Final Exits, 22-28 December 2011

 Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood, 69, American musician, The Mothers of Invention

Obituaries for 22-28 December 2011

22
* Richard Bessière, 88, French author. (French)
* Bettye Danoff, 88, American golfer, founding member of the LPGA.
* Bennie Ellender, 86, American college football coach (Arkansas State, Tulane), Alzheimer's disease.
* David Gold, 31, Canadian musician (Woods of Ypres), car accident.
* Michael von Grünau, 67, Canadian psychologist and neurophysiologist.
* Nina Mula, 80, Russian-born Albanian soprano.
* Vasant Ranjane, 74, Indian cricketer.
* Rogelio Sánchez González, 90, Mexican Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Colima (1972–1980).
* Marion Segal Freed, 77, American film producer, editor and screenwriter.
* Zithulele Sinqe, 48, South African long distance runner, car accident.
* Ernest A. Watkinson, 99, Canadian politician.

23
* Neil Davids, 56, English footballer.
* Cees van Dongen, 79, Dutch motorcycle road racer. (Dutch)
* Evelyn Handler, 78, American academic, President of the University of New Hampshire (1980–1983) and Brandeis University (1983–1991), traffic collision.
* Bill Klatt, 64, American ice hockey player (Minnesota Fighting Saints), leukemia.
* Aydın Menderes, 65, Turkish politician, son of Adnan Menderes.
* Norayr Musheghian, 76, Armenian wrestler, coach and public activist, Olympic gold medalist (1958). (Russian)
* Abdur Razzaq, 69, Bangladeshi politician.
* Bruce Ruxton, 85, Australian veterans' representative and advocate, President of the Victorian RSL (1979–2002).

24
* Armando Brambilla, 69, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome (since 1994).
* Sergio Buso, 61, Italian footballer and coach.
* José Andrés Corral Arredondo, 65, Mexican Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Parral (since 1992), heart attack. (Spanish)
* Lex Gigeroff, 49, Canadian writer, actor and producer (Lexx), heart attack.
* Johannes Heesters, 108, Dutch actor and singer, stroke.
* Zsuzsi Mary, 64, Hungarian pop singer, suicide. (Hungarian)
* Jody Rainwater, 92, American bluegrass musician and radio personality, heart disease.
* Lynn Samuels, 69, American radio personality (Sirius XM).
* Walter Söhne, 98, German agronomist. (German)
* Vitaly Tseshkovsky, 67, Russian chess Grandmaster. (Russian)

25
* Giorgio Bocca, 91, Italian essayist and journalist. (Italian)
* Ben Breedlove, 18, American Internet personality, cardiac arrest.
* Sue Carroll, 58, British journalist, pancreatic cancer.
* Argyris Chionis, 68, Greek poet, author and translator. (Greek)
* Adrienne Cooper, 65, American klezmer and Yiddish vocalist.
* Gideon Doron, 66, Israeli political scientist, leader of HaYisraelim. (Hebrew)
* Satyadev Dubey, 75, Indian actor, playwright and director.
* Thomas Finnegan, 86, Irish Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Killala (1987–2002).
* Seán French, 80, Irish politician, Lord Mayor of Cork (1976) and TD (1967–1982).
* Habib Galhia, 70, Tunisian boxer, Olympic bronze medalist (1964). (French)
* Andrew Geller, 87, American architect, kidney failure.
* Khalil Ibrahim, Sudanese Darfuri rebel leader.
* Hans-Heinrich Isenbart, 88, German sports commentator.
* John Christoffel Kannemeyer, 72, South African writer, authority on Afrikaans literature.
* Joop Koopman, 81, Dutch television host and quizmaster. (Dutch)
* Christophe Laigneau, 46, French footballer (Stade Lavallois). (French)
* Sir Moses Pitakaka, Solomon Islander politician, Governor-General (1994–1999).
* George Robb, 85, English footballer (Tottenham Hotspur), dementia.
* Ferenc Schmidt, 70, Hungarian politician. (Hungarian)
* Jim Sherwood, 69, American musician (The Mothers of Invention).
* Simms Taback, 79, American author, graphic artist and illustrator.

26
* Houston Antwine, 72, American football player (Boston/New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles), AFL All-Star (1963–1968), heart failure.
* Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., 71, Mexican actor (Zorro series), cancer.
* Sarekoppa Bangarappa, 79, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Karnataka (1990–1992).
* Joe Bodolai, 63, American comedy writer (Saturday Night Live) and producer, suicide by poisoning.
* Sean Collins, 59, American surfer and surf forecaster (Surfline), heart attack.
* Fred Fono, 49, Solomon Islander politician, Deputy Prime Minister (2006) and MP for Central Kwara'ae (1997–2010).
* Barbara Lea, 82, American jazz singer and actress.
* Betty McQuade, 70, Scottish-born Australian singer.
* Sam Rivers, 88, American jazz musician and composer, pneumonia.
* James Rizzi, 61, American pop artist.

27
* Catê, 38, Brazilian footballer, car accident.
* Sir Clifford Darling, 89, Bahamian politician, Governor-General (1992–1995).
* Sir Michael Dummett, 86, British philosopher.
* Helen Frankenthaler, 83, American painter.
* Julia Sampson Hayward, 77, American tennis player, won Australian Open doubles and mixed doubles (1963).
* Rusty Hevelin, 89, American science fiction fanzine publisher.
* Mykola Koltsov, 75, Russian-born Ukrainian footballer and youth trainer. (Ukrainian)
* Ante Čedo Martinić, 51, Croatian actor (Ruža vjetrova), cancer. (Croatian)
* Thinley Norbu, 81, Tibetan Buddhist writer and teacher.
* Martino Scarafile, 84, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Castellaneta (1985–2003).
* Dan Terry, 87, American jazz trumpeter and big band leader.
* Dennis Utter, 72, American politician, Nebraska State Senator (since 2009).
* Johnny Wilson, 82, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (Detroit Red Wings).

28
* Don Mueller, 84, American baseball player (New York Giants, Chicago White Sox), MLB All-Star (1954, 1955).
* Lucia Rikaki, 50, Greek stage, film and television director, cancer.
* Myron Roderick, 77, American Olympic wrestler (1956) and coach.
* Greg Spira, 44, American baseball researcher (SABR), writer and editor.
* Kaye Stevens, 79, American singer and actress, breast cancer and blood clots.
* Teruo Sugihara, 74, Japanese golfer, prostate cancer.

Prominent South Korean Democracy Activist Dies

South Korean news media report that a former leading South Korean democracy activist and prominent liberal politician, Kim Geun-tae, has died.

Reports say Kim died Friday from a brain disease at the age of 64.

Kim was known as a democracy activist during dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s. He was repeatedly jailed and tortured for his opposition against the regimes in support of democracy and labor rights.

In 1987, while in prison, Kim received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and was designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

In 1996, he was elected to the National Assembly and twice won reelection. He was also a former leader of the Uri Party, and a former Health and Welfare Minister.

Kim had battled Parkinson's disease for the past five years. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports that he died of complications from pneumonia and kidney disease in a Seoul hospital.

It says he is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Photo: Kim Keun-Tae, during South Korea's Protest Against Importing American Beef on 6 June 2008. Photo by Chong-Dae Park a.k.a. ChongDae.

Kim Jong Il Led North Korea With Cult of Personality

Kim Jong Il ruled North Korea for 17 years, continuing a government focused on the principle of self-reliance and a cult of personality founded by his father, Kim Il Sung.

There is not much reliable personal information about the enigmatic Mr. Kim. According to local legend, he was born on North Korea's Mount Paekdu under rainbows and the appearance of a new star in 1942. But his birth is believed to have actually taken place in Siberia in the Soviet Union in 1941.

Little is known about Mr. Kim's childhood. He graduated from Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University in 1964.

In the 1970s, Mr. Kim was named to leadership positions in the ruling party, beginning two decades of grooming to replace his father as the country's leader.

He had a reputation for a lavish lifestyle that included a fondness for fine foods, cognac and women, which continued after he took power following his father's death in 1994.

Mr. Kim was also said to be a fan of the cinema. In addition to owning a large movie collection, he produced several films of his own. A South Korean director and actress said they were kidnapped and forced to make films for the man North Koreans called “Dear Leader.”

He was accused of playing a role in a 1983 bombing that killed 17 South Korean officials visiting Burma, as well as the 1987 bombing of a Korea Air flight that killed 115 people. Neither allegation has been proven.

Mr. Kim continued his revered father's governing principles, but lacked his charisma. Still, Mr. Kim cultivated his own force of personality exemplified by his bouffant hairdo, jumpsuits and large sunglasses.

He poured the impoverished and reclusive country's resources into the military, creating the world's fifth-largest force, while many North Koreans suffered from hunger.

His international relations were dominated by North Korea's push to develop nuclear arms. Former U.S. president George W. Bush called Mr. Kim a “tyrant” who starved his own people so he could build nuclear weapons.

North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006, and in 2007 agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for aid. But the country is estimated to have enough nuclear material to produce several atomic bombs, and multi-party negotiations to convince North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program have stalled.

Mr. Kim's marital status was not clear, but he is said to have been married once, with at least a few other companions, and has at least three sons. His youngest son, Kim Jong Un, has been groomed as his successor.

His two-day funeral ceremony was held on December 28, at the end of a 10-day period of national mourning.

Final Exits, 15-21 December 2011

Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer at the Clearwater Jazz Festival in the 1980s. Photo by Laura Kolb @ Lochaven.

Obituaries for 15-21 December 2011

15
* Eduardo Barreto, 57, Uruguayan comic book artist.
* Graham Booth, 71, British politician, Member of the European Parliament for South West England (2002–2008).
* William Claver, 75, Filipino human rights lawyer, Congressman from Kalinga-Apayao (1987–1992).
* David Fordham, 62, Australian sports commentator, cancer.
* Walter Giller, 84, German actor. (German)
* Christopher Hitchens, 62, British writer (God Is Not Great) and commentator (Vanity Fair), esophageal cancer.
* Paula Hyman, 65, American professor of modern Jewish history (Yale University).
* Ricardo Ibarra, 61, Argentine Olympic rower. (Spanish)
* Guy Ignolin, 75, French professional cyclist. (French)
* Nur Khan, 88, Pakistani air marshal, Chief of Air Staff (1965–1969) and Governor of West Pakistan (1969–1970).
* James M. Quigley, 93, American politician, Representative from Pennsylvania (1955–1957; 1959–1961).
* Jason Richards, 35, New Zealand race car driver, cancer.
* Carmen Rupe, 75, New Zealand transsexual entertainer, kidney failure.
* Mario Tovar González, 78, Mexican Olympic wrestler, respiratory complications. (Spanish)

16
* Ulf Aas, 92, Norwegian illustrator. (Norwegian)
* Bob Brookmeyer, 81, American jazz valve trombonist, cardiopulmonary arrest.
* Robert Easton, 81, American actor and dialect coach.
* Dan Frazer, 90, American actor (Kojak, As The World Turns), cardiac arrest.
* Alice Glenn, 89, Irish politician, TD for Dublin Central (1981–1982; 1982–1987).
* Chubee Kagita, 54, Japanese politician, heart failure. (Japanese)
* Gadzhimurat Kamalov, 46, Russian journalist, shot.
* Henry Kitchener, 3rd Earl Kitchener, 92, British soldier and aristocrat.
* Mark Kopytman, 82, Ukrainian-born Israeli composer. (Hebrew)
* Bert Muhly, 88, American politician and academic, Mayor of Santa Cruz, California (1974–1975), heart failure.
* Patrick V. Murphy, 91, American police chief, New York City Police Commissioner (1970–1973), heart attack.
* Te Paekiomeka Joy Ruha, 80, New Zealand Māori leader.
* Slim Dunkin, 24, American rapper (1017 Brick Squad), shot.
* Keith W. Wilcox, 90, American architect and politician, member of LDS priesthood.

