Obituaries

[pbrower2a]

Thomas Edward Meehan (August 14, 1929 – August 21, 2017) was an American writer. He was best known for Annie, The Producers, and Hairspray. Meehan wrote books for musicals Young Frankenstein and Cry-Baby. Meehan also co-wrote the book for Elf: The Musical and Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin.[3]

Meehan was born in Ossining, New York, but grew up in Suffern, New York.[4] He graduated from Hamilton College.[4]

Meehan moved to New York at age 24, and worked at The New Yorker's "Talk of the Town".[5]

He has received the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times: Annie (1977), his Broadway debut; The Producers (2001); and subsequently shared the 2003 award with Mark O'Donnell for Hairspray.[6][7]

Additional credits include Ain't Broadway Grand; Oh, Kay!; Bombay Dreams, a musical adaptation of I Remember Mama; and Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge, which was subsequently reworked and re-staged Off-Broadway as Annie Warbucks.[8] He also wrote the libretto to the opera 1984.[6][7]

In addition, Meehan is a long-time contributor of humor to The New Yorker; an Emmy Award-winning writer of television comedy; and a collaborator on a number of screenplays, including Mel Brooks' Spaceballs; a remake of To Be or Not to Be; the film adaptation of The Producers; and One Magic Christmas.[9]

Meehan wrote the book for the musical Young Frankenstein, a 2007 musical stage adaptation of the 1974 film of the same name and Cry-Baby. He co-wrote the book, with Bob Martin, for Elf the Musical.[6][7][10] He co-wrote the book for the production of the musical Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin which ran at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2010[11] and premiered on Broadway in 2012. In 2011 he revised the book originally written by Peter Stone for the Off-Broadway musical Death Takes a Holiday with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston.[12]

In 2012, Meehan wrote the book from the original screenplay by Sylvester Stallone[13] for the musical Rocky.[14] The show premiered in Hamburg in 2012,[15] before transferring to Broadway in 2014.[7][16]

Meehan held the distinction of being the only writer to have written three Broadway shows that ran for more than 2,000 performances.[17] Reflecting on his work in an interview with The New York Observer in 1999, Meehan said "I wrote stories that were serious, very somber, trying to be in the style of William Faulkner. My career has always been that every time I try something really serious, it's no good, but if I try to be funny, then it works".[18]

Meehan died on August 21, 2017, at his home in Manhattan, New York City, at the age of 88.[19][20] The cause was cancer.[21] Five months prior to his death, Meehan had undergone surgery, which later caused his health to deteriorate.[22]

In reaction to his death, Mel Brooks wrote on Twitter: "Stunned by the news that my friend/co-writer Tom Meehan has died. I’ll miss his sweetness & talent. We have all lost a giant of the theatre".[23] Similar to Brooks, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda released a statement on Twitter stating: "RIP to Thomas Meehan, one of the best around".[24]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Meehan_(writer)

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William Tobe Hooper (January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror film genre; his most recognized films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist. Stuart Heritage of The Guardian described The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as "one of the most influential films ever made".[1]

Hooper died of natural causes in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles on August 26, 2017 at the age of 74.[13]

[Eric the Green]

(08-21-2017, 12:46 PM)TeacherinExile Wrote:

(08-20-2017, 11:11 AM)pbrower2a Wrote: Dick Gregory, comedian. Do you remember what I said about comedy being the greatest cultural contribution of the Silent Generation?

Richard Claxton Gregory (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017)[1], known as Dick Gregory, was an American civil rights activist, social critic, writer, entrepreneur, comedian, and actor. During the turbulent 1960s, Gregory became a pioneer in stand-up comedy for his "no-holds-barred" sets, in which he mocked bigotry and racism. He primarily performed at segregated clubs to black audiences until 1961, when he became the first black comedian to successfully cross over to white audiences, appearing on television and putting out comedy record albums.[2]

Gregory was at the forefront of political activism in the 1960s, protesting the Vietnam War and racial injustice. He was arrested multiple times and went on a hunger strike. He later became a motivational speaker and author, primarily promoting spirituality.[2]

In August 2017, Gregory died of heart failure at a Washington, D.C. hospital, age 84.[2]

Read much more on the Wikipedia page.

Rest in peace, Dick Gregory.  You were a giant among men, a comedian whose biting wit has been matched by few others onstage.  And unlike so many celebrities today, whose stances against all manner of injustice amount to little more than "virtue signaling," you put your beautiful black skin in the game when it mattered most, as noted in the post above.  We may not see your like again.  You will be sorely missed.

This from his obituary in Rolling Stone magazine:

One oft-told Gregory bit was about the comedian's journey to a restaurant in the segregated South. "We tried to integrate a restaurant, and they said, `We don't serve colored folk here,' and I said, `Well, I don't eat colored folk nowhere. Bring me some pork chops.' And then Ku Klux Klan come in, and the woman say, 'We don't have no pork chops,' so I say, 'Well, bring me a whole fried chicken.' And then the Klan walked up to me when they put that whole fried chicken in front of me, and they say, 'Whatever you do to that chicken, boy, we're going to do to you.' So I opened up its legs and kissed it in the rump and tell you all, `Be my guest.' "

And in light of the "fake news" meme that is tossed around so indiscriminately these days, here is one of my favorite Dick Gregory quotations:

"The most difficult thing to get people to do is to accept the obvious."

Indeed it is.

I will miss Dick Gregory while I'm still here on the Earth. I saw and heard him speak a number of times at anti-war demonstrations and health/new age expositions. One of our best leaders. Not easily replaceable.

[pbrower2a]

German-American oceanographer

Wolfgang "Wolf" Helmut Berger (5 October 1937, Erlangen – 6 August 2017 San Diego, California) was a German-American oceanographer, geologist, micropaleontologist and emeritus professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.[1] His research interests comprise "micropaleontology, marine sedimentation, ocean productivity, carbon cycle, ocean history, climate history, and history of oceanography."[2]

Berger earned in 1961 his Vordiplom degree in geology at the University of Erlangen and in 1963 his master's degree in geology at the University of Colorado in Boulder. In 1968 he received his PhD in oceanography from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). From 1968 to 1970 he did research at the UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and in 1970/1971 he was an Assistant at the Geological Institute of the University of Kiel. In 1971 he became an assistant professor, in 1974 an associate professor, and then in 1981 a professor at the Scripps Institution, where he was in 1996/1997 the interim director. In 1997 Berger became the director of the California Space Institute in San Diego. In 1977 and in 1980 he was a visiting professor at the University of Kiel. In 1987 he did research at the University of Bremen.

