Obituaries

First Panda Lady Has Died

Joined by her husband, Jack (left), and brother-in-law Quentin Young is Adelaide “Su-Lin” Young. Photo courtesy of her family. Forget about the fictional “Indiana Jones,” or even the real “Zoology Jones,” for a minute. Recall, please, that women were part of the early exploration adventures too! Ruth Harkness is often remembered as the first woman to have found the giant panda. But why was that first cub named Su-Lin? Here is the rest of the story. After Ruth Harkness’ husband William died as he set out to find the first live giant pandas, she turned to a man only identified [...]

John Phillip Law, Played Sinbad, Dead at 70

John Phillip Law, a tall, blond actor who cut a striking figure as the blind angel opposite Jane Fonda in 1968′s Barbarella (below), as Sinbad in 1974′s The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (above), and as Harry Holt with Bo Derek in 1981′s Tarzan the Ape Man, has died. He was 70. Law died Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at his Los Angeles home, his ex-wife, Shawn Ryan, said. The cause of death was not announced (although privately, on various celebrity obit forums, a fast-moving cancer is being blamed). Born in Los Angeles on September 7, 1937, to L.A. County Deputy Sheriff [...]

Mothman Deaths: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good For several months, there have been no new Mothman news, as it relates to the Mothman Death List. That’s great. Not since 26 January 2007, when a member of the cast of the Mark Pellington-Richard Gere movie, The Mothman Prophecies, died five years after the national release of the film, has there been a well-documented, well-publicized passing of anyone on the cast. (For more details on that 2007 death, click on “Cyrus Bills”.) The void in deaths has been welcome. Or is the absence of information perhaps only a lack of knowledge of such deaths, as the movie [...]

Dynamic Discoverer of Ants Dies

Roy Snelling (1934-2008). Cryptozoologically, insects are not really in the realm of animals that Bernard Heuvelmans, myself and others strictly defined as of interest to the field, but nevertheless, we must admire those toiling to make the new discoveries of all those little animals out there that remain to be described. One such giant in that arena of insects is to be celebrated in his passing. For many of us, our first intrigue may have been with the tiny crawling and flying things found around our backyards, and for some, such as this explorer of the kingdom of ants, the [...]

Anna McClain Memorial Fund

Anna McClain (future Coleman), at 17 years of age, a few years before she gave birth to Loren Coleman. First it was a slight cold on Tuesday, April 8th, followed by her quick death on Wednesday, April 9th. I’m in a bit of a shock. My mother always helped and encouraged my cryptozoology, including the museum. Donations will be greatly appreciated to support the continued work and housing of the cryptozoology exhibitions, and can be sent to Anna McClain Memorial c/o Loren Coleman PO Box 360 Portland, ME 04112 or via PayPal to lcoleman@maine.rr.com Or if you want to have [...]

Hillary’s Yeti Debunking Lives On

Sir Edmund Hillary recently died, and yet his legacy of Yeti debunking continues onward, even now through his associates. The Telegraph of Calcutta, India has published a subtle little article recalling in glowing terms Hillary’s damaging Yeti investigations, which were set up skeptically, versus open-mindedly, from the very start. In the article, “Climber recalls days with Edmund, hunting for Yeti,” the Telegraph’s correspondent writes of one man who was on the trek: Nearly half-a-century ago, Bhanu Banerjee accompanied legendary climber Edmund Hillary to a Himalayan expedition in pursuit of the Abominable Snowman and came back with some incredible memories. “Every [...]