Time - USA (2020-04-06)

17

DIED

Tony Award–

winning playwright

Terrence McNally,

of complications

from COVID-19, on

March 24, at 81.

ABOLISHED

Colorado’s death

penalty, after

Governor Jared Polis

signed legislation, on

March 23.

MOVED

The U.S. income tax

filing date, from

April 15 to July 15, in

a decision announced

March 20.

ISSUED

A global Level 4

travel advisory,

recommending U.S.

citizens avoid all

international travel,

by the U.S. State

Department, on

March 19.

FIRED

Two Chicago police

officers who shot

at a stolen car in a

2016 chase that

resulted in the death

of an unarmed black

teenager.

AGREED

By California’s

Pacific Gas &

Electric, to plead

guilty to involuntary

manslaughter, on

March 23, over its

role in the 2018

Camp Fire, which

killed at least 86.

PUBLISHED

Woody Allen’s con-

troversial memoir,

Apropos of Nothing,

on March 23, after it

was canceled by its

original publisher.

DISCOVERED

Fossilized 555 mil-

lion-year-old evidence

of a wormlike

creature that may be

the earliest ancestor

of humans and other

animals, according

to researchers, on

March 23.

DIED

Kenny Rogers

Country music’s ace

By Naomi Judd

when Kenny RogeRs, who died at 81 on MaRch 20, asKed

me to play the role of his love interest in his 1993 TV movie

Rio Diablo, I was overjoyed. But before we shot the first scene,

I was an absolute mess with nerves. Yes, I’ve sung in the Super

Bowl halftime show, but acting in a dramatic western was brand-

new to me.

In the first scene, I was supposed to run toward Kenny, put my

arms around him and scream, “Don’t leave, they will kill you!”

Just as I touched him, he whispered, “For God’s sake, Naomi,

don’t laugh.” Of course, this immediately sent me into doing the

bent-over double belly laugh. The director and crew laughingly

told me to expect such pranks on the set. I decided to get back at

Kenny. In the next scene, I was giving him a bath in an old claw-

footed bathtub. Kenny was wearing only his underwear, so I hid

his robe. Never thought I’d ever be giving Kenny Rogers a bath,

much less see him almost naked.

I was a huge fan of Kenny’s long before I ever met him. I loved

him, and the times I spent with him are some of my best memo-

ries. When I got Kenny’s Christmas card this year, I saw a laugh-

ing Kenny with his lovely wife Wanda. As I stared at the card,

a life well lived was the phrase that came to mind.

Judd is a Grammy-winning country musician and actor

Milestones

POSTPONED

Tokyo Olympics

Until 2021

the woRld’s athletes

raised their voices. During

the COVID-19 outbreak, they

explained, training for the

Olympics was all but impos-

sible. With the Tokyo Games

still set to begin in July, even

as most other major sport-

ing events were canceled or

delayed, many athletes faced

a cruel dilemma: sacrifice

practice for the sake of pub-

lic health, or ignore social-

distancing and quarantine

instructions while chasing

gold. “We want to compete,”

American sprinter Wallace

Spearmon told TIME. “But

not at the cost of a life.”

These voices were heard.

Following pressure from ath-

letes and national govern-

ing bodies, the International

Olympic Committee and

Tokyo 2020 Organizing Com-

mittee jointly announced

on March 24 that for the

first time ever, the Olympics

would be postponed a year,

giving athletes much- needed

clarity in uncertain times.

(They’ve been canceled three

times, because of world war.)

The world will miss the

spectacle this summer. But

Tokyo 2021 could be a joyous

celebration of global resil-

ience, with a pandemic trail-

ing in the distance, nowhere

near the podium.

—sean gRegoRy

The Olympic rings, seen in

Tokyo on March 23

Rogers, who was

inducted into the

Country Music Hall

of Fame in 2013,

singing circa 1980

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