17
* John Bishop, 65, American soul and jazz guitarist, heart attack.
* Sérgio Britto, 88, Brazilian actor and television host, heart failure. (Spanish)
* Michael Gower Coleman, 72, South African Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Port Elizabeth (1986–2011).
* Eva Ekvall, 28, Venezuelan TV news anchor and model, Miss Venezuela 2000, breast cancer.
* Cesária Évora, 70, Cape Verdean singer, heart failure.
* Kim Jong-il, 69 or 70, North Korean Supreme Leader (since 1994), heart attack.
* Mario Mannucci, 79, Italian rally co-driver. (Polish)
* Harley Sewell, 80, American football player (Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams).
* Joãosinho Trinta, 78, Brazilian Carnival designer, septic shock. (Portuguese)

18
* Doe Avedon, 86, American actress (The High and the Mighty) and model, pneumonia.
* Henry E. Catto, Jr., 81, American public servant and diplomat, complications of leukemia.
* Lorenzo de Rodas, 81, Mexican actor (Bajo la misma piel), heart attack. (Spanish)
* Jeremy Doyle, 28, Australian wheelchair basketball player, bladder cancer.
* Václav Havel, 75, Czech playwright and politician, President of Czechoslovakia (1989–1992) and the Czech Republic (1993–2003).
* Warren Hellman, 77, American investor, founder of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festivals, complications from leukemia treatment.
* Salem Jubran, 71, Israeli Arab poet and journalist.
* Ralph MacDonald, 67, American percussionist and songwriter.
* Donald Neilson, 75, English serial killer.
* Don Sharp, 89, Australian-born British film director (Hammer horror).
* Ronald Wolfe, 89, British sitcom writer (The Rag Trade, On the Buses), complications from a fall.

19
* George Athor, 49, South Sudanese rebel leader, shot.
* Luciano Magistrelli, 73, Italian Olympic footballer, heart attack. (Italian)
* Héctor Núñez, 75, Uruguayan footballer, after long illness. (Spanish)
* Horst-Eberhard Richter, 88, German psychoanalyst and social philosopher. (German)
* Ron Smith, 70, American radio host (WBAL), pancreatic cancer.

20
* Robert Ader, 79, American psychologist, co-founder of psychoneuroimmunology.
* Hana Andronikova, 44, Czech writer and playwright, cancer.
* Hugh Carless, 86, British diplomat and explorer.
* Clem DeRosa, 86, American jazz drummer, arranger, bandleader and music educator, director of the International Association for Jazz Education.
* Vasilis Dioskouridis, 70, Greek intellectual. (Greek)
* Jack Goldman, 90, American physicist, chief scientist at Xerox Corporation.
* Iván Heyn, 34, Argentine economist and politician.
* Khalifa Kambi, 56, Gambian politician, Deputy Minister of Agriculture (since 2010).
* Yoshimitsu Morita, 61, Japanese film director (The Family Game), liver failure.
* Tushar Ranganath, 37, Indian film director (Gulama), heart attack.
* John Rex, 86, South African-born British sociologist. (death reported on this date)
* Leopold Unger, 89, Polish journalist. (Polish)
* Kenchappa Varadaraj, 89, Indian Olympic footballer.
* Václav Zítek, 79, Czech opera singer.

21
* Francis Braganza, 89, Indian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Baroda (1987–1997).
* John Chamberlain, 84, American sculptor.
* P. K. Iyengar, 80, Indian nuclear scientist.
* Olavi Rokka, 86, Finnish Olympic modern pentathlete, bronze medalist (1952). (Finnish)
* Yevhen Rudakov, 69, Russian Olympic bronze medal-winning (1972) football goalkeeper. (Ukrainian)
* Robert Simons, 89, English cricketer (Hertfordshire).
* Roberto Szidon, 70, Brazilian classical pianist, heart attack. (Portuguese)
* Umanosuke Ueda, 71, Japanese professional wrestler and actor, respiratory failure. (Japanese)
* Jean-Pierre Urkia, 93, French-born Laotian Roman Catholic prelate, Vicar Apostolic of Paksé (1967–1975).

North Korea's Kim Jong Il Dead at 69

North Korea's long-time leader Kim Jong Il has died.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported Monday the 69-year-old reclusive leader died Saturday of a heart attack while on a train for one of his “field guidance” tours. The agency attributed his death to “physical and mental over-work.”

KCNA said his funeral will be held on December 28 in Pyongyang. A period of national mourning was declared from December 17 to 29.

Kim Jong Il came to power after his father, North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994. Reliable biographical information about Mr. Kim is scarce. He rarely appeared in public and his voice was seldom broadcast.

He may be best remembered for defying the international community and boosting North Korea's nuclear program, while millions of North Koreans were starving.

Late last year, Mr. Kim promoted his youngest son Kim Jong Un to the rank of four-star general, in what was seen as a bid to extend the world's only communist family dynasty to a third generation.

The KCNA on Monday urged people to follow Kim Jong Un, who is believed to be around 28 years old.

North Koreans expressed shock at the news of Mr. Kim's death, with many people crying openly in the streets.

Workers at an electric wire factory were seen in tears as they watched the announcement on state television.

Factory worker Jo Jae Sok said he could not believe the news. “Leader Kim Jong Il is always with us. I saw him on TV every day. We have worked hard for the modernization of the factory under difficult conditions, eagerly waiting for him to come to our factory again. I can't believe the news about his passing away.”

Another factory worker, Kim Ok Song said she had been waiting for Mr. Kim to visit the factory she worked in. “It is unbelievable that leader Kim Jong Il whom I have followed like my own father passed away. I don't know how to describe my grief. I have been looking forward to seeing him in my factory. I will change sorrow into strength and courage and remain faithful respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.”

Vaclav Havel Dies at Age 75

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright who led the peaceful revolution that toppled communism in the former Czechoslovakia, has died. He was 75.

A spokeswoman said Mr. Havel died in his sleep early Sunday at his weekend house in the northern Czech Republic with his wife and a nun at his side. A former chain smoker, he had a history of chronic respiratory problems that physicians traced back to his Cold War years in communist prisons.

Mr. Havel was his country's first democratically-elected president after the 1989 non-violent “Velvet Revolution” that ended four decades of communist repression. On taking office, he oversaw Czechoslovakia's transition to a free-market economy and democracy, as well as its peaceful 1993 breakup into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in a statement Sunday, praised Mr. Havel's “moral leadership,” saying he “lived with a spirit of hope.” He said the Czech leader's peaceful resistance “shook the foundations of an empire” and “exposed the emptiness of a repressive (communist) ideology.”

In Prague, where black flag flew over Prague Castle, the presidential seat, Czech citizens lighted candles at the monument to the Velvet Revolution.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hailed Mr. Havel as “a great European” who fought for freedom on the continent, while British Prime Minister David Cameron said all of Europe owes the former president a “profound debt” for bringing freedom and democracy to the continent.

Former Polish President Lech Walesa, who spurred the fall of communism in his homeland, said Vaclav Havel's voice will “be greatly missed” in Europe, “above all now when it is experiencing a great crisis.”

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, in a message posted on Twitter, called the Czech icon “a voice for freedom” and “one of the greatest Europeans of our age.”

Mr. Havel left office in 2003, just months before the Czech Republic and Slovakia joined the European Union. He was credited with laying the groundwork that brought the Czech Republic into the 27-nation bloc, and was president when the republic joined NATO in 1999. But he said his proudest presidential moment was the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact – the Moscow-led military alliance that lasted until 1991.

Mr. Havel first rose to prominence after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion that crushed the “Prague Spring” reforms of Alexander Dubcek and other liberally-minded communists in the former Czechoslovakia. His plays were then banned by hardliners installed by Moscow who sought to crush any traces of those reforms.

However, he continued to write a series of underground essays widely seen as some of the most damning critiques of what communism did to society and the individual in post-World War Two Europe.

Photo by Henryk Prykiel: Václav Havel, 1991.

Cape Verde's 'Barefoot Diva' Dies

Cesária Évora, the Cape Verdean singer known as the “Barefoot Diva” because she performed without shoes, has died at the age of 70.

The singer, who won international acclaim with her sultry voice and melancholy ballads of lost love, died Saturday in a hospital on her native island of Sao Vicente.

Évora retired in September because of health problems. She underwent open heart surgery last year.

Évora was the best-known performer of “morna,'' Cape Verde's national music.

Her 1995 album, Cesaria, was released in more than a dozen countries and brought the entertainer her first Grammy award nomination. She won a Grammy in the World Music category several years ago for her album, Voz D'Amor.

Photo by Bremond: Cesária Évora in concert, 14 November 2009, at the Rockhal of Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.

Provocative British-Born Author Christopher Hitchens Dead at 62

Provocative British-born American writer and intellectual Christopher Hitchens has died at the age of 62 following a long battle with cancer.

Vanity Fair magazine, where Hitchens worked as a columnist, said the sharp-witted commentator died late Thursday of pneumonia, a complication of the esophageal cancer he was diagnosed with in 2010.

Though Hitchens developed a high-profile in 2007 with his controversial international bestseller, “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything,” he spent the majority of his career as a war-time journalist, literary critic and prominent political commentator.

Hitchens did not fit into any easily definable political mold. After spending years as a correspondent for the left-leaning magazine The Nation, he went on to become a strong supporter of former Republican President George W. Bush and the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Hitchens was born to a nominally Christian family, but discovered later in life that his mother had deliberately hidden her Jewish heritage.

His combative disdain for organized religion and love for debates made him one of the world's most well-respected and most reviled religious skeptics.