His research was especially concerned with the ecology of planktonic foraminifera and the reconstruction of the climate and the marine environment of the Cenozoic.
Berger was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_H._Berger

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Richard Anderson

Anderson was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, the son of Olga (née Lurie) and Harry Anderson.[1][2] Anderson served a tour of duty in


Anderson at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan (October 2, 2010)

On the big screen, his many films included The Student Prince as Lucas (1954), Forbidden Planet (1956), as Chief Engineer Quinn, and the World War I drama Paths of Glory (1957) directed by Stanley Kubrick, in which Anderson played the prosecuting attorney. He was Don Diego De La Vega's joke-playing best friend and romantic rival, Ricardo Del Amo, on the Disney television series Zorro (1958-1959). He was the object of the unrequited love of Clara Varner (Joanne Woodward) in The Long, Hot Summer (1958) and a suspicious military officer in Seven Days in May (1964).[3]
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In the 1960s, Anderson made appearances in 23 episodes of Perry Mason during the series' final season as Police Lieutenant Steve Drumm, replacing the character of Lt. Tragg, played by Ray Collins who died in 1965. Before he became a Perry Mason regular, he made guest appearances in two 1964 episodes: as defendant Edward Lewis in "The Case of the Accosted Accountant", and Jason Foster in "The Case of the Paper Bullets".[3]

He also appeared on The Untouchables, Stagecoach West, The Rifleman, Daniel Boone, Thriller, The Eleventh Hour, Redigo, Combat!, Twelve O'Clock High, I Spy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive (as brother-in-law to the protagonist Dr. Richard Kimble), Bonanza, The Green Hornet, The Invaders, and The Big Valley. In 1961–62, Anderson co-starred with Marilyn Maxwell in an ABC production of Bus Stop. He guest-starred in the last episode of season 1 of Mission: Impossible (1966) as Judge Wilson Chase.[3]
In 1965, he played Judge Lander, who clashes over courtroom fairness and frontier justice with a young woman, Kate Melville (Gloria Talbott), the daughter of a sheriff, Will Melville (Dick Foran), in the episode "Kate Melville and the Law" of the syndicated series, Death Valley Days.[4]

Anderson first appeared as Oscar Goldman in episode 2 ("Wine, Women, and War") of The Six Million Dollar Man in 1974. He would portray the character through the series' end in 1978 as well as on the spinoff series The Bionic Woman for its entire run from 1976 to 1978. In addition, Anderson guest-starred on other TV series in the 1970s, including Hawaii Five-O, Gunsmoke, Ironside, Columbo and The Love Boat.[3]

He appeared in the television movie, The Night Strangler as the villain, Dr. Richard Malcolm. Anderson was just as busy in the 1980s on Charlie's Angels, Matt Houston, Knight Rider, Remington Steele, Cover Up, The A-Team, The Fall Guy, Simon & Simon, and Murder, She Wrote. In 1985, he played murderer Ken Braddock in the first two-hour episode of Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr, titled "Perry Mason Returns". Anderson had a recurring role as Senator Buck Fallmont on Dynasty from 1986 to 1987. He portrayed President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1987 miniseries, Hoover vs. The Kennedys.[3]In the 1990s, he served as narrator and a recurring guest star for Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. He served also as a commercial spokesperson for the Shell Oil Company in the United States known as The Shell Answer Man.[5] "The Shell Answer Man" appeared in commercials from 1976-82.

In 2007, Anderson was honored with a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.[6]
Anderson died on August 31, 2017 in Beverly Hills, aged 91.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Anderson



Roland Vincent "Rollie" Massimino (November 13, 1934 – August 30, 2017) was an American basketball coach and player. He was the head men's basketball coach at Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Florida,[1] a position he had held since 2014, and at Northwood University from 2004-2014. Massimino previously served as the head men's basketball coach at Stony Brook University (1969–1971), Villanova University (1973–1992), the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1992–1994), and Cleveland State University (1996–2003). At Villanova, he led his 1984–85 team to the NCAA Championship. Entering the 1985 NCAA Tournament as an eighth seed, Villanova defeated their heavily favored Big East Conference foe, the Georgetown Hoyas, who had Patrick Ewing, in the National Championship Game. The upset is widely regarded as one of the greatest in North American sports history.[2]

....

Massimino's collegiate debut came in 1969 as head coach of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In his first season the Patriots (now Seawolves) won the conference championship after going 19–6, earning a berth in the NCAA small college tournament. Massimino's next stop was as an assistant coach under Chuck Daly at the University of Pennsylvania.
Massimino left Penn in March 1973, succeeding Jack Kraft as head coach of Villanova and leading the 1984-85 Wildcats team to one of the greatest upsets in NCAA tournament history by knocking off top-seeded Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.) in the 1985 NCAA Tournament Championship Game. The road to the finals proved an even greater challenge, kicking off with a win on #9-seed Dayton's home court, followed by victories over #1-seed Michigan, #4-seed Maryland, #2-seed North Carolina, before culminating in a Final Four victory over #2-seeded Memphis State.

After Villanova's unexpected championship run, Massimino was offered the job of head coach of the National Basketball Association New Jersey Nets, which he declined in order to devote more time to his family. Massimino resigned from Villanova in 1992 to assume the head coaching job at UNLV. The initial hope was that he could restore the success and credibility of the UNLV program after the basketball team's 1991–92 probation and the forced resignation of long-time coach Jerry Tarkanian. Two years later, Massimino was himself forced out when it was revealed that he and UNLV president Robert Maxson had cut a side deal to lift Massimino's salary above the figure being reported to the state of Nevada and the state commission ruled that this had violated both state ethics laws, as well as UNLV rules.

Moving on to Cleveland State University in 1996, Massimino's teams recorded a 90–113 record in his seven seasons as coach. Massimino's contract was bought out following a series of off-court issues. These included several players with drug and alcohol problems, other players arrested for serious crimes, and allegations of academic fraud.[6]

Massimino was the head coach of the men's basketball team at [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keiser_University]Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Florida, members in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Massimino continued his role as coach when Northwood University sold its Florida campus to Keiser University. The 2005-06 Northwood team coached by Massimino was its inaugural season in The Sun Conference. In his first four seasons with the Seahawks, Massimino led Northwood to four FSC regular season titles, four appearances in the NAIA National tournament, and the Seahawks reached the Elite Eight in 2008. Massimino and the Seahawks have received bids to the NAIA tournament in all of his eight seasons at Northwood, with the team's best finishes a place in the national semifinals in 2011 and a national runner-up finish in 2012. Through the end of the 2013-14 season, Massimino's overall record at Northwood stands at 227–48 (.825 winning percentage).

On November 1, 2012, Massimino returned to Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky for the first time since his 1985 championship triumph, playing a preseason exhibition game against reigning NCAA Division I champions Kentucky. The game was played at the request of Massimino after indicating to Kentucky head coach John Calipari that the 2012–13 season could be his last in coaching. In a later interview, Massimino hedged somewhat, saying, "I don't know if it's my last [season]. I hope I can go another year or so."[7] Kentucky introduced Massimino with a video montage of the final minutes of Villanova's 1985 victory.[8]
On December 14, 2016, Massimino at 82 years old, reached coaching win number 800 when Keiser University defeated Trinity Baptist 77-47.

