Dead Pool 20th October 2024

I don’t know if you heard, as the media have barely covered it, but a member of One Direction died last week… 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

A British influencer has plunged to his death while attempting to scale Spain’s highest bridge without safety equipment for an Instagram stunt. Lewis Stevenson, 26, fell from the 630ft Castilla La Mancha bridge on Sunday morning after ignoring his family’s pleas to call off the risky climb. Speaking from his home in Derby, his grandfather Clifford Stevenson, 70, told the Flying Monkeys: ‘We all tried to talk him out of it. We were always trying to talk him out of doing things but that was the way he was. He loved doing it, always went out there believing he’d be alright. He did what he did for his own pleasure. He did not get any money for it, he was an adventurer’. Tributes to Lewis were led by his heartbroken girlfriend Savannah Parker, who revealed that the last thing he said to her was ‘Good night, I love you’ the night before his death. Stevenson showcased some of his ‘rooftoping’ around the world on his Instagram page under the name expedition. Dizzying photos of Stevenson atop a New York skyscraper and resting on a metal beam overlooking the City of London were among those documented by Stevenson. Other photos showed the daredevil hanging from a structure in Croatia and a hotel roof in Mexico City. One of his most recent climbing stunts on October 3rd was to the top of a stand at Nottingham Forest’s ground. Authorities in Spain said Stevenson was accompanied by a 24 year old friend. He was said to be in shock at the tragedy but is unlikely to face any criminal charges. The pair had scaled a quarter of the 630ft bridge when Stevenson lost his grip and fell. Local councillor Macarena Munoz said accessing the bridge was ‘totally banned’ and said Stevenson’s body was found at 7.14am on Sunday. A source close to the investigation said: ‘Both the dead man and the companion that survived were climbing without any harnesses or other protection.  

Olympic legend Sir Chris Hoy has revealed he has “two to four years” left to live after a recent terminal cancer diagnosis. Hoy, 48, announced in February that he was being treated for cancer. However, after a scan last September showed a tumour in his shoulder, a second scan found the main cancer to be in his prostate – which has since spread to Hoy’s shoulder, pelvis, hip, ribs and spine. The six-time Olympic cycling champion, who has two children aged seven and 10, has now revealed he has been given a terminal cancer diagnosis and has two to four years left to live. He added that he had kept his terminal diagnosis private for a year and also divulged that his wife, Sarra, has “very active and aggressive” multiple sclerosis after a scan last year. “As unnatural as it feels, this is nature,” Hoy told the Flying Monkeys. “You know, we were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the process. You remind yourself, ‘aren’t I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible’. But most of the battle for me with cancer hasn’t been physical. For me, it has been in my head.” The former track cyclist is an 11-time world champion as well as a six-time Olympic champion, who competed for Great Britain at four Olympic Games between 2000 and 2012. Hoy is Scotland’s most successful Olympian and has the second-most British gold medals behind Jason Kenny.  

Jeremy Clarkson has undergone a heart procedure after experiencing sudden health “deterioration”. The Clarkson’s Farm host, who recently cut his professional ties with Grand Tour co-stars Richard Hammond and James May, has said a doctor told him he was “maybe” days away from dying. Clarkson first started struggling while swimming from a boat to the beach while on holiday on a small island, explaining that: “It wasn’t far, maybe the length of two swimming pools. But when I finally reached the beach, there was more water in my lungs than there is in Lake Superior, and I was mostly dead.” His worries were heightened when he struggled to walk up the stairs without holding somebody’s hand. He told the Flying Monkeys: “I’m not exaggerating. These problems all manifested themselves in one day.” He returned to the UK and, after feeling a tightness in his chest and pins and needles in his left arm, he was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford in an ambulance. Clarkson said that the “sudden deterioration” that “began to gather pace” left him especially concerned after the death of Alex Salmond from a heart attack earlier this month. However, after having several checks, including an electrocardiogram (ECG), the presenter was told he was not having a heart attack – but that he was “maybe” days away from death. Clarkson wrote: “It seems that of the arteries feeding my heart with nourishing blood, one was completely blocked and the second of three was heading that way. “So he made a hole in my wrist, inserted his Dyno-Rod equipment and went in for a closer look. The question was this. Were the arteries so ruined that I’d need an emergency heart bypass? Or could he use his Dyno-Rods and some ultrasonic battering rams to loosen them up before inserting a stent?” Clarkson said that “mercifully”, the doctor was able to insert a stent, which he said “wasn’t especially painful – just odd”. The presenter said the scary experience made him think, “Crikey, that was close.” 

