John Denver
Updated NOVEMBER 2002 in Poyple
Anyway, came across some information on
the late John Denver that I thought you might find interesting:
1) The reason he was practicing touch and go landings that day was because
he was planning to buzz Clint Eastwood's place up in Carmel--apparently they
were good buddies.
2) He was worth about $7 million at the time of his death, but guess who
forgot to write a will? Eventually the estate was divided among his three
kids, but recently there was a story in the Aspen newspaper about the IRS trying
to get $2.5 million in back taxes from his estate. His two oldest kids are
fighting it.
3) In the long list of ex-spouses trying to cash in when their famous ex
buys it, add the name of Cassandra Delaney. This is John's second ex (the
first was the famous Annie from "Annie's Song") who was a minor
actress/singer in Australia. Even though they'd been divorced for four
years prior to his death and that by all accounts the divorce was ugly, she's
STILL playing the bereaved widow five years later, busily selling her story to
Australian tabloids while trying to get her music "career" started.
She still calls herself Cassandra Delaney Denver, too. If you go to her
website (www.cassandramusic.com), you can hear her awful MP3s. She tried
very hard to get her own piece of John's estate, but eventually had to settle
for her kid's share. You can start a most interesting flamefest on a
Denver website just by mentioning her name, since his fans consider her to be a
complete whore.
I was bored one night and found out all this stuff while surfing the Web--which,
come to think of it, was how I found Find A Death in the first place!
Anyway, keep up the good work!
Patricia
THANKS Patricia!
These updates (in red) are from his official autopsy report. I obtained it from Celebrity Collectables. They specialize in wills, autopsies and all sorts of fun stuff. Go and check it out, from our links page. Please mention Findadeath, if you order anything. I don't make anything, I just want them to know how you found them.
He was renting a home nearby in Monterey, and he purchased this particular plane the day before the accident. It was called a "Long-Eze, serial number 54, number 228vs." It was a two-seated fiberglass plane that had originally been built from a kit a few years earlier. Denver had already flown the plane into Monterey from Santa Maria, and on that particular Sunday afternoon he wanted to take it on a test spin down the coast. Denver had practiced three touch and go landings - in which he swooped down to the runway and then pulled back up - before receiving the permission from the Monterey Airport to take the plane on the test spin. It was October 12, 1997.
This is what he was wearing: a baseball hat with "Yuma Rod and Gun Club" on it, green Haggar trousers (size 32/32), a multi color sweater, black jockey shorts (eww), cowboy boots and dark socks.
The 53-year-old singer's last words were a calm query about whether he had transmitted a four-digit code clearly. "Do you have it now?"
It was 5:28 p.m., and he was about 150 feet from shore, and 500 feet above the ocean when eyewitnesses heard a popping sound. A second or two later, they watched in horror as the plane plunged straight down into the water and broke apart on impact. Within 3 minutes, seagulls had reached the scene. Yum. I hate those things. Winged bowel movements if you ask me, and you were going to, weren't you? They found bit's of John Denver floating in the debris about 20 minutes later. He was so badly mutilated that all they could tell was that it was a male. They scooped up what they could find in multiple garbage bags, but what was left weighed only 128 pounds. Here's a list of what ended up forever fish food:
His brain, his teeth, his eyes, for that matter, 75% of his head was missing. Also gone were his right hemipelvis, and right thigh, one lung and his gallbladder. His left arm was missing, but they found it an hour or so later.
Parts of the plane continued to wash up for quite awhile, and here's mine, thanks to a good friend in the right place at the right time. Another addition to my hall of shame, thankyouverymuchrocio.
Ultimately, the cause of the crash was the fact that Denver failed to refuel the tank. That, plus a lack of training. It seems that he was distracted from flying while trying to grab a handle controlling fuel flow. Experts think he spent the last moments of his life trying frantically to switch from this main tank to the reserve one, not realizing that they were both empty. Whoops.
They cremated what was left of him, and a representative of Parker Funeral Home took the ashes personally to Colorado. His funeral was held on Friday October 17th, at the Faith Presbyterian Church, in Aspen, Colorado. Over 2000 people, and John Denver's horse Tonto showed up to the tribute, which included six airplanes flying overhead, rocking their wings in a salute. Didn't anyone see the irony? Everyone agreed that Denver was a plane down to earth kind of guy. Okay, I was good up until this point, wasn't I?
Findadeath.com friend Ken Wert sends us this:
For a guy who died in a plane crash, notice the many references to flight - creepy? Let the FAD readers decide:
*******
I've seen it rain and fire in the sky.....
In Memory of
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr.
aka John Denver
Born: December 31, 1943 in Roswell, New Mexico
Died: October 12, 1997 in Monterey, California
Memorial Service
Friday, October 17, 1997, 10:00 AM
Faith Presbyterian Church
11373 E. Alameda Avenue
Aurora, Colorado
Pastor Les Felker Officiating
Organ Prelude.......Nancy Thompson
Special Music..... "On The Wings of a Dream"
Invocation
Scripture: Psalm 121 and I Corinthians 15:35-44 and 51-55
Special Music....."High Flight"
Prayer
Expressions of Love.....Family and Friends
Special Music....."Perhaps Love"
Meditation - Sunset at Noon
Benediction
Postlude...."The Wings That Fly Us Home"
Arrangements were made by Parker Funeral Home, Inc.
10325 Parkglenn Way
Parker, CO 80138
Trivia: Denver desperately wanted to be the first civilian in space, and came very close to being booked on the ill fated Challenger Shuttle flight.
More Trivia: Friend of Findadeath Jeff Alderman of Virginia shared a fact with me that I'd forgotten: "In the mid 1970's, the USA was in the midst of a gas crisis, and Denver briefly became something of a spokesperson for gasoline conservation, and the use of alternate forms of transportation. It was surprising then, when it came to light that he had installed a couple of huge gasoline tanks underground in the backyard of his home - there would be no waiting in gas lines for Mr. Denver." Thanks Jeff!
This just in, January 2003, from Findadeath friend Tonya:
At the
very end of the John Denver piece, Jeff talks about JD being a gas
conservationist. How ironic that he buried two gas tanks in his yard, but
forgets to check his fuel in his plane. This, of course, leads to
his demise. Those gas tanks sure would have come in handy, huh?
This John Denver piece actually contains many weird coincidences.
Just a thought....
Tonya
Very true, Tonya, thanks!
