Paul "Bear" Vasquez lived simply. He sheltered on the side of a mountain outside Yosemite National Park, grew his own food and woke up every morning to one of the most magnificent views in California.
The world may never have known him if not for a spectacular double rainbow.
Vasquez, the portly man whose cries of exaltation at a double rainbow turned him into a viral star, died at 57 on Saturday. The Mariposa County Coroner's Office confirmed his death to CNN.
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"Bear" lived in relative solitude for much of his life. But his sincere love of nature -- and rainbows in particular -- endeared him to millions.
In January 2010, he stepped out of his home to find two brilliant rainbows, stacked on top of each other, stretched across the mountainous horizon. The awesome sight moved him to tears. Naturally, he recorded it.
"Oh my god, it's a full-on double rainbow all the way across the sky!" he whispers in the video before letting out a full-bellied yell.
He shared the soul-baring clip on YouTube with little expectation. But within days, it had racked up millions of views -- and today, it's got 47 million and counting.
Watch the full video here:
It was rainbowing for at least an hour on January 8th 2010. It was incredible. The camera could not capture the vivid intensity and brightness. Look into the mirror, look into your soul!
My magic pain relieving cream that I made from the strain of plants that are in this video at the very beginning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB7hwSFjdYQ
What it Means
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VZiwmRb3xc&index=1&list=PLCgJeOXVn5IeTpAFDhUL3pvTVlF9HW23y
Double Rainbow book now on sale on Amazon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiMnVZblyRQ
Double Rainbow Weed.
He became a minor celebrity because of it. He appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," in ads for Microsoft and Smartwater and even in an in-flight safety video for Delta Air Lines.
"I'm the world's authority on rainbows," he told CNN in 2015.
He was a lifelong nature lover
Vasquez thrived in the California wilderness. He moved from East Los Angeles, where he was born and worked as a firefighter, to Yosemite in 1985. He worked in a variety of roles at the national park and later out of the park as a cage fighter and truck driver.
He married, had children and divorced. Finally, he settled at his humble perch on the side of a mountain in Mariposa, 10 miles from the edge of Yosemite, where he grew his own food and cultivated marijuana plants.
'Double Rainbow Guy' Paul Vasquez has died.
"When you live alone like this, you connect to nature on a deeper level," he told CNN nearly five years ago. "When you can yell at the top of your lungs and no one cares or knows, it gives you a type of freedom that most people have no understanding of."
CNN caught up with Vasquez in 2015, five years after the viral success of his double rainbow clip. He made just $6,000 a year then.
"In some aspects, I feel really, really rich," he said. "I may not have a lot of dollars, but I have 100 mile views with complete privacy that hundreds of millions of people have seen. I got it pretty good."
He made YouTube videos until his death
He continued to document his daily life (and the fantastic sights from his stoop) on YouTube up until his death. The channel is a living record of his life, he told CNN in 2015.
"[Making videos] is fun for me, entertaining for me," he said then. "It's my art and it's my memories."
He was open about his health troubles in his videos, too. In one clip from November 2019, he said nerve damage in his legs made it increasingly difficult for him to walk.
In 2019, he shared that a tree fell on his beloved home. He moved into an apartment in March with the help of his ex-wife and two adult children. (CNN has reached out to his ex-wife and daughter for comment and is waiting to hear back.)
It wasn't as removed as his mountainside home had been. But, as he showed viewers in a recent YouTube video, he held onto the view of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, though it was slightly obscured now. And on the inside, he'd decorated his wall with a rainbow-colored tapestry to make it feel more like home.
Photos: Notable Deaths in 2020
A roll call of notable people who have died this year:
Photos: Notable Deaths in 2020
John Prine
John Prine, the ingenious singer-songwriter who explored the heartbreaks, indignities and absurdities of everyday life in “Angel from Montgomery,” “Sam Stone,” “Hello in There” and scores of other indelible tunes, died April 7 at the age of 73. Winner of a lifetime achievement Grammy earlier this year, Prine was a virtuoso of the soul, if not the body. He sang his conversational lyrics in a voice roughened by a hard-luck life, particularly after throat cancer left him with a disfigured jaw.
