St. Clair Bourne + Floyd Red Crow Westerman: R.I.P.

While I recognize that it's selfish of me to want to ask that cultural pioneers and activists/open-hearted creative souls/ and/or friends take a moratorium on leaving this plane for the next, just for a little while--that's exactly what I feel like asking for.

It would pretty much be at the top of my Christmas list if I were still a kid who made one.

Vaya con los Espíritus, señores...

St. Clair Bourne 1943 - 2007
Chester Higgins Jr.'s New York Times profile of noted filmmaker St. Clair Bourne (right, photo: Chester Higgins, Jr.) from 2006, and a video interview of Bourne from their Lens Photojournalism series from the same year.

December 17th update:
Further information from the December 16th IndieWire article: "Remembering St. Clair Bourne 1943-2007."

December 18th update:
• Obituaries from The New York Times Arts Section, New York Daily News, The New York Observer, BET.com's "What the Flick?" column
• Filmmaker AJ Schnack's All These Wonderful Things blogpost on Bourne which lists quotes from and links to other artist-blogger's memories and impressions of Bourne.
• Filmmaker Magazine's Blog entry from a notice sent them by Adrienne Jones of the New York-based Black Documentary Collective (BDC), founded by Bourne.
• GreenCine's blog notice, compiled from the IndieWire article, Schnack's blog and which points to (as does Filmmaker Magazine and All These Wonderful Things)...
• Renew Media's obituary listing written by Agnes Varnum
• "St. Clair Bourne's Shortlist" of documentary films that inspired him, and why from 17 July 2007 at MediaRights "media that matters."
• Black Talent News' listing which eerily reprints Bourne's last blog entry describing the brain surgery which was to be minimally invasive and apparently successfully removed a benign tumor. Sadly, there were complications during his post-operative recovery.







Floyd Red Crow Westerman 1936 - 2007
The NativeTimes.com and Rapid City Journal staff obituary for the actor, singer-songwriter, and political activist who was 71 years old when passed away on December 14th after a long illness.

December 18th Update: Westerman's agent has stated that the cause of artist/activist's death was leukemia.

• Washington Post obituary
• Indian Country Today story
• Native Times.com listing
• New York Times Arts section obituary
• RezNet News listing with youtube video of Westerman performance

• Testimony: Floyd Red Crow Westerman, World Uraniam Hearings, 15 September 1992, Salzburg, Austria.
• Floyd Red Crow Westerman, A Tribute to Johnny Cash (2006, Hen House Studios). Westerman's award-winning CD of Cash covers, in honor of the fellow songwriter who was of Cherokee heritage and a life-long supporter of Native/American Indian rights (available through CD Baby).