IN: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,  (; 3 January 1892 - 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor who is best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. He served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, from 1945 to 1959. He was at one time a close friend of C. S. Lewis--they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.

A weak and emaciated Tolkien spent the remainder of the war alternating between hospitals and garrison duties, being deemed medically unfit for general service.  During his recovery in a cottage in Little Haywood, Staffordshire, he began to work on what he called The Book of Lost Tales, beginning with The Fall of Gondolin. Lost Tales represented Tolkien's attempt to create a mythology for England, a project he would abandon without ever completing. Throughout 1917 and 1918 his illness kept recurring, but he had recovered enough to do home service at various camps. It was at this time that Edith bore their first child, John Francis Reuel Tolkien. In a 1941 letter, Tolkien described his son John as "(conceived and carried during the starvation-year of 1917 and the great U-Boat campaign) round about the Battle of Cambrai, when then end of the war seemed as far off as it does now".  Tolkien was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant on 6 January 1918. When he was stationed at Kingston upon Hull, he and Edith went walking in the woods at nearby Roos, and Edith began to dance for him in a clearing among the flowering hemlock. After his wife's death in 1971, Tolkien remembered,  I never called Edith Luthien--but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief part of the Silmarillion. It was first conceived in a small woodland glade filled with hemlocks at Roos in Yorkshire (where I was for a brief time in command of an outpost of the Humber Garrison in 1917, and she was able to live with me for a while). In those days her hair was raven, her skin clear, her eyes brighter than you have seen them, and she could sing--and dance. But the story has gone crooked, & I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos.  This incident inspired the account of the meeting of Beren and Luthien.

What did he do after his wife's death?

OUT: I never called Edith Luthien--but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief part of the Silmarillion.


IN: Fugazi (; foo-GAH-zee) is an American punk rock band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1987. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty. Fugazi are noted for their unique sound, blending of elements of dub/reggae with high energy rock and punk/hardcore-styled guitars, as well as for their business practices and contempt towards the music industry. The band, and others from the punk and hardcore scene leading up to the early 1990s, were among the early adopters of what grew to be known as the DIY ethic.

With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album.  Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. However, the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind Repeater, performing a total of 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. While major labels began to court Fugazi, the band decided to stay with Dischord and refused the offers of those labels. Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide. The album was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that pre-dated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which would unexpectedly go on to break the genre into the mainstream.  For Fugazi's second studio-album Steady Diet of Nothing, released in July 1991, the band once again asked Ted Niceley to produce. Niceley had become a chef and had to reluctantly turn down the job, so the band members decided to produce the record themselves. After the success of Repeater and its subsequent world tour, Steady Diet was highly anticipated, six months prior to its release Dischord had pre-orders in excess of 160,000 for the album.

Was there any hit singles released?

OUT: Repeater ultimately went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone, and more than 2 million worldwide.


IN: Kenneth William Kavanaugh (November 23, 1916 - January 25, 2007) was an American football player, coach, and scout. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears as an end from 1940 to 1950, except for three seasons during which he served in World War II. He led the league in receiving touchdowns twice, and is a member of the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team. He is the Bears' all-time leader in receiving touchdowns, with 50.

After the war, he continued his career with the Bears. In 1945 he had 543 yards and six touchdowns, and in 1946 had 337 yards and five touchdowns. Three of his touchdowns in 1946 came in a 27-21 win over the Los Angeles Rams in week seven. The Bears defeated the New York Giants 24-14 in the 1946 NFL Championship Game, which gave Kavanaugh his third league championship with the team. The first touchdown of the game was a 21-yard pass from Luckman to Kavanaugh. After the season, he was named to the United Press All-NFL first team. Kavanaugh had his most productive season statistically in 1947. He had career highs with 32 receptions, 881 yards, and 13 touchdowns. He set a Bears record by recording a receiving touchdown in seven straight games, a streak that began with a three-touchdown game against the Boston Yanks in week six. His 13 receiving touchdowns led the league, and he earned his second straight first-team All-NFL selection from the United Press.  Kavanaugh was named to his third straight All-NFL first team in 1948, and he again led the league in receiving touchdowns in 1949, with nine. His most productive single-game yardage performance came in his final season, in 1950 against the Yanks, as he caught eight passes for 177 yards and a touchdown.  Kavanaugh spent a total of eight seasons in Chicago. He spent the majority of his career catching passes from quarterbacks Sid Luckman and Johnny Lujack. He remains the Bears' career leader in touchdown receptions, with 50. He also holds franchise records for highest career and single season yards-per-reception. His 13 touchdown receptions in 1947 is a single season Bears record he shares with Dick Gordon, who tied it in 1970.  In 1969, Kavanaugh was voted by sportswriters to the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team. The Professional Football Researchers Association named Kavanaugh to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2009

Did he receive any awards or accolades?

OUT:
In 1969, Kavanaugh was voted by sportswriters to the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team.