Massimino died on August 30, 2017 at his South Florida home after a bout with lung cancer.[9][10]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollie_Massimino

[pbrower2a]

Alonso Guillen came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child. He died here, too: On Wednesday, he disappeared when his boat capsized while he was rescuing survivors of the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area.

Family members recovered his body on Sunday from a creek in Spring, Texas, according to The Houston Chronicle ― just hours before reports emerged that President Donald Trump will end the program that shielded Guillen and others like him ― so-called Dreamers ― from deportation.

Guillen, a 31-year-old disc jockey who came to Texas from Mexico as a teenager, never became a U.S. citizen. But he had a work permit and protection from immediate deportation as part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program ― DACA ― that then-President Barack Obama established in 2012.

Last week, he headed south from his home in Lufkin, Texas, with a borrowed boat, insisting he wanted to help rescue flood survivors. His father, a legal permanent resident, wept on the sandy banks of Cypress Creek on Sunday as his son’s body was pulled from the water, the Chronicle reported. Jesus Guillen recounted to the paper how he asked his son not to go on the rescue mission with two friends, and that he thanked God for the time he had with his son.

His mother, Rita Ruiz de Guillen, was contacted by Chronicle at her home in Piedras Negras, Mexico. “I’m asking God to give me strength,” she said.

She also told the paper that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials denied her entry at the border, despite her pleas for a temporary visa to come to Texas for her son’s burial.

On Monday, however, the customs and border agency said it had no record of Guillen’s mother applying for admission to the U.S. in 2017.

In a statement, the agency said it has “offered to work with the Mexican Consulate and non-governmental agencies” to allow her entry “in order to attend her son’s funeral.”

The agency also offered its condolences to Alonso Guillen’s family.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alon...mg00000009

[David Horn]

Walter Becker, lead guitarist and half of the core of Steel Dan.  Dead at 67.

[pbrower2a]

By 1960 while at Harvard, (Dutch-born physicist Nicolaas Bloembergen, 1920-2017) experimented with microwave spectroscopy.[8] Bloembergen had modified the maser of Charles Townes,[13]and in 1956, Bloembergen developed a crystal maser, which was more powerful than the standard gaseous version.[9]

With the advent of the laser, he participated in the development the field of laser spectroscopy, which allows precise observations of atomic structure using lasers. Following the development of second-harmonic generation by Peter Franken and others in 1961, Bloembergen expanded on the study of the theoretical study of nonlinear optics, the analysis of how photons in high-intensity electromagnetic radiation interact with matter. In reflection to his work in a Dutch newspaper in 1990, Bloembergen said: "We took a standard textbook on optics and for each section we asked ourselves what would happen if the intensity was to become very high. We were almost certain that we were bound to encounter an entirely new type of physics within that domain".[7]
From this theoretical work, Bloembergen found ways to combine two or more laser sources consisting of photons in the visible light frequency range to generate a single laser source with photons of different frequencies in the infrared and ultraviolet ranges, which extends the amount of atomic detail that can be gathered from laser spectroscopy.[8]

More here.


Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist. She attended Oxford University and was the first American woman to be awarded a degree with first-class honors after studying at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She has been described as "a seminal influence on second-wave feminism", and is best known for her book Sexual Politics (1970),[1] which was based on her doctoral dissertation at Columbia University. Journalist Liza Featherstone attributes previously unimaginable "legal abortion, greater professional equality between the sexes, and a sexual freedom" being made possible partially due to Millett's efforts.[2]

The feminist, human rights, peace, civil rights, and anti-psychiatry movements were some of Millett's principal causes. Her books were motivated by her activism, such as woman's rights and mental health reform, and several were autobiographical memoirs that explored her sexuality, mental health, and relationships. In the 1960s and 1970s, Millett taught at Waseda University, Bryn Mawr College, Barnard College, and the University of California, Berkeley. Some of her later written works are The Politics of Cruelty (1994), about state-sanctioned torture in many countries, and Mother Millett (2001), a book about her relationship with her mother. Between 2011 and 2013, she won the Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature, received Yoko Ono's Courage Award for the Arts, and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Millett was raised in Minnesota and spent most of her adult life in Manhattan and the Woman's Art Colony, established in Poughkeepsie, New York, which became the Millett Center for the Arts in 2012. Millet came out as a lesbian[3] in the year the book "Sexual Politics" was published. She was married to a sculptor Fumio Yoshimura (1965 to 1985) and later, until her death in 2017, she was married to Sophie Keir.

More here.

Eugene Richard Michael (June 2, 1938 – September 7, 2017) was an American shortstop, coach, scout, manager and executive in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and Detroit Tigers from 1966 to 1975. After his playing career, Michael managed the Yankees and Chicago Cubs, and served as the Yankees' general manager. Michael built the Yankees team that became a dynasty in the late 1990s.[1]

More here.

Jerry Eugene Pournelle (August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American science fiction writer, essayist, and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. In 2011, he joined journalist Gina Smith, pundit John C. Dvorak, political cartoonist Ted Rall and several other Byte.com staff reporters to launch an independent tech and political news site aNewDomain.

Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973[1] and served aNewDomain Media as its director until his death. He is recognized as the first author to have written a published book contribution using a word processor on a personal computer, in 1977.[2][3]

More here.

Pierre Bergé (French: [pjɛːʁ bɛʁʒe]; 14 November 1930 – 8 September 2017) was a French industrialist and patron. He co-founded the fashion label Yves Saint Laurent, and was a longtime business partner (and onetime life partner) of the eponymous designer.[1]

Bergé met Yves Saint Laurent in 1958. They became romantically involved and together launched Yves Saint Laurent Couture House in 1961. The couple split amicably in 1976 and remained lifelong friends and business partners.[9] Bergé acted as CEO of Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture until it closed in 2002. Highly protective of and invested in the reputation and legacy of Saint Laurent Couture, Bergé was known as the "Dean of Yves Saint Laurent".[10] According to The New York Times, a few days before Saint Laurent died in 2008, he and Bergé were joined in a same-sex civil union known as a pacte civil de solidarité (PACS) in France.[11] When Saint Laurent was diagnosed with brain cancer, Bergé and the doctor mutually decided that it would be better for him not to know of his impending death. Bergé said, "I have the belief that Yves would not have been strong enough to accept that."[12]

In 1992, Bergé sold shares of the fashion house just before the company released a poor economic report. In 1996, this action was deemed to be insider trading and he was sentenced to a fine of one million Francs.[13] After the close of the Couture house, Bergé became president of the Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation.[14]

More here.

