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+--- Thread: Obituaries (/thread-59.html)
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-11-2016
Speaking of a horror (Killing Fields of Cambodia) comparable in brutality and senselessness, if not scale, as the Holocaust, one reporter of it:
Sydney Hillel Schanberg (January 17, 1934 – July 9, 2016) was an American journalist who was best known for his coverage of the war in Cambodia. He has been the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, two George Polk awards, two Overseas Press Club awards, and the coveted Sigma Delta Chi prize for distinguished journalism.[2] Schanberg was played by Sam Waterston in the 1984 The Killing Fields film based on the experiences of Schanberg and the Cambodian journalist Dith Pran in Cambodia.
Schanberg joined The New York Times as a journalist in 1959. He spent much of the early 1970s in Southeast Asia as a correspondent for the Times. For his reporting, he won the George Polk Award for excellence in journalism twice, in 1971 and 1974. In 1971, he wrote about the Pakistani genocide in then-East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Upon being transferred to Southeast Asia, he covered the Vietnam War.[6]
[/url]
Following years of combat, Schanberg wrote in The New York Times about the departure of the Americans and the coming regime change, writing about the Cambodians that "it is difficult to imagine how their lives could be anything but better with the Americans gone." A dispatch he wrote on April 13, 1975, written from Phnom Penh, ran with the headline "Indochina without Americans: for most, a better life."[7]
Writing about his experiences following the Khmer Rouge takeover, Schanberg acknowledged that, "I watched many Cambodian friends being herded out of Phnom Penh. Most of them I never saw again. All of us felt like betrayers, like people who were protected and didn’t do enough to save our friends. We felt shame. We still do." and utterly condemned the "maniacal Khmer Rouge guerrillas".[8] He was one of the few American journalists to remain behind in Phnom Penh after the city fell. He and his assistant were threatened with death, and took sanctuary in the French embassy. Two weeks later, he evacuated to Thailand by truck.[9]
After the war in Cambodia
Schanberg won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his Cambodia coverage. The citation reads; "For his coverage of the Communist takeover in Cambodia, carried out at great risk when he elected to stay at his post after the fall of Phnom Penh."[10] His 1980 book The Death and Life of Dith Pran was about the struggle for survival of his colleague Dith Pran in the Khmer Rouge regime. The book inspired the 1984 film The Killing Fields, in which Schanberg was played by Sam Waterston.[9]
Schanberg was The New York Times Metropolitan Editor, and Op-Ed columnist.[11] In September 1985, Schanberg resigned from The New York Times following cancellation of his column, after he criticised the paper's coverage of the Westway Highway development.[12]
Between 1986 and 1995, he was an associate editor and columnist for [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsday]New York Newsday. He covered the United States Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs hearings and became engrossed in the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue; writing for Penthouse and later The Village Voice and The Nation, Schanberg became a leading advocate of the "live prisoners" belief in that matter.[13]
In 1992, Schanberg received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Colby College. He worked as head of investigations for APBNews.com that won a 1999 Investigative Reporters and Editors award.[14]
In 2006, Schanberg resigned as the Press Clips columnist for The Village Voice in protest over the editorial, political and personnel changes made by the new publisher, New Times Media.[15]
In the July 1, 2010, issue of American Conservative, Schanberg wrote an article about his struggle to advance his position that the United States government left behind hundreds of POWs being held by North Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War.[16] He died on July 9, 2016, after suffering a heart attack in the previous week.[3]
More here
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-11-2016
Alfred George Knudson, Jr. M.D., Ph.D. (August 9, 1922 – July 10, 2016) was a geneticist specializing in cancer genetics. Among his many contributions to the field was the formulation of the Knudson hypothesis in 1971,[1] which explains the effects of mutation on carcinogenesis (the development of cancer).[2]
Knudson was born in Los Angeles in 1922. He received his B.S. from California Institute of Technology in 1944, his M.D. from Columbia University in 1947 and his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in 1956.[2] He held a Guggenheim fellowship from 1953 to 1954.
From 1970 to 1976, Knudson served as the Dean of Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He has been affiliated with the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia from 1976 until his death in 2016.[3]
Knudson died on July 10, 2016 at his home in Philadelphia from a long illness at the age of 93.[4]
He received numerous prizes and honorary doctorates for his work, most prominently the 1998 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research.[5] He also received the 1999 American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) Distinguished Career Award, the 2005 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research, and the 2004 Kyoto Prize in Life sciences.[6]
More from Wiki.
May 19, 2014
In honor of its 50th anniversary, ASCO is highlighting the accomplishments of some of the many people who have advanced cancer care to where it is today in the "Oncology Luminaries" series. ASCO recognizes Dr. Knudson as one of these luminaries for his groundbreaking "two-hit" hypothesis of cancer causation.
knudson_alfred_am99_posters-with-michael-harris.jpg
![[Image: knudson_alfred_am99_posters-with-michael...k=LBUckn9t]](http://cancerprogress.net/sites/cancerprogress.net/files/styles/large/public/knudson_alfred_am99_posters-with-michael-harris.jpg?itok=LBUckn9t)
Alfred G. Knudson Jr., MD, PhD, is an internationally recognized geneticist and physician included on ASCO’s list of Oncology Luminaries for his groundbreaking “two-hit” hypothesis of cancer causation.
