We lost a few other heroes, too

I've been a little out of touch in terms of the news lately, but I heard someone really famous passed away about a week ago and it has dominated the network and cable new shows.

Apparently this person changed the way we look at that world, or so the news people said.

So I assumed it was astronomer Frank Low, who developed and distributed sensors for infrared astronomy and performed the first successful observations above the Earth's atmosphere according to his obituary.

But Low was 75 and I think this person was 50.

I heard this person dressed in military uniforms from time to time so I thought perhaps it was Major Gen. David Wherley Jr., retired commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard. Gen. Wherley was killed in the recent Metrorail crash in Washington.

He was the one who issued the order to scramble fighter jets over the nation's capital on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, following the terrorist attacks.

But then I heard this other person was not actually in the military. Apparently surgery was a big part of their story, so my thoughts turned to the recent passing of Dr. Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald.

Dr. FitzGerald treated her own breast cancer courageously for several months while down at the South Pole in 1999 before she could be rescued. She later wrote a book — "Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole."

Or maybe it was Michele McNichols, who lived right here in Sandy Springs. She started the Atlanta Street Theatre in 1977, using white actors with black college kids to encourage culturally diverse theater and to strengthen education.

And that was only one of her many theatrical achievements. But she passed in February.

So I wonder how four people of such note and accomplishment could pass away and not rate all this coverage and public mourning.

The person getting all this attention was a pop singer. Sold a lot of records and concert tickets. Great dancer. Music video pioneer. Some said he defined a generation.