Obituaries

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Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict (Forge of God books), parallel universes (The Way series), consciousness and cultural practices (Queen of Angels), and accelerated evolution (Blood Music, Darwin's Radio, and Darwin's Children). His most recent work was the 2021 novel The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total. Bear was also one of the five co-founders of the San Diego Comic-Con.



Greg Bear was born in San Diego, California. He attended San Diego State University (1968–1973), where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. At the university, he was a teaching assistant to Elizabeth Chater in her course on science fiction writing, and in later years her friend.

Bear is often classified as a hard science fiction author because of the level of scientific detail in his work. Early in his career, he also published work as an artist, including illustrations for an early version of the Star Trek Concordance and covers for Galaxy and F&SF.[4] He sold his first story, "Destroyers", to Famous Science Fiction in 1967.


In his fiction, Bear often addresses major questions in contemporary science and culture and proposes solutions. For example, The Forge of God offers an explanation for the Fermi paradox, supposing that the galaxy is filled with potentially predatory intelligences and that young civilizations that survive are those that do not attract their attention but stay quiet.

In Queen of Angels, Bear examines crime, guilt, and punishment in society. He frames these questions around an examination of consciousness and awareness, including the emergent self-awareness of highly advanced computers in communication with humans. In Darwin's Radio and Darwin's Children, he addresses the problem of overpopulation with a mutation in the human genome making, basically, a new series of humans. The question of cultural acceptance of something new and unavoidable is also brought up.

One of Bear's favorite themes is reality as a function of observation. In Blood Music, reality becomes unstable as the number of observers (trillions of intelligent single-cell organisms) spirals higher and higher. Anvil of Stars (sequel to The Forge of God) and Moving Mars postulate a physics based on information exchange between particles, capable of being altered at the "bit level." (Bear has credited the inspiration for the idea to Frederick Kantor's 1967 treatise "Information Mechanics" (see Digital physics)) In Moving Mars, that knowledge is used to remove Mars from the Solar System and transfer it to an orbit around a distant star.

Blood Music was first published as a short story (1983) and then expanded to a novel (1985). It has also been credited as the first account of nanotechnology in science fiction.[citation needed] More certainly, the short story is the first in science fiction to describe microscopic medical machines and to treat DNA as a computational system capable of being reprogrammed; that is, expanded and modified. In later works, beginning with Queen of Angels and continuing with its sequel, Slant, Bear gives a detailed description of a near-future nanotechnological society. The historical sequence continues with Heads, which may contain the first description of a so-called "quantum logic computer", as well as Moving Mars. The sequence also charts the historical development of self-awareness in artificial intelligence. Its continuing character Jill was inspired in part by Robert A. Heinlein's self-aware computer Mycroft HOLMES (High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Evaluating Supervisor) in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966).

Bear, Gregory Benford, and David Brin wrote a trilogy of prequel novels to Isaac Asimov's influential Foundation trilogy. Bear is credited with the middle book.

While most of Bear's work is science fiction, he has written in other fiction genres. Examples include Songs of Earth and Power (fantasy) and Psychlone (horror). Bear has described his Dead Lines, which straddles the line between science fiction and fantasy, as a "high-tech ghost story".[5] He has received many accolades, including five Nebula Awards and two Hugo Awards.

Bear cited Ray Bradbury as the most influential writer in his life. He met Bradbury in 1967 and had a lifelong correspondence. As a teenager, Bear attended Bradbury lectures and events in Southern California.

He also served on the Board of Advisors for the Museum of Science Fiction.

In 1975, Bear married Christina M. Nielson; they divorced in 1981. In 1983, he married Astrid Anderson, the daughter of the science fiction and fantasy authors Poul and Karen Anderson. They had two children, Chloe and Alexandra, and resided near Seattle, Washington.

Bear died on November 19, 2022, at the age of 71, from multiple strokes, caused by clots that had been hiding in a false lumen of the anterior artery to the brain since a surgery in 2014. After being on life support for two days and not expected to recover, per his advance healthcare directive life support was withdrawn.

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

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Cecilia Suyat "Cissy" Marshall (July 20, 1928 – November 22, 2022) was an American civil rights activist and historian from Hawaii. She was of Filipino descent. Her life is featured in the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian and she was recorded by the Library of Congress regarding her experiences with civil rights in the United States. In the 1940s and 1950s, she served as a stenographer and private secretary for the NAACP in Washington D.C. She was married to Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, from 1955 until his death in 1993.

Cecilia "Cissy" Suyat was born in Pu'unene, Maui, in Hawaii on July 20, 1928.[1] Her parents emigrated from the Philippines in 1910.[1] Her father owned a printing company and her mother died when she was young. She was raised in Hawaii with many siblings.[2][3]
Suyat moved to New York City to live with her maternal uncle and aunt, on the advice of her father,[1][4] before starting work for the NAACP in Washington D.C.[2][3][5] In her first assignment, she picketed the movie The Birth of a Nation at a local theater, which soon stopped playing the movie. Suyat took night classes at Columbia University to become a court stenographer and eventually became the private secretary of Dr. Gloster B. Current, the head of the NAACP, from 1948 to 1955. She played a role in the historic Brown v. Board of Education case.[5][6]

Suyat met Thurgood Marshall, then married him in 1955 after Marshall's previous wife, Vivian Burey, died of lung cancer. Suyat married Marshall on December 17, 1955.[5] Roy Wilkins, who was secretary of the NAACP, presided over the service at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Harlem, New York. Visitors to their apartment included Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.[2][5]
Suyat and Marshall were the parents of John W. Marshall, a former Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and former U.S. Marshals Service Director, and Thurgood Marshall Jr. Juan Williams reported Suyat worked extensively in Marshall's later years to keep his explosions of "frustration with the conservative court and what remained of the Civil Rights Movement" out of the public, afraid they would embarrass him.[7]

Suyat spent her life preserving history and continued to fight for civil rights after her husband's death. She believed that there is still a long way to go.[8][9][10] She gave an oral history interview for the Library of Congress conducted by Emilye Crosby in Washington, D.C. on June 30, 2013.[2] Her story is now featured in the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.[5] The interview was authorized by the ,U. S. Congress on May 12, 2009, in the Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-19). The exhibit was created as part of a 5-year initiative to survey existing oral history collections with relevance to the Civil Rights Movement and record new interviews with people who participated in the social and political movement.[11]
Suyat attended the opening of a new school building for the Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change in New York City's Harlem neighborhood in 2004.[12]
Suyat died on November 22, 2022, at the age of 94.[13]

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

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Yurii-Bohdan Romanovych Shukhevych (Ukrainian: Ю́рій-Богда́н Рома́нович Шухе́вич, 28 March 1933 – 22 November 2022)[3] was a Ukrainian far-right[citation needed] politician. A member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, he was a political prisoner and the son of Roman Shukhevych. He was a long-serving leader of the Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defence.[4] Shukhevych spent over 30 years in the Soviet prisons and concentration camps.[5] In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Shukhevych was elected into the Ukrainian parliament for Radical Party.[6]

