RIP Dr. Ruth Westheimer......Richard Simmons......Shannon Doherty

[Pink Freud]

There's a saying among cynical, snarky old journalists --- like yours truly --- that says if you're going to do something completely stupid that would ruin your name and embarrass your family, do it on Super Bowl Sunday, so nobody will hear about it.

If death is a "good career move", as a music industry exec described the passing of Elvis, then Dr. Ruth; Shannon Doherty, and Richards Simmons had the misfortune, publicity-wise, of passing on a weekend that would be swamped by that OTHER big story that broke just minutes before Saturday's network evening newscasts on a normally slow news weekend when journalism's B teams are on the job....with the A teams all setting up in Milwaukee.

Thus joining:
--- Jim Henson, whose death shared the day's headline with Sammy Davis Jr.;
--- Farrah Fawcett, who passed just hours before Michael Jackson, and the real biggie.....
--- poor Mother Theresa, whose death was nearly forgotten because every network was airing wall-to-wall grieving over Princess Diana

Timing is still everything.