The Blog of Death

Sam

Sam, a three-time winner of "The World's Ugliest Dog Contest," was put to sleep on Nov. 18 after being diagnosed with chronic heart disease. He was 14.

The mostly hairless pooch never let his unattractive appearance stop him from attaining stardom in a society where cute and fluffy puppies are prized. In fact, Sam's unsightly teeth, wrinkled brown skin, acne-covered face and milky-white eyes earned him numerous television appearances and a meeting with millionaire Donald Trump. Strangers even created fan Websites devoted to him.

At the time of his death, the 13-pound hound was scheduled to appear in an upcoming Discovery Channel series on the world's ugliest species. Sam's owner, Susie Lockheed, also marketed his visage on T-shirts, calendars, magnets and coffee mugs.

Lockheed rescued Sam in 1999 after his former owner moved to a place where dogs were not allowed, and an adoption agency rejected him for being too homely. Although she was also repulsed by his ugliness, Lockheed soon fell in love with the pedigreed Chinese Crested Hairless.

Lockheed's boyfriend at the time was not as charmed by her new pet, and soon broke up with her. Sam's appearance didn't deter Lockheed's next beau, Mark Tautrim, who responded to a profile posted on the online dating site Match.com that featured a picture of Susie and Sam.

"Sam owed his very life to Susie Lockheed, who fostered and then adopted him when no one else dared. In turn, Sam brought Susie untold joy and a fiancé, a perfect illustration of why people should consider adopting older, less attractive dogs," said Craig Schmitman, publisher of DogExplorer.com.

Sam's favorite toy was a stuffed bear he once found and carried home. He also enjoyed eating sirloin steak, cheese balls, roasted chicken and flan. Sam is survived by his owner and three adopted canine sisters: TatorTot, TinkerBell and PixieNoodle.

• Read Sam and Susie's Blog

Alfred Anderson

Alfred Anderson was only 18 years old on Dec. 25, 1914, when the "eerie sound of silence" fell along the 500-mile Western Front. On that day, British and German troops stopped shooting each other long enough to share a moment of peace.

Anderson, who served with Britain's 5th Battalion - The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), would eventually become the last known surviving Allied veteran to have experienced the spontaneous "Christmas Truce" of World War I. The unauthorized ceasefire spread along the Western Front as enemy troops shook hands, swapped cigarettes and food, sang Christmas carols and even played games with each other.

In some places, the impromptu truce lasted for several weeks, and actually alarmed army commanders who feared the fraternization between the troops would interfere with the need to resume fighting. For Anderson, however, peace lasted only a few hours.

"All I'd heard for two months in the trenches was the hissing, cracking and whining of bullets in flight, machinegun fire and distant German voices," he once said. "But there was a dead silence that morning, right across the land as far as you could see. We shouted 'Merry Christmas,' even though nobody felt merry. The silence ended early in the afternoon and the killing started again. It was a short peace in a terrible war."

The yule armistice was not repeated during the remaining years of the war, a global conflict that left 31 million people dead, wounded or missing.

Anderson was born June 25, 1896, in Dundee, Scotland. He and many of his classmates enlisted in the Territorial Army in 1912 and were among the first British soldiers to serve in France during the Great War. Anderson reached the rank of sergeant, and briefly served as the valet to Capt. Fergus Bowes-Lyon, brother of Queen Elizabeth.

He continued to serve until 1916 when a shell exploded, killing several of his friends and seriously wounding him in the back of the neck. Anderson lay in his trench all day, and only received medical attention after darkness fell. The injury ended his active service, but he still helped the Allies by working as an infantry instructor.

Anderson aided the Home Guard during World War II and also ran his family's building and joinery business. In 1998, he was awarded the Legion of Honor from the French government. Anderson's life was chronicled in the 2002 biography, "A Life in Three Centuries," and a bust of his visage is on display at the public library in Alyth, Scotland.

Anderson died in his sleep on Nov. 21 at the age of 109. His wife, Susan Iddison Anderson, died in 1979 at the age of 83. Alfred is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Eddie Guerrero

Eddie Guerrero was beloved for playing a heel. A charismatic star on the World Wrestling Entertainment circuit, his "Lie, Cheat and Steal" anti-hero image found favor with millions of wrestling fans.

Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes was born into a wrestling family. All three of his older brothers (Chavo Guerrero, Hector Guerrero and Mando Guerrero) were professional wrestlers, as was his father, Gory Guerrero. The El Paso, Texas native attended the University of New Mexico and New Mexico Highlands University before moving to Mexico in 1987 to wrestle under the stage name Mascara Magica.

Guerrero wrestled with his brothers for a few years, then went solo in Japan as the Black Tiger II. He eventually returned to Mexico, where he and Art Barr formed the tag team La Pareja del Terror (The Pair of Terror). After Barr's death from substance abuse in 1994, Guerrero competed in the Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Championship Wrestling circuits.