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Boxer Jake LaMotta:


iacobbe "Jake" LaMotta (July 10, 1922 – September 19, 2017)[2] was an American professional boxer, former World Middleweight Champion, and stand-up comedian. Nicknamed "The Raging Bull", LaMotta was a rough fighter, who although not particularly a big puncher, would subject his opponents to vicious beatings in the ring. With use of constant stalking, brawling and inside fighting, he developed the reputation for being a 'bully', and is often referred to today as a swarmer and a slugger.

Due to his style of fighting, LaMotta often got as much as he was giving in an era of great middleweights; with a thick skull and jaw muscles, LaMotta was able to absorb incredible amounts of punishment over the course of his career, and is thought to have one of the greatest chins in boxing history. LaMotta's six fight rivalry with Sugar Ray Robinson is one of the most notable in the sport, with LaMotta winning just one of the bouts. Although each one was close, LaMotta dropped Robinson multiple times. LaMotta, who has lived a turbulent life in and out of the ring, was portrayed by Robert De Niro in the 1980 film Raging Bull.

Much more here.

Extremely-well-received biopic about him.

[pbrower2a]

Czech harpsichordist:


Zuzana Růžičková (Czech pronunciation: [ˈzuzana ˈruːʒɪt͡ʃkovaː]) (14 January 1927 – 27 September 2017) was an award-winning harpsichordist, whose work has garnered acclaim around the world. Born in Czechoslovakia, where she has lived her entire life, Růžičková is an interpreter of classical and baroque music. She was the first harpsichordist to have recorded Bach's complete works for keyboard.[1][2] These recordings were made over ten years in the 1960s and 1970s for Erato Records, and were remastered and newly released in 2016 by Warner Records/Erato. She was the wife of the late Czech composer Viktor Kalabis. As a teenager, Růžičková was imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps of Terezin and Auschwitz, and was then transported to the Bergen-Belsen death camp. She was liberated in April 1945 and returned to Plzeň later that year.

Both Růžičková and Kalabis refused to join the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia that held power from 1948 to 1989, and they were consistently harassed as a result. Růžičková performed across the world for 50 years; she made over 100 records; and taught such prominent musicians as Christopher Hogwood, Ketil Haugsand, Jaroslav Tůma, Monika Knoblochová, Vaclav Luks, and Mahan Esfahani.

At age 18, Zuzana returned to her hometown of Plzeň determined to dedicate herself entirely to pursuing a musical career. She studied piano with Bohdan Gsölhofer in Plzeň, and from 1947-51 she attended the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague where her professors included pianists Albín Šíma, František Rauch and harpsichordist Oldřich Kredba. At this time she decided to specialize in the interpretation of early music and gave her first harpsichord recital in 1951. In 1956, she won the International Music Competition in Munich and accepted a scholarship from jury member Marguerite Roesgen-Champion (de) to continue her harpsichord studies in Paris.

Her success at the Munich competition marked the beginning of an international career. Over the following five decades she performed regularly throughout Europe and made repeated visits to Japan, but the Communist authorities denied her many trips to the United States. She performed at Bach Festivals in many European cities, including Leipzig, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Ansbach, Frankfurt, Schaffhausen, and Bath. In 1962, she co-founded the Prague Chamber Soloists with conductor Václav Neumann and in 1963 she formed a very successful duo with violinist Josef Suk.

Other chamber music partners have included János Starker, Pierre Fournier, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Aurèle Nicolet and Maxence Larrieu. She has also worked with noted conductors including Serge Baudo, Paul Sacher, Herbert Blomstedt, Libor Pešek, Neville Marriner and Helmuth Rilling. Her recorded repertoire is vast, spanning works from the English virginalists through those by modern composers such as Bohuslav Martinů, Francis Poulenc, Manuel de Falla and Frank Martin. The music of Bach, however, has always remained central to her art, culminating in an integral edition of his solo harpsichord works published by the French label Erato in 1975.[3] In October 2016, her entire recordings of all of J.S Bach's keyboard works in remastered form were released by Warner Records/Erato. Supraphon has reissued several CDs of collections of Ruzickova's earlier recordings.[4]
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British harpsichordist, Pamela Nash, wrote about Ruzickova in the June 2013 UK publication "Sounding Board" as Ruzickova celebrated her 85th birthday and Supraphone released new CDs. Nash noted,

Acclaimed as 'The first lady of the harpsichord,' and recognized by many as Landowska's successor, her career has left the harpsichord world a legacy , documented by over 100 recordings, spanning half a century…this timely commemoration serves as a timely reminder of Ruzickova's invaluable role in promoting the harpsichord in the 20th century. An artist of greater energy and integrity, she made enormous strides to establish the instrument as a solo and ensemble concert instrument, and there can be no doubt that the status of the harpsichord today owes much to her pioneering efforts. Embarking on a career when early harpsichord repertoire was barely acknowledged, or else relegated to the piano, she resolved to re-connect Baroque keyboard music to the instrument for which it was written; in her own words 'to rid the harpsichord of its museum nature and make it a living instrument.'" [5]
Contemporary composers have also dedicated works to her, including Jan Rychlík's Hommagi clavicembalistici (1964), and she has premiered works by Emil Hlobil, Hans-Georg Görner and Elizabeth Maconchy.

For 54 years she was married to composer Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006), and she inspired him to compose several significant works for harpsichord: Six Two-Part Canonic Inventions (1962), Aquarelles (1979), Preludio, Aria e Toccata (1992), and Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings (1975).[6]

Her career as an educator began at the Academy of Performing Arts in 1951, but only after the fall of communism was she finally given the title professor in 1990. She also established a harpsichord class at the Music Academy in Bratislava where she was guest professor from 1978-82. For twenty-five years she gave master classes in Zürich, with other classes taking place in Stuttgart, Kraków, Budapest, Riga and Tokyo.[6]

Zuzana Růžičková was born in Plzen, Czechoslovakia in 1927. Her mother was Jewish and her father was an atheist.
Her family owned a department store, and her father had spent four years in Chicago in the 1920s, working at the Ginsburg Department store. Although he experienced success in the United States, Růžičková's father returned to Czechoslovakia, which had only recently become independent from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. Růžičková learned English from her father. Růžičková characterized her childhood as "very sweet" and her parents as "very much in love".[7]

Růžičková began taking piano lessons after suffering from pneumonia at the age of nine, as a reward for her recovery. Her piano teacher, Marie Provaníková, introduced her to the works of Bach and encouraged her to take up the harpsichord. Provaníková was so impressed by Růžičková's talent that she wrote to French-Polish musician Wanda Landowska, asking her to accept Růžičková as a pupil at her École de Musique Ancienne in the Paris suburb of Saint-Leu-la-Forêt[6] once she had finished her obligatory schooling at age 15. Ultimately, Růžičková was not able to attend due to the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia and the implementation of the Nuremberg Laws.
According to Růžičková, her family was historically Jewish. Her mother was an Orthodox Jew, but her father was an atheist. Růžičková described herself as not particularly religious.[7]

For more information on the Jewish community in Czechoslovakia, see History of the Jews in the Czech Republic

The Nazis began the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938. In 1941, the Gestapo began organizing transports to move the Plzen Jews into Terezín, a garrison town built in the late 18th century. The camp's first inmates, known as the Aufbaukommando, were tasked with converting the fortress and surrounding walled town into a concentration camp: known as Theresienstadt: the German name for Terezín.
In Plzen, the Gestapo used Jewish children, including a 13-year-old Růžičková, to deliver "invitations" to other members of Plzen's Jewish community, informing them of the date they would be deported to the camp. Růžičková described the experience: "It was terrible—the delivery of the notices. We saw life at its very worst. It was a nightmare."

