R.I.P. Freddy Fender

UPDATE: The San Antonio Express-News posts an obituary of Freddy Fender (see also the discography (scroll down) and this story from 1993 on one of the SAEN's blogs, and reader comments); The Monitor's Andres R. Martinez interviews local music personalities about the musician; and the Valley Morning Star's Bruce Lee Smith has a story as well.

South Texas music legend Freddy Fender died today in Corpus Christi at age 69. From the Associated Press article:

Fender, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 2006, died at noon at his Corpus Christi home with his family at his bedside, said Ron Rogers, a family spokesman. ...

"I feel very comfortable in my life," Fender told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in August. "I'm one year away from 70 and I've had a good run. I really believe I'm OK. In my mind and in my heart, I feel OK. I cannot complain that I haven't lived long enough, but I'd like to live longer."

Fender, who was born in San Benito, leaves a great musical legacy not just for the Valley, but for the world. Austin American-Statesman music writer Michael Corcoran provides a more detailed obituary. You can read more about the musician in blog posts here, here, here, and here, and see a pic of him from the 1996 SXSW show. Oh, and I had forgotten that Freddy played a role in The Milagro Beanfield War.

Museum Update

Viva La Revolucion, the person in charge of the blog At The Museum, offers an update on the IMAS situation in a comment on my previous post about the International Museum of Art and Science.

According to Viva, the annual IMAS fundraiser was "a failure with only 150 attendees including staff," and the museum board president is unhappy with The Monitor's article last month about the facility's current status.

For more about what's up with the (partially) taxpayer-funded IMAS, see Viva's post from last week.