The two-hit hypothesis proposed that people with familial cancers inherit one germline copy of a damaged gene, which is present in every cell of the body—the first “hit.” This alone is not sufficient to cause cancer growth. However, if patients were to develop a second “hit,” or a loss of the good copy in the gene pair, cancer would occur. In contrast, people who develop nonhereditary forms of cancer must get both “hits” in somatic cells, meaning that, in many cases, these cancers will occur later in life.
Dr. Knudson published this theory in 1971 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences as part of his more than 20 years of research into the genetic mechanisms that cause retinoblastoma. Dr. Knudson further theorized that genes existed in the cell—now known as tumor suppressor genes—that could function to stop abnormal cell growth.
Like many groundbreaking scientific theories, Knudson’s two-hit hypothesis was not immediately embraced by the medical community. However, today, he is credited as a pioneering cancer geneticist and with helping to usher in a new era of research on tumor suppressor genes, including the 1986 discovery of the RB1 gene.
In honor of his contributions to science, Knudson has received many major medical awards, including the 2004 Kyoto Prize, the 1998 Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award, the American Society of Hematology’s Distinguished Career Award, the American Cancer Society’s Medal of Honor, ASCO’s Karnofsky Memorial Lecture Award, and more.
Dr. Knudson has served at Fox Chase Cancer Center since 1976. He is currently a senior member of the Institute for Cancer Research and a Fox Chase distinguished scientist.
More detail on his work
RE: RIP "A Prairie Home Companion" - pbrower2a - 07-12-2016
(07-12-2016, 10:05 AM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: RIP: "A Prairie Home Companion"
I missed this a few days ago:
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/07/02/keillor-final-prairie-home
An ocean of people swept in to the Hollywood Bowl and sat down with Garrison Keillor for his final show as host of "A Prairie Home Companion."
"... and that's the news from Lake Wobegon"
Technically this would belong in a thread for notable cancellations of television and radio programs. I am creating such a thread, and yours should be the first inclusion. This thread is for literal deaths of living persons and notable animals (I had a racehorse here) such as Presidential pets and last creatures of the species.
I had a thread in the old T4T Forums for business failures and I would suggest that for a significant business that dies (bankruptcy, liquidation, forced merger). I had lots of those when George W. Bush was President (even before the Crash of 2008), and the only notable ones since then was the infamous Corinthian Colleges (institutions better at grabbing revenue from federal student loans than for educating students or preparing them for the careers they were promised) and some coal company.
RE: RIP "A Prairie Home Companion" - Odin - 07-13-2016
(07-12-2016, 10:05 AM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: RIP: "A Prairie Home Companion"
I missed this a few days ago:
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/07/02/keillor-final-prairie-home
An ocean of people swept in to the Hollywood Bowl and sat down with Garrison Keillor for his final show as host of "A Prairie Home Companion."
"... and that's the news from Lake Wobegon"
I was somewhat disappointed that Keillor's last show was in LA rather than at the Fitzgerald Theater in the Twin Cities.
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-14-2016
Ninth circle, second round of Hell, from Dante's Inferno:
Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili (Georgian: თარხან ბათირაშვილი; 11 February 1986 – presumedly dead in July 2016), known by his nom de guerre Abu Omar al-Shishani (Arabic: أبو عمر الشيشاني, Abū ‘Umar ash-Shīshānī , "Abu Omar the Chechen")[9] or Omar al-Shishani, was a Georgian Kist jihadist who served as a commander for the Islamic State in Syria, and previously as a sergeant in the Georgian Army.[9]
A veteran of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, Batirashvili became jihadist after being discharged from the Georgian military and served in various command positions with Islamist militant groups fighting in the Syrian Civil War. Batirashvili was previously the leader of the rebel group Muhajireen Brigade (Emigrants Brigade), and its successor, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (Army of Emigrants and Supporters).
In 2013, Batirashvili joined the Islamic State and rapidly became a senior commander in the organization, directing a series of battles and ultimately earning a seat on ISIS's shura council.
The US Treasury Department added Batirashvili to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 24 September 2014.[10] and seven months later the US government announced a reward up to US$5 million for information leading to his capture.[11][12] U.S. officials reported that Batirashvili died from injuries several days after being the target of a 4 March 2016 U.S. airstrike, near the Al-Shaddadah district in Northern Syria,[13] however, the Islamic State denied these claims and its Amaq News Agency confirmed that Shishani was killed in July 2016 during fighting in the Iraqi city of Shirqat, south of Mosul, Iraq.[14]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Omar_al-Shishani
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-16-2016
Nathaniel "Nate" Thurmond (July 25, 1941 – July 16, 2016[1]) was an American basketball player best known for his career with the Golden State Warriors. Dominant at both center and power forward, he was a seven-time All-Star and the first player in NBA history to record an official quadruple-double. He is also only one of three players, along with Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, to grab more than 40 rebounds in one NBA game.
Thurmond remains one of the best rebounders and shot blockers ever, named both a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
Known to fans as "Nate the Great",[2] Thurmond has had his #42 jersey retired by both the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers franchises.[3]
Passing up a scholarship offer to Ohio State to avoid becoming Lucas's backup there, the 6'11" Thurmond chose Bowling Green. He was named a first-team All-American by The Sporting News in 1963, and was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors later that year.
In 1963, he was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors later that year. With the Warriors, Thurmond was an aggressive rebounder-defender who played at the forward position opposite superstar Wilt Chamberlain or was his backup at center. Despite playing on the same team as the dominant Chamberlain, Thurmond made an impact and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1964.
