| Thurber,
James (1894-1961) |
|
"God bless . . .God damn." |
|
James Thurber was a U.S. cartoonist and author who often contributed
to The New Yorker magazine. In 1961, he was operated on following
a blood clot on the brain. After making a partial recovery, he contracted
pneumonia and died. |
|
For more information:
Thurber's
World (and Welcome to It) |
 |
Recommended reading:
My
Life and Hard Times by James Thurber
The
13 Clocks by James Thurber |
| Tolstoy,
Leo (Nikolaevich), Count (1828-1910) |
|
"Even in the valley of the shadow of death, two and two do not make
six." |
|
Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer who had served as an officer in the
Crimean War. He lived a life based upon pacifism and asceticism and
rejected the teachings of the Orthodox Church. Even as he died, Tolstoy
rejected friends who attempted to convince him to reconcile with the church. |
|
Tolstoy's last words are also often recounted as "But the peasants,
how do they die?" |
|
For more information:
The Last Days of Leo Tolstoy |
|
Recommended readings:
Anna
Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Death
of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
War
and Peace by Leo Tolstoy |
 |
Recommended viewing:
Anna
Karenina starring Greta Garbo
War
and Peace starring Audrey Hepburn |
| Trotsky,
Leon (1879-1940) |
|
"I feel this time they have succeeded. I do not want them
to undress me. I want you to undress me." |
|
Stalin seized control of the Soviet Union after Lenin died in 1924
and began a relentless effort to purge all possible rivals. Leon
Trotsky, who had been Lenin's principal assistant, was Stalin's biggest
threat. Fearing for his life, Trotsky left Russia in 1929, but was
unable to convince any country to let him settle in exile. Eventually,
Mexico agreed. During his absence, Trotsky was convicted of two accounts
of treason by the Soviet courts and sentenced to death. As a result,
Trotsky took great pains to secure his Mexican home. After a machine
gun attack by the secret police in 1940, he built additional defensive
pillboxes, constructed a fifteen foot high wall surrounding his house,
and increased his staff of bodyguards. Later that summer, he became
friends with a friend of a former employee, Frank Jackson. Unfortunately
for Trotsky, Jackson was actually Ramon Mercader, a Spanish communist who
had been sent by Stalin. One day, while Trotsky was meeting with
Jackson in his home office, Jackson struck him in the back of the head
with a mountaineer's ice ax. Trotsky ran screaming from the room
and collapsed saying "I feel . . ." He was taken to the hospital
where he spoke his final words to his wife while being prepared for surgery. |
|
Recommended reading:
My
Life by Leon Trotsky
Trotsky:
The Eternal Revolutionary by Dmitri Volkogonov |
| Tucker,
Karla Fay (1960-1998) |
|
"I am going to be face to face with Jesus now. . . . I will
see you all when you get there. I will wait for you." |
|
In 1983, Karla Fay Tucker was found guilty and sentenced to die for
the murder of Jerry Dean and Deborah Thorton. Tucker, a prostitute
and drug addict, used a pickax to viciously hack both of them to death
while they slept, leaving the three-foot long tool embedded in Thorton's
chest. In her confession, Tucker graphically recounted how she had
experienced sexual orgasms with each of the blows. While in prison
awaiting decisions on her numerous appeals, Tucker became a darling of
the American Christian fundamentalists--led by Pat Robertson--after she
married a prison missionary and claimed to have accepted Jesus as her savior.
Despite a massive public relations campaign by an unusual alliance of Amnesty
International and the religious right to have her sentence commuted to
life imprisonment, the State of Texas executed Tucker in 1998. |
|
For more information:
The Karla
Fay Tucker Story from the Christian Broadcasting Network |
| U.S.
Presidents |
|
George Washington |
"Tis well." |
|
John Adams |
"Thomas Jefferson still surv . . . ." |
|
James Madison |
"Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear." |
|
James Monroe |
? |
|
John Q. Adams |
"I am composed." or "I am content." |
|
Andrew Jackson |
"Oh, do not cry. Be good children, and we shall all meet in Heaven." |
|
Martin Van Buren |
? |
|
William H. Harrison |
"I wish you to understand the true principles of government.