In January 1942, three weeks after receiving an "invitation" from the Gestapo, Růžičková and her family were forcibly relocated from Plzen to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. The family was taken by train from Plzen to Terezín. Upon arrival, Růžičková encountered Fredy Hirsch, a 25-year-old German Jew. Hirsch undertook the responsibility of caring for the camp's children by arranging activities and exercise for them, and reserving two barracks for "Children's Homes".

Theresienstadt was originally designated by the Nazis as a "model community" for educated, middle-class Jews from Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Austria. More than 150,000 people were held for months or years before being sent to their deaths at Treblinka and Auschwitz extermination camps in occupied Poland. Tens of thousands of people died from malnutrition and disease but despite horrific conditions, hard labor, and no medical care, the inmates managed to provide lessons for children, and staged lectures, plays, operas and concerts.

Růžičková, along with other children in Theresienstadt, did agricultural work, applying manure to fields and working in vegetable gardens. Růžičková was able to sneak food from the gardens to her family. Although she was forced to labor during the day, Růžičková was able to continue her education while she was in Theresienstadt. After returning from work, Růžičková could attend concerts and lectures staged by the residents. She was able to see opera singer Karel Berman perform, take Latin lessons from a former university professor and harmony lessons from pianist Gideon Klein, and join a children's choir.

Růžičková's father died in the spring of 1943, but Růžičková was able to remain with her mother. In December 1943, Růžičková and her mother were sent to Auschwitz after nearly two years in the camp. Růžičková was given a chance to remain in Theresienstadt, but chose to go with her mother.

After three days on the transport, Růžičková and her mother arrived in Auschwitz, a death camp. Having arrived at night, the prisoners were immediately placed in barracks. By this point, many were suffering from hunger and dehydration. The next day, Růžičková and the other prisoners were taken to another barracks, stripped, and tattooed. They were then made to sign a document, which stated that they had been arrested in Theresienstadt for anti-German activities, and accepted their sentence. Soon after her arrival, Růžičková reunited with Fredy Hirsch, who advised her to lie about her age and say she was sixteen, rather than fifteen. Borrowing a coat from her aunt Jirina, with whom she had also been reunited, Růžičková was able to meet with Hirsch, who had organized the children's barracks, much as he had in Theresienstadt.

Růžičková worked with Hirsch as a teacher's helper. In this role, Růžičková was exposed to the extreme reality of Nazi racial theory; German doctors, including Fritz Klein, the "Chief Selector" of the camp and colleague to Josef Mengele, who Růžičková knew in Theresienstadt, visited the children's barracks to take physiological measurements or select children to be removed for experimentation. Růžičková would later credit Fredy Hirsch with her survival. Had he not prompted her to lie about her age, it is likely that Růžičková would have been gassed. Allowing her to work alongside him at the children's barracks kept Růžičková from more dangerous jobs and protected her from the many diseases spreading through the camp.

In May 1944, Růžičková and the other inmates who had traveled with her from Terezin to Auschwitz were scheduled to be gassed.[2] However, their execution was slated for June 6—D-Day. Enduring another horrific selection, Růžičková and her mother were instead sent to Germany.

Růžičková was sent to Hamburg, which was being bombed regularly by British and American airmen. Under the auspices of the Neuengamme concentration camp, laborers were assigned to work in sub-camps in the area around Hamburg. Růžičková and the other laborers worked to protect and repair an oil pipeline and to maintain gas tanks, which were subject to daily bombardment. Růžičková was able to remain with her mother, but suffered greatly from hunger and perilous working conditions. However, she was able to earn some extra food from other prisoners by singing for them. In addition to working on the oil pipeline, Růžičková also worked in the shipyards of Hamburg.
In January 1945, Růžičková was moved the Tiefstack sub-camp, where she worked in a cement factory. As Allied forces advanced, the prisoners were made to dig booby-traps for tanks.

At the end of February, Růžičková and the other laborers were transported to the horrific death camp of Bergen-Belsen. She would later say of Bergen-Belsen: "If ever there was Hell, this was the lowest part of Hell. This was an extermination camp—it was really meant for us to die in."[7]

At this point, Bergen-Belsen was disorganized, overcrowded, and stricken with disease. When her mother fell ill, Růžičková was forced to sneak out of the camp to gather turnips in order to survive. In April 1945 Růžičková and the other prisoners who could still walk were ordered to march from the camp to a railway station two miles away. They returned to the camp and woke the next morning to discover the Germans had gone. The guards had abandoned the camp, leaving no food. They had also disconnected the water supply. A few German and Hungarian troops remained outside the camp, randomly shooting into the barracks on occasion. On 15 April 1945 British and
Růžičková, along with many prisoners suffering from starvation, became seriously ill after eating the food rations provided by soldiers. At the time of liberation, she weighed only 70 pounds. Růžičková was taken to a hospital, where she was treated for ulcers, typhus, malnutrition, and eventually diagnosed with malaria. Since she spoke English and many other languages, as she healed, Růžičková became an indispensable translator for the medical staff.

Although Růžičková's mother remained gravely ill, they were able to return to Czechoslovakia in July 1945, where they found their family home occupied and possessions gone.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuzana_R%C5%AF%C5%BEi%C4%8Dkov%C3%A1#cite_note-int91-7][7]

Despite the extreme conditions she endured during the war, Růžičková's love of music thrived. In Theresienstadt, she took harmony lessons from fellow prisoner Gideon Klein. Before her transport to Auschwitz, Růžičková transcribed a Bach piece onto paper to bring with her to the camp.[2] While working in Hamburg, she heard Chopin on the radio and fainted.

One of the first people Růžičková encountered upon her return to Plzen was her former piano teacher, Marie Provaníková. Růžičková recalls that when Provaníková saw the conditions of her hands after four years in concentration camps, she wept.[7]
The four years Růžičková had spent in concentration camps had not only hurt her physically and psychologically, they also caused a significant delay in her progress as a musician. In order to be accepted into a music school, Růžičková had to pass a series of examinations. She started in classes with children to regain her fundamental skills, and managed to advance every few months, from a third grade level to the required eight grade level. Růžičková began studying piano again with Bohdan Gsölhofer,[6] and in 1947, she was able to enroll in to the Academy of the Performing Arts in Prague. Despite her rapid improvement, one of her professors discouraged her from being a professional musician. Nevertheless, Růžičková entered the Academy and decided to specialize on the harpsichord and early music. She passed her BA and went on to earn her MA. In 1950, Růžičková was also able to secure a position at the Academy, teaching composers to play the piano. One of her students was her future husband, Czech composer Viktor Kalabis.