![[Image: 175px-Nate_Thurmond_1969.jpeg]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nate_Thurmond_1969.jpeg)
Thurmond in 1969.
When Chamberlain was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, Thurmond became the All-Star starting center Chamberlain said he could be. Among his many accomplishments, Thurmond still holds the regular season record for rebounds in a quarter with 18. He averaged 21.3 and 22.0 rebounds per game in the 1966–67 and 1967–68 seasons — season averages exceeded by only Bill Russell and Chamberlain in NBA history. Thurmond placed second to Chamberlain in the MVP balloting in the 1966–67 season, and averaged over 20 points per game each season from 1967–68 through 1971–72, and played in seven NBA All-Star Games while with the Warriors. However, while star players like Rick Barry and Jerry Lucas came and went, the Warriors were unable to win a championship with Thurmond at center, often failing to get past the star studded Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Division playoffs. Thurmond was an excellent passing center and was well known as the best screen setter in the league for many years.
He was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Clifford Ray prior to the 1974–75 season. On October 18, 1974 against the Atlanta Hawks, in his debut as a Bull, he recorded 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots, becoming the first player in NBA history to officially record a quadruple-double (blocked shots were not counted before 1973–74).[4]
He was then traded to Cleveland Cavaliers 13 games into the following season. In Cleveland, the now 35-year-old Thurmond came off the bench for the injured Jim Chones to lead Cleveland to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals before the Cavaliers lost to the star-studded Boston Celtics in 1976.
After retirement, Thurmond returned to San Francisco and opened a restaurant, Big Nate's BBQ[5], after a brief attempt at broadcasting. He sold the restaurant after 20 years, while living in San Francisco with his wife, Marci.[6] He was given the title "Warriors Legend & Ambassador" by the Warriors organization.[6]
Thurmond died at the age of 74 on July 16, 2016 after a short battle with leukemia.[7]
More here from Wikipedia.
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-19-2016
(07-18-2016, 11:40 AM)X_4AD_84 Wrote:(07-16-2016, 05:19 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Nathaniel "Nate" Thurmond (July 25, 1941 – July 16, 2016[1]) was an American basketball player best known for his career with the Golden State Warriors. Dominant at both center and power forward, he was a seven-time All-Star and the first player in NBA history to record an official quadruple-double. He is also only one of three players, along with Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, to grab more than 40 rebounds in one NBA game.
Thurmond remains one of the best rebounders and shot blockers ever, named both a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
Known to fans as "Nate the Great",[2] Thurmond has had his #42 jersey retired by both the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers franchises.[3]
.....
You're a fellow Cal alumn IIRC. I'm guessing you were here during the early - mid 70s? So you knew Nate!
BTW - that old "The City" emblem is a thing again. It's considered cool to sport it on clothing or as a decal, etc.
"Ole school!"
1974 to 1978. But I did not have much time for following pro sports. That's how college goes -- if one wants to graduate.
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-19-2016
![[Image: 220px-Canadian_Dollar_-_reverse.png]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ef/Canadian_Dollar_-_reverse.png/220px-Canadian_Dollar_-_reverse.png)
Designer of the Canadian dollar coin:
Robert-Ralph Carmichael (1937 – July 16, 2016) was a Canadian artist who designed the loonie side of the Canadian one dollar coin.[1]
Robert-Ralph lived near the northern town of Echo Bay, Ontario in the scenic Sylvan Valley. The town has recently erected a large loonie statue in honour of Mr. Carmichael along the highway. The Statue has been called "the big loonie" in reference to the neighbouring town Sudbury's "Big Nickel" monument. His work can be seen and purchased at Roses Art Gallery in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert-Ralph_Carmichael
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-21-2016
Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American actor, director, producer, writer, voice artist, and comedian. His notable credits included creating Happy Days and its various spin-offs, developing Neil Simon's 1965 play The Odd Couple for television, and directing Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, Mother's Day, [i]The Princess Diaries[/i], and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
Marshall began his career as a joke writer for such comedians as Joey Bishop and Phil Foster and then became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jack Paar.[10] In 1961, he moved to Hollywood, where he teamed up with Jerry Belson as a writer for television. The pair worked on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Danny Thomas Show, and The Lucy Show. Their first television series as creator / producers was Hey, Landlord, which lasted one season (1966–67). Then they adapted Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple for television. On his own, Marshall created Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley (starring his sister Penny), and Mork & Mindy, which were produced by his associates Thomas L. Miller, Robert L. Boyett, and Edward K. Milkis.[11] He was also a co-creator of Makin' It,[12] which the three men also produced.