Yurii Shukhevych was born on 28 March 1933, in the town of Ohladów, Lwów Voivodeship, Poland (now Lviv Oblast of Ukraine).[4] He is the son of Roman Shukhevych, a commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.[7] In 1944 when the West Ukraine was re-occupied by the Red Army, he was arrested with his mother and sent to Siberia. In 1946 Shukhevych was taken away from his mother to an orphanage for children of enemies of the people in Donets Basin. He ran away twice back home, but later was taken back again.
Arrested when he was 15 years old, Shukhevych was accused of being a member of the OUN-UPA, the nationalist underground organization that his father commanded. After he turned 16, in 1949, he was sentenced to 10 years in the Vladimir Central Prison.[7][8] When his father was killed in action, in 1950, Yuri, now aged 17, was taken from Vladimir prison to Lviv to identify the corpse.[9] He was released under an amnesty in 1954, after the death of Joseph Stalin, but the USSR Procurator General ordered that he be sent back to prison to complete his sentence. On the day of his release, in 1958, he was rearrested, charged with having conducted "anti-soviet agitation" in prison, and sentenced to another ten years, in a labor camp in Mordovia.
After his release in August 1968, he was forbidden to live in Ukraine. He settled in Nalchik, in the North Caucasus, married, had two children, worked as an electrician, and wrote an account of his 20 years in prison. In February 1972, he was arrested in Nalchik after anti-soviet literature was discovered during a police raid on his rooms and handed over to the KGB in Kyiv, then sent back to Nalchik, and sentenced to another nine years in labor camps, followed by five in exile.[10] In 1973, he wrote a letter to the UN from a labor camp in Mordvinia, for which another year was added to his sentence. He was held in Vladimir Prison, then transferred to the Tatar prison.
During his time as a prisoner, Shukhevych went blind.
After he had completed his prison sentence, in 1983, he was exiled to Siberia, and kept in a nursing home in Tomsk. He was allowed to return to his native Lviv in 1988, at the age of 55, after 44 years of absence.[9]

In December 1990 Shukhevych was elected as head of far-right paramilitary organization Ukrainian National Assembly which itself was renamed Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defence (UNA-UNSO) in September 1991.[11][8]
Shukhevych failed to register as a candidate in the 1991 Ukrainian presidential election because of a failure to collect 100,000 signatures.[11][12]


In the 1994 Ukrainian parliamentary election Shukhevych failed to win after receiving no more than 7.44% of the votes in single-member districts in Zolochiv.[4]
In August 1994 Shukhevych retired from active political life because of health problems and relationships with other leaders of the party had finally deteriorated.[4]
Early 2006 Shukhevych returned to politics and entered in the electoral list of the UNA-UNSO for the March 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election at number 1.[4] The party, however, lost the election and gained no more than 0.06% of the total votes.[4][13] The party did not participate in the 2007 elections.[13]
On 19 August 2006, Shukhevych was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine "for civil courage, long-term social, political and human rights activities in the name of independence of Ukraine".[4]
In October 2006 UNA-UNSO re-elected Shukhevych as its chairman.[4] And again did so in June 2010.[14]
In February 2014 Shukhevych signed a petition that asked to respect the Russian language and Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine lifestyle "so they do not feel like strangers in Ukraine".[4]
In October 2014 Shukhevych was removed from his post as UNA-UNSO chairman due to the fact that he had agreed to run for the parliamentary elections for Radical Party of Oleh Liashko.[4] In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Shukhevych as a candidate (placed 5th on the party list) of Radical Party was elected into the Ukrainian parliament.[6][15]
In 2015 he was instrumental in the drafting and passing of the Ukrainian decommunization laws.[7]
He died in Munich in the night of 21 to 22 November 2022, where he was undergoing medical treatment.

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

[Eric the Green]

Staughton Lynd, the longtime peace and civil rights activist, lawyer and author, has died at the age of 92. In the early 1960s, Lynd taught alongside his friend Howard Zinn at Spelman College in Atlanta and served as director of the SNCC Freedom Schools of Mississippi. He was a leading early critic of the Vietnam War. The State Department stripped him of his passport after he traveled to North Vietnam in 1965. Staughton Lynd was a conscientious objector during the Korean War and later supported U.S. soldiers who refused to fight in Iraq. He appeared on Democracy Now! in 2006.

https://www.democracynow.org/2022/11/18/..._at_age_92

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Mary Louise Tobin (November 11, 1918 – November 26, 2022) was an American jazz singer and musician. She appeared with Benny Goodman, Bobby Hackett, Will Bradley, and Jack Jenney. Tobin introduced "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" with Goodman’s band in 1939. Her biggest hit with Goodman was "There'll Be Some Changes Made", which was number two on Your Hit Parade in 1941 for 15 weeks. Tobin was the first wife of trumpeter and bandleader Harry James, with whom she had two sons.

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Tobin,[1] she was born in Aubrey, Texas on November 11, 1918,[2] but moved with her family to Denton, Texas, after her father died.[2] When she was 12, she appeared on stage with the North Texas Stage Band.[3] She began singing at Denton High School when she was 14 years old.[2]

In 1934, Tobin also sang at the Sylvan Club, near Arlington, Texas, and at theaters in Beaumont, Dallas, and Houston, Texas.[4] At the age of 15, on May 4, 1935, she married 19-year old Harry James who was also playing locally.[5] They had two sons: Harry (born 1941) and Jerin Timothyray "Tim" James (born March 21, 1942).[6] Tobin brought Frank Sinatra to James' attention in 1939 after hearing Sinatra sing on the radio. James subsequently signed Sinatra to a one-year contract at $75 a week.
While Tobin was singing with Hackett at Nick’s in the Village, jazz critic and producer John Hammond heard her and brought Goodman to a performance. Tobin soon joined the Goodman band and went on to record "There'll Be Some Changes Made", "Scatterbrain",[7] "Comes Love", "Love Never Went to College", "What's New?", and "Blue Orchids" with Goodman. Johnny Mercer especially wrote "Louise Tobin Blues" for her while she was with Goodman. It was arranged by Fletcher Henderson.
In 1940, Tobin recorded "Deed I Do" and "Don’t Let It Get You Down", with Will Bradley and His Orchestra. Tobin and James were divorced May 1943 in Juárez, Mexico.
In 1945, she recorded "All through the Day" with Tommy Jones and His Orchestra, and "June Comes Every Year" with Emil Coleman and His Orchestra. In 1946, she performed with Skippy Anderson’s Band at the Melodee Club in Los Angeles, and, in 1950, she recorded "Sunny Disposish" with Ziggy Elman and His Orchestra.
After a long hiatus spent raising her two boys, Tobin accepted an invitation from jazz critic and publisher George Simon to sing at the 1962 Newport Jazz Festival, where she met her future husband, clarinetist Peanuts Hucko.[2] The Whitney Balliett review of the festival published in The New Yorker included the statement: "Louise Tobin sings like the young Ella Fitzgerald". Hucko and Tobin began performing regularly together, including at the Gibson-inspired Odessa Jazz Parties and a regular engagement at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. They married in 1967 and moved to Denver, Colorado, where they were co-owners and the house band of the Navarre Club.
In 1974, Hucko led the Glenn Miller Orchestra, touring worldwide with Tobin singing. In 1977, Tobin recorded "There'll Be Some Changes Made" with Hucko on the album San Diego Jazz Club Plays the Sound of Jazz. "There'll Be Some Changes Made" became an oft-requested fan favorite at concerts. In the 1980s, they toured Europe, Australia, and Japan with the Pied Piper Quartet and recorded the albums Tribute to Louis Armstrong and Tribute to Benny Goodman, featuring Tobin singing several numbers on both. In 1992, Starline Records issued Swing That Music, including a vocal duet with Hucko and Tobin singing "When You're Smiling". This was their final recording made together. Hucko died in 2003.
In 2008, Tobin donated her extensive collection of original musical arrangements, press clippings, programs, recordings, playbills and photographs to create the Tobin-Hucko Jazz Collection at Texas A&M University-Commerce. A biography of Tobin, Texas Jazz Singer--Louise Tobin in the Golden Age of Swing and Beyond by Kevin Mooney, was published in May, 2021.[8]