After the 1948 coup d’état by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) Růžičková was pressured to join the Communist Youth Movement. However, she refused to join the Communist Party. As a student in Prague, Růžičková was called in front of a committee when she was discovered reading the works of Sigmund Freud, whose literature had been banned. As a faculty member at the Academy of Performing Arts, Růžičková was subject to performance reviews that evaluated her both professionally and politically. As a Jew, Růžičková was still vulnerable to persecution under the Communist government. An example of anti-Semitism in communist Czechoslovakia are the Slánský show trials of 1952, in which 14 members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia were subject to a public trial intended to purge the government of dissident voices. 11 of the 14 defendants were Jews. The situation was so perilous that Růžičková tried to persuade Viktor Kalabis not to marry her. Nevertheless, they wed in December 1952.

In 1956 Růžičková won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich[2] and was offered a scholarship from jury member Marguerite Roesgen-Champion to continue her harpsichord studies in Paris. Kalabis was also invited to study in Paris, but the couple was not allowed to travel abroad together, to discourage them from defecting. Viktor went to Paris, but Růžičková remained in Czechoslovakia.
Even though she was not able to study in Paris, Růžičková's win at the International Music Competition led to further invitations to perform all over Europe. Since she was highly paid for these performances, the government allowed her to travel, but confiscated all of the foreign currency that she earned. Růžičková's talent and success made her valuable to the state, but as a non-party member, she remained under suspicion from the Communist government. She was not allowed to teach music to Czech students. Furthermore, her participation in the Czech Philharmonic was restricted due to her Jewish heritage.

The pressures on Růžičková were eased slightly following the death of Stalin and the relaxation of his policies. She was able to travel more freely and occasionally with her husband. However, Růžičková did not try to defect, as she and Kalabis still had family members living in Czechoslovakia. For the first time, Růžičková was able to record music for international distribution, which increased her fame and strengthened her association with the music of Bach. This coincided with the revival of baroque music in Western Europe. In 1965, Růžičková was contracted to record the complete keyboard works of Bach.

Following the Prague Spring of 1968, the Czech government was under pressure to appear stable and progressive. Růžičková was given several state-sponsored rewards, which served as propaganda for the regime. Růžičková was unable to refuse these rewards and was often forced to accept them with great ceremony.

Following the events of 17 November 1989 (the Velvet Revolution), Růžičková participated in the protests against the government. As an artist and academic, she went on strike from the Academy of Music and the Czech Philharmonic. When the Communist regime was finally overthrown in December, Růžičková was able to reclaim her title of "Professor," which had been denied her despite teaching at the Academy since 1951. Růžičková was able to serve as a committee member for music competitions, which had been a significant factor in her own success as a musician.

Until her death Růžičková resided in Prague. She stopped performing publicly in 2004 after her husband fell ill. Following the death of Kalabis in 2006, Růžičková became more involved in various musical organizations and committees dedicated to the interpretation and preservation of early music, and to the discovery of young musicians. She was the president of the Viktor Kalabis & Zuzana Růžičková Foundation, vice-president of the Prague Spring International Competition Committee, and a member of the advisory boards of the Czech Chamber Music Society and the Concertino Praga International Competition. Furthermore, she was a supporter of the Hans Krása Initiative,[6] dedicated to the life and music of composer and fellow Theresienstadt prisoner Hans Krása. She was also active in the Terezín Initiative, through which she was able to fund a memorial for Fredy Hirsch [1]. Zuzana Růžičková is also the subject of a forthcoming documentary film about her life and music, called Zuzana: Music is Life. It is set for release in early 2017.[8]
She had recorded around 100 albums.

[pbrower2a]

Like him and his effects upon American culture or not, he did change America:

Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American publisher and playboy. He was best known as the editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, which he founded in 1953, and as chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, the publishing group that operates the magazine.[2] An advocate of sexual liberation and freedom of expression, Hefner was a political activist and philanthropist in several other causes and public issues.

While he was working as a copywriter for Esquire, Hefner left in January 1952 after being denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he took out a mortgage, generating a bank loan of $600, and raised $8,000 from 45 investors, including $1,000 from his mother ("Not because she believed in the venture," he told E! in 2006, "but because she believed in her son."), to launch Playboy, which was initially going to be called Stag Party. The first issue, published in December 1953, featured Marilyn Monroe from her 1949 nude calendar shoot and sold over 50,000 copies.[15] (Hefner, who never met Monroe, bought the crypt next to hers at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in 1992 for $75,000.[16][17])

After the Charles Beaumont science fiction short story "The Crooked Man" was rejected by Esquire magazine in 1955, Hefner agreed to publish it in Playboy. The story highlighted straight men being persecuted in a world where homosexuality was the norm. After the magazine received angry letters, Hefner wrote a response to criticism where he said, "If it was wrong to persecute heterosexuals in a homosexual society then the reverse was wrong, too."[18] In 1961, Hefner watched Dick Gregory perform at the Herman Roberts Show Bar in Chicago. Based on that performance, Hefner hired Gregory to work at the Chicago Playboy Club; Gregory attributed the subsequent launch of his career to that night.[19]

On June 4, 1963, Hefner was arrested for promoting obscene literature after an issue of Playboy featuring nude shots of Jayne Mansfield was published.[20] The case went to trial and resulted in a hung jury.[21]

During the civil rights era in 1966, Hefner sent African-American Alex Haley to interview George Lincoln Rockwell, much to Rockwell's surprise because Haley was black. Rockwell had founded the American Nazi Party and would be later described by some as the "American Hitler". Rockwell agreed to meet with Haley only after gaining assurance from the Playboy writer that he was not Jewish, although Rockwell kept a handgun on the table throughout the interview. The interview was recreated in Roots: The Next Generations, with James Earl Jones as Haley and Marlon Brando as Rockwell.[22] Haley had also interviewed Malcom X in 1963 and Martin Luther King in 1966 for the newly established 1962 "playboy interview".[23]

In the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled", Hefner guest-voiced himself.[24][25] In 1999, Hefner financed the Clara Bow documentary, Discovering the It Girl. "Nobody has what Clara had. She defined an era and made her mark on the nation," he stated.[26] Hefner guest-starred as himself in a 2006 episode of Seth Green's Robot Chicken on the late-night programming block Adult Swim.[25] He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television and made several movie appearances as himself on the small screen. In 2009, he received a "worst supporting actor" nomination for a Razzie award for his performance as himself in Miss March. On his official Twitter account he joked about this nomination: "Maybe I didn't understand the character." [27]

A documentary by Brigitte Berman, Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel, was released on July 30, 2010. He had previously granted full access to documentary filmmaker and television producer Kevin Burns for the A&E Biography special Hugh Hefner: American Playboy in 1996.[28] Hefner and Burns later collaborated on numerous other television projects, most notably on The Girls Next Door, a reality series that ran for six seasons (2005–2009) and 90 episodes.[29]
[/url]
In 2012, Hefner announced that his youngest son, Cooper, would likely succeed him as the public face of Playboy.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hefner#cite_note-30][30]

[beechnut79]

(09-28-2017, 05:41 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Like him and his effects upon American culture or not, he did change America:

Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American publisher and playboy. He was best known as the editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, which he founded in 1953, and as chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, the publishing group that operates the magazine.[2] An advocate of sexual liberation and freedom of expression, Hefner was a political activist and philanthropist in several other causes and public issues.

