Those We Lost — November 8

Honoring those we lost on November 8 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Orion Anderson

Born c. 1875 — died November 8, 1889

14-year-old lynching victim, Loudoun County, Virginia

Orion Anderson, a 14-year-old Black boy, was jailed in Leesburg, Virginia, after a white girl said someone had frightened her on a road in Hamilton, though she could not identify him. Before dawn on November 8, 1889, masked men took him from the jail, shot him and hanged him from a rail freight house. No one was charged. Loudoun County dedicated a marker to him on Juneteenth 2019.

Ivory Joe Hunter

Born October 10, 1914 — died November 8, 1974

R&B singer-songwriter, ‘Since I Met You Baby’

Ivory Joe Hunter of Kirbyville, Texas, wrote and recorded more than 7,000 songs by his own count, scoring R&B number ones with ‘I Almost Lost My Mind’ and the 1956 crossover hit ‘Since I Met You Baby’. Elvis Presley recorded his songs, and he later moved toward country music and played the Grand Ole Opry. He died of lung cancer in Memphis on November 8, 1974, at 60.

James Booker

Born December 17, 1939 — died November 8, 1983

New Orleans piano genius, ‘the Piano Prince’

James Booker, the Piano Prince of New Orleans, worked as a sideman behind a wide range of musicians, including Fats Domino, and built a solo style drawing on classical music, gospel, blues and R&B. Drugs and prison shadowed his career. He died in the emergency waiting room of Charity Hospital in New Orleans on November 8, 1983, at 43.

Lester Bowie

Born October 11, 1941 — died November 8, 1999

Trumpeter, Art Ensemble of Chicago co-founder

Lester Bowie, born in Frederick, Maryland, and raised in St. Louis, joined Chicago’s AACM and in 1966 co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago, becoming one of the most inventive trumpeters in jazz, mixing growls, smears and humor in his white lab coat on stage. He died of liver cancer in Brooklyn on November 8, 1999, at 58.

Gwen Gordy Fuqua

Born November 26, 1927 — died November 8, 1999

Songwriter, Anna Records founder, Motown pioneer

Gwen Gordy and her sister Anna persuaded the Gordy family to give their brother Berry the $800 to record Marv Johnson, a step toward the founding of Motown. She co-wrote Jackie Wilson’s ‘Lonely Teardrops’, formed Anna Records, and ran Tri-Phi Records with her husband, Harvey Fuqua of the Moonglows. She died of cancer at her home in San Diego on November 8, 1999, at 71.

Alwyn Cashe

Born July 13, 1970 — died November 8, 2005

Army sergeant first class; Medal of Honor recipient

Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe of Oviedo, Florida, was leading a patrol near Samarra, Iraq, on October 17, 2005, when a bomb set his Bradley on fire. Soaked in fuel and burning himself, he went back into the vehicle three times to pull out six soldiers and their interpreter. He died of his burns at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio on November 8, 2005, at 35; in 2021 he became the first Black service member awarded the Medal of Honor for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Heavy D

Born May 24, 1967 — died November 8, 2011

Rapper and actor, Heavy D and the Boyz

Heavy D, born in Jamaica and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, led Heavy D and the Boyz to platinum albums with ‘Now That We Found Love’ and ‘Nuttin’ but Love’, became president of Uptown Records, and acted in Boston Public and The Cider House Rules. He collapsed outside his Beverly Hills home on November 8, 2011, and died at Cedars-Sinai at 44; the coroner found a pulmonary embolism from a blood clot that likely formed on a long flight.

Wally Triplett

Born April 18, 1926 — died November 8, 2018

First Black NFL draftee to play in the league

Wally Triplett starred at Penn State, where his teammates’ refusal to play without him produced the ‘We are Penn State’ legend in 1946. Drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1949, he became the first Black player chosen in the NFL draft to play in a regular-season game, and set a league kick-return record in 1950. He died in Detroit on November 8, 2018, at 92.