A heavy smoker with a love for Scotch whisky, Hitchens was forced to postpone a national book tour after being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in June 2010.

Upon his death, Vanity Fair described him as an “incomparable critic masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant.”

Photo: Christopher Hitchens, 2007 by José Ramírez a.k.a. ensceptico.

Final Exits, 8-14 December 2011

Susan Gordon, as seen in The Five Pennies, 1959.

Obituaries for 8-14 December 2011

8
* Gilbert Adair, 66, Scottish author, film critic and journalist, brain haemorrhage.
* Robert Brown, 61, American politician, Georgia State Senator (1991–2011), suicide by gunshot. (body discovered on this date)
* Lewis Bush, 42, American football player (San Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs), apparent heart attack.
* Sir Zelman Cowen, 92, Australian constitutional lawyer and academic, 19th Governor-General of Australia (1977–1982).
* Vinko Cuzzi, 72, Croatian footballer. (Croatian)
* Ladislas de Hoyos, 72, French journalist and news anchor (TF1). (French).
* Nancy Hoyt, 56, American reality show contestant (The Amazing Race), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
* Gene Huff, 82, American politician, member of the Kentucky House of Representatives (1967–1971) and State Senator (1971–1994), lung disease.
* Giorgio Mariani, 65, Italian footballer. (Italian)
* Minoru Miki, 81, Japanese composer. (Japanese)
* Andrew Pataki, 84, American Eastern Catholic hierarch, Bishop of Parma for Ruthenian (1984–1995) and Passaic for Ruthenian (1995–2007).
* Joe Restic, 85, American NCAA and CFL football coach (Harvard Crimson, Hamilton Tiger-Cats).
* Nakdimon Rogel, 86, Israeli journalist and broadcaster, author of the Nakdi Report.
* Roman Simakov, 27, Russian boxer, injuries sustained during a fight.
* Dick Sims, 60, American keyboardist (Eric Clapton, Bob Seger).
* Dan Spears, 62, American musician (Willie Nelson and Family), exposure.
* Alan Styles, 75, British roadie (Pink Floyd), subject of the song "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast".

9
* Alf R. Bjercke, 90, Norwegian business magnate. (Norwegian)
* Davida Karol, 94, Israeli actress. (Hebrew)
* Len Phillips, 89, British footballer.
* Stanislaw Podemski, 82, Polish journalist . (Polish)
* Richard J. Rabbitt, 76, American politician, Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives (1973–1977), heart failure.
* Roy Tattersall, 89, British Test cricketer.
* Myra Taylor, 94, American jazz singer.

10
* Cary D. Allred, 64, American politician, member of the North Carolina Senate (1980–1984) and North Carolina House of Representatives (1994–2009).
* Jean Baucus, 94, American author, historian and arts patron, mother of Max Baucus.
* Hamilton Bobby, 44, Indian footballer.
* John Gower, 70, American politician, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly (1973–1979).
* Shinichi Ichikawa, 70, Japanese scriptwriter. (Japanese)
* Vida Jerman, 72, Croatian actress, lung cancer. (Croatian)
* Albert Overhauser, 86, American physicist.
* Panagiotis Sideris, 33, Greek handball player, heart attack. (Greek)
* Karryl Smith, American rapper (The Conscious Daughters).
* Sotia Tsotou, 69, Greek lyricist, cancer. (Greek)

11
* Ahmed Bahgat, 79, Egyptian writer and journalist.
* Rodolfo Bottino, 52, Brazilian actor, pulmonary embolism. (Portuguese)
* Trevor Christian, 69, Australian boxer, first Indigenous Australian to referee world title bout.
* Phillip Cottrell, 43, Scottish journalist (BBC Scotland, Radio New Zealand), assaulted.
* John Patrick Foley, 76, American Roman Catholic Cardinal and Grand Master Emeritus of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, leukemia and anemia.
* Mihnea Gheorghiu, 92, Romanian writer and filmmaker, natural causes. (Romanian)
* Susan Gordon, 62, American child actress (The Five Pennies, My Three Sons, The Twilight Zone), cancer.
* J. Lynn Helms, 86, American Marine Corps officer, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (1981–1984), cardiopulmonary failure and pneumonia.
* Hans Heinz Holz, 84, German Marxist philosopher. (German)
* Harold Hopkins, 67, Australian actor (Don's Party, Gallipoli, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities), mesothelioma.
* Ke Yan, 82, Chinese poet and writer.
* Ahmed İhsan Kırımlı, 91, Turkish doctor, politician, poet and philanthropist. (Turkish)
* Leonida Lari, 62, Moldovan-born Romanian writer and politician, member of the Supreme Soviet (1989–1991) and Romanian Parliament (1992–2008), breast cancer.
* Mario Miranda, 85, Indian cartoonist.

12
* John Atterberry, 40, American music industry executive (Death Row Records), shot.
* Sunday Bada, 42, Nigerian Olympic athlete.
* Predrag Ćeramilac, 67, Serbian actor, suicide. (Croatian)
* John Gardner, 94, British classical music composer.
* Alberto de Mendoza, 88, Argentine actor.
* Mălina Olinescu, 37, Romanian singer (Eurovision Song Contest 1998), suicide. (Romanian)
* Robert Peliza, 91, Gibraltarian politician, Chief Minister (1969–1972).
* Bert Schneider, 78, American film and television producer (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Monkees), natural causes.
* Will Townsend, 33, American video game producer, car crash.

13
* Juan Calderón, 75, Mexican journalist and announcer. (Spanish)
* Kabir Chowdhury, 88, Bangladeshi writer.
* Russell Hoban, 86, American writer.
* Park Tae Joon, 84, South Korean businessman, honorary chairman of POSCO, lung disease.
* Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, 69, German footballer. (German)
* Erica Wilson, 83, Scottish embroidery designer.

14
* Luigi Carpaneda, 86, Italian Olympic fencer. (Italian)
* Boris Chertok, 99, Polish-born Soviet and Russian rocket designer. (Russian)
* Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck, 75, German Olympic rower. (German)
* Thomas C. Kelly, 80, American Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Louisville (1981–2007).
* Mark Francis Schmitt, 88, American Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Marquette (1978–1992).
* Joe Simon, 98, American comic book writer (Captain America, Fighting American, Prez).
* Billie Jo Spears, 74, American country music singer ("Blanket on the Ground"), cancer.
* George Whitman, 98, American bookstore proprietor, complications of a stroke.

Final Exits, 1-7 December 2011

Harry Morgan (as Colonel Potter) in the TV show M*A*S*H, 1975. (Photo: CBS Television)

Obituaries for 1-7 December 2011

1
* Arthur Beetson, 66, Australian rugby league footballer, first Indigenous Australian to captain a national team in any sport, heart attack.
* Andrei Blaier, 78, Romanian film director and scenarist, after long illness. (Romanian)
* Ted Lapka, 91, American football player (Washington Redskins).
* François Lesage, 82, French embroidery designer.
* Bill McKinney, 80, American actor (Deliverance, The Outlaw Josey Wales), esophageal cancer.
* Louis Silverstein, 92, American artist and graphic designer.
* Bev Smith, 70, British actor and newsreader, heart attack.
* Alan Sues, 85, American comic (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In).
* Mamoru Uchiyama, 62, Japanese manga artist (The Ultraman).
* Hippolyte van den Bosch, 85, Belgian football player. (Dutch)
* Christa Wolf, 82, German writer.
* Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, 65, American psychoanalyst, biographer of Hannah Arendt, pulmonary embolism.

2
* Robert Lawrence Balzer, 99, American wine journalist.
* Leo Friedman, 92, American photographer.
* Laurent Fuahea, 84, Tongan-born Wallisian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Wallis et Futuna (1974–2005).
* Len Gendle, 90s, British football administrator (Tamworth F.C.).
* Chiyono Hasegawa, 115, Japanese supercentenarian, nation's oldest person.
* Pavle Jurina, 57, Croatian handball player and coach. (Croatian)
* Branimir Koštan, 32, Croatian disc jockey, cancer. (Croatian)
* Christopher Logue, 85, English poet.
* Artur Quaresma, 94, Portuguese footballer. (Portuguese)
* Patrick Sheridan, 89, American Roman Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of New York (1990–2001).
* Dugald Stermer, 74, American illustrator and art director (Ramparts), cardiac and respiratory failure.
* Bill Tapia, 103, American ukulelist.
* Howard Tate, 72, American soul singer.
* Al Vega, 90, American jazz pianist.

3
* Juan Carlos Adrianza, 28, Venezuelan actor and entertainer, road accident. (Spanish)
* Jalal Alamgir, 40, Bangladeshi academic, drowning.
* Dev Anand, 88, Indian actor (Ziddi), cardiac arrest.
* Louky Bersianik, 81, Canadian novelist. (French)
* Philip "Fatis" Burrell, 57, Jamaican record producer, stroke.
* Sabri Godo, 82, Albanian politician, writer and scriptwriter, founder and president of the Republican Party of Albania, lung cancer. (Albanian)
* Diana Gould, 85, British political critic.
* Sam Loxton, 90, Australian cricketer (The Invincibles), Australian rules footballer and politician, Victorian MLA for Prahran (1955–1979).
* Julia Marichal, 67, Mexican actress. (body found on this date)
* Larry Rickles, 41, American Emmy-award winning producer (Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project), pneumonia.
* Rob Schroeder, 85, American racing driver.

4
* Ambika Charan Choudhury, 81, Indian writer.
* Marion Dougherty, 88, American casting director (Lethal Weapon, Full Metal Jacket).
* Patricia C. Dunn, 58, American businesswoman, Chairman of Hewlett-Packard (2005–2006), ovarian cancer.
* Andrew Ali Aga Khan Embiricos, 25, American HIV activist, grandson of Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan, suicide. (body found on this date)
* Adam Hanuszkiewicz, 87, Polish actor and theatre director. (Polish)
* Matti Yrjänä Joensuu, 63, Finnish crime fiction writer. (Finnish)
* Besim Kabashi, 35, Kosovar-born German kickboxer. (German)
* Alamein Kopu, 68, New Zealand politician, MP (1996–1999).
* James S. Malosky, 82, American football coach (Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs), respiratory failure.
* Solange Pierre, 48, Dominican Republic human rights advocate, winner of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award (2006), heart attack.
* RJ Rosales, 37, Filipino-born Australian singer and actor.
* Sócrates, 57, Brazilian footballer, septic shock.
* Hubert Sumlin, 80, American blues guitarist, heart failure.
* Andrey Tverdokhlebov, 70, Soviet dissident. (Russian)

5
* Bruno Bianchi, 56, French cartoonist and animator (Inspector Gadget, Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats).
* Dan Biggers, 80, American actor (In the Heat of the Night, Glory).
* Michel Descombey, 81, French choreographer. (Spanish)
* Paul M. Doty, 91, American scientist.
* Tetsuzo Fuyushiba, 75, Japanese politician, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (2006–2008), acute pneumonia. (Japanese)
* Peter Gethin, 71, British Formula One driver (1970–1974).
* Jorge Maria Hourton Poisson, 85, French-born Chilean Roman Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of Temuco (1992–2001).
* Gennady Logofet, 69, Russian footballer. (Russian)
* Joe Lonnett, 84, American baseball player and coach.
* Pusuke, 26, Japanese dog, world's oldest known living dog at time of death, natural causes.
* Darrell K. Sweet, 77, American artist.
* Violetta Villas, 73, Belgian-born Polish singer.