While he was working as a copywriter for Esquire, Hefner left in January 1952 after being denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he took out a mortgage, generating a bank loan of $600, and raised $8,000 from 45 investors, including $1,000 from his mother ("Not because she believed in the venture," he told E! in 2006, "but because she believed in her son."), to launch Playboy, which was initially going to be called Stag Party. The first issue, published in December 1953, featured Marilyn Monroe from her 1949 nude calendar shoot and sold over 50,000 copies.[15] (Hefner, who never met Monroe, bought the crypt next to hers at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in 1992 for $75,000.[16][17])

After the Charles Beaumont science fiction short story "The Crooked Man" was rejected by Esquire magazine in 1955, Hefner agreed to publish it in Playboy. The story highlighted straight men being persecuted in a world where homosexuality was the norm. After the magazine received angry letters, Hefner wrote a response to criticism where he said, "If it was wrong to persecute heterosexuals in a homosexual society then the reverse was wrong, too."[18] In 1961, Hefner watched Dick Gregory perform at the Herman Roberts Show Bar in Chicago. Based on that performance, Hefner hired Gregory to work at the Chicago Playboy Club; Gregory attributed the subsequent launch of his career to that night.[19]

On June 4, 1963, Hefner was arrested for promoting obscene literature after an issue of Playboy featuring nude shots of Jayne Mansfield was published.[20] The case went to trial and resulted in a hung jury.[21]

During the civil rights era in 1966, Hefner sent African-American Alex Haley to interview George Lincoln Rockwell, much to Rockwell's surprise because Haley was black. Rockwell had founded the American Nazi Party and would be later described by some as the "American Hitler". Rockwell agreed to meet with Haley only after gaining assurance from the Playboy writer that he was not Jewish, although Rockwell kept a handgun on the table throughout the interview. The interview was recreated in Roots: The Next Generations, with James Earl Jones as Haley and Marlon Brando as Rockwell.[22] Haley had also interviewed Malcom X in 1963 and Martin Luther King in 1966 for the newly established 1962 "playboy interview".[23]

In the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled", Hefner guest-voiced himself.[24][25] In 1999, Hefner financed the Clara Bow documentary, Discovering the It Girl. "Nobody has what Clara had. She defined an era and made her mark on the nation," he stated.[26] Hefner guest-starred as himself in a 2006 episode of Seth Green's Robot Chicken on the late-night programming block Adult Swim.[25] He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television and made several movie appearances as himself on the small screen. In 2009, he received a "worst supporting actor" nomination for a Razzie award for his performance as himself in Miss March. On his official Twitter account he joked about this nomination: "Maybe I didn't understand the character." [27]

A documentary by Brigitte Berman, Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel, was released on July 30, 2010. He had previously granted full access to documentary filmmaker and television producer Kevin Burns for the A&E Biography special Hugh Hefner: American Playboy in 1996.[28] Hefner and Burns later collaborated on numerous other television projects, most notably on The Girls Next Door, a reality series that ran for six seasons (2005–2009) and 90 episodes.[29]
[/url]
In 2012, Hefner announced that his youngest son, Cooper, would likely succeed him as the public face of Playboy.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hefner#cite_note-30][30]

Hef was indeed the Godfather of the Sexual Revolution. His passing seems to mark the final nail in that revolution's coffin. There are many who feel that we are unlikely to have another such revolution even if a proof-positive cure for AIDS is found. Yet statisically we have a greater risk of being killed on the highways.

[beechnut79]

Somehow nobody thought of this, but back on September 8 two stars of country music passed on the very same day. Troy Gentry, 50, was killed in a helicopter crash. Along with Eddie Montgomery he was one-half of the acclaimed country-rock duo Montgomery Gentry.

Don Williams passed the very same day at age 78. He was known as the Gentle Giant due to his laid-back delivery of a song. A few of his hits included "I Believe in You", "You're My Best Friend" and "Good Ol' Boys Like Me". He also appeared in a couple of Burt Reynolds movies. He begain his music career as part of the folk-pop trio the Pozo Seco Singers who had three appearances in the national Top 40 but never made it into the Top 30.

[pbrower2a]

(09-28-2017, 06:22 PM)beechnut79 Wrote: Hef was indeed the Godfather of the Sexual Revolution. His passing seems to mark the final nail in that revolution's coffin. There are many who feel that we are unlikely to have another such revolution even if a proof-positive cure for AIDS is found. Yet statisically we have a greater risk of being killed on the highways.

He filled a need. Maybe the Pill did more by allowing sex without procreation, and thus the recreational sex that many still consider a great affront to "nature" or the Divine Presence.

The centerfolds were slick art. Yes, the unclothed female body can be beautiful, as is well established in painting and art photography. Hef was more artist than pornographer; one felt less guilty with Playboy than with cheap imitators. I won't go into great details about how he exposed or did not expose what shocked prudes of the time, but I can say this: if you looked at the parts of the female anatomy usually covered in underwear on his centerfold model, you also looked at her face. Did he put more attention on the female's hairdo? That may have separated him from the much-despised pornographers of the time.

Playboy sought to have some intellectual attraction. Its articles were often worth reading. After all, sex did not have to be stupid or disgusting, let alone solely for reproduction. Was he a male-chauvinist pig? Sure. He sold most men an unattainable fantasy. The harm isn't that men recognize the female body as the beauty that it is; the problem is that Hefner expanded a culture in which female youth was a commodity for exploitation by older men. Thus, go ahead and marry your high-school or college sweetheart, but when she loses her attractiveness marry someone else's potential college or high-school sweetheart around age 40. Then when you are 60 or so...