Tobin died at a granddaughter's home in Carrollton, Texas, on November 26, 2022, at the age of 104.[9]

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Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959 – November 25, 2022)[note 1] was an American singer and actress. Cara sang and co-wrote the song "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (from the film Flashdance), for which she won an Academy Award for Best Original Song[12] and a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance[13] in 1984. Cara is also known for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 film Fame, and for recording the film's title song "Fame". Prior to her success with Fame, Cara portrayed the title character Sparkle Williams in the original 1976 musical drama film Sparkle.

Cara was born in The Bronx, New York City, the youngest of five children.[8] Her father, Gaspar Escalera, a factory worker and retired saxophonist, was Puerto Rican, and her mother, Louise, a movie theater usher, was Cuban. Cara had two sisters and two brothers. At the age of three, Irene Cara was one of five finalists for the "Little Miss America" pageant. She began to play the piano by ear, studied music, acting and dance seriously, and began taking dance lessons when she was five.[8] Her performing career started with her singing and dancing professionally on Spanish-language television. She made early TV appearances on The Original Amateur Hour (singing in Spanish)[14] and Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show.[15]
In 1971–1972, she was a regular on PBS's educational program The Electric Company as a member of the show's band, The Short Circus.[8] As a child, Cara recorded a Spanish-language record for the Latin market and an English-language Christmas album. She also appeared in a major concert tribute to Duke Ellington, which featured Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr. and Roberta Flack.[16]
Cara attended the Professional Children's School in Manhattan.[17]
Career[edit]

Quote:Boggs describes Cara as a "perfectionist" who works on a song until absolutely satisfied with it.[2]

Ebony
Cara appeared in on- and off-Broadway theatrical shows including the musicals Ain't Misbehavin', The Me Nobody Knows (which won an Obie Award), Maggie Flynn opposite Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, and Via Galactica with Raúl Juliá. Cara was the original Daisy Allen on the 1970s daytime serial Love of Life. She later took on the role of Angela in the romance/thriller Aaron Loves Angela, followed by her portrayal of the title character in Sparkle.
Television brought Cara international acclaim for serious dramatic roles in two outstanding mini-series, Roots: The Next Generations and Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones. John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28, named her one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976"; that same year, a readers' poll in Right On! magazine named her Top Actress.
The 1980 hit film Fame, directed by Alan Parker, catapulted Irene Cara to stardom. Cara was originally cast as a dancer, but when producers David Da Silva and Alan Marshall and screenwriter Christopher Gore heard her voice, they re-wrote the role of Coco Hernandez for her to play. As Coco Hernandez, she sang both the title song "Fame" and the film's other single, "Out Here on My Own". These songs helped make the film's soundtrack a chart-topping, multi-platinum album. Further history was made at the Academy Awards that year: It was the first time that two songs from the same film and sung by the same artist were nominated in the same category. Thus, Cara had the opportunity to be one of the few singers to perform more than one song at the Oscar ceremony; "Fame," written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford, won the award that year. Cara earned Grammy Award nominations in 1980 for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical. Billboard named her Top New Single Artist, while Cashbox Magazine awarded her both Most Promising Female Vocalist and Top Female Vocalist. Asked by Fame TV series' producers to reprise her role as Coco Hernandez, she declined, wanting to focus her attention on her recording career; Erica Gimpel assumed the role.[citation needed]

Find sources: "Irene Cara" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Cara was set to star in her own sitcom, Irene, on NBC in 1981. Even though the pilot aired and received favorable reviews it was not picked up by the network for the fall season. The cast had veteran performers Kaye Ballard and Teddy Wilson as well as newcomers Julia Duffy and Keenen Ivory Wayans. In 1983, Cara appeared as herself in the film D.C. Cab, about a group of cabbies. One of the characters, Tyrone, played by Charlie Barnett, is an obsessed Cara fan who decorated his Checker Cab as a shrine to her. Her contribution to the film's soundtrack, "The Dream (Hold on To Your Dream)" played over the closing credits of the film, and was a minor hit, peaking at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1984.[citation needed]
In 1982, Cara earned the Image Award for Best Actress when she co-starred with Diahann Carroll and Rosalind Cash in the NBC Movie of the Week, Maya Angelou's Sister, Sister. Cara portrayed Myrlie Evers-Williams in the PBS TV movie about civil rights leader Medgar Evers, For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story; and earned an NAACP Image Award Best Actress nomination. She also appeared in 1982's Killing 'em Softly. Cara continued to perform in live theater. In 1980, she briefly played the role of Dorothy in The Wiz on tour, in a role that Stephanie Mills had first portrayed in the original Broadway production. Coincidentally, Cara and Mills had shared the stage together as children in the original 1968 Broadway musical Maggie Flynn, starring Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, in which both young girls played American Civil War orphans.[citation needed]
In 1983, Cara reached the peak[18] of her music career with the title song for the movie Flashdance: "Flashdance... What a Feeling", which she co-wrote with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey. Cara penned the lyrics to the song with Keith Forsey while riding in a car in New York heading to the studio to record it; Moroder composed the music. Cara admitted later that she was initially reluctant to work with Giorgio Moroder because she had no wish to invite further comparisons with another artist who worked with Moroder, Donna Summer.[19] But the collaboration paid off and became a hit in several countries, attracting several awards for Cara. She won the 1983 Academy Award for Best Song (Oscar), 1984 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, 1984 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and American Music Awards for Best R&B Female Artist and Best Pop Single of the Year.[citation needed]
She was the first Hispanic-black woman to win an Oscar in a category other than an acting category, as well as the second to be nominated outside an acting category. "Flashdance..." was re-recorded by Cara twice: in 1997 as a track in the original soundtrack for the British film The Full Monty; the second time in 2002, as a duet with Swiss artist DJ BoBo.[citation needed]
In 1984, she was in the comedic thriller City Heat, co-starring with Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds and singing the standards "Embraceable You" and "Get Happy". She also co-wrote the theme song "City Heat", which was sung by the jazz vocalist Joe Williams. In May of that year, she scored her final Top 40 hit with "Breakdance" going to No. 8. The follow up, "You Were Made for Me" reached No. 78 that summer but she did not appear on the Hot 100 again. In 1985, Cara co-starred with Tatum O'Neal in Certain Fury, about two troubled young women who flee a court hearing and are mistaken for killers. In 1986, Cara appeared in the film Busted Up. She also provided the voice of Snow White in the unofficial sequel to Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Filmation's Happily Ever After, in 1993. That same year, she appeared as Mary Magdalene in a tour of Jesus Christ Superstar opposite Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson and Dennis DeYoung.[citation needed]
Along with her career in acting and hit singles, Cara released several albums: Anyone Can See in 1982, What a Feelin' in 1983, and Carasmatic in 1987, the most successful of these being What a Feelin'. In 1985, she collaborated with the Hispanic charity supergroup Hermanos in the song "Cantaré, cantarás", in which she sang a solo segment with the Spanish opera singer Plácido Domingo. Cara toured Europe and Asia throughout the 1990s, achieving several modest dance hits on European charts, but no US chart hits. She released a compilation of Eurodance singles in the mid to late 1990s entitled Precarious 90's. Cara also worked as a backup vocalist for Vicki Sue Robinson, Lou Reed, George Duke, Oleta Adams, and Evelyn "Champagne" King.[citation needed]
21st century[edit]
In March 2004, Cara received two honors with an induction into the Ciboney Cafe's Hall of Fame and a Lifetime Achievement Award presented at the sixth annual Prestige Awards. In June 2005, Cara won the third round of the NBC television series Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, performing "Flashdance (What a Feeling)" and covered Anastacia's song "I'm Outta Love" with her all-female band, Hot Caramel. At the 2006 AFL Grand Final in Melbourne, Cara performed "Flashdance (What a Feeling)" as an opener to the pre-match entertainment.[20]
In 2005, Cara contributed a dance single, titled "Forever My Love", to the compilation album titled Gay Happening Vol. 12.[21]
As of 2016, Cara had residences in both New Port Richey, Florida and Santa Fe, New Mexico. She was in Hot Caramel, a band which she formed in 1999.[22] Their album, called Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel, was released on April 4, 2011. Cara appeared in season 2 of CMT's reality show Gone Country.[citation needed]