In 2000, Guerrero debuted on "Monday Night RAW" with former WCW wrestlers Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn as The Radicalz. The team won four titles and became popular with fans following a brutal face off with the New Age Outlaws. Guerrero parted ways with The Radicalz a few months later when he wooed female wrestler Chyna away from Benoit. Guerrero and Chyna broke up in 2001 after he was "caught" showering with two other female wrestlers.

Guerrero returned to the ring in 2002 and won the Intercontinental Championship, the WWE Tag Team Championship and the United States Championship. In 2004, the 5-foot-8 and 220-pound wrestler defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Title and became the WWE's second Hispanic champion.

On Nov. 13, Guerrero was scheduled to film "Monday Night RAW" and "Friday Night Smackdown!" in Minneapolis. When he didn't respond to his ordered wake-up call, hotel security and Guerrero's nephew and fellow WWE wrestler, Chavo Guerrero, forced their way into his room and found him on the floor. Attempts to revive the 38-year-old wrestler were unsuccessful. Authorities later attributed his death to acute heart failure.

Guerrero's life, including his addictions to drugs and alcohol and an arrest for drunk driving, was chronicled in the 2004 documentary, "Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story."

• Complete Coverage From World Wrestling Entertainment

Bill Hootkins

William Michael Hootkins, a character actor who achieved cult status playing an ill-fated X-Wing pilot in the film "Star Wars IV: A New Hope," died on Oct. 23 of pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

The burly Texan developed an interest in acting as a teenager at the St. Mark's School of Texas. He studied astrophysics and Chinese linguistics at Princeton University before moving to England and training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.

One of Hootkins' first major roles in Hollywood was also his most memorable. In the 1977 science fiction classic, "Star Wars," he played Lt. Jek "Red Six" Porkins. Despite the fact that he had few lines and his character died during the rebel attack on the Death Star, Hootkins found fame with the saga's most ardent followers. These same fans created entire Websites in his honor, purchased Jek Porkins action figures and sought out his autograph at science fiction conventions.

Hootkins followed that role with more than 40 others on the big and small screens. He played Major Eaton in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Chuck Malarek in "White Nights," Lt. Max Eckhardt in "Batman" and will appear as Frank Rich in the upcoming movie "Colour Me Kubrick." The multilingual actor also made guest appearances on numerous television shows, including "Taxi," "Valerie" and "The West Wing."

On stage, Hootkins earned rave reviews as Alfred Hitchcock in "Hitchcock Blonde" on London's West End. The show was scheduled to move to Broadway next year. In his spare time, Hootkins lent his vocal talents to audiobooks, video games and dozens of radio plays for the BBC.

Rosa Parks

A few courageous people stand up for what they believe in. Rosa Louise McCauley Parks made her point by sitting down.

In Dec. 1955, the 43-year-old black seamstress took a seat in the front of the "colored" section on a Montgomery, Ala., bus. Tired from a long day of work, she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger, even after the bus driver James Blake ordered her to do so. Parks refused to be inconvenienced by the city's discriminatory segregation laws and was arrested for her impertinence. Four days later, a judge convicted her of disorderly conduct and fined her $14.

Parks' arrest sparked a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system by black riders, a peaceful protest that was organized by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and led the Supreme Court to strike down Montgomery's segregated bus law (Browder v. Gayle). The rest of the country continued to abide by the "separate but equal" doctrine until 1964, when the Civil Rights Act required all public accommodations be desegregated.

Born in Tuskegee, Ala., Parks was the daughter of James McCauley, a carpenter, and Leona Edwards McCauley, a schoolteacher. She attended Alabama State Teachers College, earned a high school diploma and was married to Raymond Parks, a barber, from 1932 until his death in 1977. Prior to her arrest, Parks worked as a secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and was active in the voter registration movement. Her act of civil disobedience, however, cost Parks her job at the Montgomery Fair department store.

After receiving numerous death threats, Rosa and Raymond relocated to Detroit. She worked on the staff of U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) for 20 years, and later co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, which helps young people pursue educational opportunities and work toward racial harmony.

Although friends described Parks as quiet, diplomatic and eloquent, the woman known as the "mother of the civil rights movement" could also be a powerful speaker. In fact, she remained active on the lecture circuit well into her 80s. Parks was the subject of the 2002 documentary, "Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks," which received an Academy Award nomination for best documentary short. She was also honored with numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, and inducted into the Academy of Achievement in 1995.

Parks died on Oct. 24 of natural causes at the age of 92. Her body was flown to Montgomery and then to the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. A procession of city buses, including a vintage Metropolitan bus dressed in black bunting, followed her hearse to the Capitol, and a military honor guard served as her pallbearers. Over the course of two days, more than 30,000 people filed past her casket to pay their respects.

• Watch an Interview With Parks

• Listen to Tributes From NPR