Judy Trunnell
publication date: Sunday, December 13, 2009 (part of Round XLI)
category: Health
clue: American fears of a porcine pandemic went into overdrive when we lost one of our own.
explanation: When she died in May 2009, Trunnell was the first American victim of H1N1, also known as swine flu. more…
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Denise Sawicki, Erik Bates, Mike Rothstein, Steve Dunn, Amy Austin, Mike Eberhart, Aaron Shurtleff, Scott Horowitz, Ryan Dunn, Jesse King, Walter Chesser, and Melissa Anderson
trivia: Scott struggled over whether to take advantage of a real person's sad demise, but decided that H1N1 was a large part of 2009 and deserved to be included. He gave up trying to find the name of the first victim to die in America, and chose the first American victim instead.
This goo was part of 2009 Year in Review. These ordinary people became overnight celebrities, inspiring the headlines that made 2009 memorable. |