Final Exits, 22-28 May 2011

Huguette Clark (right) c. 1917 (age approx. 11) with her sister Andrée (left) and her father William A. Clark (center). Clark and daughters visit Columbia Gardens, which he built in Butte. (Photo: Montana Historical Society)

Obituaries for 22-28 May 2011

22
* Joseph Brooks, 73, American Grammy-winning songwriter ("You Light Up My Life"), suicide by asphyxiation.
* Chidananda Dasgupta, 89, Indian film critic.
* Matej Ferjan, 34, Slovenian motorcycle speedway rider.
* Bob Gould, 74, Australian activist and bookseller.
* Ralph Hunt, 83, Australian politician, MP for Gwydir (1969–1989).
* Suzanne Mizzi, 43, British glamour model and interior designer, cancer.
* Pilu Momtaz, 52, Bangladeshi pop singer.
* Ronald Naar, 56, Dutch mountaineer.
* Breon O'Casey, 83, British artist.
* Walter Soboleff, 102, American Tlingit scholar and religious leader, bone and prostate cancer.
* Joe Steffy, 85, American college football player (Army), 1947 Outland Trophy winner.

23
* Sam Faust, 26, Australian rugby league player, leukemia.
* Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen, Jr., 95, American politician, U.S. Representative from New Jersey (1953–1975).
* Nasser Hejazi, 61, Iranian football player and manager, cancer.
* Abdias do Nascimento, 97, Brazilian activist and politician. (Portuguese)
* Joseph Nguyên Tich Duc, 73, Vietnamese Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Ban Me Thuot (2000–2006).
* Karel Otčenášek, 91, Czech Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Hradec Králové (1989–1998).
* Janez Petač, 62, Slovenian hockey player and Olympian, cancer. (Slovenian)
* Alejandro Roces, 86, Filipino writer and government official, Secretary of Education (1961–1965).
* Roberto Sosa, 81, Honduran poet, heart attack. [51] (Spanish)
* Xavier Tondó, 32, Spanish cyclist, crushed by car.

24
* Huguette M. Clark, 104, American heiress, daughter of William A. Clark.
* José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva , Brazilian Amazon environmentalist and conservationist, shot.
* Arthur Goldreich, 82, South African-born Israeli political activist.
* Mark Haines, 65, American television anchor (CNBC).
* Fănuş Neagu, 79, Romanian writer, prostate cancer. (Romanian)
* Barry Potomski, 38, Canadian ice hockey player.
* Sir Blair Stewart-Wilson, 81, British courtier.
* Paul Winslow, 82, South African cricketer.
* Stephen K. Yamashiro, 69, American politician, Mayor of Hawaii County (1992–2000), pneumonia.
* Hakim Ali Zardari, 81, Pakistani politician, father of Asif Ali Zardari, after long illness.

25
* Nina Leopold Bradley, 93, American conservationist.
* Leonora Carrington, 94, British-born Mexican painter and novelist.
* Luigi Diligenza, 90, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Capua (1978–1997).
* Joe Feuerherd, 48, American editor-in-chief and publisher of National Catholic Reporter, cancer.
* Edwin Honig, 91, American poet and translator, Alzheimer's disease.
* Terry Jenner, 66, Australian Test cricketer and coach.
* Marek Nawara, 55, Polish politician, possible heart attack. (Polish)
* Miroslav Opsenica, 29, Serbian footballer, car accident. (Polish)
* Paul Splittorff, 64, American baseball player and broadcaster (Kansas City Royals), complications from melanoma.
* Yannis Varveris, 56, Greek poet, critic and translator, cardiac arrest. (Greek)
* Paul J. Wiedorfer, 90, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient.
* Edward Żentara, 55, Polish actor, suicide. (Polish)

26
* Arisen Ahubudu, 91, Sri Lankan scholar, author and playwright.
* Flick Colby, 65, American dancer and choreographer (Pan's People), bronchial pneumonia.
* George Heron, 92, American tribal leader, President of the Seneca Nation of New York (1958–1960; 1962–1964).
* Jim Murphy, 63, Australian wine merchant, heart attack following cancer surgery.
* Tyler Simpson, 25, Australian soccer player.