I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." |
|
John Tyler |
"Doctor, I am going. . . . Perhaps it is best." |
|
James Polk |
? |
|
Zachary Taylor |
'I am about to die. I expect the summons very soon. I have
tried to discharge my duties faithfully. I regret nothing, but I
am sorry I am about to leave my friends." |
|
Millard Fillmore |
? |
|
Franklin Pierce |
? |
|
James Buchanan |
"Whatever the result may be, I shall carry to my grave the consciousness
that at least I meant well for my country." |
|
Abraham Lincoln |
(Laughter) |
|
Andrew Johnson |
? |
|
U.S. Grant |
"Water" |
|
Rutherford Hayes |
"I know that I am going where Lucy is." |
|
James Garfield |
"Swain, can't you stop this (pain)? Swain!" |
|
Chester Arthur |
? |
|
Grover Cleveland |
"I have tried so hard to do right." |
|
Benjamin Harrison |
? |
|
William McKinley |
"It's God's way. His will, not ours, be done." |
|
Teddy Roosevelt |
""Please put out the light." |
|
William Taft |
? |
|
Warren Harding |
"That's good. . . . Read some more." |
|
Calvin Coolidge |
? |
|
Herbert Hoover |
? |
|
Franklin Roosevelt |
"I have a terrific headache." |
|
Harry Truman |
? |
|
Dwight Eisenhower |
"I've always loved my children. I've always loved my wife.
I've always loved my grandchildren. I've always loved my country." |
|
John Kennedy |
"That's very obvious." |
|
Lyndon Johnson |
? |
|
Richard Nixon |
? |
|
Recommended Reading:
The
Complete Book of U.S. Presidents by William A. Degregorio and Connie
Jo Dickerson
Presidential
Anecdotes by Paul F. Boller |
| Vanderbilt,
William H. (1821-1885) |
|
"I have had no real gratification or enjoyment of any sort more
than my neighbor on the next block who is worth only half a million." |
|
William Vanderbilt was the son of the famous railroad tycoon, Cornelius
"Commodore" Vanderbilt. At the time of his death in 1885, Vanderbilt's
fortune was about $200,000,000 |
|
For more information:
Vanderbilt Mansion
National Historic Site |
|
Recommended reading:
Fortune's
Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt by Arthur T. Vanderbilt |
| Vega
Carpio, Lope Felix de (1562-1635) |
|
"All right, then, I'll say it, Dante makes me sick." |
|
Vega Carpio was a prolific Spanish playwright who wrote more than 1800
plays. |
|
For more information:
Vega
(Carpio), Lope (Félix) de |
| Vespasian,
Titus Flavius Sabinus, Emperor (9-79) |
|
"Woe is me, I think I am becoming a god." |
|
Vespasian was a Roman emperor who rose from humble origins as a result
of his military accomplishments. He was pronounced Emperor to resolve
potential conflict following the death of Nero, and he worked hard to improve
the life of the common Roman citizen. |
|
For more information:
Silver
Denarius Image of Vespasian |
| Villa,
Francisco "Pancho" (Doroteo Arango) (1878-1923) |
|
"Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something." |
|
Pancho Villa was a Mexican bandit, revolutionary, and folk hero.
He conducted a guerilla war against the national government for many years
until he was granted amnesty and a hacienda in return for laying down his
arms. He retired in Chihuahua, Mexico, but was assassinated by supporters
of his long-time enemy, General Alvaro Obregon. Villa made his last
request to newspaper reporters as he lay dying. |
|
Information
on Pancho Villa |
|
Recommended reading:
The
Eagle and the Serpent by Martin Luis Guzman
The
Friends of Pancho Villa: A Novel by James Carlos Blake |
|
Recommended viewing:
Pancho
Villa starring Telly Savalas |
|