Bill Withers
Bill Withers, who wrote and sang a string of soulful songs in the 1970s that have stood the test of time, including “Lean On Me,” “Lovely Day” and “Ain’t No Sunshine," died in Los Angeles from heart complications on March 30, 2020. He was 81.
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who calculated rocket trajectories and earth orbits for NASA’s early space missions and was later portrayed in the 2016 hit film “Hidden Figures,” about pioneering black female aerospace workers, died Feb. 24 at age 101. Johnson was one of the “computers” who solved equations by hand during NASA’s early years and those of its precursor organization, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
Shirley Knight
Shirley Knight, the Kansas-born actress who was nominated for two Oscars early in her career and went on to play an astonishing variety of roles in movies, TV and the stage, died April 22. She was 83. Knight’s career carried her from Kansas to Hollywood and then to the New York theater and London and back to Hollywood. She was nominated for two Tonys, winning one. In recent years, she had a recurring role as Phyllis Van de Kamp (the mother-in-law of Marcia Cross’ character) in the long-running ABC show “Desperate Housewives,” gaining one of her many Emmy nominations.
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy, the burly actor who started in films as a macho heavy and later in his career won plaudits for his stage work in plays by William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller, died April 15. He was 81. Known for his broad frame, booming voice and ability to play good guys and bad guys with equal aplomb, Dennehy won two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe, a Laurence Olivier Award and was nominated for six Emmys. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010.
David Stern
David Stern, the basketball-loving lawyer who took the NBA around the world during 30 years as its longest-serving commissioner and oversaw its growth into a global powerhouse, died Jan. 1. Stern had been involved with the NBA for nearly two decades before he became its fourth commissioner on Feb. 1, 1984. He was 77.
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman, the only TV executive who steered programming for each of the Big Three broadcast networks and who brought “All in the Family,” “Roots,” “Hawaii Five-O” and other hit series and miniseries to television during his more than three-decade career, died Jan. 30. He was 82.
Anne Cox Chambers
Anne Cox Chambers, a newspaper heiress, diplomat and philanthropist who was one of the country's richest women, died Jan. 31 at the age of 100. Chambers, a director of Cox Enterprises Inc., promoted Jimmy Carter's political career and served as U.S. ambassador to Belgium during his presidency. Forbes estimated her net worth several years ago at nearly $17 billion. She was well known for her charitable giving.
Donald Stratton
Donald Stratton, one of the remaining USS Arizona crew members who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, died Feb. 15. Stratton was one of the survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese aerial attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii. More than 1,100 crew members died on the battleship. Following Stratton's death, Lou Conter and Ken Potts remain the last living members of the Arizona's crew. Stratton was 97.
Mickey Wright
Mickey Wright, the golf great with a magnificent swing who won 13 majors among her 82 victories and gave the fledgling LPGA a crucial lift, died Feb. 17. Wright joined the LPGA in 1955 and the Hall of Famer's 82 wins place her second on the all-time list behind Kathy Whitworth, who won 88. The Associated Press in 1999 named Wright the Female Golfer of the Century and Female Athlete of the Year in 1963 and 1964. She was 85.
Barbara "B." Smith
Barbara “B.” Smith, one of the nation's top black models who went on to open restaurants, launch a successful home products line and write cookbooks, died Feb. 22 at her Long Island home at age 70 after battling early onset Alzheimer's disease. Smith wrote three cookbooks, founded three successful restaurants and launched a nationally syndicated television show and a magazine. Her successful home products line was the first from a black woman to be sold at a nationwide retailer when it debuted in 2001 at Bed Bath & Beyond.
Hosni Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian leader who was the autocratic face of stability in the Middle East for nearly 30 years before being forced from power in an Arab Spring uprising, died Feb. 25, state-run TV announced. He was 91. Mubarak was a stalwart U.S. ally, a bulwark against Islamic militancy and guardian of Egypt's peace with Israel. But to the hundreds of thousands of young Egyptians who rallied for 18 days of unprecedented street protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square and elsewhere in 2011, Mubarak was a latter-day pharaoh and a symbol of autocratic misrule.
Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler, the million-selling adventure writer and real-life thrill-seeker who wove personal details and spectacular fantasies into his page-turning novels about underwater explorer Dirk Pitt, died Feb. 24. Cussler dispatched Pitt and pal Al Giordino on exotic missions highlighted by shipwrecks, treachery, espionage and beautiful women, in popular works including "Cyclops,'' “Night Probe!” and his commercial breakthrough, "Raise the Titanic!" He was 88.
Jack Welch
Jack Welch, who transformed General Electric Co. into a highly profitable multinational conglomerate and parlayed his legendary business acumen into a retirement career as a corporate leadership guru, died March 1. He was 84. Welch became one of the nation's most well-known and highly regarded corporate leaders during his two decades as GE's chairman and chief executive, from 1981 to 2001. He personified the so-called “cult of the CEO” during the late-1990s boom, when GE's soaring stock price made it the most valuable company in the world.
Bobbie Battista
Bobbie Battista, who was among the original anchors for CNN Headline News and hosted CNN’s “TalkBack Live,” died March 3. She was 67. During her 1981-2001 career with the cable news company, Battista anchored coverage of major events including the Challenger space shuttle explosion, the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan and the Gulf War.
Wendell Goler
Wendell Goler, a longtime White House correspondent for Fox News Channel who reported on government since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, died March 5 at age 70. Goler was a Fox News original, joining the network at its inception in 1996 and working his way up to senior White House foreign affairs correspondent. He retired in 2014. He worked for The Associated Press and Washington-area television stations before joining Fox.
Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango, who fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music, died March 24 with the coronavirus, according to his music publisher. He was 86. The Cameroon-born saxophonist, who gained international fame with his 1972 song “Soul Makossa,” died in a hospital in the Paris region, Thierry Durepaire said. Dibango was hospitalized with an illness “linked to COVID-19,” his official Facebook page said last week.
Jimmy Wynn
Jimmy Wynn, the diminutive Houston slugger whose monster shots in the 1960s and '70s earned him the popular nickname “The Toy Cannon," died Thursday, March 26. He was 78. Just 5-foot-9, Wynn was packed with power. He hit more than 30 homers twice with Houston, including a career-high 37 in 1967 at the pitcher-friendly Astrodome.
Tom Coburn
Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma family doctor who earned a reputation as a conservative political maverick as he railed against federal earmarks and subsidies for the rich, died March 28. He was 72. Known for bluntly speaking his mind, Coburn frequently criticized the growth of the federal deficit and what he said was excessive government spending endorsed by politicians from both political parties.
John "Bucky" Pizzarelli
Jazz guitarist John “Bucky” Pizzarelli, who was inducted to the New Jersey Hall of Fame, died April 1 at the age of 94 from the coronavirus. Pizzarelli was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and had a career that spanned eight decades. He showed off his musical chops for former presidents like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton and played alongside musical icons like Frank Sinatra.
Patricia Bosworth
Patricia Bosworth, an actress who once starred alongside Audrey Hepburn and later wrote biographies on several stars including Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, died April 2 due to the coronavirus. She was 86. Bosworth played a nun opposite of Hepburn in the 1959 classic “The Nun’s Story.” Along with penning bios for Brando and Clift, she also wrote biographies on actress Jane Fonda and famed photographer Diane Arbus, who photographed Bosworth in a Greyhound bus advertisement.
Bobby Mitchell
Bobby Mitchell, the speedy Hall of Famer who became the Washington Redskins' first black player, died April 5. He was 84. Mitchell split his career with the Cleveland Browns and Redskins and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman, the potent British actress who took James Bond's breath away as Pussy Galore in “Goldfinger" and who starred as the leather-clad, judo-flipping Cathy Gale in “The Avengers,” died in early April. She was 94. Here she is with Sean Connery in 1964.
Earl Graves Sr.
Earl Graves Sr., who championed black businesses as the founder of the first African American-owned magazine focusing on black entrepreneurs, died April 6. He was 85. Graves launched his magazine, Black Enterprise, in 1970. He later said his aim was to educate, inspire and uplift his readers.