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O'dell Moreno Owens (December 1947 – November 23, 2022) was an American physician, public health official, educator, and health advocate. He was nationally known for his work in in vitro fertilization.[6][7]

Owens was born Odell Owens[8] in 1947 in the West End neighborhood of Cincinnati (Ohio).[9] He was the second-oldest of seven children of O'dell Owens and Angelita Moreno Owens. They lived in poverty in a house owned by his grandmother. His mother died of a stroke when he was 12 years old. In 1960, Owens's grandmother was forced to sell the house to the city, as part of the city's demolition plans under the Cincinnati Metropolitan Master Plan; the money was used for a down payment on a house in North Avondale. Owens flunked out of his eighth grade year at Walnut Hills High School due to repeated absences while working odd jobs and caring for his siblings. In 1963, the elder Owens moved the family to Detroit, due to the difficulty of raising seven children while unemployed. He left O'dell in the care of Clinton and Cathryn Buford, whose two sons O'dell had been babysitting.[6][9][10][11]

Owens graduated from Woodward High School and went on to attend Antioch College in Yellow Springs. In 1969, he spent a year as an exchange student at Makerere University in Kampala. He earned a bachelor's degree from Antioch in 1971. He earned a medical degree and Master of Public Health from the Yale School of Medicine. He began his residency in obstetrics and gynecology in 1976 and served as chief resident at Yale from 1979 to 1980, followed by a two-year fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Harvard Medical School.[6][10]

In 1982, Owens returned to Cincinnati as the head of the reproductive division at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, founding its fertility clinic in 1985. As Cincinnati's first reproductive endocrinologist, he performed the city's first in vitro fertilization and, in 1986, its first pregnancy from a frozen embryo. In 1995, he helped doctors at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden conceive the first gorilla in vitro. He also served as director of endocrinology and infertility at The Christ Hospital. He later left his medical practice to become medical director for United Healthcare of Ohio and to help found RISE Learning Solutions, a non-profit organization that focuses on early childhood education training technology.[6][7][10][8][12]

A Democrat, Owens won election to Hamilton County Coroner in 2004, becoming the first African American to serve in an executive office in the county's history. He adopted a policy of visiting any police investigation involving a homicide and ended his department's involvement in private autopsies, directing resources instead to performing autopsies for surrounding counties in Ohio and Indiana. In 2006, he campaigned with Prosecuting Attorney Joe Deters and Sheriff Simon L. Leis Jr. in support of a tax levy to fund a new county jail, a measure that was controversial among Black voters. He was publicly critical of the LifeCenter Organ Donor Network, an organ procurement organization that operates in Ohio.[10][4][13] In 2008, Owens won reelection with the most votes ever cast for a candidate in Hamilton County history.[14][2] During his terms in office, he gave a thousand talks to local leaders about social equity and 180 talks to local students about life choices, arguing that an increased high school graduation rate would lead to a decreased homicide rate.[11]
In 2010, Owens became president of Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.[14] He oversaw the opening of a satellite campus in Middletown. On September 23, 2015, he resigned from his position at the school, citing disagreements with the board of trustees.[15] The same month, he was hired by the Cincinnati Health Department as its medical director. In June 2016, he became interim health commissioner when Dr. Noble Maseru retired from the department. On September 14, 2016, Owens resigned to become president and CEO of Interact for Health, a Norwood-based non-profit organization that promotes public health.[16] He led Interact for Health and its sister organization, InterAct for Change, from October 2016 until his retirement on March 31, 2021.[14] During the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio, he advised Governor Mike DeWine on equitable vaccine distribution.[17][18]

Owens was the first African American to sit on the board of the University of Cincinnati.[7] He also sat on a number of other boards, including those of U.S. Bancorp, the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden's Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife. He has served as president of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners.[4][17][19]

Owens changed his given name from Odell to O'dell, adding an apostrophe, "to be different".[8] He married Marchelle Owens in 1976 and with her had three children. He lived in Amberley Village.[6]
Owens died on November 22, 2022, at the age of 74.[20]

Owens was named a Kentucky Colonel and Ohio Commodore.[6]
In 2021, Owens donated 54 acres (22 ha) to the City of Walton, Kentucky, to be converted to a community park named Dr. O'dell Owens Park.[21] Owens is featured in a mural by Nadyaa Betts on the side of WCET's Crosley Telecommunications Center, in appreciation of his support for the station's annual Action Auction.[22]

from Wikipedia.

[sbarrera]

Clarence Darnell Gilyard Jr. (December 24, 1955 – November 28, 2022) was an American university professor, actor, and author. As a performer, he appeared in film, television, and stage productions; some sources give his middle name as Alfred.

