Summer’s Hottest Headlines

By Larry Dobrow

Summer is supposed to be fun and light-teeming with family and friends, pumped full of barbecue and slathered in suntan lotion. It's also supposed to serve as a buffer of sorts before the school year starts anew and everybody heads back to the office. For the most part, the summer of '09 was all these things and more. But as inevitably happens, the real world intruded upon our sun-drenched reverie, tempering our collective relaxation. Here are the news stories that kept us talking, poolside and elsewhere.

Michael Jackson's Last Dance

There's not much to say that hasn't already been said, really. His stunning, way-too-soon death in late June-recently deemed by detectives as a homicide-led to the most sustained outpouring of grief in the wake of any celebrity departure since Princess Diana's. All of the controversy swirling around Jackson's death, whether concerning the paternity of his children or the 70-day delay before he was finally put to rest, kept the story unfolding week after sordid week. The only upside? After years of viewing Jackson as a tabloid curio, we were reintroduced to his skill and joyousness as a craftsman of pop music and his electricity as a performer. There won't ever be another one like him. Photo courtesy of Retna.

Farrah's Long Farewell

As opposed to Michael Jackson's death, Farrah Fawcett's had been expected since she announced she'd been diagnosed with a particularly mean form of cancer. In fact, Fawcett decided to document her struggle with the disease, compiling hours of footage into a bittersweet farewell, Farrah's Story, that aired a month before the cancer finally got the best of her in late June. Sadly, the postmortem tributes were fewer and farther between than they might otherwise have been, owing to Jackson's death on the same day. Photo courtesy of Retna.

Megan's Millionaire Is a Murderer

Most viewers have, at one time or another, questioned the, uh, emotional fitness of the suitors for the hands of Flavor Flav, Tiffany "New York" Pollard and Bret Michaels on VH1's "celeb-reality" dating derbies. Nobody, however, thought that one such unhinged suitor might be capable of murder, until Megan Wants a Millionaire contestant Ryan Jenkins killed his estranged wife, Jasmine Fiore, and, days later, himself. Millionaire and another show in which Jenkins was set to appear, I Love Money 3, were promptly canceled. Photo courtesy of Getty.

Jon & Kate to Litigate

In May, a vast majority of U.S. citizens had no clue who Jon and Kate Gosselin were. By late June, when their marriage fractured as the cameras rolled on the adorable-brood-grows-up reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8, they'd become tabloid mainstays on par with John Mayer and Kate Winslet-on a higher par, actually, given how many magazine sales their messy separation spurred. The kids seem relatively unaffected, at least publicly, but these emotionally raw home movies won't be all that fun for them to watch years down the road. Photo courtesy of Getty.

In Sickness and in Health

Don't accuse President Obama of coasting on a post-election swell of goodwill. Fresh off taking on the staggered economy, Obama pressed his case for universal health care, including a "public option" in which the government would get into the health care business (that is a vast oversimplification of the program, of course). The debate quickly turned contentious, with town hall discussions across the country erupting in chaos and bile. At one such get-together, a man had to be treated when an irate fellow attendee bit off his finger. The irony of this-go to a health care debate, end up needing health care-was lost on most. Photo courtesy of Retna.

Free the North Korea Two

Back in March, Current TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee were seized by the North Korean government and accused of illegal entry and unspecified "hostile acts." After a quick trial, they were found guilty and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. Much diplomatic wrangling occurred, until in the dark of night the country embarked on an officially unsanctioned charm offensive, courtesy of a guy who knows a little something about such back-slapping: Bill Clinton. The journos were released, North Korea was appeased (temporarily, at least) and everybody lived happily ever after. Or something. Photo courtesy of Getty.

The Re-education of Michael Vick

After 18 months in jail following a guilty plea to charges that he ran a dogfighting ring, former NFL star Michael Vick sought to return to his day job. Surprisingly-or not, depending on how much of a win-at-all-costs mentality you ascribe to NFL general managers-Vick was quickly snapped up by the Philadelphia Eagles. This led to the expected "an Eagle who kills beagles?!" outrage, but just as many counterarguments that Vick had paid his debt to society. Expect more noise when Vick returns to the field on September 27 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Photo courtesy of Getty.

Sonia Sotomayor Holds Court

Upon the announcement of Justice David Souter's retirement in late April, President Obama was given his first opportunity to make an imprint on the Supreme Court. A month later, he announced his choice: Court of Appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor, a city-reared woman raised by a single parent, who stood to become the court's first justice of Hispanic descent. The mid-July confirmation hearings featured the usual share of partisan jousting, with a past remark in which Sotomayor touted the judgmental virtues of a "wise Latina woman" causing much of the uproar. Nonetheless, Sotomayor was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and then the full Senate, capping a life and career that embodies the proverbial American Dream. Photo courtesy of Getty.

Idol No More

Everybody expected some wrangling between Paula Abdul and her American Idol bosses over the singer/dancer/emotionally supportive judge's new contract, because that's the way they do things way out there in TV land. As a result, the masses were shocked-shocked! shocked and dismayed!-when Abdul announced that she'd be leaving the show. The surprise was compounded by the fact that much of the contract drama played out in 140-word bursts over Twitter. As of early September, Fox hadn't announced a full-time replacement. Photo courtesy of Retna.

A Lion's Final Roar

His personal travails notwithstanding, Senator Ted Kennedy served his country honorably over the course of 46 years in the Senate. When he died in late August after a lengthy fight with brain cancer, this is what most of us chose to remember: the more than 300 bills he authored, which addressed everything from AIDS care to immigration. Even his across-the-aisle foes-and he had plenty, given his half-century in Washington, DC-acknowledged that the country had lost one of its greatest servants. In the end, his was a life worth celebrating. Photo courtesy of Getty.

Related articles on WomansDay.com:

Celebrity Deaths That Were Outdone

10 Reality TV Shows We Hate to Love

Catching Up With Julia Louis-Dreyfus