Universally mourned

[snarlingcoyote]

Not Billy, his son Franklin is the 1 being viewed as controversial. I always liked Billy, but I can't say I'll mourn him all that much. Won't mourn Franklin at all though. I have issues with the museum. And the burial fight with his parents.

Billy is completely retired and not saying anything to the press anymore. Except of course when Obama met him a few weeks ago, But Obama had to go to him.

To be fair, Billy Graham is in a fragile state of health and at an advanced age. At that age, you've got a right to expect the young whippersnappers of the next generation to come to you.

 

[petchie]

Paul McCartney

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Paul McCartney

There are a few exes who might disagree.

 

[FireDancer]

No one will be universally mourned in the "absolutely no detractors" kind of way. If you look at it in a "vast majority way" I think Mandela is the most likely of those living along with the Dalai Lama. Stephen Hawking I think will be morned in the scientific community and educated society but people in the third world, probably not.

Most people aren't universally loved until a generation or two after they are gone. I'm sure that people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were not as universally loved in their own time as they are looking back through history. Even Lincoln had many many detractors in both the north and south which is glossed over in the history books.

I don't think pop starts or athletes are important enough for the world to morn them, so I won't even count them.

 

[heart4pooh]

Bob Dylan

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Ummm...ME?

 

[luvmy3]

No one will be universally mourned in the "absolutely no detractors" kind of way. If you look at it in a "vast majority way" I think Mandela is the most likely of those living along with the Dalai Lama. Stephen Hawking I think will be morned in the scientific community and educated society but people in the third world, probably not.

Most people aren't universally loved until a generation or two after they are gone. I'm sure that people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were not as universally loved in their own time as they are looking back through history. Even Lincoln had many many detractors in both the north and south which is glossed over in the history books.

I don't think pop starts or athletes are important enough for the world to morn them, so I won't even count them.

While I agree that they aren't important enough for the world to mourn them, they are usually the ones that are known to the world therefore more universally mourned than someone like Hawking or even the Dalai Lama.
I don't believe there will ever be one person who is well known and loved and then mourned by everyone but when certain celebrities die (MJ for example) the whole world seems to mourn them, not just those in one country, or one specific group of followers.

 

[Arenita]

Walt Disney? (I don't know - did he have an enemies' list?)

Muhammed Ali comes to my mind. (Controversy there, too.)

 

[moon]

Paul McCartney

That was my first thought, but I couldn't bring myself to type it.....the mere thought of it makes me

There are a few exes who might disagree.

A few exes? there's only one.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

I could name a few if if weren't UNIVERSAL. (Like those here in just the U.S)

I am stuggling with the UNIVERSAL part.

Some PP mentioned Betty White, Bill Murray, etc.....they would be on my short list if it were those who would be impacted in the USA.

 

[luvsJack]

No one will be universally mourned in the "absolutely no detractors" kind of way. If you look at it in a "vast majority way" I think Mandela is the most likely of those living along with the Dalai Lama. Stephen Hawking I think will be morned in the scientific community and educated society but people in the third world, probably not.

Most people aren't universally loved until a generation or two after they are gone. I'm sure that people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were not as universally loved in their own time as they are looking back through history. Even Lincoln had many many detractors in both the north and south which is glossed over in the history books.

I don't think pop starts or athletes are important enough for the world to morn them, so I won't even count them.

While I agree that pop idols and athletes are not as important as many of the people who have been named, the fact that they were mourned by the masses is undeniable. Many pop idols, as unimportant as they may, be are loved by the world

Elvis's death caused much mourning across the world as did Princess Diane's and Michael Jackson'. Maybe not by every single person in every single country; but I don't think anyone will ever reach that status. I do remember Elvis's and Diane's being more of an actual mourning and it seems like MJ's was more sensationalized. And when you think about the amount of world wide mourning that went on with Elvis's death without the use of the internet or even, for our neck of the woods anyway, round the clock news channels--its pretty impressive even for a pop idol.

 

[themilesfamily]

Oprah Winfrey, perhaps?

The people I really mourned for when they died were Mr. Rogers, Princess Diana and Ronald Reagan. Those were the deaths that hit me really hard for whatever reason. I think it's because they were people who were meaningful to me in childhood.

 

[okeydokey]

I don't think anyone will be universally mourned. Different people have different beliefs and feelings. The two examples the OP mentioned, Bishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela will not be mourned by my in-laws because of their race. As disgusting as that is, that is how they feel.

 

[disney1990]

I know he's not loved by everybody in the U.S., but Bill Clinton has done a lot of good (around the world) since he left office.

 

[2cats1kid]

Over in the UK we know who Oprah is, but we don't see her show or anything. She'd rate a mention on the news, but not grief.

Biggest I can think of over here apart from Princess Diana was the Queen Mother. There were books of condolence all over for her - even in our local Tesco! Think book of condolence in Walmart and you're close. But even she had her detractors, as despite being the nation's favourite grandmother and what she did for the country during the war etc. there were a lot of people prepared to say that she was very hard to get along with etc. The Queen will cause major ripples, but again the anti-Royalists wouldn't be bothered.

Michael Jackson for me was more shock than grief. Although I'd long predicted that he wouldn't make old bones, I didn't see it coming.

 

[bicker]

Aw, shucks. I'm going to see him speak on Tuesday and I was a little surprised at how difficult it was to get tickets.

I am so jealous -- oh wait -- no I'm not! I assure you I'm not jealous!

 

[moon]

I don't think anyone will be universally mourned. Different people have different beliefs and feelings. The two examples the OP mentioned, Bishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela will not be mourned by my in-laws because of their race. As disgusting as that is, that is how they feel.

I agree. I took the "universally mourned" to mean mourned all over the world, but it seems that some are taking it as mourned by everyone. That's just impossible.

 

[AshleyW]

I am so jealous -- oh wait -- no I'm not! I assure you I'm not jealous!

Of course not. Just like I wasn't really angry when I couldn't get tickets to both events.

 

[bicker]

 

[DonaldG72]

Simon Cowell? At least he will belieive he will......