Saturday, August 18, 2018

Tributes for three well known personalities who past away this week

New York City and the world are paying tribute to two great personalities who we have lost this week.

Long Live The Queen of Soul


On Thursday, the world learned the passing of Aretha Franklin in her adopted hometown of Detroit, MI, at the soulful age of 76 after a brief illness. Family and friend, according to media reports, surrounded Ms. Franklin at the time of her passing.

During her long signing career, Ms. Franklin had won 18 Grammy Awards, become the first woman to be inducted in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, honored by the Kennedy Center, and given the highest honor this nation could bestow on her, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Within minutes of her passing, The Queen of Soul, was remembered outside the fame Apollo Theater in Harlem and at the Hollywood Walk a Fame in Los Angeles.

A memorial service for Ms. Franklin will be held on August 31.
From Ghana to the World


Flags outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York and around the world were lower to half-staff Saturday, upon the news that Former UN Sectary General Kofi Annan, the first black African to lead the worldwide organization, passed away in Switzerland after a short illness at the age of 80.

From 1996 to 2007, Mr. Annan revitalized the United Nations and made sure the organization’s core value of human rights is its first priority. For that, he received the Nobel Peace Price in 2001.

In his post-UN career, Mr. Annan founded the Kofi Annan foundation, an independent, non-profit foundation that works to provide better global governance, strengthen the capacities of people, and continue the achievement of a fair and more peaceful world.

Dale la risa (Spanish: Makes us laugh)

I mentioned earlier two personalities in this article, but you might be asking why the title of this blog says 'three personalities'? Let me explain.

The third personality to mention is someone well known to Venezuelans.

Anyone when grow up watching Radio Rochella on Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) will know Mr. Cayito Aponte who passed away in Caracas on Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was 80 years old.

First, Radio Rochella is Venezuela’s version of Saturday Night Live. However, unlike SNL, Radio Rochella used to air on Monday nights at 8pm, and for more than half a century, Venezuelans will be laughing at the comedy sketch of the actors who called this show their home.

Radio Rochella ended its 51-year running on RCTV’s sister channel, RCTV International in 2010, three years after the show was forced off the air by the governmental close down of Radio Caracas Television.

Now, Mr. Aponte was not only the host of the Radio Rochella, but he was also the show’s signer and actor. He often portrayed many famous Venezuelans. However, one of must famous portrayals was that of Carlos Andres Perez, the late Venezuelan President who was in office from 1974-1979 and 1989-1993. Check out the video below. It is Spanish.


Mr. Aponte’s passing is a great lost to generation of Venezuelans who grow up watching Radio Rochella, but a big lost the South American nation as a hole. He will surely be missed. Q.E.P.D. (Spanish: Rest in Peace)
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