6
* Paul Blair, 69, American magazine editor and tour guide.
* Brent Darby, 30, American basketball player (Ohio State University), blood clots.
* Dobie Gray, 71, American singer ("The 'In' Crowd", "Drift Away").
* Barbara Orbison, 61, German-born American record producer and music publisher, widow of Roy Orbison, pancreatic cancer.
* Paul Ramírez, 25, Venezuelan footballer, stroke. (Spanish)
* Lawrie Tierney, 52, Scottish footballer.

7
* Oscar Angeletti, 64, Argentine racing driver. (Spanish)
* Josip Barković, 94, Croatian writer. (Croatian)
* Pearse Cahill, 95, Irish aviation pioneer.
* Peter Croker, 89, English footballer.
* Don Duong, 54, Vietnamese-born American actor (We Were Soldiers), complications following post-stroke surgery.
* Nuno Viriato Tavares de Melo Egídio, 89, Portuguese general, Governor of Macau (1979–1981).
* Harry Morgan, 96, American actor (M*A*S*H, Dragnet).
* Gilberto Pinto, 82, Venezuelan playwright. (Spanish)
* Jerry Robinson, 89, American comic book artist (Batman) and reputed creator of The Joker.
* Fred Thompson, 19, American football player (Oregon State University).

Final Exits, 29-30 November 2011

Leka Zogu, Crown Prince of Albania

Obituaries for 29-30 November 2011

29
* Lev Bruni, 61, Russian journalist. (Russian)
* Annetto Despasquale, 73, Maltese Roman Catholic prelate, Titular Bishop of Aradi, Auxiliary Bishop of Malta (since 1998).
* Donatus Djagom, 92, Indonesian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Ende (1968–1996).
* Ramadan Khater, 48, Egyptian storyteller, actor and comedian.
* Guillermo O'Donnell, 75, Argentine political scientist. (Spanish)
* Mamoni Raisom Goswami, 69, Indian writer and academic, multiple organ failure.
* Alexandru Tocilescu, 65, Romanian film and theatre director, cardiac arrest. (Romanian)

30
* Shingo Araki, 72, Japanese animation artist and character designer. (French)
* J. Blackfoot, 65, American soul singer.
* Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, 72, Albanian royal and politician, pretender to the Albanian throne (since 1961).
* Kuldeep Manak, 62, Indian Punjabi language singer, pneumonia.
* Chester McGlockton, 42, American football player (Oakland Raiders), apparent heart attack.
* Zdeněk Miler, 90, Czech animator and illustrator, creator of The Mole.
* Carl Robie, 66, American swimmer, Olympic champion.
* Partap Sharma, 71, Indian playwright.
* Bill Waller, 85, American politician, Governor of Mississippi (1972–1976).

Final Exits, 22-28 November 2011

Ross MacManus recorded the Lennon/McCartney song "The Long And Winding Road" in 1970 under the name Day Costello.

Obituaries for 22-28 November 2011

22
* Svetlana Alliluyeva, 85, Soviet-born American defector and author, daughter of Joseph Stalin, colon cancer.
* Stan Case, 59, American radio anchor (CNN Radio), road accident.
* Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Hohenberg, 88, Luxembourgian princess. (Dutch)
* Irving Elman, 96, American playwright, television writer and producer, cardiopulmonary arrest.
* Ray Flockton, 81, Australian cricketer.
* Miguel González Avelar, 74, Mexican politician, Secretary of Public Education (1985–1988), heart and renal failure. (Spanish)
* Robert E. Holthus, 77, American racehorse trainer, heart attack.
* Carlos Jonguitud Barrios, 87, Mexican union leader and politician, Governor of San Luis Potosí (1979–1985). (Spanish)
* Sena Jurinac, 90, Bosnian-born Austrian opera singer.
* Georg Kreisler, 89, Austrian-born American cabarettist, satirist, composer and author.
* Bud Lewis, 103, American golfer, oldest living member of the Professional Golfers' Association of America, natural causes.
* Lynn Margulis, 73, American biologist and evolution theorist, stroke.
* Danielle Mitterrand, 87, French activist, widow of François Mitterrand, First Lady of the French Republic (1981–1995).
* Paul Motian, 80, American jazz drummer, myelodysplastic syndrome.
* Frank Pyke, 69, Australian footballer, sports scientist, academic and sports administrator.
* Hans Reichel, 62, German guitarist, inventor of the daxophone.
* Alberto Reynoso, 71, Filipino Olympic basketball player (1968).
* Kristian Schultze, 66, German musician. (German)
* Bison Smith, 38, American professional wrestler, heart complications.
* Himie Voxman, 99, American musician.

23
* Montserrat Figueras, 69, Spanish soprano.
* Oscar Griffin, Jr., 78, American journalist, winner of the 1963 Pulitzer Prize.
* Ralph E. Haines, Jr., 98, American general, Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1967–1968).
* Luis Fernando Jaramillo Correa, 76, Colombian politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1990–1991). (Spanish)
* Gerald Laing, 75, British pop artist and sculptor.
* Barry Llewellyn, 63, Jamaican musician, founding member of The Heptones.
* Christopher Ma, 61, American journalist, senior vice-president of The Washington Post, heart attack.
* Carlos Moorhead, 89, American politician, U.S. Representative from California (1973–1997), Alzheimer's disease.
* Henry Øberg, 80, Norwegian football referee. (Norwegian)
* Jim Rathmann, 83, American racing driver, winner of the 1960 Indianapolis 500.
* Joseph Sewall, 89, American politician, President of the Maine Senate (1975–1982).
* Rafiq Tağı, 61, Azerbaijani journalist, stabbed.
* Horacio Villafañe, 48, Argentine musician (Todos Tus Muertos). (Spanish)

24
* Maggie Daley, 68, American First Lady of Chicago (1989–2011), complications from breast cancer.
* Antonio Domingo Bussi, 85, Argentine general and politician, Governor of Tucumán Province, heart failure.
* Walter Doniger, 94, American film and television writer, director and producer, Parkinson's disease.
* Helen Forrester, 92, British-born Canadian writer.
* Ludwig Hirsch, 65, Austrian singer and actor, suicide by self-defenestration. (German)
* Rauf Khalid, Pakistani actor, writer, director and producer, road accident.
* Adrian Kohler, 53, Swiss businessman, CEO of Ricola, suicide. (German)
* Imants Kokars, 90, Latvian conductor. (Latvian)
* Mallojula Koteswara Rao, 53, Indian Maoist guerrilla leader, shot.
* Martin B. Lehmann, 48, Swiss politician, vice-president of the Zug cantonal parliament, suicide by gunshot.
* Humberto Medina, 69, Mexican Olympic footballer. (Spanish)
* Salvatore Montagna, 40, Canadian mobster, shot.
* Jeno Paulucci, 93, American businessman (Michelina's), pizza roll innovator.
* Anuruddha Ratwatte, 73, Sri Lankan politician and cabinet minister.
* David Seely, 4th Baron Mottistone, 91, British aristocrat, Lord Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight (1986–1995).
* Johnny Williams, 76, English footballer (Plymouth Argyle).

25
* Vasily Alekseyev, 69, Russian Olympic gold-medal winning weightlifter (1972 and 1976), heart failure.
* Leonid Borodin, 73, Russian novelist, journalist and Soviet dissident. (Russian)
* Don DeVito, 72, American record company executive and producer.
* Mihailo Đurić, 86, Serbian philosopher. (Serbian)
* John Edzerza, 63, Canadian politician, Yukon MLA for McIntyre-Takhini (since 2002), leukemia.
* Louis Hildebrandt, 93, American jockey.
* Karel Hubáček, 87, Czech architect, designer of the Ještěd Tower.
* Erling Lægreid, 72, Norwegian author and journalist. (Norwegian)
* Judy Lewis, 76, American actress (General Hospital, The Secret Storm), daughter of Clark Gable and Loretta Young, cancer.
* Ross MacManus, 84, English musician.
* Hoddy Mahon, 79, American college basketball coach (Seton Hall University).
* Frederik Meijer, 91, American businessman, creator of the hypermarket, Chairman of Meijer (1964–1990), stroke.
* Doug Moran, 86, Australian nursing home tycoon and philanthropist (Doug Moran National Portrait Prize).
* Yukio Nishimoto, 91, Japanese baseball player and manager, heart failure.
* Coco Robicheaux, 64, American blues musician and artist.
* Dane Searls, 23, Australian BMX rider, diving accident.
* Jean Casselman Wadds, 91, Canadian politician, MP for Grenville—Dundas (1958–1968); High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (1979–1983).
* Tom Wicker, 85, American journalist, heart attack.

26
* Charles Balogou, Togolese footballer, bus crash.
* Ed Harrington, 70, American-born Canadian football player (Toronto Argonauts), cancer.
* Ron Lyle, 70, American boxer, US Amateur Heavyweight Champion (1970), complications from stomach ailment.
* Iván Menczel, 69, Hungarian Olympic gold-medal winning (1968) footballer. (Hungarian)
* Al Novak, 80s, American martial artist, complications from road accident.
* C. Odumegwu Ojukwu, 78, Nigerian politician, Biafra rebel leader and President of Biafra (1967–1970), stroke.
* Roy Rees, 74, Welsh-born American soccer player and coach.
* Steve Robertson, 78, Scottish actor and lawyer, Rector of Aberdeen University.
* Arthur Schultz, 78, American politician, Mayor of Joliet, Illinois (1991–2011).

27
* Keef Hartley, 67, British musician, complications of surgery.
* Sultan Khan, 71, Indian musician, recipient of the 2010 Padma Bhushan, kidney failure.
* Vangelis Livadas, 91, Greek theater entrepreneur. (Greek)
* Nolan Luhn, 90, American football player.
* Lukrecija Mamić, 63, Croatian nun and missionary, murdered.
* Oscar Maron Filho, 56, Brazilian filmmaker and journalist, cardiac arrest.
* April Phumo, 71, South African football coach, cancer.
* Ken Russell, 84, British film director (Women in Love, Tommy), stroke.
* Gary Speed, 42, Welsh football player and manager, suicide by hanging.

