June 12: Comings and Goings

Birthdays are a wonderful daily occurrence in our lives. It is rare to weave through one's day without becoming privy to an announcement or celebration of a birthday or two, whether they belong to family, friends, or other eminent figures. Remembering those who have passed each day is, perhaps, just as noteworthy an endeavor, for if their memories are kept alive, one might argue, so too are their spirits.

Here is a sampling of June 12 honorees:

Birthdays

President George Herbert Walker Bush - Born on this day in 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts, President Bush served as the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. He also held the position of Vice President of the United States in the administration of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) and Director of Central Intelligence under Gerald R. Ford. He is a member of a political family which included his father, Senator Prescott Bush, and, of course, his son, the 43rd president of the Unites States. Early in life, the elder Bush enjoyed many distinctions, including becoming the youngest naval aviator, at the time, in the US Navy after the Pearl Harbor attacks, and becoming a millionaire by the age of 40 as a result of oil business accomplishments.

Marv Albert - Yes! It's Marv Albert's birthday. Born on this day in Brooklyn, New York in 1941, Mr. Albert became famous as the voice of the New York Knicks in 1967, a position he held for 37 years. Along the way, he became a national fixture as the voice of basketball on network television. He was also the radio announcer for the New York Rangers for 30 years, a post now held by his sound-alike son, Kenny. One of the busiest play-by-play men in broadcasting, he also handles Monday Night Football, and is now voice of the New Jersey Nets. Albert began his extraordinary career after attending Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications, and ultimately graduating from New York University in 1965.

Deaths

Gregory Peck - One of America's finest, and most beloved, actors passed away on this day in 2003 at the age of 87. Gregory Peck's career spanned approximately 50 years and resulted in memorable performances such as his characterization of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film, "To Kill a Mockingbird." He was nominated for five Academy Awards...in 1946 for "The Keys of the Kingdom," in 1947 for "The Yearling," in 1948 for "Gentleman's Agreement," and in 1950 for "Twelve O'Clock High." He eventually won the Oscar for best actor in 1963 for "To Kill a Mockingbird," and received the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1967. The American Film Institute named Peck the 12th greatest male star of all time.

Nicole Brown Simpson - Sadly, this day marks the anniversary of one of the most public murders in history. Ms. Simpson, the ex-wife of O. J. Simpson, was murdered at her home in Los Angeles along with her friend Ronald Goldman. O. J. Simpson was arrested and found not guilty of murdering them both in a controversial and sensational criminal trial, but was later found liable for the deaths in a civil suit. Mr. Simpson has been publicly vilified since, and has embarrassed himself on a number of occasions, among them a book describing how he would have killed them, if he had done it, and his arrest and subsequent conviction on multiple charges including robbery with a deadly weapon, burglary with a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, coercion with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit a crime.