Al Kaline
Al Kaline, who spent his entire 22-season Hall of Fame career with the Detroit Tigers and was known affectionately as “Mr. Tiger,” died April 6. He was 85. Kaline was the youngest player to win the American League batting title in 1955 at age 20 with a .340 batting average. The right fielder was a 15-time All-Star, won 10 Gold Gloves and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1980 in his first year of eligibility. The beloved No. 6 later sat behind a microphone as a Tigers broadcaster from 1976 to 2001 and was also a special assistant to the general manager.
Linda Tripp
Linda Tripp, whose secretly recorded conversations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky led to the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton, died April 8 at age 70.
Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss, a daring, speed-loving Englishman regarded as the greatest Formula One driver never to win the world championship, died April 12. He was 90. A national treasure affectionately known as "Mr. Motor Racing," the balding Moss had a taste for adventure that saw him push cars to their limits across many racing categories and competitions. He was fearless, fiercely competitive and often reckless.
Jim Frey
Jim Frey, who managed the Kansas City Royals to the 1980 AL pennant and the Chicago Cubs within one win of the 1984 World Series, died April 12. He was 88.
Hank Steinbrenner
Hank Steinbrenner, the oldest son of George Steinbrenner and one of the four siblings who own the controlling shares of the New York Yankees, died April 14 at age 63.
Willie Davis
Willie Davis, a Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman who helped the Green Bay Packers win each of the first two Super Bowls, died April 15. He was 85. A 15th-round draft pick from Grambling, Davis began his NFL career by playing both offense and defense for the Cleveland Browns in 1958 and ’59. He had his greatest success after getting traded to the Packers. He remained with the Packers until finishing his NFL career in 1969 as a five-time All-Pro. Although tackles and sacks weren’t measured at the time Davis played, his 22 career fumble recoveries showcased his dominance and big-play ability.
Jane Hull
Jane Hull, Arizona's first woman elected governor and part of the “Fab Five” celebrated as the nation's first all-female elected state executive branch leadership group, died April 16. She was 84.
Paul O'Neill
Paul O’Neill, a former Treasury secretary who broke with George W. Bush over tax policy and then produced a book critical of the administration, died April 18 at age 84. A former head of aluminum giant Alcoa, O’Neill served as Treasury secretary from 2001 to late 2002. He was forced to resign after he objected to a second round of tax cuts because of their impact on deficits.
Mike Curtis
Mike Curtis, a hard-hitting, no-nonsense linebacker who helped the Colts win a Super Bowl during a 14-year NFL career spent predominantly in Baltimore, died April 20 at age 77. Curtis earned the nickname “Mad Dog" because of his fierce play in the middle of a strong Baltimore defense.
Harold Reid
Harold Reid (pictured at far left), who sang bass for the Grammy-winning country group the Statler Brothers, died April 24 after a long battle with kidney failure. He was 80. The Statler Brothers frequently sang backup for country icon Johnny Cash. Some of their biggest hits included 1965's “Flowers on the Wall” and 1970′s “Bed of Rose’s.” Harold Reid was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. He was also a comedian.
Steve Dalkowski
Steve Dalkowski, a hard-throwing, wild left-hander whose minor league career inspired the creation of Nuke LaLoosh in the movie “Bull Durham," died April 26. He was 80. Dalkowski never reached the major leagues but was said to have thrown well over 100 mph. Long before velocity was tracked with precision, he spawned legends that estimated he approached 110 mph or 115 mph -- some said even 125 mph.
Irrfan Khan
Irrfan Khan, a veteran character actor in Bollywood movies and one of India's best-known exports to Hollywood, died April 29. He was 54. Khan played the police inspector in “Slumdog Millionaire” and the park executive Masrani in “Jurassic World.” He also appeared in “The Amazing Spider-Man” and the adventure fantasy “Life of Pi.”