In the early 1980s, he met Hector Elizondo while playing basketball and became great friends. Elizondo appeared in every film that Marshall directed, beginning with Marshall's first feature film Young Doctors in Love. Elizondo once noted that he is written into all of Marshall's contracts whether he wanted to do the movie or not.[13] In the opening credits of Exit to Eden (their eighth film together), Elizondo is credited "As Usual ... Hector Elizondo".[14] In 1984, Marshall had a film hit as the writer and director of The Flamingo Kid.[15]
![[Image: 220px-Jonny_Blu_Garry_Marshall_Princess_Diaries_2.jpg]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jonny_Blu_Garry_Marshall_Princess_Diaries_2.jpg)
Marshall and Jonny Blu on the set of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in 2004
A consummate producer, Marshall wore many hats during this period of his career: Most of his hit television series were created and executive produced by him. His first producing assignment came with Hey, Landlord in 1966. He stepped up the very next year, producing The Lucy Show.[16] Then came successes in producing The Odd Couple, Laverne and Shirley, Blansky's Beauties, Mork & Mindy, Angie, and Happy Days. Marshall also launched independent productions through his theater (The Falcon in Toluca Lake) and in association with productions launched with talent he was grooming and working with for years. One such project titled Four Stars was directed by Lynda Goodfriend (who portrayed Lori Beth in Happy Days), and was based on a play Goodfriend had read when she was studying at the Lee Strasberg Center, which had been written by John Schulte and Kevin Mahoney.[17] It starred Julie Paris (the daughter of Happy Days director and Dick Van Dyke Show co-star Jerry Paris) and Bert Kramer. Marshall went on to focus on directing feature films, with a series of hits, such as Beaches, Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries, Valentine's Day, and New Year's Eve.[17]
![[Image: 220px-GarryMarshall-Jan2008.jpg]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GarryMarshall-Jan2008.jpg)
Marshall in January 2008
Marshall was also an actor, making his television acting debut starting as a child with a recurring role in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–58),[18] appearing in Murphy Brown and in such films as Soapdish, On the Lot, and provided a guest-starring voice for The Simpsons episodes Eight Misbehavin' and Homer the Father. He also appeared in two episodes of Happy Days as a drummer.[17]
His theater credits included Wrong Turn at Lungfish, which he wrote in collaboration with Lowell Ganz,[19] The Roast with Jerry Belson,[20] Shelves and Happy Days: A New Musical with Paul Williams,[21] which had its premiere at the Falcon Theater in Burbank, California, February 24, 2006.[22] He portrayed the role of "director" on Burbank's "Lights...camera...action!" float in the 2014 Rose Parade.
His son Scott Marshall is also a director.
In 2014, Marshall appeared in a guest star role in a February episode in season 11 of Two and a Half Men.
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RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-21-2016
K. Mark Takai (July 1, 1967 – July 20, 2016) was an American politician from the state of Hawaii who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Hawaii's 1st congressional district, from 2015 to 2016. He previously served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1994 to 2014.
Takai was from Aiea, Hawaii. He served in the Hawaii Army National Guard as a Lieutenant Colonel and took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2009.
Takai became the Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2014 elections. He defeated former Congressman Charles Djou to win the seat. Takai stated that he would not seek reelection in 2016 because he had pancreatic cancer. He died from the disease on July 20, 2016.
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RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-22-2016
Egon Matijevic (27 April 1922 – 20 July 2016) was an American chemist. He earned his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Zagreb. After specialization at the University of Cambridge he continued to work at the Clarkson University. He is the author of more than 550 scientific papers in colloidal and surface chemistry with numerous applications in medicine and industry. Matijevic is the member of American Chemical Society, American Association for Crystal Growth, World Academy of Ceramics, International Association of Colloid and Interface Scientists and honorary member of American Ceramic Society, German Colloid Society, Chemical Society of Japan and Materials Research Society of Japan.[1][2][3][4][5]
More at Wiki.
Sounds important.
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-25-2016
Marni Nixon (February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016) was an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She is best known for having dubbed the singing voices of the leading actresses in films, including The King and I, West Side Story and My Fair Lady.
Nixon's varied career included, besides her voice work in films, some film roles of her own, television, opera, concerts with major symphony orchestras around the world, musicals on stage throughout the United States and recordings.
Nixon's career in film started in 1948 when she sang the voices of the angels heard by Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc (1948). The same year, she did her first dubbing work when she provided Margaret O'Brien's singing voice in 1948's Big City and then 1949's The Secret Garden. She also dubbed Marilyn Monroe's high notes in "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). She appeared on Broadway in 1954 in The Girl in Pink Tights.[2]
In 1956, she worked closely with Deborah Kerr to supply the star's singing voice for the film version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I, and the next year she again worked with Kerr to dub her voice in An Affair to Remember.[1] That year, she also sang for Sophia Loren in Boy on a Dolphin. In 1960, she had an on-screen chorus role in Can-Can.[3] In 1961's West Side Story, the studio kept her work on the film (as the singing voice of Natalie Wood's Maria) a secret from the actress,[4][5] and Nixon also dubbed Rita Moreno's singing in the film's "Tonight" quintet. She asked the film's producers for, but did not receive, any direct royalties from her work on the film, but Leonard Bernstein contractually gave her 1/4 of one percent of his personal royalties from it.[6] In 1962, she also sang Wood's high notes in Gypsy.[3][7] For My Fair Lady in 1964, she again worked with the female lead of the film, Audrey Hepburn, to perform the songs of Hepburn's character Eliza.[4] Because of her uncredited dubbing work in these films, Time magazine called her "The Ghostess with the Mostest".[8][9]