On This Day

  • 1947 – The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of the Hollywood film industry, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years. 
  • 1973 – The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction. 
  • 1977 – A plane carrying the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in woodland in Mississippi, United States. Six people, including three band members, are killed. 
  • 2011 – Rebel forces capture Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in his hometown of Sirte and kill him shortly thereafter, ending the first Libyan civil war. 
  • 2022 – Liz Truss steps down as British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party after tanking the British economy, serving for the least time of any British Prime Minister [49 days]. 

Deaths

  • 1964 – Herbert Hoover, American engineer & politician, 31st President of the United States (b. 1874). 
  • 1977 – Steve Gaines, American guitarist (b. 1949). 
  • 1977 – Ronnie Van Zant, American singer-songwriter (b. 1948). 
  • 1984 – Paul Dirac, English-American physicist and mathematician (b. 1902). 
  • 1994 – Burt Lancaster, American actor (b. 1913). 
  • 2003 – Jack Elam, American actor (b. 1918). 
  • 2010 – Bob Guccione, American publisher, founded Penthouse magazine (b. 1930). 
  • 2011 – Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan colonel & politician, Prime Minister of Libya (b. 1942).
  • 2020 – James Randi, Canadian-American stage magician and author (b. 1928). 

Rest in Peace, Patti McGee

The skateboarding world is heartbroken by the news of legendary Patti McGee’s passing on October 17, 2024. An icon, an innovator, a skateboarder, and a straight-up badass, Patti’s influence on skateboarding will live on forever.

All of skateboarding felt this one. It’s a tough pill to swallow, and while I’ve seen countless heartwarming posts from top pros, skateboarding enthusiasts, friends, family and everyone else in between sharing memories and stories of Patti, I really enjoyed former TWS alumni, Miki Vuckovich’s post and all the kind words he shared

“FAREWELL TO THE QUEEN – I last saw Patti McGee less than two weeks ago at the Oceanside Band Shell, site of many historic skateboarding events. Except this time she was there cheering and supporting a group of youth and adaptive skateboarders at the @poseidenfoundation competition, more than a half century after she made national and international news, winning the first Women’s National Skateboarding Championship title in 1964,” he wrote on Instagram.

“She would appear on the covers of both LIFE magazine and Skateboarder magazine the following year, plus the Dick Clark Show and other popular TV programs. She was the poster girl for the ‘Craze And The Menace of Skateboarding,’ as LIFE magazine called it. And in the past couple of decades, she and her daughter @yeahailey could be seen at skate events, large and small, continuing to share her story, her presence, and her support for the new communities that have adopted skateboarding as their own – groups that hadn’t previously seen themselves in skateboarding, but have stepped in to become part of our growing community.” 

I was fortunate enough to meet Patti a few times myself and she was always the kindest, most charming human. An absolute legend! Yet so humble, real and sincere. One thing was certain – she loved skateboarding. And skateboarding loved her right back. The mark she left on the culture is incredible and the influence she had is monumental. Style like hers can’t be faked! She was as real as it gets.

“A couple days after we were with her in Oceanside, Patti entered hospice care,” Miki continued. “She passed last night, and the tributes have been rolling through the channels like a champion skateboarder who saw an opportunity to share what she loved and went for it. And she continued sharing, right to the end.” 

News like this is never easy to take, but it’s a great time to reflect and remember just how amazing of a person Patti was. If you skate, then I’d guarantee you’ve been seeing posts about the news as well. Take some time and read through the stories, scroll through some photos and honour the life of skateboarding’s official queen, Patti McGee. Our hearts go out to her entire family.

“The Queen is dead,” Miki concluded. “Long live the Queen.”

And we’ll echo that, Mik. RIP Patti McGee.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Viggo Mortensen (66), John Krasinski (45), Snoop Dogg (53), Kamala Harris (60), Rebecca Ferguson (41), John Lithgow (79), Katja Herbers (44), Barry Keoghan (32), Zac Efron (37), Jean-Claude Van Damme (64), Pam Dawber (73), Felicity Jones (41), Michael McKean (77), Eminem (52), George Wendt (76), Tim Robbins (66), Dominic West (55), Lori Petty (61),  and Steve Coogan (59).

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