28
* Aruwa Ameh, 20, Nigerian footballer (Bayelsa United).
* Vittorio De Seta, 88, Italian film director and screenwriter. (Italian)
* Thomas Kirwan, 78, American politician, member of the New York State Assembly (1995–2008; 2011).
* Lucio Magri, 79, Italian journalist and politician, assisted suicide. (Italian)
* Ante Marković, 87, Croatian politician, Prime Minister of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1989–1991).
* Patrice O'Neal, 41, American actor and comedian (Web Junk 20, The Opie and Anthony Show), complications from stroke.
* Thomas Roady, 62, American drummer (Ricky Skaggs).

Lana Peters, Stalin’s Only Daughter, Dies at 85

Josef Stalin with daughter Svetlana, 1935.

Lana Peters, the only daughter of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and a woman whose life reads like a classic Russian novel, has died at age 85 of cancer.

Born Svetlana Stalina, Peters led a privileged life in Soviet Russia. But she wrote that her father's treatment of her became brutal and tyrannical during World War Two — refusing to let her marry the men she chose and dictating what she should study in school.

She changed her name when her father died in 1953. When her Indian-born husband died in 1966 she brought his ashes to New Delhi. Evading KGB agents watching her every move, Peters went to the U.S. Embassy to announce her defection, soon arriving in New York.

Her arrival in the United States created a media sensation. She wrote a best-selling autobiography and publicly denounced the Soviet Union, calling her father a “moral monster.”

She remained, changed her name to Lana Peters, and spend the last 40 years of her life in mystery and obscurity, even moving back to the Soviet Union for a time.

Peters said she spend most of her life as a “political prisoner” of her father's name.

Former Biafra Leader Ojukwu Dies in Britain

A Nigerian colonel, politician and the leader of the former breakaway Republic of Biafra has died at the age of 78.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu died in a hospital in London after a long fight to regain health following a stroke.

The office of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan issued a statement Saturday saying Ojukwu will be remembered as one of the great personalities of his time who stood out as a fearless, erudite and charismatic leader.

But internationally, he is better remembered for the late 1960s images of starving Biafran children with emaciated faces and stick-like arms.

A son of one of Nigeria's richest men and educated in Britain, Ojukwu gained international prominence during the 1966 coup in Nigeria. An estimated 1 million people were killed during the ensuing civil war.

A coup against the Igbo people in the mainly Muslim north led him to proclaim an independent Republic of Biafra in eastern Nigeria in 1967. Despite international aid, the region long dependent on food from neighboring regions, suffered severe shortages during the next three years of continued fighting.

After being defeated in 1970, Ojukwu fled the country and spent the following 13 years in exile.

He returned to Nigeria after being pardoned in 1982 and subsequently ran in two presidential elections without success.

He is revered as a hero among his Igbo people who claim to suffer political isolation in the country.

Final Exits, 15-21 November 2011

John Neville

Obituaries for 15-21 November 2011

15
* Lev Borisov, 77, Russian actor, stroke. (Russian)
* Oba Chandler, 65, American murderer, lethal injection.
* Antonio Eceiza, 76, Spanish film director and screenwriter. (Spanish)
* Dulcie Gray, 95, English actress (Howards' Way) and novelist, bronchial pneumonia.
* Thomas Worrall Kent, 89, Canadian journalist and public servant, cardiac arrest.
* Moogy Klingman, 61, American rock keyboardist (Utopia) and songwriter, cancer.
* Karl Slover, 93, Slovak-born American actor (The Wizard of Oz).

16
* Ruslan Akhtakhanov, 58, Chechen poet and academic, shot.
* Jacobus Duivenvoorde, 83, Dutch-born Indonesian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Merauke (1972–2004).
* Djamel Keddou, 59, Algerian football player and manager (USM Alger). (French)
* Armando Morales, 84, Nicaraguan painter. (Spanish)
* René A. Morel, 79, French-born American violin luthier.
* James Fraser Mustard, 84, Canadian doctor and early childhood educator, cancer.
* Eddy Palchak, 71, Canadian ice hockey trainer and equipment manager.
* Elfie Pertramer, 86, German actress. (German)
* Irwin Schneiderman, 88, American lawyer and philanthropist.
* Maureen Swanson, 78, British actress.

17
* Olin Branstetter, 82, American politician, Oklahoma State Senator (1987–1991), plane crash.
* Kurt Budke, 50, American women's basketball coach (Oklahoma State University), plane crash.
* José de Aquino Pereira, 91, Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of São José do Rio Preto (1968–1997).
* Jack Elinson, 89, American television writer (Hogan's Heroes, The Real McCoys, The Facts of Life).
* Gary Garcia, 63, American musician (Buckner & Garcia).
* Enric Garriga i Trullols, 85, Spanish Catalan independentist and defender of Occitan Nation. (Catalan)
* Richard Kuh, 90, American lawyer.
* Ng Chiau-tong, 79, Taiwanese activist, chairman of the World United Formosans for Independence (1995–2011), surgical complications.
* Jorgen Petersen, 67, Danish handball player, brain tumour. (Danish)
* Pham Van Loc, 92, Vietnamese Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Kontum (1975–1995).
* Peter Reading, 65, English poet.

18
* Erik Gjems-Onstad, 89, Norwegian politician and resistance member. (Norwegian)
* Nisio Gomes, 59, Brazilian indigenous leader, shot.
* Mark Hall, 74, British animator, television producer (Danger Mouse, Count Duckula) and film producer (The Wind in the Willows), cancer.
* Walt Hazzard, 69, American basketball player (Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks).
* Yuri Karyakin, 81, Russian literary critic and historian. (Russian)
* David Langdon, 97, British cartoonist.
* Jones Mwewa, 38, Zambian footballer.
* Joshua Ndere, 30, Kenyan boxer, road accident.
* Gregory Papalexis, 86, American businessman (Marathon Enterprises, Inc.).
* Daniel Sada, 58, Mexican author and poet, kidney disease.

19
* Ömer Lütfi Akad, 95, Turkish film director.
* David Bolstad, 42, New Zealand champion woodchopper.
* Francis Cabot, 86, American gardener and horticulturist.
* Basil D'Oliveira, 80, South African-born English cricketer.
* Gordon S. Clinton, 91, American politician, 43rd Mayor of Seattle.
* Sonny Dixon, 87, American baseball player (Washington Senators, Philadelphia Athletics).
* Russell Garcia, 95, American-born New Zealand composer.
* Sanford Garelik, 93, American politician, President of the New York City Council (1970–1973).
* Ladi Geisler, 83, Czech musician. (German)
* Michael Hastings, 73, English playwright.
* Ira Michael Heyman, 81, American lawyer and administrator, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1994–2000).
* Don Hickman, 74, American newscaster (WICS).
* Jack Keeney, 89, American federal prosecutor.
* John Neville, 86, British-born Canadian actor (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The X-Files), Alzheimer's disease.
* Ronald E. Poelman, 83, American leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, age-related causes.
* Neoklis Sarris, 71, Greek professor and politician, cancer. (Greek)
* John Smale, 84, American businessman, CEO of Procter & Gamble.
* Ruth Stone, 96, American poet.
* Roy West, 70, Australian football player, lung cancer.

20
* Fabio Betancur Tirado, 73, Colombian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Manizales (1996–2010).
* Lasse Brandeby, 66, Swedish journalist, actor and television personality.
* Shelagh Delaney, 71, English playwright (A Taste of Honey) and screenwriter (Dance with a Stranger), cancer.
* Angie Dowds, 42, British fitness instructor and television personality (The Biggest Loser), suicide.
* Theodore J. Forstmann, 71, American financier (IMG, Topps, Gulfstream) and philanthropist, brain cancer.
* Alex Ibru, 66, Nigerian newspaper publisher and politician, Minister of Internal Affairs (1993–1995).
* Mario Martiradonna, 73, Italian footballer. (Italian)
* David Messas, 77, French rabbi.
* Viktor Modzolevsky, 68, Russian fencer, road accident. (Russian)
* Larry Munson, 89, American play-by-play radio announcer (Georgia Bulldogs), pneumonia.
* Javier Pradera, 77, Spanish anti-Franco activist, publisher, political analyst and journalist, founder of El País.
* Karl Aage Præst, 89, Danish football player. (Danish)
* Adriano Reys, 78, Brazilian actor, cancer. (Portuguese)
* Talaat Sadat, 64, Egyptian politician.
* Sergio Scaglietti, 91, Italian automotive designer.

21
* Syd Cain, 93, British film production designer.
* Albert D. Cohen, 97, Canadian businessman.
* Arie van Deursen, 80, Dutch historian. (Dutch)
* George Gallup, Jr., 81, American pollster, liver cancer.
* Greg Halman, 24, Dutch baseball player (Seattle Mariners), stabbed.
* Eli Hurvitz, 79, Israeli industrialist.
* John Peter Jukes, 88, English Roman Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark (1979–1998).
* Anne McCaffrey, 85, American science fiction writer (Dragonriders of Pern series), stroke.
* Hal Patterson, 79, American player of Canadian football (Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton Tiger-Cats).
* Paul Yandell, 76, American country music guitarist.

Former First Lady of France Danielle Mitterrand Dies

Danielle Mitterrand, a hero of the French Resistance and widow of former President of France Francois Mitterrand, has died at the age of 87.

Mitterrand died early Tuesday after being hospitalized in Paris for several days. She helped redefine the role of first lady, and was known as a humanitarian and activist for the underdog.

Mrs. Mitterrand lent her support to ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and Kurds. She was also a strong supporter of Cuba's Fidel Castro and started several charities to help the disadvantaged.

During World War II, she met her future husband as both worked for the French Resistance. She was awarded a prestigious medal for her work against the Nazi occupation of France.

Photo: Danielle Mitterrand in 2005 by Kenji-Baptiste OIKAWA.

Final Exits, 8-14 November 2011

Folk singer Jackie Leven a.k.a. Sir Vincent Lone (formerly of Doll By Doll) performs in the Musician Tent at the Summer Sundae 2005. Photo by Gareth Owen.