Nixon made a special guest appearance on Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts broadcast that aired April 9, 1961, entitled "Folk Music in the Concert Hall". She sang three "Songs of the Auvergne" by Canteloube.[10] Before My Fair Lady was released in theatres in 1964, Nixon played Eliza in a production at New York City Center.[3] Nixon's first onscreen appearance was as Sister Sophia in the 1965 film The Sound of Music. In the DVD commentary to the film, director Robert Wise comments that audiences were finally able to see the woman whose voice they knew so well.[11] In 1967, she was the singing voice of Princess Serena in a live action and animated version of Jack and the Beanstalk on NBC. Also in the 1960s, Nixon made concert appearances.[12]
Nixon taught at the California Institute of Arts from 1969 to 1971 and joined the faculty of the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, in 1980, where she taught for many years.[1][13] In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she hosted a children's television show in Seattle on KOMO-TV channel 4 called Boomerang, winning four Emmy Awards as best actress, and made numerous other television appearances on variety shows and as a guest star in prime time series.[14][15] Nixon's opera repertory included Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, both Blonde and Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Violetta in La traviata, the title role in La Périchole and Philine in Mignon. Her opera credits include performances at Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera,[6] San Francisco Opera and the Tanglewood Festival among others.[3] In addition to giving recitals, she appeared as an oratorio and concert soloist with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra among others.[13][14]
Nixon also toured with Liberace and Victor Borge and in her own cabaret shows. On stage, in 1984, she originated the role of Edna Off-Broadway in Taking My Turn, composed by Gary William Friedman, receiving a nomination for a Drama Desk Award. She also originated the role of Sadie McKibben in Opal (1992), and she had a 1997 film role as Aunt Alice in I Think I Do.[2][14][16] Under her own name, beginning in the 1980s, Nixon recorded songs by Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Arnold Schönberg, Charles Ives, Aaron Copland and Anton Webern. She was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Classical Performance, Vocal Soloist, one for her Schönberg album and one for her Copland album.[1][14]
In the 1998 Disney film Mulan, Nixon was the singing voice of "Grandmother Fa". She then returned to the stage, touring the US as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret in 1997–1998.[14] In 1999, she originated the role of Mrs. Wilson in the premiere of Ballymore, an opera by Richard Wargo at Skylight Opera Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was taped for PBS.[17] In regional theatre and Off-Broadway, she played Nurse in Romeo & Juliet and appeared in productions of The King and I and The Sound of Music.[12] She also continued to teach voice and judge vocal competitions.[14][17]
In 2000, after nearly a half century away, she returned to Broadway as Aunt Kate in James Joyce's The Dead.[2][12] In 2001, Nixon replaced Joan Roberts as Heidi Schiller in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies.[1] She played Eunice Miller in 70, Girls, 70 in a 2002 production in Los Angeles.[12] In 2003, she was again on Broadway as a replacement in role of Guido's mother in the revival of Nine.[18] Her autobiography, I Could Have Sung All Night, was published in 2006.[6] She performed in the 2008 North American Tour of Cameron Mackintosh's UK revival of My Fair Lady in the role of Mrs. Higgins.[19][20]
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-27-2016
Do you remember the psychic "Miss Cleo"? File under "Fakes, Frauds, and Poseurs".
Youree Dell Harris (August 12, 1962 – July 26, 2016) was an American television personality best known as Miss Cleo, a spokeswoman for a psychic pay-per-call service from 1997 to 2003.[1][2]
Harris used various aliases, including LaShawnda Williams, Corvette Mama, Elenore St. Julian, Desiree Canterlaw, Janet Snyder, Maria Delcampo, Christina Garcia, Cleomili Harris and Youree Perris.[3]
In the late 1990s, Harris began to work for the Psychic Readers Network under the name Cleo. She appeared as a television infomercial psychic in which she claimed she was a mystical shaman from Jamaica.[5][7] Her employers' website also stated that Harris had been born in Trelawny, Jamaica, and grown up there.[4]
The Psychic Readers Network is said to have coined the title "Miss Cleo" and sent unsolicited emails,[8] some of which stated, "[Miss Cleo has] been authorized to issue you a Special Tarot Reading!... it is vital that you call immediately!" Charges of deceptive advertising and of fraud on the part of the Psychic Readers Network began to surface around this time.[9] Among the complaints were allegations that calls to Miss Cleo were answered by her "associates" who were actors reading from scripts, and that calls promoted as "free" were in fact charged for.[5][10]
In 2001, Access Resource Services doing business as Psychic Readers Network was sued in various lawsuits brought by (among others) Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, and the Federal Communications Commission, although reports later said that "many customers were satisfied with the service".[11]
In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission charged the company's owners and Harris' promoters, Steven Feder and Peter Stotz, with deceptive advertising, billing, and collection practices; Harris was not indicted.[12] Her promoters agreed to settle for a fraction of the amount they took in.[13] It emerged that she had been born in Los Angeles, and that her parents were U.S. citizens.[11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Cleo
"The cards, they do not lie!"... but attempting to interpret them is still folly.
My sympathy about the cancer nonetheless.
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-27-2016
Father Jacques Hamel (30 November 1930 – 26 July 2016) was a French Catholic priest in the parish of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. Hamel was martyred by two men pledging allegiance to the Islamic State while he said mass in his church on 26 July 2016.
Hamel was ordained as a priest in 1958.[2] He served as a vicar at the St.-Antoine church in Le Petit-Quevilly in 1958, a vicar at the Notre-Dame de Lourdes church in Sotteville-lès-Rouen in 1967, a parish priest at Saint-Pierre-lès-Elbeuf in 1975, and a parish priest in Cléon in 1988.[3] He joined the church at Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray in 2000 and assumed his role as the parish’s auxiliary priest in 2005.[3]
With Mohammed Karabila, the president of Normandy's regional council of Muslims, Hamel worked on an interfaith committee.[2][4]
Hamel's throat was slit by two men pledging allegiance to the Islamic State while he was saying mass in his parish in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray on 26 July 2016.[5][6] The very same day, Italian politician Roberto Maroni called on the Pope to "immediately proclaim him St Jacques."[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Hamel
Comment: Death to Daesh!
