Top 5: Dead People Of 2011

     This was supposed to go up Friday, but it got delayed.  Better late then never, I guess, but I doubt anyone was actually waiting on another Top 5 list from me.  This last best of 2011 Top 5 is going to deal with dead people.  I know this one sounds a little morbid, but it's meant to be in honor of these people who left us this year and the things they accomplished while alive.  That being the case you will not see people who the world was happy to see go.  There will be no Osama Bin Laden or Muammer Gaddafi or Kim Jong-il, just people who left a positive or inspirational legacy behind.
       Some of you may be asking, what about a best of 2011 movies?  I will do a whole week of those lists leading up to the Oscars.  It seems like a more fitting time to deal with the best movies of the year.  So here is my list of Top 5 Dead People Of 2011...

5)  Duke Snider - 84
          In all honesty, The Duke was going to wind up in my honorable mentions, but when I did a little research on this topic I only found him on one list of people that died in 2011, and that bothered me so much I made sure he was in my top 5.  Duke Snider was once considered the best center fielder in baseball.  The famous argument once asked, who was better Willy Mays, Mickey Mantle or Duke Snider.  I find it hard to believe that he went from seriously considered for this argument to not even mentioned on a list of famous people who died.  He wasn't as flamboyant as Mays and he didn't have the wild night life of Mantle, so I guess he just gets lost in history.  But I will always have room for one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

4)  Jack LaLanne - 96
          People always like to bring up Jim Fixx when giving excuses for not exercising.  Running guru Jim Fixx died at age 52 of a heart attack.  For those people I counter with Jack LaLanne, the man who brought physical fitness and proper diet to the masses and lived until the age of 96.  LaLanne basically created the fitness industry we know today, being one of the first people to publish fitness books, star on exercise television programs, to open nation wide gyms, and of course, selling juicers on TV.  Our country is healthier (some would say that's not saying much) because of LaLanne and his love and belief in person physical fitness.

3) Joe Frazier -67
          In an era when boxing still mattered, Frazier was one of the kings.  Growing up, I thought I knew boxing and then I saw a rebroadcast of an Ali-Frazier fight and everything changed.  The way the two just stood there and beat the crap out of each other was amazing.  I've never seen anything so brutal, impressive or entertaining.  Frazier was never the public darling that Ali was or as important when it came to issues outside of boxing, like civil rights, but he was still an important figure in America.  One could argue that without Frazier, Ali might not have become as huge as he did.  As one half of the greatest rivalry ever and one of the greatest boxers to ever step in the ring, Smokin' Joe will be missed.

2)  Elizabeth Taylor - 79
           For my generation, Elizabeth Taylor wasn't much more then a punchline, but that doesn't change the importance she held to many generations prior.  For years she was the personification of beauty in an industry that was filled with beautiful people.  Practically American royalty, there are very few people who were more famous or more iconic then Taylor.  As much as here time in the lime light had passed, her death to Americans wasn't much different then the death of a queen.  The death of a living legend and someone who is certainly part of American mythology is always a great lose.

1)  Steve Jobs - 56
          Was there much doubt about Steve Jobs being number one on this list?  He's youngest person on this list, yet is more responsible for how we live our daily lives then anyone who died this year and probably anyone who is still alive.  I'm not a Mac guy, but I still can't imagine my life today without Steve Job's influence.  Pioneer of the personal computer revolution, CEO of Apple when the IMac, IPod and IPhone were introduced, co-founder of Pixar, he basically supervised the way we know live our lives.  We will certainly miss his genius and whatever other ideas he may have brought to us, but we will also live with him and  his creations for the rest of our lives.

Honorable Mentions: Al Davis-82, Randy Savage-58, Heavy D-44, Andy Rooney-92, Amy Winehouse-27