Obituaries for 8-14 November 2011

8
* Jimmy Adamson, 82, British football player and coach.
* Hal Bruno, 83, American journalist (ABC News).
* Clay Green Cambern, 56, American TV editor (Lost, The Sopranos, Cold Case), cardiac arrest.
* Gene Cantamessa, 80, American Academy Award-winning sound engineer (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial).
* Oscar Rolando Cantuarias Pastor, 80, Peruvian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Piura (1981–2006).
* Nosson Tzvi Finkel, 68, American Orthodox Jewish rabbi.
* Katherine Grant, 12th Countess of Dysart, 93, Scottish peeress.
* Heavy D, 44, Jamaican-born American rapper ("Now That We Found Love") and actor (The Cider House Rules, Life).
* Izabel Hoffmann, 17, Brazilian model, pulmonary embolism. [79] (Portuguese)
* Ricky Hui, 65, Hong Kong actor. (Chinese)
* Bil Keane, 89, American cartoonist (The Family Circus), heart failure.
* Valentin Kozmich Ivanov, 76, Russian football player and coach. (Russian)
* Ed Macauley, 83, American basketball player (St. Louis Hawks, Boston Celtics, Saint Louis Bombers).
* Jimmy Norman, 74, American rhythm and blues and jazz musician and songwriter.
* Herbert S. Okun, 80, American diplomat.
* Jacques Suprikyan, 71, Armenian footballer. (Russian)
* Lauri Sutela, 93, Finnish military officer, Chief of Defence (1974–1983). (Finnish)

9
* Abdoulkarim Abdrashitov, 30, Russian imam, Mufti of Mordovia (since 2011), car accident. (Russian)
* Shmuel Ben-Artzi, 96, Israeli writer, father in-law of Benjamin Netanyahu.
* Mary Ellen Cano, 32, American MMA fighter, shot.
* Bob Carney, 79, American basketball player (Minneapolis Lakers).
* Roger Christian, 75, American Olympic gold medal-winning (1960) ice hockey player.
* Renée Franke, 83, German pop singer. (German)
* Har Gobind Khorana, 89, Indian-born American biochemist, Nobel laureate (1968), natural causes.
* Benny McCoy, 96, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Athletics).
* Ézio Leal Moraes Filho, 45, Brazilian football player. (Portuguese)
* Dani Wadada Nabudere, 79, Ugandan academic.
* Jean-Paul Randriamanana, 61, Malagasy Roman Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of Antananarivo (since 1999).
* Thomas Shanahan, 54, American politician, alderman of Springfield, Illinois.
* Wilbur South, 28, American MMA fighter, suicide by gunshot.
* Terry Willers, 76, Irish cartoonist.

10
* Peter J. Biondi, 69, American politician, member of the New Jersey General Assembly (since 1998), cancer.
* David Boyd, 87, Australian artist.
* Manuel Carbonell, 93, Cuban-born American sculptor.
* Ana Grepo, 36, Croatian model, carbon monoxide asphyxiation. (Croatian)
* Barbara Grier, 78, American publisher (Naiad Press) and writer, cancer.
* Ivan Martin Jirous, 67, Czech poet and dissident.
* Alan Keen, 73, British politician, MP for Feltham and Heston (since 1992), cancer.
* Killer Karl Kox, 80, American professional wrestler.
* Petar Kralj, 70, Serbian actor. (Serbian)
* Andy Tielman, 75, Dutch Indorock musician.
* Adrián Yospe, 41, Argentine actor, cancer. (Spanish)

11
* William Aramony, 84, American charity executive.
* Francisco Blake Mora, 45, Mexican politician, Secretary of the Interior (since 2010), helicopter crash.
* Domenico Tarcisio Cortese, 80, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea (1979–2007).
* Lynn Deerfield, 61, American actress (Guiding Light).
* John Francis Donoghue, 83, American Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Atlanta (1993–2004), after short illness.
* Emory Folmar, 81, American politician, Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama (1977–1999), after long illness.
* Michael Garrick, 78, English jazz pianist and composer.
* Fridtjof Frank Gundersen, 77, Norwegian jurist and politician. (Norwegian)
* Choiseul Henriquez, 51, Haitian politician.
* Charlie Lea, 54, French-born American baseball player (Montreal Expos).
* Bernd Methe, 47, German handball referee, traffic accident.
* Reiner Methe, 47, German handball referee, traffic accident.
* David Myers, 73, American politician, Oklahoma State Senator (since 2002), pneumonia.
* Nick Strincevich, 96, American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Braves).

12
* Gavin Bornholdt, 63, New Zealand Olympic sailor.
* Doyle Bramhall, 62, American blues musician, heart failure.
* Alun Evans, 69, Welsh football administrator, General Secretary of the Football Association of Wales (1982–1995), after long illness.
* Zbigniew Jaworowski, 84, Polish physicist.
* Evelyn Lauder, 75, Austrian-born American philanthropist (The Breast Cancer Research Foundation), creator of pink ribbon symbol, complications from ovarian cancer.
* Julius C. Michaelson, 89, American politician, Rhode Island Attorney General (1975–1979) and State Senator (1962–1974).
* Hasan Moghaddam, Iranian general, commander in the Revolutionary Guard, explosion.
* Peter Roebuck, 55, British-Australian cricketer and columnist, suicide by defenestration.
* Jim Sullivan, 43, Canadian curler, world junior champion (1988).

13
* Bobsam Elejiko, 30, Nigerian footballer, traumatic aortic rupture. (Dutch)
* Guido Falaschi, 22, Argentine racing driver, racing accident.
* Esperanza Pérez Labrador, 89, Cuban-born Argentine human rights activist (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo). (Spanish)
* Jamie Pierre, 38, American professional skier, avalanche.
* Artemio Lomboy Rillera, 69, Philippine Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Bangued (1993–2005) and San Fernando de La Union (since 2005).
* Diego Rivas, Mexican singer, shot.
* Solly Tyibilika, 32, South African rugby player, shot.

14
* Franz Josef Degenhardt, 79, German poet, satirist, novelist and folk singer. (German)
* Richard Douthwaite, 69, British economist and ecologist.
* Alf Fields, 92, English footballer (Arsenal F.C.).
* Maurice-Adolphe Gaidon, 83, French Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Cahors (1987–2004).
* Brikt Jensen, 83, Norwegian literary critic and publisher. (Norwegian)
* Laura Kennedy, American musician (Bush Tetras), liver disease.
* Jackie Leven, 61, Scottish musician, lung cancer.
* Cargill MacMillan, Jr., 84, American billionaire (Cargill family), natural causes.
* Ilya Zhitomirskiy, 22, Russian-born American Internet entrepreneur, co-founder of Diaspora social network site, apparent suicide.

Creator of Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness Dies

The American woman who helped create the Pink Ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness has died.

Evelyn Lauder was the daughter-in-law of Estee Lauder, who gave the name to the well-known cosmetics company. Evelyn Lauder died of ovarian cancer in New York City on Saturday. She was 75.

In 1992, she and a friend created the small pink bows to make women aware of the dangers of breast cancer. She had developed breast cancer four years earlier, but had successfully fought it. The bows have since become a worldwide symbol of the breast cancer fight.

The wife of Leonard Lauder, president of Estee Lauder Companies, she served as vice president and was instrumental in creating products that helped turn Estee Lauder into a leader of global cosmetic beauty. She and her husband financed the initial distribution of the pink bows to remind women of the importance of getting breast exams.

Evelyn Lauder was born in 1938 in Vienna, which she fled with her parents after Hitler's annexation of Austria, eventually settling in New York City.

The Pink Ribbon campaign has led to the congressional designation in the United States of October as Breast Cancer Awareness month. Lauder also started the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which has raised more than $330 million.

Her mother-in-law, Estee Lauder, died in 2004 at the age of 97.

Final Exits, 1-7 November 2011

Cynthia Myers (born 12 September 1950, in Toledo, Ohio), an American model and actress. Photo by Cynthia Myers.

Obituaries for 1-7 November 2011

1
* Gumaa Al-Shawan, 74, Egyptian intelligence agent.
* Cahit Aral, 84, Turkish engineer and politician, Minister of Industry and Commerce (1983–1987). (Turkish)
* Heinz Ludwig Arnold, 71, German journalist. (German)
* Karl Duschek, 64, German graphic designer, after short illness. (German)
* Fanny Edelman, 100, Argentine politician, President of the PCA.
* Viktor Farkas, 66, Austrian journalist and author, heart disease. (German)
* Sam Fink, 95, American calligrapher.
* Richard Gordon, 85, British horror film producer.
* André Hodeir, 90, French author, jazz arranger and composer. (French)
* Chrysanthos Kyprianou, 85, Cypriot author and folklorist. (Greek)
* Christiane Legrand, 81, French jazz singer.
* Sergio Montiel, 84, Argentine politician, Governor of Entre Ríos (1983–1987; 1999–2003). (Spanish)
* Dorothy Howell Rodham, 92, American homemaker, mother of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
* Gaston Rombauts, 81, Belgian television personality, cancer. (Dutch)
* Héctor Rueda Hernández, 90, Colombian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Medellín (1991–1997).
* Seppo Sanaksenaho, 73, Finnish politician, Mayor of Vaasa (1997–2001). (Finnish)
* Katherine Siva Saubel, 91, American Cahuilla tribal leader and activist, one of the last speakers of the Cahuilla language.
* Robert A. Scalapino, 92, American political scientist.
* Kostas Tziantzis, 63, Greek politician. (Greek)
* Ricardo Watty Urquidi, 73, American-born Mexican Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Tepic (since 2008), pancreatic cancer.

2
* Stan Bergstein, 87, American harness racing executive.
* Sickan Carlsson, 96, Swedish actress and singer. (Swedish)
* Rijk de Gooyer, 85, Dutch actor, pancreatic cancer. (Dutch)
* Ricardo Guzmán Romero, Mexican politician, Mayor of La Piedad, shot. (Spanish)
* Ilmar Kullam, 89, Estonian Olympic silver medal-winning (1952) basketball player. (Estonian)
* Edward Lenkiewicz, 85, Polish professor. (Polish)
* Eugene Maslov, 66, Russian billiards coach. (Russian)
* Yoko Matsuoka McClain, 87, Japanese professor (University of Oregon), grand-daughter of Natsume Sōseki, cerebral haemorrhage. (Japanese)
* Sid Melton, 94, American character actor (The Golden Girls, Green Acres, The Danny Thomas Show), pneumonia.
* John Opel, 86, American computer businessman, president and CEO of IBM.
* Papa Bue, 81, Danish trombonist and bandleader.
* Boots Plata, 67, Filipino film director, cancer.
* Bruno Rubeo, 65, Italian production designer, pneumonia.
* Nikolay Saksonov, 88, Russian world champion weightlifter, Olympic silver medalist (1952). (Russian)
* Angelos Skordilis, 52, Greek rock musician. (Greek)
* Leonard Stone, 87, American actor (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory), cancer.
* Árpád Szűcs, 78, Hungarian painter and restorer. (Hungarian)
* Akihiro Takahashi, 80, Japanese government official. (Japanese)
* Lucy Tejada, 91, Colombian painter. (Spanish)
* Richárd Weninger, 77, Hungarian composer and harpist. (Hungarian)

3
* Matty Alou, 72, Dominican Republic-born American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals), diabetes.
* Günther Bahr, 67, Austrian radio host. (German)
* Rosángela Balbó, 70, Italian actress, lung cancer. (Spanish)
* Bob Forsch, 61, American baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals), aneurysm.
* H. G. Francis, 75, German science fiction author. (German)
* Árpád Kisgyörgy, 80, Hungarian neurosurgeon. (Hungarian)
* Peeter Kreitzberg, 62, Estonian politician, Minister of Culture and Education (1995).
* Justo Oscar Laguna, 82, Argentinian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Morón (1980–2004).
* Ivar Nørgaard, 89, Danish politician, negotiated Denmark's entry to the European Community. (Danish)
* Morris Philipson, 85, American book publisher and novelist.
* Timothy Raison, 82, British politician, Member of Parliament for Aylesbury (1970–1992).
* Cory Smoot, 34, American heavy metal guitarist (Gwar).
* Ana Štefok, 72, Croatian pop singer.
* Ottokar Uhl, 80, Austrian architect, after long illness. (German)
* Károly Vissy, 77, Hungarian meteorologist. (Hungarian)
* John Young, 80, Scottish politician, MSP for West of Scotland (1999–2003).