Gilyard was known for his roles as second private investigator and right-hand man Conrad McMasters to Ben Matlock (played by Andy Griffith) on the legal drama series Matlock from 1989 to 1993; Pastor Bruce Barnes in the Left Behind movie trilogy; Cordell Walker's (played by Chuck Norris) Texas Ranger partner, James "Jimmy" Trivette, in the 1990s crime drama Walker, Texas Ranger; Theo, the terrorist computer expert in Die Hard; and Lieutenant (junior grade) Evan "Sundown" Gough in Top Gun.

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

https://www.today.com/popculture/movies/...-rcna59123

Clarence Gilyard, ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ and ‘Die Hard’ star, dies at 66
Gilyard also appeared in "Top Gun" and co-starred on "Matlock" before becoming a professor at UNLV.


Actor Clarence Gilyard, who had supporting roles in the '80s classics "Die Hard" and "Top Gun" and a starring role on "Walker, Texas Ranger," has died at 66.
Gilyard also became a theater professor and author in the latter half of his career. His death was announced on Nov. 28 by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he taught in the College of Fine Arts.

“It is with profound sadness that I share this news,” said UNLV Dean Nancy J. Uscher in a news release. “His students were deeply inspired by him, as were all who knew him. He had many extraordinary talents and was extremely well-known in the university through his dedication to teaching and his professional accomplishments."

Gilyard had been suffering from a long illness, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In a career that began in 1981, Gilyard had roles in some of the most iconic movies of the 1980s as well as two long stints on hit television shows with "Walker, Texas Ranger" and "Matlock."

The Washington native grew up around the country as an Air Force brat before a class at Cal State University, Long Beach, got him into acting, according to Variety.

One of his most memorable roles was as Theo, the wise-cracking computer hacker working with Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber in "Die Hard" in 1988. He also had a small role as a fellow pilot to Tom Cruise's Maverick in "Top Gun" and a brief appearance in "The Karate Kid Part II."

Gilyard later brought back his Theo character for a DieHard Battery commercial with star Bruce Willis that aired during the Super Bowl last year.

His television breakthrough came when he joined the cast of "Matlock" as private investigator Conrad McMasters in 1989 and appeared in a total of 96 episodes of the show starring TV legend Andy Griffith.

"Andy could have chosen any one of a thousand guys to be his partner for four seasons and he chose me," Gilyard told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2017. "Andy was funny and a raconteur and a craftsman. I don’t think I was funny before him. He would teach me comic timing."

Gilyard followed that by becoming one of the co-stars of "Walker, Texas Ranger," playing Sgt. Jimmy Trivette alongside Chuck Norris from 1993 to 2001.

"He had a national and international following through his celebrated work in the theatre, in film, and television," Uscher said in her statement.

In 2006, Gilyard went into teaching and acting in the theater department at UNLV, where he became a beloved professor. He was still appearing in films as recently as 2019.

“Professor Gilyard was a beacon of light and strength for everyone around him at UNLV,” UNLV film chair Heather Addison said in a statement. “Whenever we asked him how he was, he would cheerfully declare that he was ‘Blessed!’ But we are truly the ones who were blessed to be his colleagues and students for so many years. We love you and will miss you dearly, Professor G!”

[pbrower2a]

Jiang Zemin[a] (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as president of China from 1993 to 2003. Jiang represented the "core of the third generation" of CCP leaders since 1989.

Jiang came to power unexpectedly as a compromise candidate following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, when he replaced Zhao Ziyang as CCP general secretary after Zhao was ousted for his support for the student movement. As the involvement of the "Eight Elders" in Chinese politics steadily declined,[1] Jiang consolidated his hold on power to become the "paramount leader" in the country during the 1990s.[b] Urged by Deng Xiaoping's southern tour in 1992, Jiang officially introduced the term "socialist market economy" in his speech during the 14th CCP National Congress held later that year, which accelerate "opening up and reform".[2] Under Jiang's leadership, China experienced substantial economic growth with the continuation of market reforms, saw the return of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom in 1997 and Macau from Portugal in 1999 and improved its relations with the outside world, while the Communist Party maintained its tight control over the state. However, Jiang faced criticism over human rights abuses which also led to the crackdown of the Falun Gong movement. His contributions to party doctrine, known as the "Three Represents", were written into the CCP constitution in 2002. Jiang gradually vacated his official leadership titles from 2002 to 2005 (being succeeded in these roles by Hu Jintao), and continued to influence affairs until much later. At the age of 96 years, 106 days, Jiang was the longest-living paramount leader in the history of the PRC, surpassing Deng Xiaoping on 14 February 2019, as well as the last living Chinese paramount leader of the 20th Century. On 30 November 2022, Jiang died from leukemia and multiple organ failure.[3]


Much more at Wikipedia.

[pbrower2a]

Christine Anne McVie (née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022)[1][2][3] was an English musician, and the vocalist[4] and keyboardist of Fleetwood Mac, which she joined in 1970.[5] She also released three solo albums. Her lyrics focused on love and relationships. AllMusic described her as an "Unabashedly easy-on-the-ears singer/songwriter, and the prime mover behind some of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits."[6] Eight songs written or co-written by her, including "Don't Stop", "Everywhere" and "Little Lies", appeared on Fleetwood Mac's 1988 Greatest Hits album.[7]
In 1998, McVie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac, and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. The same year, after almost 30 years with the band, she opted to leave and lived in semi-retirement for nearly 15 years. She released a solo album in 2004. In September 2013 she appeared on stage with Fleetwood Mac at the O2 Arena in London, before rejoining the band in 2014 prior to their On with the Show tour.[8]
In 2006, McVie received a Gold Badge of Merit Award from Basca, now The Ivors Academy.[9] In 2014, she received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and was honoured with the Trailblazer Award at the UK Americana Awards in 2021.[10][11] She was also the recipient of two Grammy Awards.[12]

Much more at Wikipedia.

[pbrower2a]

"Mr. Spitball", Baseball Hall-of-Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry


Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for eight different teams from 1962 to 1983. During a 22-year baseball career, Perry compiled 314 wins, 3,534 strikeouts, and a 3.11 earned run average. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.


Perry, a five-time All-Star, was the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues: the American League in 1972 with the Cleveland Indians, and the National League in 1978 with the San Diego Padres; his Cy Young Award announcement just as he turned the age of 40 made him the oldest to win the award, which stood as a record for 26 years.[1] He registered his 3,000th strikeout with the San Diego Padres in 1978. While pitching for the Seattle Mariners in 1982, Perry joined the 300 win club.

Despite Perry's notoriety for doctoring baseballs (e.g. throwing spitballs), and perhaps even more so for making batters think he was throwing them on a regular basis—he went so far as to title his 1974 autobiography Me and the Spitter—he was not ejected for the illegal practice until his 21st season in the majors in 1982.



More at Wikipedia.

