The Memorial Wall

Larry Reynolds put his stamp on the UC Riverside men’s basketball program before building the Cal State San Bernardino men’s basketball team into a NCAA Division II national contender.

“His impact was so subtly good that people didn’t realize it,” said Reynolds’ former UCR teammate Tony Masi. “He was just a regular guy who loved basketball and people and his impact was like a heartbeat – you don’t realize it’s working, but you absolutely need it and couldn’t work without it.”

Reynolds, the former UC Riverside player and assistant coach and a four-time California Collegiate Athletic Association coach of the year at Cal State San Bernardino, died Saturday, Jan. 27, after a long battle with Multiple System Atrophy, an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease. He was 71.

“What a winner and a champion in all ways – as a coach and as the most respected, professional, genuine, kind and loyal man I have ever known,” former CSUSB athletic director Nancy Simpson said. “Larry was truly larger than life and will be missed tremendously.”

Reynolds guided the Coyotes to a national No. 1 ranking and the Elite Eight in 1999 and provided “the opportunity of a lifetime” for long-time assistant coach and eventual successor Jeff Oliver.

“Me and my family owe everything to him,” said Oliver, who was hired as Reynolds’ replacement before coaching the Yotes for 16 years. “I was there in ’99 when we kind of broke everything open and put San Bernardino on the map, and they haven’t looked back since.”

“During his time at CSUSB, he consistently inspired me to be a better coach,” CSUSB women’s volleyball coach Kim Cherniss said. “His presence was simply undeniable.”

A native of Los Angeles, Reynolds was the CCAA’s player of the year in 1975 at UC Riverside and was an assistant coach alongside John Masi for 16 seasons.

“He did it all really, extremely well,” said Masi, who played alongside Reynolds at UC Riverside. “He was an amazing athlete. Smooth and quick and could shoot the ball and it was an absolute pleasure to play with him.”

As a player, Reynolds was the catalyst as the Highlanders won two West Regional championships. As an assistant coach starting in 1976, Reynolds was a trusted lieutenant as UCR won seven CCAA titles, received 10 NCAA Division II tournament bids, advanced to the Elite 8 three times and played for the NCAA Division II championship in 1995.

“His connection with my brother, John, was tremendous and he was that guy,” Tony Masi said. “He got along with everybody and was a personable, friendly and enjoyable guy to be around. “

After San Bernardino, Reynolds spent five seasons at Long Beach State and coached Stanislaus State to its first and only NCAA Division II tournament berth in 2013. He was inducted into the CSUSB Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.

“He set the standard for Coyote basketball winning championships, making NCAA tournament runs and elevating the program on a national level,” current CSUSB basketball coach Gus Argenal said. “Coach Reynolds had a lasting impact on his players and has mentored so many in the coaching profession, including myself.”

Reynolds’ all-time winning percentage (.759) at CSUSB remains the best of any coach in the school’s history.

Richard Lewis, the stand-up comedian who also starred alongside Larry David in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” died Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home due to a heart attack, Variety has confirmed. He was 76.

Lewis announced last April he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from stand-up comedy. He most recently appeared in Season 12 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” currently airing on HBO.

In 2021, Lewis announced he would not appear in Season 11 of “Curb” in order to recover from three surgeries. He surprised viewers by returning to set for one Season 11 episode, telling Variety at the time, “When I walked in and they applauded, I felt like a million bucks. Larry doesn’t like to hug, and he hugged me and told me how happy he was after we shot our scene.”

Lewis, who played a semi-fictionalized version of himself throughout the 24 years of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” was known for his neurotic, self-deprecating style of comedy. After making his screen acting debut in 1979’s “Diary of a Young Comic,” Lewis rose to prominence in the 1980s and ’90s with appearances on “The Tonight Show” and the “Late Show With David Letterman.” He showcased his dark, yet brightly animated persona in his 1985 Showtime comedy special “I’m in Pain,” following it up with the HBO specials “I’m Exhausted” (1988), “I’m Doomed” (1990) and “Richard Lewis: The Magical Misery Tour” (1997).

In 1989, Lewis landed a leading role in the ABC sitcom “Anything but Love,” in which he starred opposite Jamie Lee Curtis as coworkers at a Chicago magazine who fall in love and fail to uphold a strictly professional relationship. The series ran for 56 episodes across four seasons before ending in 1992. Lewis landed other ’90s sitcom roles in the short-lived “Daddy Dearest” starring Don Rickles and “Hiller and Diller” featuring Kevin Nealon.

Lewis’ film roles include the 1993 comedy “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” the 1995 drama “Leaving Las Vegas” and the 1997 rom-com “Hugo Pool.” In “Drunks” — starring an ensemble including Faye Dunaway, George Martin, Parker Posey, Howard Rollins, Spalding Gray and Dianne Wiest — Lewis played a struggling alcoholic and drug addict.

Throughout his career, the comedian has also been candid about his own battle with drug and alcohol addiction, referencing his recovery and struggles with depression and anxiety in his comedy. Lewis, formerly a user of cocaine and crystal meth, said his decision to get sober was partly inspired by John Candy’s 1994 death.