4
* Alfonso Cano, 63, Colombian guerrilla leader (FARC), shot.
* Emmanuel de Bethune, 82, Belgian politician, Mayor of Kortrijk (1987–1989, 1995–2000), after long illness. (Dutch)
* Arnold Green, 91, Estonian politician, President of the Estonian Olympic Committee (1989–1997). (Estonian)
* John Randolph Hearst, Jr., 77, American business executive (Hearst Corporation).
* Hans-Joachim Kleine, 79, German businessman, after long illness. (German)
* Cynthia Myers, 61, American model and actress. (death announced on this date)
* Nancy Monti Penkala, 93, Croatian socialite. (Croatian)
* Norman Foster Ramsey, Jr., 96, American physicist, Nobel Laureate (1989).
* Andy Rooney, 92, American journalist, 60 Minutes correspondent (1978–2011), surgical complications.
* Theadora Van Runkle, 83, American costume designer.
* Pierre Vinken, 83, Dutch publisher. (Dutch)
* Sarah Watt, 53, Australian film director, cancer.
* Dieudonné Yougbaré, 94, Burkinabé Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Koupéla (1956–1995).
* Tadeusz Walasek, 75, Polish Olympic silver (1960) and bronze (1964) medal-winning boxer. (Polish)

5
* Mario Roberto Álvarez, 97, Argentine architect. (Spanish)
* George Ansbro, 96, American radio announcer.
* Luigi Belloli, 88, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of the Anagni-Alatri (1987–1999).
* Loulou de la Falaise, 63, French fashion muse and designer (Yves Saint-Laurent).
* Bhupen Hazarika, 85, Indian singer.
* Takeo Nishioka, 75, Japanese politician, Minister of Education (1988–1989) and Speaker of the House of Councillors (since 2010), pneumonia.
* Damaskinos Papandreou, 75, Greek-born Turkish Orthodox hierarch, Metropolitan of Hadrianopolis (since 2003). (Greek)
* Paul Schulmeister, 69, Austrian journalist. (German)
* Yuvan Shestalov, 74, Russian Mansi language writer. (Russian)
* Branko Turčić, 76, Croatian journalist and writer. (Croatian)

6
* Géza Alföldy, 76, Hungarian historian. (Hungarian)
* Gordon Beck, 75, British jazz pianist and composer.
* Isaac Chocrón, 81, Venezuelan playwright. (Spanish)
* Margaret Field, 89, American actress (The Man from Planet X, Captive Women), mother of Sally Field, cancer.
* Philip Gould, Baron Gould of Brookwood, 61, British advertising executive and political adviser, cancer.
* Mel Hancock, 82, American politician, U.S. Representative from Missouri (1989–1997).
* Hickstead, 15, Dutch-born Canadian show jumping horse, Olympic champion (2008).
* Joe Holck, 85, American martial artist, Danzan-ryū professor, co-founder of Kajukenbo.
* Hal Kanter, 92, American screenwriter, director and producer (Julia), complications from pneumonia.
* Mito Loeffler, 50, French gypsy jazz guitarist. (German)
* Jim McNeill, 32, American freestyle motocross rider, crash during practice.
* Allan Peachey, 62, New Zealand politician, Member of Parliament for Tamaki (since 2005).

7
* Joe Frazier, 67, American boxer, World Heavyweight Champion (1970–1973), liver cancer.
* Jörg-Dietrich Hoppe, 71, German physician, president of the German Medical Association. [11] (German)
* Lisbeth Movin, 94, Danish actress. (Danish)
* Georgy Movsesyan, 66, Russian composer, heart attack. (Russian)
* Dov Schwartzman, 90, American-born Israeli Haredi rabbi.
* Tomás Segovia, 84, Spanish poet, cancer. (Spanish)
* F. Springer, 79, Dutch writer.
* Takanosato Toshihide, 59, Japanese sumo wrestler.

Boxing Icon 'Smokin' Joe Frazier Dead at 67

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier, who was known for his personal and professional battles with Muhammad Ali, has died after a brief fight with cancer at the age of 67.

The youngest of 12 children, Frazier was born in 1944 into a working-class family on a farm in the racially-segregated southeastern U.S. town of Beaufort, (pron: BYOO'- fert) South Carolina. Frazier dreamed of becoming a prize fighter from an early age, watching boxing matches on his family's black-and-white television.

After fighting as an amateur for several years, Frazier won a gold medal for the United States at the 1964 Olympic Games. But “Smokin' Joe” Frazier really made his name in the 1970s during his epic rivalry with boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Frazier became the first man to beat Ali, winning the heavyweight title in 1971 in a dramatic, 15-round unanimous decision at New York's Madison Square Garden. Dubbed the “fight of the century,” an estimated 300 million people worldwide viewed the match, which left both men hospitalized.

After Ali responded with a 12-round victory in 1974, the two men met in the Philippines for the famed “Thrilla in Manila,” considered to be one of the most famous sporting events in history. After battering each other for 14 rounds, Frazier was forcibly held back by his trainer after nearly being blinded by Ali's punches. Ali later said the match was the “closest thing to dying” that he had ever experienced.

The no-nonsense Frazier was often overshadowed by Ali's more aggressive and charismatic personality. Frazier resented being verbally attacked by Ali, who referred to him as a “gorilla” and accused Frazier of being too accommodating to the white-dominated society.

The two men remained bitter enemies for decades. But in later years, Frazier came to forgive Ali, saying he felt no bitterness against him for his attacks outside the ring. Ali also later apologized, saying the insults were only meant to promote the fights.

Ali said in a statement late Monday that “the world has lost a great champion,” and that he will always remember Joe with “respect and admiration.”

Frazier's aggressiveness, close-range style and devastating left hook compensated for his relative small size. He weighed just 93 kilograms – considered small for a heavyweight boxer.

Frazier retired in 1976 with a record of 32 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw.

The boxing icon's family said late Monday that he died in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia – one month after being diagnosed with an advanced form of liver cancer.

Photo: The New York Daily News editor-in-chief Kevin Convey (on the right) presented Joe Frazier (center) with the Daily News Front Page Award in 2011. Photo by Akira Kouchiyama / ToonariPost – A News Mash Up.

Boxing Heavyweight Joe Frazier Dead at 67

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier has died after a brief fight with cancer at the age of 67.

Frazier – who was born in a small southeastern U.S. town – was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer last month. He was known for his epic fights with boxing legend Muhammad Ali in the 1970s.

He was the first man to beat Ali, knocking him down and taking a decision in the so-called “Fight of the Century” in 1971.

Frazier would go on to lose two more fights to Ali, including the famed 1975 “Thrilla in Manila” in the Philippines.

He won a gold medal for the United States at the 1964 Olympic Games before enjoying a successful pro career.

Frazier retired in 1976 with a record of 32 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw.

Photo: Joe Frazier was awarded the Order of the Palmetto in Beaufort, South Carolina, United States. (Photo by Akira Kouchiyama / TheDigitel Beaufort)

Final Exits, 29-31 October 2011

The English Disc Jockey, Jimmy Savile, as a host of "Top of The Pops" in 1964. Photo courtesy of the BBC.

Obituaries for 29-31 October 2011

29
* Axel Axgil, 96, Danish gay rights activist.
* Robert Lamoureux, 91, French comedian and film director. (French)
* Sakhat Muradov, 79, Russian-born Turkmen politician, Chairman of the Assembly of Turkmenistan (1992–2001). (Russian)
* Ram Revilla, 22, Filipino actor, shot and stabbed.
* Sir Jimmy Savile, 84, British disc jockey, television presenter (Top of the Pops, Jim'll Fix It) and charity fundraiser.
* K. Suppu, 70, Indian politician.
* Walter Vidarte, 80, Uruguayan actor. (Spanish)
* Tom Watkins, 74, American football player (Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions), after long illness.
* Mano Wijeyeratne, 54, Sri Lankan politician.

30
* Serge Aubry, 69, Canadian ice hockey player (Quebec Nordiques), diabetes. (French)
* Bob Barry, Sr., 80, American sports commentator.
* T. M. Jacob, 61, Indian politician, member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
* Tom Keith, 64, American radio personality (A Prairie Home Companion).
* Phyllis Love, 85, American actress (Friendly Persuasion, The Young Doctors), Alzheimer's disease.
* Giles McCrary, 91, American art collector and museum owner.
* Jiří Winter Neprakta, 87, Czech cartoonist. (Czech)
* Richard Walls, 74, New Zealand politician and businessman, MP for Dunedin North (1975–1978) and Mayor of Dunedin (1989–1995).
* Abbas-Ali Amid Zanjani, 74, Iranian cleric and politician, President of Tehran University (2005–2008), heart failure.

31
* Flórián Albert, Sr., 70, Hungarian footballer, European Footballer of the Year (1967).
* Alberto Anchart, 80, Argentine actor (Venga a bailar el rock), cancer. (Spanish)
* Liz Anderson, 81, American country music singer-songwriter, mother of Lynn Anderson, complications from heart and lung disease.
* Gilbert Cates, 77, American film director and producer (Academy Awards Telecast, Oh, God! Book II).
* James Forrester, 74, American physician and politician, North Carolina State Senator (1990–2011).
* Alfred Hilbe, 83, Liechtenstein politician, Prime Minister (1970–1974). (German)
* Len Killeen, 72, South African rugby league player.
* Jonas Kubilius, 90, Lithuanian mathematician. (Russian)
* Bořivoj Navrátil, 78, Czech actor. (Czech)
* José Reyez Meza, 86, Mexican muralist, stomach cancer. (Spanish)
* Ali Saibou, 71, Nigerien politician, President (1987–1993).

Final Exits, 22-28 October 2011

Jiří Gruša, Czech writer and politician, at the Book Fair in Ostrava, Czech Republic, 17 June 2011. Photo courtesy of Packa.