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Ercole Baldini (26 January 1933 – 1 December 2022) was an Italian cyclist. As an amateur he won an Olympic gold medal in the road race and the world title in the individual pursuit on track, both in 1956.[1] Next year he turned professional, and in 1958 won the world title in the road race and the Giro d'Italia. He continued competing on track and won bronze medals in the individual pursuit at the world championships of 1960 and 1964.[2]

Baldini was born at Villanova di Forlì.[1] At 21 he set the hour record for amateurs, with 44.870 km, gaining the nickname of Forlì train. His best year was 1956, in which he won a gold medal in the road race at the Summer Olympics in Melbourne, and, in September, stripped Jacques Anquetil of the hour record, riding 46.394 km at the Velodromo Vigorelli in Milan.[1]
In 1957 he became professional and won six important races, including the Trofeo Baracchi alongside Fausto Coppi, and became Italian champion. In 1958 Baldini won the Giro d'Italia,[1] beating Charly Gaul on the latter's favourite terrain, climbing. He was again Italian champion and also won the World Cycling Championship.[2]
Baldini finished 6th in the 1959 Tour de France. His career ended in 1964 after surgery to a leg.[1]
Baldini died in his home in Villanova on 1 December 2022, at the age of 89.[3][4]


from Wikipedia.

[Eric the Green]

(11-30-2022, 09:05 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Christine Anne McVie (née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022)[1][2][3] was an English musician, and the vocalist[4] and keyboardist of Fleetwood Mac, which she joined in 1970.[5] She also released three solo albums. Her lyrics focused on love and relationships. AllMusic described her as an "Unabashedly easy-on-the-ears singer/songwriter, and the prime mover behind some of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits."[6] Eight songs written or co-written by her, including "Don't Stop", "Everywhere" and "Little Lies", appeared on Fleetwood Mac's 1988 Greatest Hits album.[7]
In 1998, McVie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac, and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. The same year, after almost 30 years with the band, she opted to leave and lived in semi-retirement for nearly 15 years. She released a solo album in 2004. In September 2013 she appeared on stage with Fleetwood Mac at the O2 Arena in London, before rejoining the band in 2014 prior to their On with the Show tour.[8]
In 2006, McVie received a Gold Badge of Merit Award from Basca, now The Ivors Academy.[9] In 2014, she received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and was honoured with the Trailblazer Award at the UK Americana Awards in 2021.[10][11] She was also the recipient of two Grammy Awards.[12]

Much more at Wikipedia.

I was a fan. This song was too recent for me to know and consider for my all time 400+ list.





My favorite Fleetwood Mac album was Future Games from back in 1971. The title track by Bob Welch is high on my list. Christine wrote "Show Me a Smile" for that album. She wrote the hit "Don't Stop" from Rumors which became Bill Clinton's theme song and is on my list. "You Make Loving Fun" is on my list. She gave Fleetwood Mac a lot of class. She and her husband John until about 1976 were the Mac in Fleetwood Mac.

More here: https://youtu.be/wlObyqRWcss

My List: http://philosopherswheel.com/ericrock.html

[sbarrera]

Robert Emmett McGrath (June 13, 1932 – December 4, 2022) was an American actor, singer, musician, and children's author best known for playing original human character Bob Johnson on the long running educational television series Sesame Street.

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

[A picture of how I remember him from my Gen X childhood.- SB]:



https://apnews.com/article/entertainment...bcb143940f

Bob McGrath, ‘Sesame Street’ legend, dies at 90

Bob McGrath, an actor, musician and children’s author widely known for his portrayal of one of the first regular characters on the children’s show “Sesame Street” has died at the age of 90.

McGrath’s passing was confirmed by his family who posted on his Facebook page on Sunday: “The McGrath family has some sad news to share. Our father Bob McGrath, passed away today. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family.”

Sesame Workshop tweeted Sunday evening that it “mourns the passing of Bob McGrath, a beloved member of the Sesame Street family for over 50 years.”

McGrath was a founding cast member of “Sesame Street” when the show premiered in 1969, playing a friendly neighbor Bob Johnson. He made his final appearance on the show in 2017, marking an almost five-decade-long figure in the “Sesame Street” world.

The actor grew up in Illinois and studied music at the University of Michigan and Manhattan School of Music. He also was a singer in the 60s series “Sing Along With Mitch” and launched a successful singing career overseas in Japan.

“A revered performer worldwide, Bob’s rich tenor filled airwaves and concert halls from Las Vegas to Saskatchewan to Tokyo many times over,” Sesame Workshop said. “We will be forever grateful for his many years of passionate creative contributions to Sesame Street and honored that he shared so much of his life with us.”

He is survived by his wife, Ann Logan Sperry, and their five children.

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Nicholas James Bollettieri (July 31, 1931 – December 4, 2022)[1] was an American tennis coach. He pioneered the concept of a tennis boarding school, and helped develop many leading tennis players during the past decades, including Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, and Mary Pierce. He also worked with players such as Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchová, Jelena Janković, Nicole Vaidišová, Sabine Lisicki, Sara Errani, Tommy Haas, Max Mirnyi, Xavier Malisse, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Anna Kournikova, Marcelo Ríos, and Kei Nishikori. Bollettieri was also a tour traveling coach, the last time having been for and with Boris Becker for a span of two years.[2]

Bollettieri was mentioned and or profiled in several television series and documentary films, including Jason Kohn's documentary film Love Means Zero, which was premiered at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2017.

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

[sbarrera]

Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom Cheers (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 to 2000, she starred as the lead in the sitcom Veronica's Closet, earning additional Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

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

[As I remember her, in Cheers, which was routinely shown at a bar I frequented in the early 90s.- SB]



https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertain...842085002/

John Travolta, Parker Stevenson, Kelsey Grammer, more mourn Kirstie Alley: 'I loved her'

Stunned Hollywood stars including John Travolta, Parker Stevenson and Kelsey Grammer reacted as news spread Monday of Kirstie Alley's death.

The "Cheers" and "Veronica's Closet" actress died at 71 after a brief battle with a recently diagnosed cancer, her children True and Lillie Parker shared on the star's verified Instagram account.

"She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living and whatever adventures lie ahead," they wrote. "As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother."

Her "zest and passion for life ... were unparalleled and leave us inspired to live life to the fullest just as she did.

Travolta, Alley's longtime friend and co-star ("Look Who's Talking Now"), shared a glam pic of the actress in a strapless white dress, pearls and tousled hair. 

"Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had," he wrote on Instagram. "I love you Kirstie. I know we will see each other again."

[pbrower2a]

Script writer for several British sci-fi TV shows:



Chris Boucher (1943 – 11 December 2022)[1] was a British television screenwriter, script editor and novelist. He is known for his frequent contributions to two genres, science fiction and crime fiction, and worked on the series Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Shoestring, Bergerac, The Bill and Star Cops.