In 2021, upon returning to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” after various health struggles, Lewis told Variety, “I’ve devoted my life to comedy and my sobriety the last almost 27 years. I’m overwhelmed with joy right now. I never learned how to keep joy in my head for more than a minute, but I’m breaking all records for my life today.”

In a statement shared with Variety by HBO, David said of his longtime co-star and friend, “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me. He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.”

HBO added in a statement, “We are heartbroken to learn that Richard Lewis has passed away. His comedic brilliance, wit and talent were unmatched. Richard will always be a cherished member of the HBO and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ families, our heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends and all the fans who could count on Richard to brighten their days with laughter.”

Lewis is survived by his wife, Joyce Lapinsky.

Roger Thibault, who was legally joined with Theo Wouters in Quebec’s first same-sex civil union, has died.

He passed away at their home in Pointe-Claire in Wouters’s arms. They had been together for 50 years.

Thibault was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease six years ago. Wouters cared for him at their home until the end. He died from complications from the disease. He was 77 years old.

“He was the kindest man, and he loved me to bits,” Wouters said. “Even in his last moments, he really loved me, and I loved him.

“I have so much to treasure in my memories with him.”

On July 18, 2002, Wouters and Thibault became the first same-sex couple to be legally joined by civil union in Quebec, two years before the province would legalize same-sex marriage.

In an interview with the Montreal Gazette on the 20th anniversary of their union, the couple said they had no idea what a momentous occasion it would turn out to be until they arrived at the Montreal courthouse, greeted by a throng of photographers and reporters. Strangers rushed across the street to bring them a bottle of wine. Lawyers and clerks lined the upper levels of the courthouse to get a glimpse of the historic moment.

After years of advocacy, the civil union had been established by the Quebec government a month earlier. Since same-sex couples still couldn’t legally wed, it worked as an option that would give them many of the same legal benefits as married couples.

The civil union would soon be overtaken in popularity by same-sex marriage, but it was hailed at the time as a progressive step forward for the province.

“(Quebec) became one of the first places in the world to put forward that two people of the same sex could legally unite together, sharing the same rights and obligations,” said Patrick Desmarais, president of Montreal’s Fondation Émergence, which specializes in fighting homophobia and transphobia, on the 20th anniversary of the union. “And it brought on this push for equality between all people.

“I think it did a lot to educate and sensitize the general public in Quebec and Canada,” Desmarais added. “It really opened the public’s eyes to the fact that it could be possible, and could be legal, and that two people of the same sex uniting didn’t change anything in anyone else’s lives.”

For Wouters and Thibault, the union was largely symbolic after nearly three decades together, beginning when the two met at a gay bar on Mackay St. in Montreal. But they felt it had to be done as part of the greater good, and to send a message.

“At first we said we don’t really need to get married,” Wouters said. “We were already committed in life. But then we thought it over because we were so well known.”

Once it was done, Wouters said, they were also happy to be protected by the same laws that applied to other couples, “because we had been hearing so many horror stories when families get involved when one partner dies.”

Ironically, the couple’s historic union was born partly of hatred. They had been the subject of homophobic slurs, insults, and threats for over a decade, which ultimately spurred a march outside their Pointe-Claire home that drew thousands who showed their support of the couple. That would lead to the creation of the International Day Against Homophobia, and their civil union.

“We were sort of forced to do so because of the situation here,” Wouters said. “It lasted for 10 years, this horrible, horrible hatred — I still cannot believe that people can hate for absolutely nothing.”

While the union brought them fame and accolades, Wouters noted that the hatred continued, and still does to this day. The current political climate, particularly in the United States, means that “we have to be very vigilant that this doesn’t slip into Canada,” he said.

When they first met, Wouters, who is of Dutch heritage, didn’t speak a word of French, and Thibault couldn’t speak any English. So they communicated by sign language, and a relationship that would last half a century was born. Wouters was a fashion designer, creating clothes and hats for Canada’s rich and famous. Thibault was a photographer, working in the department of industrial design and architecture at the Université de Montréal.

“We were quite committed from Day One,” Wouters said. “We were very much aware that we were blessed because, in the gay community, it is not a usual thing for people to stay together for so long.”

The union stayed strong in part because they shared many projects together, including collecting more than 140 tons of rock “from everywhere” to create their elaborate garden in Pointe-Claire.

“When you do projects together in everything, as part of your daily activities, then you have a much better chance to really stay a lifetime together,” Wouters said.

Another project became battling homophobia, which would cost them countless hours, over $240,000 in legal fees, and the loathing of people they had never met.

“It was difficult sometimes to scrape the funds together to pay the lawyers, but we managed,” Wouters said.

In May of this year, Thibault and Wouters were made honorary citizens of Montreal in recognition of their decades-long fight to advance LGBTQ2+ rights.

“We’re very happy that it inspired so many people. We never thought that that would be the case,” Wouters said. “But it was the case.”

Mickey Cottrell, the PR executive who specialized in the indie film business and worked both as an actor and a producer, died on New Year’s Day at the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills. He was 79.