RE: Obituaries - Eric the Green - 07-27-2016
Actually of course, tarot is a mythical book of wisdom, and readings by those with real skills and insight are not folly.
http://philosopherswheel.com/tarot.html
Stamping out the IS is going to be tough, but it's got to be done. And Hillary is right that the propaganda online is a proper target for removal as much as possible. Trump is right that immigrants and refugees have to be screened thoroughly, but like most of what he advocates that America do, it's already being done.
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-29-2016
Einojuhani Rautavaara (
![[Image: 11px-Loudspeaker.svg.png]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Loudspeaker.svg/11px-Loudspeaker.svg.png){kind=small}
pronunciation (help·info); 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. He was one of the most notable Finnish composers after Jean Sibelius.Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. Having written early works using 12-tone serial techniques, his later music may be described as neo-romantic and mystical. Major works include Cantus Arcticus and Symphony No. 7 "Angel of Light".
Rautavaara was born in Helsinki in 1928. His father Eino was an opera singer and cantor, and his mother Elsa was a doctor. Both of his parents died before he reached his 16th birthday, and he went on to live with his aunt Hilja Teräskeli in a Helsinki suburb.[1]
Rautavaara studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under Aarre Merikanto from 1948 to 1952. He first came to international attention when he won the Thor Johnson Contest for his composition A Requiem for Our Time in 1954, and the work prompted Jean Sibelius to recommended him for a scholarship to study at the Juilliard School in New York City. There he was taught by Vincent Persichetti, and he also took lessons from Roger Sessions and Aaron Copland at Tanglewood. He graduated at the Sibelius Academy in 1957.[1]
Rautavaara served as a non-tenured teacher at the Sibelius Academy from 1957 to 1959, music archivist of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from 1959 to 1961, rector of the Käpylä Music Institute in Helsinki from 1965 to 1966, tenured teacher at the Sibelius Academy from 1966 to 1976, artist professor (appointed by the Arts Council of Finland) from 1971 to 1976, and professor of composition at the Sibelius Academy from 1976 to 1990.
He married actor Heidi Maria Suovanen, an actor, in 1959; they separated in 1982, after Einojuhani fell in love Sinikka Koivisto, and they divorced in 1984. They had two sons and a daughter. In 1984 he married Sinikka, who survived him.[1][2]
Rautavaara suffered an aortic dissection in January 2004. He had to spend almost half a year in intensive care but he later recovered and managed to continue his work.[3] He died on 27 July 2016 from complications of a hip surgery.[3][4]
![[Image: 170px-EinojuhaniRautavaara1950s.jpg]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EinojuhaniRautavaara1950s.jpg)
Rautavaara in the 1950s
Rautavaara was a prolific composer and wrote in a variety of forms and styles. He experimented with serial techniques in his early career but abandoned them in the 1960s. Even his serial works are not obviously serial. His third symphony, for example, uses such techniques, but sounds more like Anton Bruckner than more traditional serialists such as Pierre Boulez.[2] His later works often have a mystical element (several of his works have titles which allude to angels).[5] A characteristic 'Rautavaara sound' might be a rhapsodic string theme of austere beauty, with whirling flute lines, gently dissonant bells, and perhaps the suggestion of a pastoral horn.[citation needed]
His compositions include eight symphonies, 14 concertos, choral works (several for unaccompanied choir, including Vigilia (1971–1972)), sonatas for various instruments, string quartets and other chamber music, and a number of biographical operas including Vincent (1986–1987, based on the life of Vincent van Gogh), Aleksis Kivi (1995–1996) and Rasputin (2001–2003).[1] A number of his works have parts for magnetic tape, including Cantus Arcticus (1972, also known as Concerto for Birds & Orchestra) for taped bird song and orchestra,[1] and True and False Unicorn (1971, second version 1974, revised 2001–02), the final version of which is for three reciters, choir, orchestra and tape.[6]
His later works include orchestral works Book of Visions (2003–2005), Manhattan Trilogy (2003–2005) and Before the Icons (2005) which is an expanded version of his early piano work Icons.[7] In 2005 he finished a work for violin and piano called Lost Landscapes, commissioned by the violinist Midori Goto. Orchestral workA Tapestry of Life, was premiered by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in April 2008, directed by Pietari Inkinen.[8]
Many of Rautavaara's works have been recorded, a performance of his 7th symphony, Angel of Light (1995), by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leif Segerstam on the Ondine label, being a particular critical and popular success - it was nominated for several awards, including a Grammy. Rautavaara's Symphony No. 8 has been recorded four times.Almost all of Rautavaara's works have been recorded by Ondine. Some of his major works have also been recorded by Naxos. An album called "Rautavaara songs" was recorded by the Swedish label BIS Records.
Rautavaara wrote a percussion concerto called Incantations' for Colin Currie, and his second cello concerto for Truls Mork.
In 2010, Rautavaara's "Christmas Carol" was commissioned and performed by the men and boys choir of King's College, Cambridge (UK) for their annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
In 2011 Rautavaara completed two larger-scale compositions: Missa a capella (premiered in the Netherlands, November 2011) and a work for string orchestra, Into the Heart of Light, which premiered in September 2012.
