue, however, she stood out even more: her willingness to use her fame and star power for a cause she truly believed in even when it was not popular in the 1980's. The cause, was HIV/AIDS research and treatment and one news clipped noted that she had helped raise over $120 million. Not only did she help found amfAR, but she also had her own foundation as well.

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As for her film's, it is hard to pick a favorite. As a history major, I always liked her in Cleopatra which wasn't a box office success, yet was pretty accurate to history, especially for Hollywood in that era. I also remember A Place in the Sun in which she stared with Montgomery Cliff because the movie was based on a real incident that happened on Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack Mountains not too far from our summer home.
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And politically, for a while she was a definite presence in Virginia as former U.S. Senator John Warner's wife. While I was no longer in Virginia Beach at the time, she even attended a Warner fundraiser at a home down the street from my parent's long time home.
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She will be missed and it's outrageous that the Westboro Baptist Church says that it will demonstrate at her funeral because she was "queen of the fag hags." One can hope the funeral will be on private property so that the false Christians and bigots from Westboro can be arrested for trespass charges. Then again, Westboro deserves credit for demonstrating time and time again the ugly face of Christianity as practiced by gay hating denominations of which it is one of many.

In Memoriam: Natasha Richardson

Natasha's untimely death should remind all of us of the need to live more in the moment and grasp some happiness each day - and to love others each day - since we truly do not know when some freak accident could change everything in literally hours. As someone who grew up snow skiing, her accident and death sends shivers down my spine. My thoughts go out to her children and family.

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On Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, she had attended an amfAR gala to kick off fashion week and to raise money for AIDS research. Richardson was also on the board of the charity amfAR, The Foundation for Aids Research. According to the Guardian, this statement was issued by amfAR:

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"Natasha's passion for the cause and tireless efforts gave hope and inspiration to the scientists and healthcare workers on the front lines of this deadly epidemic, as well as to the millions of people living with HIV/AIDS around the world. "The board of trustees and staff of amfAR are deeply saddened by this loss."