27
* Janet Brown, 87, British actress and impersonator, after short illness.
* Jeff Conaway, 60, American actor (Grease, Taxi, Babylon 5).
* Margo Dydek, 37, Polish basketball player (Starzz, Silver Stars, Sun, Sparks) and coach, heart attack.
* Amanda Franklin, 25, American aviator and wing walker, injuries from airplane crash.
* Gil Scott-Heron, 62, American poet, musician and author.

28
* Mohammed Daud Daud, 42, Afghan general, police commander for northern Afghanistan, bombing.
* Dame Barbara Mills, 70, British barrister, Director of Public Prosecutions (1992–1998), stroke.
* Shah Jahan Noori, Afghan general, police chief for Takhar Province, bombing.
* Alys Robi, 88, Canadian jazz singer.

Abkhazia President Dies, New Elections in Three Months

Sergei Bagapsh in May 2008. Photo: Aleshru (Митя Алешковский)

Abkhazia President Dies, New Elections in Three Months
Sunday, 29 May 2011

Abkhazia is mourning the death on Sunday of the president of the breakaway Georgian region.

Officials said the 62 year old Sergei Bagapsh died from complications following lung surgery in a Moscow hospital.

He was in the middle of his second 5-year term as president.

Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in 1992, but it is only recognized by Russia and a few other countries.

Abkhazia officials say Vice President Alexander Ankvab will be acting president until elections for a new president are held in three months.

Abkhazia's Security Council is meeting Sunday to decide on the official days of mourning as funeral arrangements are finalized.

Spoken Word Musician Gil Scott-Heron Dies in NYC

Gil Scott-Heron on 21 March 2010 (Photo: NPR)

Spoken Word Musician Gil Scott-Heron Dies in NYC
Saturday, 28 May 2011

American poet-musician Gil Scott-Heron, widely known for his 1970's song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, died Friday at a New York hospital. He was 62 years old.

Scott-Heron pioneered a sound composed of politically tinged poetry and jazzy-blues blended into a melodic rap.

The Associated Press quotes someone at his New York recording company as saying Scott-Heron died after becoming ill on his return home from a trip to Europe.

Gil Scott-Heron is also credited with writing books during his career spanning several decades.

Final Exits, 15-21 May 2011

Kathy Kirby, Eurovision Song Contest, 20 March 1965 (Image from RAI)

Obituaries for 15-21 May 2011

15
* Maico Buncio, 22, Filipino motorcycle racer, racing accident.
* John Feikens, 93, American federal judge, after long illness.
* Bob Flanigan, 84, American singer (The Four Freshmen) and musician.
* Pete Lovely, 85, American racecar driver.
* M-Bone, 22, American rapper and dancer (Cali Swag District), shot.
* William Pennington, 88, American casino executive (Circus Circus Enterprises), Parkinson's disease.
* Barbara Stuart, 81, American actress (Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.).
* F. Jay Taylor, 87, American academic, President of Louisiana Tech University (1962–1987).
* Mahendra Singh Tikait, 76, Indian farming union leader, bone cancer.
* Samuel Wanjiru, 24, Kenyan Olympic gold medal-winning (2008) marathon runner, fall from balcony.

16
* Douglas Blubaugh, 76, American Olympic gold-medal winning (1960) wrestler, motorcycle accident.
* Bob Davis, 82, Australian football player.
* Nathaniel Davis, 86, American diplomat, cancer.
* Edward Hardwicke, 78, British actor (Sherlock Holmes), son of Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
* Kiyoshi Kodama, 77, Japanese actor, stomach cancer. (Japanese)
* David Parry, 76, American football official, co-ordinater of NCAA officials, Parkinson's disease.
* Bill Skiles, 79, American comedian (Skiles and Henderson), kidney cancer.
* James Warren, 74, American NHRA racer.