At the time of his death he was working on a large-scale opera based on texts by Federico García Lorca.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einojuhani_Rautavaara
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 07-31-2016
Rautavaara was a great composer, and I am surprised that he is not more of a household name.
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 08-06-2016
Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr. (July 3, 1930 – August 6, 2016), known professionally as Pete Fountain, was an American clarinetist based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He played jazz, Dixieland, pop jazz, honky-tonk jazz, pop, and Creole music.
Pierre Dewey Fountain, Jr.,[1] was born on White Street, in New Orleans, between Dumaine and St. Ann, in a small Creole cottage-style frame house. Pete was the great grandson of Francois Fontaine who was born in Toulon, France circa 1796, and died on the Mississippi Gulf Coast circa 1885.
He started playing clarinet as a child at McDonogh 28. As a child, young Pete was very sickly, frequently battling respiratory infections due to weakened lungs. He was given expensive medication but it proved to be not very effective. During a pharmacy visit, Pete's father began a discussion with a neighborhood doctor who was also there shopping and talked with him about his son's condition. The doctor agreed to see the boy the following day. After a short exam, the doctor confirmed the weak lung condition and advised the father to try an unorthodox treatment: purchase the child a musical instrument, anything he has to blow into. The same day, they went to a local music store and, given his choice of instruments, Pete chose the clarinet (after first wanting the drums, which his father declined per the doctor's orders). At first, Pete was unable to produce a sound from the instrument, but he continued to practice and eventually not only made sounds and eventually music, but greatly improved the health of his lungs.
He took private lessons but also learned to play jazz by playing along with phonograph records of first Benny Goodman and then Irving Fazola. Early on he played with the bands of Monk Hazel and Al Hirt. Fountain founded The Basin Street Six in 1950 with his longtime friend, trumpeter George Girard .
After this band broke up four years later, Fountain was hired to join the Lawrence Welk orchestra and became well known for his many solos on Welk's ABC television show, The Lawrence Welk Show. Fountain was rumored to have quit when Welk refused to let him "jazz up" a Christmas carol on the 1958 Christmas show. Other accounts, including one in Fountain's autobiography A Closer Walk With Pete Fountain, indicate he in fact played a jazzy rendition of "Silver Bells" on the show that upset Welk, leading to Fountain's departure in early 1959. In an interview, Fountain said he left The Lawrence Welk Show because "Champagne and bourbon don't mix."[2] Fountain was hired by Decca Records A&R head Charles "Bud" Dant and went on to produce 42 hit albums with Dant. After Welk's death, Fountain would occasionally join with the Welk musical family for reunion shows.
Fountain returned to New Orleans, played with The Dukes of Dixieland, then began leading bands under his own name. He owned his own club in the French Quarter in the 1960s and 1970s. He later acquired "Pete Fountain's Jazz Club" at the Riverside Hilton in downtown New Orleans.
The New Orleans Jazz Club presented "Pete Fountain Day" on October 19, 1959, with celebrations honoring the pride of their city, concluding with a packed concert that evening. His Quintett was made up of his studio recording musicians, Stan Kenton's bassist Don Bagley, vibeist Godfrey Hirsch, pianist Merle Koch, and the double bass drummer Jack Sperling. Fountain brought these same players together in 1963 when they played the Hollywood Bowl. Pete would make the trek to Hollywood many times, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 56 times.
Fountain opened his club, the French Quarter Inn, located in the heart of the famed French Quarter district, at 800 Bourbon Street, in the spring of 1960. His group members were Oliver "Stick" Felix on bass, John Probst on piano, Paul Guma on guitar, Godfrey Hirsch on vibes, and Jack Sperling on drums. In no time at all, major entertainers found their way there. Cliff Arquette and Jonathan Winters were there on opening night and performed their comedy routines. Over the next few years Frank Sinatra, Phil Harris, Carol Lawrence and Robert Goulet, Keely Smith, Robert Mitchum, and Brenda Lee, among many others, came to the club. Many would perform with the band, and Brenda Lee's sit-in resulted in a duet record album recorded by her and Pete. Benny Goodman came to the club twice, but without bringing his clarinet.[3]
His greatest friendly rivalry was with trumpeter Al Hirt, whose club was down the street from Fountain's. They stole musicians from each other, and sometimes came into each other's clubs and played together. They were good friends who came up together and later recorded several albums together.
In 2003, Fountain closed his club at the Hilton with a performance before a packed house filled with musical friends and fans. He began performing two nights a week at Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where he also had a home (later destroyed by Hurricane Katrina).
After heart surgery in 2006, he performed at [the] JazzFest, and helped reopen the Bay St. Louis Casino in Bay St. Louis, MS. It has since been renamed the Hollywood Casino. He performed his last show at the Hollywood Casino on December 8, 2010,[4] before returning to help reopen the resort in 2014, by which point he was mostly retired.
Fountain was a founder and the most prominent member of the Half-Fast Walking Club, one of the best known marching Krewes that parade in New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day. The original name was "The Half-Assed Walking Club," and it was an excuse to take a "lubricated" musical stroll down the parade route. Pete changed the name under pressure exerted by the parade organizers. On Mardi Gras Day 2007, Pete again joined his Half-Fast Walking Club, having missed the event in 2006 due to illness.