His death was confirmed by his sister, Suzie Cottrell-Smith, who said he suffered from Parkinson’s disease. Cottrell experienced a stroke in 2016 and had gone to live with his sister in Arkansas before returning to Los Angeles in 2019.

Cottrell was born September 4, 1944, in Springfield, IL, and spent part of his childhood in Monroe, LA. At age 8, he moved with his family to Little Rock, AR, where he grew up. He attended the University of Arkansas and spent more than 30 years in the film and PR industries, co-owning multiple firms including most recently Inclusive PR, repping pics including Bill Cunningham: New York, Stones in Exile, Ballets Russes, Down to the Bone, Body of War and Outfest winners Keep the Lights On and Weekend, among others.

“Some of my successes have given new life to films that might not otherwise have had the chance, ranging in scale from big budget to minute,” he wrote in his LinkedIn bio. “I have had the great joy of representing many important film artists

Among the filmmakers whose careers he championed was Phillip Noyce; he served as a publicist on Noyce’s 1989 thriller Dead Calm starring Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane.

“He did a lot for Phillip,” Cottrell’s sister Suzie told Deadline. “When Phillip first came to Hollywood, he didn’t know anybody. Mickey was instrumental about getting his films recognized.”

Cottrell’s acting credits include roles in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, Paper Hearts, Apt Pupil and The Fluffer as well as John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus and two Star Trek series: The Next Generation and Voyager. Cottrell-Smith said her brother wrote some of his own dialogue for My Own Private Idaho, playing a client of street hustler Mikey Waters (River Phoenix).

Cottrell was also a producer of indie films, most recently 2014’s Perfect Cowboy.

At the MPTF, Cottrell was a member of the writing club the Grey Quill Society. As part of the fund’s Giving Day in 2020, Matthew McConaughey read an excerpt from Cottrell’s short story The Fireman’s Equipment.

Cottrell was a famed raconteur, often holding court in a booth at Musso & Frank Grill in Hollywood (the restaurant is located near Cottrell’s office, a space formerly occupied by Debbie Reynolds’ company).

“He was the most fun brother ever,” Cottrell-Smith said. “So many good memories of when I was a kid — we’d sing together, dance, just all kinds of fun things that went on all the time when he was around. … He was just so fun, full of life, entertaining. Every woman in the neighborhood adored him. He had a job when he was a teenager where he would take the bus downtown and he had to walk two or three blocks home from the bus stop, and he’d be singing and dancing all the way home. And all the ladies in the neighborhood would come outside and watch him.”

She added: “He knew every movie ever made and every little bit actor that was in movies. It was amazing. I could just ask him the question and he always knew the answer when it came to a movie.”

John McAvoy, a colleague of Cottrell’s at Inclusive PR from 2014-19, told Deadline: “I don’t want to reduce his life down to his work as a publicist because in many ways you feel that it was his journey as a person and an artist that allowed him to practice PR in the way that he did… He was an artist first and he taught me that, at its best, publicity is about pure enthusiasm and joy and that it can be a vital part of a broader creative process rather than merely a necessary lubricant in the sales process. RIP to the Wizard.”

Cottrell is survived by his sisters Suzie and Gigi. He was predeceased by his older brother, Rod.

ROWBOTTOM Jane Florence (Flossie) Died peacefully on 25th August 2023 at East Lancs Hospice, aged 77 years. Teacher, artist, and craft maker; mother and grandmother, Flossie was the treasured wife of Don, the much-loved mum of Daniel and Alice and granny of Bea and Ted, and the dear sister of Jo, Meg, and George. She was dearly loved by all the family. A private internment will take place followed later in the year by a celebration of her life with friends and family.

Jane Rowbottom, 77, was on medication for Parkinson’s disease but her husband, Don, did not feel as though it was working as much as it used to.

She last lived at Church Brow in Clitheroe and died on August 25, 2023, at East Lancashire Hospice in Blackburn having been transferred there from Royal Preston Hospital.

Jane would regularly suffer from ‘freezes’ as a result of her condition, though she would normally snap out of them quickly.

It was said that Jane would sometimes suffer these freezes in public too, and Don would have to ‘bear hug’ her to keep her up.

However, on July 22, when Don was helping her down the stairs as he would every morning, she froze, and as she held the banister with one hand she fell.

Dr Gareth Roberts, a neurosurgeon at Preston hospital, said Jane fell about six steps and sustained a head injury.

A CT scan on the day of her arrival at hospital showed a small amount of traumatic bleeding on the brain, leading to her being admitted to the neurosurgical ward. A further scan two days later showed no significant change.

Following discussions with Jane’s family, it was decided to keep her more comfortable, and she was transferred to East Lancashire Hospice for end of life care on August 9.

She remained unresponsive and died peacefully shortly before 9pm on August 25.

A medical cause of death given by doctors was haemorrhages caused by Parkinson’s disease.

Reaching a conclusion of accidental death, Coroner Richard Taylor said: “Jane Florence Rowbottom died at East Lancashire Hospice on August 25, 2023, from an injury sustained in a fall at her home on July 22.”