Mari Winsor
Mari Winsor, a celebrity trainer for Hollywood’s elite who became known as a Pilates guru, died April 28. She was 70. Winsor had been living with the progressive neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, since 2013. The petite and energetic Winsor was a featured dancer in music videos including Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” and films such as “Roadhouse” and “Moonwalker.” She released multiple fitness DVDs and ran several Pilates studios in the Los Angeles area catering to the biggest stars. A small sample of her starry client list included Madonna, Steven Spielberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone and Miley Cyrus.
Rishi Kapoor
Top Indian actor Rishi Kapoor, a scion of a famous Bollywood family, died April 30. He was 67 and had leukemia. He received the National Film Award for his debut role as a child artist in his father’s 1970 film “Mera Naam Joker” ("My Name is Joker"). He acted in more than 90 films. Kapoor’s popular hits included “Bobby"; “Laila Majnu,” a story of legendary Indian lovers; “Karz” (“Debt"); “Chandni” (“Moonlight”); “Kabhi Kabhie” (“Sometimes”); “Saagar” (“Sea”). In 1999, he directed “Aa Ab Laut Chalein” (“Let’s Go Back”).
Tony Allen
Pioneering drummer Tony Allen, the driver of the Afrobeat sound, died April 30 in Paris at age 79. In an influential career that spanned decades and continents, Allen started drumming in Nigeria's Lagos in the 1960s and formed a partnership with Fela Kuti, composer, singer, bandleader and saxophonist. They are credited with launching the catchy Afrobeat dance music featuring prominent guitars, complex brass harmonies and poly-rhythmic drumming.
Gil Schwartz
Gil Schwartz, the longtime CBS communications executive who wrote humorous novels and columns under the pen name Stanley Bing, died May 2. He was 68. Schwartz had a distinguished nearly 40-year career in corporate America with CBS, Viacom and Westinghouse Broadcasting. He retired in 2018 from his post as senior executive vice president and chief communications officer of CBS Corporation.
Don Shula
Don Shula, who won the most games of any NFL coach and led the Miami Dolphins to the only perfect season in league history, died May 4 at his home, the team said. He was 90. Shula surpassed George Halas’ league-record 324 victories in 1993. He retired following the 1995 season with 347 wins, 173 losses and six ties, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
Andre Harrell
Andre Harrell, the Uptown Records founder who shaped the sound of hip-hop and R&B in the late ’80s and ’90s with acts such as Mary J. Blige and Heavy D and also launched the career of mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, died May 7. He was 59.
Roy Horn
Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, the duo whose extraordinary magic tricks astonished millions until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act’s famed white tigers, died May 8. He was 75. Horn died of complications from the coronavirus
Little Richard
Little Richard, one of the chief architects of rock ‘n’ roll whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died May 9 after battling bone cancer. He was 87.
Betty Wright
Betty Wright, the Grammy-winning soul singer and songwriter whose influential 1970s hits included “Clean Up Woman" and “Where is the Love,” died May 10 at age 66. Wright had her breakthrough with 1971's “Clean Up Woman,” which combined elements of funk, soul and R&B.
Jerry Stiller
Comedy veteran Jerry Stiller, who launched his career opposite wife Anne Meara in the 1950s and reemerged four decades later as the hysterically high-strung Frank Costanza on the smash television show “Seinfeld,” died May 11 at 92.
Aimee Stephens
Aimee Stephens, a Detroit-area woman who was fired by a funeral home after she no longer wanted to be recognized as a man, died May 12, before the U.S. Supreme Court could rule on whether federal civil rights law protects transgender people.
Carolyn Reidy
Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy, who presided over her company with steady force and a passion for books during a time of frequent and traumatic change, died May 12 at age 71.
Phyllis George
Phyllis George, the former Miss America who became a female sportscasting pioneer on CBS's “The NFL Today” and served as the first lady of Kentucky, died May 14. She was 70.
Fred Willard
Fred Willard, the comedic actor whose improv style kept him relevant for more than 50 years in films like “This Is Spinal Tap,” “Best In Show” and “Anchorman,” died May 14. He was 86. Willard was rarely a leading man or even a major supporting character. He specialized in small, scene-stealing appearances. As an arrogantly clueless sports announcer on “Best In Show,” his character seemed to clearly know nothing about the dogs he’s supposed to talk about and asks his partner on-air: “How much do you think I can bench?” He also played the character of Frank Dunphy, the goofy father of Phil in the ABC series “Modern Family."