Prior to becoming a television writer, Boucher worked at Calor Gas as a management trainee and gained a Bachelor of Arts in economics at the University of Essex.[2]

Boucher began his work in television science fiction for the series Doctor Who, writing the serials The Face of Evil, The Robots of Death and Image of the Fendahl (all broadcast in 1977). Prior to his death in 2022, he was the last remaining living Doctor Who scriptwriter from prior to Season 18 in 1980. One of his contributions to Doctor Who was the creation of the companion Leela (Louise Jameson), the savage who featured in the series from 1977 to 1978. The character was inspired by the Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled.[3] Boucher was commissioned for the programme by script editor Robert Holmes, who suggested that Boucher should be appointed in that role for the science fiction series Blake's 7 (1978–81). He served in this role for the entirety of its four-series run, and also wrote several episodes himself, including the final episode.[3]
Boucher was the script editor of the second season of the drama series Shoestring in 1980, which followed the investigations of private detective and radio show host Eddie Shoestring (Trevor Eve). Following the end of Blake's 7, Boucher script-edited and wrote for the third season of the police drama series Juliet Bravo in 1982. He then moved on to script-edit another detective show, Bergerac, working on the programme from 1983 to 1987.
All of the above programmes were produced in-house by the BBC and broadcast on the BBC1 network. For the ITV network, he worked on Thames Television's police drama series The Bill as script editor in 1987. In that year he also returned to the BBC to create his own series, Star Cops, which combined the science fiction and crime genres. The series encountered several production problems and was not a ratings success, lasting only nine episodes on BBC2,[3][4] but has maintained a cult following among fans of science fiction.[5]

Later works included several Doctor Who novels for BBC Books, all featuring the character of Leela,[6] and a series of straight-to-CD full-cast audio dramas entitled Kaldor City, which combine elements from his Doctor Who serial The Robots of Death with his Blake's 7 work.

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

[pbrower2a]

Last living member of the 1950 Phillies "Whiz Kids" NL championship team (Curt Simmons)

In 1947, then Philadelphia Phillies owner Bob Carpenter arranged for an exhibition match between his Phillies and a team of all-star high school players from the Lehigh Valley. The game was played on the opening day of Egypt Memorial Park in front of a crowd of 4,500. Simmons struck out eleven and the game ended in a 4–4 tie (a late-game error was the only thing that prevented the high school team from winning). The 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 175 lb (79 kg) lefty was signed by the Phillies, and awarded a $65,000 signing bonus (one of the highest ever awarded at that time).[1] That spring, Simmons also pitched and played outfield in an All-American high school game between teams managed by Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. In 1949, Simmons returned to the Lehigh Valley, pitching for the Phillies in an exhibition match (a game won by a 10–3 margin) against the Allentown Redbirds, in front of a record crowd of 4,590 at Whitehall's Breadon Field.


Simmons won 17 of 25 decisions during the 1950 season, playing a role in bringing Philadelphia its second National League (NL) championship of the 20th century. With the outbreak of the Korean War, however, Simmons was called to active military service in September 1950, with only a month remaining in the campaign. The Phillies managed to hold off the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950 season's final contest (on Dick Sisler's 10th-inning home run) to win the NL flag by two games. Simmons was stationed at Camp Atterbury and requested and was granted a leave on October 4, 1950 to attend the Series. The Phillies chose not to request that the Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler rule Simmons eligible for the Series, but Simmons chose to attend to support the team. Simmons' place on the Series roster was taken by pitcher Jocko Thompson.[2] Without Simmons, the Phillies were swept in four games by Joe DiMaggio and the New York Yankees.

Simmons missed the entire 1951 season while in the military, but he returned in 1952 to win 14 games, posting a 2.82 earned run average (ERA) and leading Major League Baseball with six shutouts. The team would never again contend for a championship during his tenure there, although Simmons continued to pitch into the late 1950s. In 1959, he was struck with a sore arm, and in 1960, the Phillies, then in last place and in rebuilding mode, released him on May 17, 1960, after four mound appearances. Simmons signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals three days later, and began a comeback that culminated in 15- and 18-game-winning seasons in 1963 and 1964, respectively, while in a pitching rotation that included Bob Gibson and Ray Sadecki. In 1964, he appeared in the World Series against the New York Yankees. He started two games for the eventual world champion Cardinals, losing his only decision but compiling a 2.51 ERA.

Simmons’ last winning record was in 1964; he lost 15 games for St. Louis in 1965, then finished his career with the Chicago Cubs and California Angels, in 1966 and 1967. His final record, over 20 years, was 193–182 (.515). In 569 games pitched and 3,3481⁄3 innings, Simmons allowed 3,313 hits and 1,063 bases on balls. He recorded 1,697 strikeouts, 163 complete games, 36 shutouts, and five saves. Along with Smoky Burgess, Simmons was the last player to formally retire who had played in MLB in the 1940s (not counting Minnie Miñoso, who would later un-retire, twice). MLB Hall of Fame hitters Hank Aaron[3] and Stan Musial[4] each separately named Simmons as the toughest pitcher they had to face in their careers.

Simmons died on December 13, 2022, at the age of 93.[5] At the time of his death, Simmons was the last living member of the Phillies in the 1940's and the last living member of the 1950 Phillies National League pennant winning team.[6]

[pbrower2a]

actor Stuart Margolin


Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022)[1] was an American film, theater, and television actor and director who won two Emmy Awards for playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series The Rockford Files. In 1973, he played in Gunsmoke as an outlaw. The next year he played an important role, giving Charles Bronson his first gun in Death Wish. In 1981, Margolin portrayed the character of Philo Sandeen in a recurring role as a Native American tracker in the 1981–1982 television series, Bret Maverick.

Margolin was born January 31, 1940, in Davenport, Iowa.[citation needed] His family moved to Dallas, Texas, while he was still young. Margolin has stated that he led a "hoodlum" childhood, was kicked out of Texas Public Schools and his parents sent him to a boarding school in Tennessee. While he attended that school, his family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. When Margolin was released from reform school and moved back with his family, he decided to move back, on his own, to see his friends in Dallas. His parents made arrangements for him to attend a private school there.[2]