[pbrower2a]

Monte Halparin, OC OM (August 25, 1921 – September 30, 2017), better known by the stage name Monty Hall, was a Canadian-American game show host and producer, best known as the long-running host of Let's Make a Deal.[1]


Hall started his career in Winnipeg at CKRC radio, moving to Toronto in 1946 where he found a job with radio station CHUM, where his name was shortened to Hall. Early in his career, Hall hosted game shows such as Bingo at Home on WABD-TV and guest-hosted more established game shows such as Strike It Rich on CBS and Twenty-One on NBC.[citation needed] He was the host/performer of two local New York City TV film shows for children: Cowboy Theater for WRCA (Channel 4) in 1956 and Fun In the Morning for WNEW (Ch. 5) in the early 1960s. From 1956–60, along with NBC Radio newsman Morgan Beatty, Hall co-hosted the Saturday night segment of the NBC Radio Network weekend program Monitor from 8 p.m. until midnight (EST).[6] At least two recordings of Hall on Monitor are known to exist.[7]
[/url]
Hall was a radio analyst for the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Rangers]New York Rangers of the National Hockey League during the 1959–60 season.[8]
He succeeded Jack Narz as host of a game show called Video Village, which ran from 1960 to 1962 on CBS. From 1961-62, Hall hosted its spinoff, Video Village Junior, which featured children. After moving to Southern California, Hall became the host of the game show Let's Make a Deal, which he developed and produced with partner Stefan Hatos. Let's Make a Deal aired on NBC daytime from December 30, 1963, to December 27, 1968, and on ABC daytime from December 30, 1968 until July 9, 1976, along with two prime time runs. It aired in syndication from 1971–77, from 1980–81, from 1984–86, and again on NBC briefly from 1990–91, replacing Bob Hilton, who had been dismissed. He was producer or executive producer of the show through most of its runs. During the show's initial run, Hall appeared alongside model Carol Merrill and announcer Jay Stewart.[citation needed]

Besides Let's Make a Deal, the game show Split Second, which originally ran on ABC from 1972-75 with Tom Kennedy as host, and again in syndication in 1987 with Hall hosting that version, was the only other successful program from Hatos-Hall Productions. Other game shows from Hatos's and Hall's production company included Chain Letter in 1966; a revival of the venerable 1950s-era panel quiz, Masquerade Party in 1974; 3 for the Money in 1975; It's Anybody's Guess in 1977, which reunited Let's Make a Deal announcer Jay Stewart with Hall, who also hosted the show, and the Canadian-based The Joke's on Us in 1983. Hall filled in as guest host on several daytime game shows while Let's Make a Deal was on NBC, most notably What's This Song? and PDQ.[citation needed]

In 1979, Hall hosted the only game show since Video Village which he did not produce, Goodson-Todman's All-New Beat the Clock. (His announcer was Jack Narz, whom he had replaced as host of Video Village.) He appeared as himself on "The Promise Ring" episode of That '70s Show in 2001. He played the host of a beauty pageant who schemed to become "the world's most powerful game show host" in the Disney animated series American Dragon: Jake Long.[citation needed] He appeared on GSN Live on March 14, 2008,[citation needed] and hosted a game of Let's Make a Deal for Good Morning America on August 18, 2008, as part of Game Show Reunion week.[citation needed]

In summer 2009, CBS announced that it was reviving Let's Make a Deal on its daytime schedule. The show premiered on October 5, 2009, with Wayne Brady as host. Hall is credited as "Creative Consultant," and as co-creator of the format (with Stefan Hatos). Hatos/Hall Productions is credited as co-production company (with FremantleMedia).[9]



More here.

[Marypoza]

RlP Tom Petty :

I am sooooo bummed....

Of all the Wilburys l think only only Ringo is left. First Roy Orbison dies, then George Harrison, & now Tom Petty. Oh wait & Dylan. Dylan & Ringo are still alive

[Eric the Green]

(10-02-2017, 07:10 PM)Marypoza Wrote: RlP Tom Petty :

I am sooooo bummed....

Of all the Wilburys l think only only Ringo is left. First Roy Orbison dies, then George Harrison, & now Tom Petty. Oh wait & Dylan. Dylan & Riingo are still alive

Petty suffered cardiac arrest on October 1, 2017; while some media outlets reported his death on October 2, the reports have been retracted as not confirmed.[4] (wikipedia)

Hmmmmm

"clinging to life"
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment...-1.3536756

[pbrower2a]

Death verified now.

[AarG]

(10-02-2017, 07:10 PM)Marypoza Wrote: RlP Tom Petty :

I am sooooo bummed....

Of all the Wilburys l think only only Ringo is left. First Roy Orbison dies, then George Harrison, & now Tom Petty. Oh wait & Dylan. Dylan & Ringo are still alive

Jeff Lynne is also still around, not to minimize.

[Eric the Green]

Did Tom Petty's Rocker Lifestyle Shorten His Life?

By Charlotte Libov | Tuesday, 03 Oct 2017 09:37 AM

Image: Did Tom Petty's Rocker Lifestyle Shorten His Life?
(Copyright AP)



Tom Petty’s punishing lifestyle on the road probably contributed to the legendary rocker’s early death, a top heart-health expert says. “The surest way to shorten your life is to be a rock star,” renowned cardiologist Dr. Chauncey Crandall tells Newsmax Health.

The 66-year-old front man for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers died after suffering a cardiac arrest and was found unconscious at his Malibu home on Sunday. He was rush to UCLA Santa Monica Hospital and temporarily placed on life support, which was withdrawn Monday, according to reports.

His death at 11:40 p.m. E.S.T. came just days after he and his band had wrapped up three days of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.

They had launched the tour earlier this year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s first record hitting the stores, playing multiple dates throughout the U.S., prior to their California stops. They were slated to take a break for a few weeks, and then head to New York City.

The stress of touring, performance pressure, and other challenges older rock musicians face can take a toll on the heart and overall health, Crandall notes.

“You’re on the road, eating bad food, exposed to cigarette smoke, and keeping late hours. It’s a punishing way of life, especially for someone of Petty’s age,” says Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the world-renowned Palm Beach Cardiovascular Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

“He was like a powder keg, ready to go off.”

Although a cardiac arrest, which causes the heart to stop beating, isn’t always caused by a heart attack, it’s a likely scenario, says Crandall, author of the Heart Health Report newsletter.

It isn’t known if Petty had been suffering from any heart problems, but, in his 2015 biography, the singer revealed he had been a heroin addict in the 1990s.

According to Crandall, such drug use, even years ago, could very well have played a role in Petty’s death as well.

“Even if someone gives up a drug like heroin years earlier, it still could have damaged his heart’s coronary arteries, setting the stage for a heart attack, just like previous cigarette smoking causes lung cancer,” adds Crandall.

Last year, Petty told Rolling Stone the band’s 40th anniversary tour would likely be its last.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say I was thinking this might be the last big one," he said. "We're all on the backside of our sixties. I have a granddaughter now I'd like to see as much as I can. I don't want to spend my life on the road."

Petty released 13 albums with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and three solo albums. He also took part in the 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne.

© 2017 NewsmaxHealth. All rights reserved.