Ken Osmond
Ken Osmond, who on TV’s “Leave It to Beaver,” played two-faced teenage scoundrel Eddie Haskell, a role so memorable it left him typecast and led to a second career as a police officer, died Monday. He was 76.
Annie Glenn
Annie Glenn, the widow of astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, died May 19 of complications from COVID-19. She was 100. Annie Glenn was thrust into the spotlight in 1962, when her husband became the first American to orbit Earth. She shied away from the media attention because of a severe stutter. Later, she underwent an intensive program at the Communications Research Institute at Hollins College, now Hollins University, in Roanoke, Virginia, that gave her the skills to control her stutter and to speak in public. By the time 77-year-old John Glenn returned to space in 1998 aboard space shuttle Discovery, Annie showed she had become comfortable in her public role when she acknowledged that she had reservations about the retired senator’s second flight.
Jerry Sloan
Jerry Sloan, the coach who took the Utah Jazz to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 on his way to a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame, died May 22. He was 78. Sloan spent 23 seasons coaching the Jazz. The team — with John Stockton and Karl Malone leading the way in many of those seasons — finished below .500 in only one of those years. Sloan won 1,221 games in his career, the fourth-highest total in NBA history.
Eddie Sutton
Eddie Sutton, the Hall of Fame basketball coach who led three teams to the Final Four and was the first coach to take four schools to the NCAA Tournament, died May 23. He was 84. Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 3, Sutton was 806-328 in 37 seasons as a Division I head coach — not counting vacated victories or forfeited games -- and made it to 25 NCAA Tournaments.
Larry Kramer
Larry Kramer, the playwright whose angry voice and pen raised theatergoers’ consciousness about AIDS and roused thousands to militant protests in the early years of the epidemic, died May 27 at age 84. Kramer, who wrote “The Normal Heart” and founded the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or ACT UP, lost his lover to acquired immune deficiency syndrome in 1984 and was himself infected with the virus. He also suffered from hepatitis B and received a liver transplant in 2001 because the virus had caused liver failure.
Johnny Majors
College Football Hall of Famer Johnny Majors, the coach of Pittsburgh’s 1976 national championship team and a former coach and star player at Tennessee, died June 3. He was 85. Majors compiled a 185-137-10 record in 29 seasons as a head coach at Iowa State (1968-72), Pitt (1973-76, 1993-96) and Tennessee (1977-92). That followed a standout playing career at Tennessee during which he finished second to Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung in the 1956 Heisman Trophy balloting.
Wes Unseld
Wes Unseld, the workmanlike Hall of Fame center who led Washington to its only NBA championship and was chosen one of the 50 greatest players in league history, died June 2 after a series of health issues, most recently pneumonia. He was 74.
Pat Dye
College Football Hall of Famer Pat Dye, who took over a downtrodden Auburn football program in 1981 and turned it into a Southeastern Conference power, died June 1. He was 80. When Dye came to Auburn, he inherited a program that was deeply divided after only three winning seasons in the previous six years. In 12 years, he had a 99-39-4 record, Auburn won or shared four conference titles and the Tigers were ranked in The Associated Press' Top 10 five times.
Christo
Christo, known for massive, ephemeral public arts projects, died May 31 at his home in New York. He was 84. Along with late wife Jeanne-Claude, the artists' careers were defined by their ambitious art projects that quickly disappeared soon after they were erectedthat andoften involved wrapping large structures in fabric. In 2005, he installed more than 7,500 saffron-colored vinyl gates in New York's Central Park. He wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin in fabric with an aluminum sheen in 1995. Their $26 million Umbrellas project erected1,340 blue umbrellas installed in Japan and 1,760 blue umbrellas in Southern California in 1991. They also wrapped the Pont Neuf in Paris, the Kunsthalle in Bern, Switzerland and a Roman wall in Italy.