Obituaries for 22-28 October 2011

22
* Jan Boye, 49, Danish politician, complications from brain hemorrhage. (Danish)
* Antonio Cassese, 74, Italian international law expert, Yugoslavian war crimes judge, cancer.
* Peter Goldie, 64, British philosopher.
* Barbara König, 86, German writer. (German)
* Cathal O'Shannon, 83, Irish journalist and television presenter.
* Robert Pierpoint, 86, American broadcast journalist, complications from surgery.
* Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, 83, Saudi royal, Minister of Defense and Aviation (since 1962) and Crown Prince (since 2005).
* Roy Smalley, Jr., 85, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies).
* Ed Thompson, 66, American politician, Mayor of Tomah, Wisconsin (2008–2010), and gubernatorial candidate, pancreatic cancer.

23
* Nusrat Bhutto, 82, Iranian-born Pakistani First Lady, widow of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and mother of Benazir Bhutto.
* Amílcar Brusa, 89, Argentine boxing trainer, natural causes.
* Joseph Dao, 75, Burkinabé-born Malian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Kayes (1978–2011).
* Oscar Stanley Dawson, 87, Indian admiral, Chief of the Naval Staff (1982–1984), brain haemorrhage.
* Herbert A. Hauptman, 94, American Nobel Prize-winning chemist (1985).
* Florence Parry Heide, 92, American children's author.
* Sir Frank Holmes, 87, New Zealand economist and government advisor.
* Gene Kurtz, 69, American bassist and songwriter ("Treat Her Right").
* William Franklin Lee III, 82, American music educator, Dean of University of Miami School of Music (1964–1982).
* Bronislovas Lubys, 73, Lithuanian entrepreneur and politician, Prime Minister of Lithuania (1992–1993), heart attack. (Lithuanian)
* John McCarthy, 84, American computer scientist, creator of LISP and the term AI, heart disease.
* Antoine Montant, 30, French extreme skier, BASE jumping accident.
* Henk Pleket, 74, Dutch singer. (Dutch)
* Amnon Salomon, 71, Israeli cinematographer.
* Marco Simoncelli, 24, Italian motorcycle racer, race crash.

24
* Margit Brandt, 66, Danish fashion designer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. (Danish)
* Robert Bropho, 81, Australian indigenous rights activist and convicted criminal, natural causes.
* Liviu Ciulei, 88, Romanian actor, writer and director, after long illness.
* Kjell Johansson, 65, Swedish table tennis player.
* Morio Kita, 84, Japanese novelist, essayist and psychiatrist.
* Sarantis Michalopoulos, 72, Greek journalist and news anchorman. (Greek)
* Alan Morgan, 71, British Anglican prelate, Bishop of Sherwood (1989–2004).
* Peter Rhodes, 90, British football referee, Parkinson's disease. (death announced on this date)
* Crescênzio Rinaldini, 85, Italian-born Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Araçuaí (1982–2001).
* Kirtanananda Swami, 74, American excommunicated Hare Krishna leader and convicted felon, kidney failure.
* Oleh Vitovych, 44, Ukrainian politician, MP (1994–1998) and Leader of UNA-UNSO (1994–1999). (Ukrainian)
* Bruno Weber, 80, Swiss artist and architect. (German)

25
* Leonidas Andrianopoulos, 100, Greek footballer (Olympiacos F.C.). (Greek)
* Perkins Bass, 99, American politician, U.S. Representative from New Hampshire (1955–1963).
* Bert Cueto, 74, Cuban baseball player (Minnesota Twins).
* Héctor López, 44, Mexican boxer, Olympic silver medal-winner (1984), heart attack. (Spanish)
* Tom McNeeley, 75, American boxer.
* Howard Wolpe, 71, American politician, U.S. Representative from Michigan (1979–1993).
* Norrie Woodhall, 105, British stage actress.

26
* Salvador Bernal, 66, Filipino designer, National Artist of the Philippines.
* Daniel Burke, 82, American television executive, President of ABC (1986–1994), complications of diabetes.
* Dave Cole, 81, American baseball player (Braves, Cubs, Phillies).
* Yaropolk Lapshyn, 91, Ukrainian-born Russian film director, long illness. (Russian)
* Janko Messner, 89, Austrian writer, pulmonary infarction. (German)
* William A. Niskanen, 78, American economist, member of the Council of Economic Advisors (1981–1985), chairman of the Cato Institute (1985–2008).

27
* Sergei Govorukhin, 50, Ukrainian-born Russian film director, brain hemorrhage. (Russian)
* James Hillman, 85, American psychologist, proponent of archetypal psychology.
* Ron Holmes, 48, American football player (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos).
* Sirazhudin Israfilov, 57, Russian Islamic leader, shot. (Russian)
* Eduard Kojnok, 78, Slovak Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Rožňava (1990–2008). (Slovakian)
* Robert Pritzker, 85, American billionaire industrialist, Parkinson's disease.

28
* Ricky Adams, 52, American baseball player (California Angels), cancer.
* Campbell Christie, 74, Scottish trade unionist.
* Willy De Clercq, 84, Belgian politician. (Dutch)
* Jiří Gruša, 72, Czech dissident, diplomat and writer. (German)
* Bernardo Jablonski, 59, Brazilian actor, theatre director and writer. (Portuguese)
* Roger Kerr, 66, New Zealand public policy and business leader, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, metastatic melanoma.

Final Exits, 15-21 October 2011

Pete Rugolo, circa December 1946. (Photograph by William P. Gottlieb, courtesy of United States Library of Congress's Music Division)

Obituaries for 15-21 October 2011

15
* Betty Driver, 91, British singer and actress (Coronation Street), pneumonia.
* Sir Donald Dunstan, 88, Australian military officer, Governor of South Australia (1982–1991).
* Pierre Mamboundou, 65, Gabonese politician, leader of the Union of the Gabonese People (since 1989), heart attack.
* Matthew G. Martínez, 82, American politician, U.S. Representative from California (1982–2001).
* Earl McRae, 69, Canadian journalist (Ottawa Sun), apparent heart attack.
* Sue Mengers, 79, American talent agent, pneumonia
* Franko Strmotić, 67, Croatian actor. (Croatian)

16
* Henry Bathurst, 8th Earl Bathurst, 84, British aristocrat and politician.
* Elouise Cobell, 65, American Native American rights activist.
* Miguel Ángel Granados Chapa, 70, Mexican journalist.
* Rick Huseman, 38, American off-road racer, plane crash.
* Pete Rugolo, 95, Italian-born American film and television composer (Kiss Me Kate, The Fugitive).
* Henning Sjöström, 89, Swedish defense attorney, long illness. (Swedish)
* Elisabeth Tankeu, 67, Cameroonian politician, Minister for Planning and Regional Development (1988–1992).
* Dan Wheldon, 33, British IndyCar driver, racing accident.
* Don Williams, 80, American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Athletics).

17
* Barney Danson, 90, Canadian politician, MP for York North (1968–1979), Minister of National Defence (1976–1979).
* Manfred Gerlach, 83, German politician, last Chairman of the State Council of East Germany (1989–1990).
* Poul Glargaard, 69, Danish actor. (Danish)
* Osvaldo Guidi, 47, Argentine actor, suicide by hanging. (Spanish)
* Carl Lindner, Jr., 92, American businessman (United Dairy Farmers, Cincinnati Reds), cardiac arrest.
* Elaine Nile, 75, Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (1988–2002), cancer.
* Piri Thomas, 83, American writer (Down These Mean Streets) and poet, pneumonia.

18
* Bob Brunning, 68, British blues musician (Fleetwood Mac), heart attack.
* George Chaloupka, 79, Czech-born Australian historian of indigenous art.
* Mofya Chisgena, 28, Zambian pageant winner, complications from childbirth.
* Ramaz Chkhikvadze, 83, Georgian actor, People's Artist of the USSR, long illness.
* Norman Corwin, 101, American radio writer, director and producer.
* Paul Everac, 87, Romanian writer, cancer. (Romanian)
* Tommy Grant, 76, Canadian football player (Hamilton Tiger-Cats).
* Kent Hull, 50, American football player (Buffalo Bills), liver disease.
* Friedrich Kittler, 68, German literary scholar and media theorist. (German)
* Merritt Ranew, 73, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs)
* Lee Soo-Chul, 45, South Korean football manager, suicide.
* Michael Staikos, 65, Greek-born Austrian Orthodox hierarch, Metropolitan of Austria (since 1991). (German)
* Jacques Thuillier, 83, French art historian. (French)
* Andrea Zanzotto, 90, Italian poet. (Italian)

19
* Édison Chará, 31, Colombian footballer.
* Earl Gilliam, 81, American blues pianist, lung disease.
* Ken Meyerson, 47, American tennis agent.
* Bohdan Osadchuk, 91, Ukrainian historian and journalist. (Polish)
* Hollis E. Roberts, 68, American politician, Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (1978–1997).
* Keith Williams, 82, Australian property developer (Hamilton Island, Sea World), stroke.

20
* John Bosco Manat Chuabsamai, 75, Thai Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Ratchaburi (1985–2003).
* Barry Feinstein, 80, American photographer and photo journalist.
* Moatassem Gaddafi 34, Libyan Army officer, fifth son of Muammar Gaddafi, shot.
* Muammar Gaddafi, 69, Libyan leader (1969–2011), shot.
* Gale Gillingham, 67, American football player (Green Bay Packers).
* Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, 59, Libyan defence minister, shot.
* Dennis Hall, 54, American cinematographer (Franklin & Bash, Burn Notice), heart attack.
* Robert Hunter, 36, Australian rapper, cancer.
* Sue Lloyd, 72, British actress (The Ipcress File, Crossroads).
* Iztok Puc, 45, Slovenian handball player, lung cancer.
* Abdullah Senussi, 61, Sudanese-born Libyan intelligence chief, shot. (death reported on this date)
* Morris Tabaksblat, 74, Dutch Former CEO of Unilever. (Dutch)
* Roger Tallon, 82, French industrial designer. (French)

21
* Rudolph Byrd, 58, American academic, multiple myeloma.
* George Daniels, 85, English horologist.
* Thomas Dillon, 61, American serial killer.
* Freddie Ferrara, American rhythm and blues singer (The Del-Satins, The Brooklyn Bridge), cardiac arrest.
* Yann Fouéré, 101, French Breton nationalist. (French)
* Anis Mansour, 86, Egyptian writer and columnist, pneumonia.
* Tone Pavček, 83, Slovenian author and translator.
* Edmundo Ros, 100, Trinidadian bandleader.
* Wang Yue, 2, Chinese hit-and-run victim.
* Scott White, 41, American politician, member of the Washington House of Representatives (2009–2011) and State Senator (since 2011).