Margolin played the recurring character Evelyn "Angel" Martin, the shifty friend and former jailmate of Jim Rockford (James Garner) on The Rockford Files, whose various cons and schemes usually got Rockford in hot water. Margolin was earlier paired with Garner in the Western series Nichols (1971–72), in which he played a character somewhat similar to the Angel character in The Rockford Files. That show lasted for only one season.
At times Rockford would pay Angel to "hit the streets" and discover information that would help solve a case. Margolin won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for this role, in 1979 and 1980;[3] he is one of only five actors to win this award twice for the same role.[4]
In 1969 Margolin wrote and co-produced The Ballad of Andy Crocker, an ABC television movie that was one of the first films to deal with the subject matter of Vietnam veterans "coming home."[5] He also co-wrote the title song and had an uncredited cameo in the film. Margolin had an uncredited role as the Station Wagon Driver in Heroes, another story about Vietnam veterans dealing with what we now refer to as PTSD.
Margolin played Rabbi David Small in the 1976 movie, Lanigan's Rabbi, based on the series of mystery novels written by Harry Kemelman. Scheduling conflicts prevented him from continuing the role in the short-lived TV series of the same name that aired in 1977 as part of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie, where Small was played by Bruce Solomon.[citation needed]
Margolin appeared in episodes of the television series M*A*S*H ("Bananas, Crackers and Nuts" and "Operation Noselift"), The Partridge Family ("Go Directly to Jail" and "A Penny for His Thoughts"), That Girl ("11 Angry Men and That Girl" as a juror, and "7¼ (Part 2)" as Leonard Stanley). The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, an episode of Land of the Giants ("The Mechanical Man"), Twelve O'Clock High ("Mutiny at Ten Thousand Feet"), The Monkees ("Monkees Watch Their Feet"), Love, American Style (in which he was a member of the Love American Style Players; his brother Arnold Margolin was the executive producer of the series), Crazy Like a Fox (playing a similar character to Angel Martin), The Fall Guy (in which he played Ace Cochran in "The Molly Sue"), Magnum, P.I., Hill Street Blues (as bookmaker Andy Sedita in the consecutive episodes "Hacked to Pieces" and "Seoul on Ice"),[6] and Touched by an Angel ("With God as My Witness").
In May 2009, Margolin appeared on an episode of 30 Rock, opposite Alan Alda;[7] it was the first time the two actors appeared together since Margolin's appearance on M*A*S*H in 1974.
Margolin appeared in the 2009 CTV/CBS police drama series The Bridge.[8][9]
Margolin appeared as bail jumper Stanley Wescott in the episode The Overpass (Season 5 Episode 2; 2013) of the Canadian CBC Television series Republic of Doyle, which itself was inspired by The Rockford Files.[10] While not a wholesale recreation of the Angel Martin character, the Stanley Wescott role sported many similar attributes.[11] The episode also featured Margolin's stepson Max Martini in the role of Big Charlie Archer.
Margolin appeared in feature films including Kelly's Heroes, Death Wish, Futureworld, The Big Bus and S.O.B.

Margolin has directed TV shows since the early 1970s, including episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show; the 1976 western series Sara; The Love Boat; Magnum, P.I.; Bret Maverick; Quantum Leap; Wonder Woman and Northern Exposure. He has appeared in a number of Canadian television series.
In addition to acting in the original and 1990s TV movie versions of The Rockford Files, Margolin also directed some episodes: "Dirty Money, Black Light" (1977), "Caledonia – It's Worth a Fortune!" (1974), "The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play" (1996), "The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds... It Leads" (1998).
He won the 1996 DGA Award for children's programming for directing the film Salt Water Moose, and he was nominated again for the same award for directing the 1998 film, The Sweetest Gift. He was also nominated for a DGA Award for drama series direction for a 1991 episode of Northern Exposure entitled "Goodbye to All That."[12] He also directed, co-starred and scored The Glitter Dome (1984) with James Garner, Margot Kidder and John Lithgow for HBO Pictures.
Other[edit]

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Find sources: "Stuart Margolin" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2018)
Margolin has written several songs for and with longtime friend and singer-songwriter Jerry Riopelle that have appeared on Riopelle's albums since 1967. Margolin was first associated with Riopelle's late 1960s band the Parade, co-writing many of their songs and playing percussion on various tracks. He and Riopelle (along with Shango member Tommy Reynolds) co-wrote Shango's 1969 Caribbean-flavored novelty record "Day After Day (It's Slippin' Away)",[13] which hit No. 57 on the U.S. charts and No. 39 in Canada.
Margolin had tracks he co-wrote covered by R. B. Greaves and Gary Lewis and the Playboys in 1968–69. Margolin's frequent songwriting partner Jerry Riopelle established a long-running solo career beginning in 1971; Riopelle released 8 albums between 1971 and 1982, every one of which contained at least one song (often more) written or co-written by Margolin. In turn, Margolin released a solo album in 1980, And the Angel Sings, which featured his interpretations of a number of Margolin and/or Riopelle compositions previously recorded by Riopelle.
Starting in 2004, he was a regular participant in the theater program of the Chautauqua Institution.[14]

Margolin is stepfather to actor Max Martini, costume designer Michelle Martini, and editor/producer/director Christopher Martini.[citation needed]
He is the younger brother of Emmy-winning director/producer/writer Arnold Margolin; both of them lived in Lewisburg, West Virginia,[2] and have acted together there in a professional community theater play.[15]
Margolin has frequently been misidentified as the brother of actress Janet Margolin (1943–1993);[16][17] the two were not related, although they appeared together as husband and wife in the pilot for the 1977 TV series Lanigan's Rabbi.[citation needed]
Margolin, his wife, and stepchildren lived on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada for 22 years.[18]

[pbrower2a]

Creator of some drinking fads that have stuck.

Harry K. Yee (September 26, 1918 – December 7, 2022) was an American bartender from Honolulu, Hawaii who was credited with having helped to spread tiki culture during the mid-twentieth century, both in Hawaii and in the continental United States. He invented the Blue Hawaii cocktail, and is attributed with being the first bartender to use paper parasols and vanda orchids in tiki drinks.

Born on September 26, 1918,[1] Yee began bartending in 1952, before the advent of jet airliners and seven years before Hawaiian statehood. He soon joined Henry Kaiser's Hawaiian Village Hotel, where he served as head bartender for more than thirty years.[2] Along with Ernest Gantt ("Donn Beach") and Victor Jules Bergeron ("Trader Vic"), Yee did much to popularize a faux version of the tropics consisting of rum drinks, hula girls, and tourism. Yee's time at the bar spanned statehood and the rise of Hawaii as a major international travel and retirement destination. When he began, Hawaii hosted approximately 100,000 visitors per year, mostly around Waikiki. By the time he retired tourism exceeded five million visitors, compared to seven million today.[3]

Yee's many innovations were an attempt to create a sense of locale for his tourist customers. When they asked for Hawaiian drinks, he had nothing to offer because there was no such thing, so he invented them and often coined names on the spot. Yee is attributed with being the first bartender to use paper parasols and Vanda Orchids in tiki drinks. In an interview on the subject Yee said "We used to use a sugar cane stick [garnishes], and people would chew on the stick, then put it in the ashtray. When the ashes and cane stuck together it made a real mess, so I put orchids in the drink to make the ashtrays easier to clean. I wasn't thinking about romance."[4]
At times during his career he was a teetotaler who relied on his customers for feedback on his drinks. He did not drink rum, preferring cognac. After retiring, he taught for several years at the Bartending Training Institute in Honolulu.[2]
On December 7, 2022, Yee died at the age of 104.[5] His death was reported the following day on social media by bar manager and cocktail book author Cheryl Charming.[6]

During his more than thirty years of bartending in Waikiki, Yee is attributed with inventing many cocktails, including:

• The Banana Daiquiri[2]
  
  
• The Blue Hawaii[7]
  
  
• The Chimp in Orbit[8]
  
  
• The Hawaiian Eye[2] — it was featured in the television series that used the hotel he worked in as a backdrop
  
  
• The Hot Buttered Okolehao[2]
  
  
• Tapa Punch[2][9] — the first drink he put a paper parasol in
  
  
• The Tropical Itch (a popular drink that substitutes a bamboo backscratcher for a swizzle stick)[10]
  

As is common with Tiki drinks, not all drink invention attributions go unchallenged. Some credit other bartenders with having invented the Banana Daiquiri and the Hawaiian Eye cocktail.[11]