Plaza named for Diddley

Plaza named for Diddley

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Officials in Gainesville have renamed the city’s downtown plaza after rock ’n’ roll legend and former Florida resident Bo Diddley.

Diddley died in June 2008. Officials honored him Friday by unveiling a mural and renaming the downtown space the Bo Diddley Community Plaza. Diddley lived in Archer, a few miles southwest of Gainesville, and played at the plaza in 2006.

Diddley’s grandson Garry Mitchell thanked the city at the ceremony, and he and other family members gave city officials one of Diddley’s guitars.

“Gainesville’s been really good to my granddad,” Mitchell said. “Thank you for your encouragement and your prayers. Long live Rock and Roll!”

Diddley’s family was to unveil his tombstone in Bronson, also southwest of Gainesville, at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Today’s birthdays

Comedian Jerry Stiller is 82. Comedian/talk- show host Joan Rivers is 76. Actor James Darren is 73. Actor Bernie Casey is 70. Singer Nancy Sinatra is 69. Singer Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night) is 67. Singer Boz Scaggs is 65. Actor Don Grady (“My Three Sons”) is 65. Actress Kathy Baker (“Picket Fences”) is 59. Actor Griffin Dunne is 54. “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams is 52. Actor-director Keenen Ivory Wayans is 51. Singer Mick Hucknall of Simply Red is 49. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran is 47. Actress Julianna Margulies (“Canterbury’s Law,” “ER”) is 42. Actor David Sutcliffe (“Gilmore Girls”) is 40. Actress Kelli Williams (“The Practice”) is 39. Guitarist Mike Scheuchzer of MercyMe is 34. Rapper Kanye West is 32. Fiddler Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek is 28.