Fountain's clarinet work is noted for his sweet fluid tone. He recorded over 100 LPs and CDs under his own name, some in the Dixieland style, many others with only peripheral relevance to any type of jazz.
The distinctive Fountain sound — more woody than most — came from the crystal mouthpieces he has played with since 1949. His first crystal mouthpiece was actually Irving Fazola's, given to Pete by Fazola's mother after Faz's death, because she had heard him play and noted how he played like her son. That mouthpiece was shattered on the bandstand one night when Pete had played his solo and was standing by as trumpeter George Girard played his [own solo], and Girard brought his trumpet down suddenly on top of the mouthpiece. Pete still has the shattered mouthpiece, and has played other crystal mouthpieces ever since.[5]
Fountain led the Pete Fountain Quintett, a New Orleans French Quarter jazz band of Fountain and his Creole-style music. The "Quintett" had many musicians over the years, but has primarily recorded with Jack Sperling on drums, bassists Don Bagley or Morty Corb, vibeist Godfrey Hirch, and pianists Merle Kock or Stan Wrightsman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Fountain
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 08-09-2016
Jack Günthard (8 January 1920 – 7 August 2016) was a Swiss gymnast and Olympic Champion. He competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, where he won the gold medal in the horizontal bar, and the silver medal in the team combined exercises.[1] Günthard died in August 2016 at the age of 96.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_G%C3%BCnthard
RE: Obituaries - pbrower2a - 08-15-2016
Philip "Fyvush" Finkel (Yiddish: פֿײַוויש פֿינקעל; October 9, 1922 – August 14, 2016) was an American actor known as a star of Yiddish theater and for his role as lawyer Douglas Wambaugh on the television series Picket Fences, for which he earned an Emmy Award for Oustanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1994. He is also known for his portrayal of Harvey Lipschultz, a crotchety history teacher, on the television series Boston Public.
Finkel was born at home in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, the third of four sons of Jewish immigrant parents, Mary, a housewife from Minsk, Belarus, and Harry Finkel, a tailor from Warsaw.[1][2] He adopted the stage name "Fyvush", a common Yiddish given name.[1]
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[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyvush_Finkel#cite_note-newsday-1]
Finkel first appeared on the stage at age 9, and acted for almost 35 years in the thriving Yiddish theaters of the Yiddish Theater District of Manhattan's Lower East Side, as well as performing as a standup comic in the Catskill's Borscht Belt. In 2008 he recalled:
Quote:I played child parts till I was 14, 15, then my voice changed. So I decided to learn a trade and went to a vocational high school in New York. I studied to be a furrier, but I never worked at it. As soon as I graduated high school, I went to a stock company in Pittsburgh, a Jewish theater, and I played there for 38 weeks, and that's where I actually learned my trade a little bit as an adult.[1]
He worked regularly until the ethnic venues began dying out in the early 1960s, then made his Broadway theatre debut in the original 1964 production of the musical Fiddler on the Roof, joining the cast as Mordcha, the innkeeper, in 1965.[1][3] The production ran through July 2, 1972. Finkel then played Lazar Wolf, the butcher, in the limited run 1981 Broadway revival,[4] and eventually played the lead role of Tevye the milkman for years[1] in the national touring company.
Shortly afterward, Finkel succeeded Hy Anzell in the role of Mr. Mushnik in the Off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors.[5] Then in 1988, Finkel's work as "Sam" in the New York Shakespeare Festival revival of the Yiddish classic Cafe Crown earned him an Obie Award[6] and a Drama Desk nomination.[7]
Finkel made his movie debut in the English-subtitled, Yiddish sketch-comedy revue Monticello, Here We Come (1950), then after small parts in an episode of the television series Kojak in 1977 and the miniseries Evergreen in 1985, returned to film in the detective comedy Off Beat (1986). That same year saw a role opposite Robin Williams in a PBS American Playhouse adaptation of Saul Bellow's novel Seize the Day, and a role in the film adaptation of Neil Simon's Broadway comedy Brighton Beach Memoirs. An appearance as a lawyer in director Sidney Lumet's Q & A (1990) led TV producer-writer David E. Kelley to cast Finkel as public defender Douglas Wambaugh in the television series Picket Fences (CBS, 1992–1996). For the role, Finkel earned a 1994 Emmy Award, announcing at the televised ceremonies that he had waited 51 years for that moment.
Following the end of Picket Fences, Finkel had a regular role on the short-lived revival of Fantasy Island (ABC, 1998) and then reteamed with writer-producer Kelley to play history teacher Harvey Lipschultz in Boston Public (Fox, 2000–2004).
Through the 1990s and 2000s, Finkel appeared in movies including Nixon and The Crew, guested on TV series including Chicago Hope, Law & Order, Early Edition, and Hollywood Squares, and provided voiceovers for episodes of the animated series The Simpsons ("Lisa's Sax") and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters ("Ickis! You'll Be Snorched!") and the animated direct-to-video feature The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. In 2009, he appeared in the Coen brothers' film A Serious Man, and in 2013 had a guest appearance in Blue Bloods ("Men In Black")
Finkel continued to appear onstage in productions as Fyvush Finkel: From Second Avenue to Broadway (1997)[8] and Classic Stage Company's historical drama New Jerusalem (2007), by playwright David Ives.[9]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyvush_Finkel
Comment: Heaven gets a great new addition to its theater troupe.
...Has anyone noticed that great American theater is to a great extent the old Yiddish theater, only in English?