"After all, if we saw each other at the post office we would say did you hear Michael Jackson/Queen Elizabeth/Teddy Kennedy died?"

WE? 'We' must be careful who 'we' include in our idea of stereotyped behavior. Most of the folks I know would NOT consider the average OBIT as the starting point for a conversation. If it is on the level of JFK or MLK or RFK, it is unlikely we would meet anyone who did not know...even Ted Kennedy is not 'quite' at that level. Queen Elizabeth? hmmmmm...in the USA, maybe, as a passing remark. Certainly worth a thread...but not in the music section.

**trying to figger out how to express my desire for restraint** ... I think it's just that too wide a scope **in a folk-based forum** dilutes the focus and makes almost anything fair game. There are gray areas, but if everyone who was ever in a TV series or had a hit song is included, someone will decide to post it. ..."Oh my...Wally Cox and Twiggy!"

There are forums where those are perfectly good topics, but I'll bet that there they wouldn't want Martin Carthy (long may he live!) debated.