17
* Sean Dunphy, 73, Irish entertainer.
* Joseph Galibardy, 96, Indian Olympic gold medal-winning (1936) field hockey player.
* James M. Hewgley, Jr., 94, American politician, Mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma (1966–1970).
* Harmon Killebrew, 74, American Hall of Fame baseball player (Minnesota Twins), esophageal cancer.
* Gregory Lewis, 57, American journalist (Miami Sun-Sentinel), cancer.

18
* Ioannis Daglis, 70, Greek artist. (Greek)
* John Fortino, 76, Italian-born Canadian businessman, founder of Fortinos supermarket chain, cancer.
* Edward H. Harte, 88, American newspaper executive (Harte-Hanks).
* Leonard Kastle, 82, American composer and filmmaker (The Honeymoon Killers).
* Frank L. Lacy, 87, American blues and jazz guitarist.
* Vasilis Platanos, 77, Greek literalist, folklorist and journalist, cancer. (Greek)
* Frank Upton, 76, English footballer (Derby County, Chelsea), after short illness.
* Dick Wimmer, 74, American author, heart complications.
* Randall Wreghitt, 55, American theatrical producer, carbon monoxide poisoning.

19
* Phyllis Avery, 88, American actress (Meet Mr. McNutley), heart failure.
* Don H. Barden, 67, American businessman, lung cancer.
* Austin Box, 22, American college football player (University of Oklahoma), suspected overdose.
* Garret FitzGerald, 85, Irish politician, Taoiseach (1981–1982; 1982–1987) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (1973–1977), after short illness.
* David H. Kelley, 87, American-born Canadian archaeologist.
* Kathy Kirby, 72, British singer, after short illness.
* William Kloefkorn, 78, American poet.
* Alda Noni, 95, Italian coloratura soprano.
* Vladimir Ryzhkin, 80, Russian Olympic gold medal-winning (1956) footballer. (Russian)
* Tom West, 71, American computer hardware engineer, heart attack.

20
* Michael Bell, 74, Irish politician, Teachta Dála for Louth (1982–2002).
* John Cigna, 75, American radio personality (KDKA).
* William Elliott, Baron Elliott of Morpeth, 90, British politician, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North (1957–1983).
* Ivan Gibbs, 83, Australian politician, Queensland MLA for Albert (1974–1989), cancer.
* Arieh Handler, 95, Israeli Zionist leader.
* Eduard Janota, 59, Czech politician, Finance Minister (2009–2010), cardiac arrest. (Czech)
* Albert Johnson, 80, British Olympic (1956, 1960) athlete.
* Donald Krim, 65, American businessman, president of Kino International, cancer.
* Randy Savage, 58, American professional wrestler.

21
* Bill Hunter, 71, Australian actor (Muriel's Wedding), liver cancer.
* Hiroyuki Nagato, 77, Japanese actor, cerebrovascular disease. (Japanese)
* Padraig Kennelly, 82, Irish publisher (Kerry's Eye), editor and journalist.
* Gordon McLennan, 87, British politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party (1975–1990), cancer.
* Jim Pyburn, 78, American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles), after long illness.
* Bill Rechin, 80, American cartoonist (Crock), complications from esophageal cancer.

Anti-Apartheid Activist Who Shielded Mandela Dies

Wednesday, 25 May 2011

An old friend of Nelson Mandela who once helped hide the anti-apartheid leader from the South African white minority government has died.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation says Arthur Goldreich died in Israel on Tuesday. He was 82.

In the early 1960s, Mr. Mandela posed as a worker for Goldreich at the white activist's farm near Johannesburg.

The Liliesleaf Farm served as a base for the anti-apartheid movement. While there, Mr. Mandela took the name David Motsamayi and pretended to be a black servant who often wore simple blue overalls.

In 1963, police raided the farm and arrested Goldreich and other anti-apartheid leaders. Goldreich later escaped from police and eventually moved to Israel.

Goldreich returned to South Africa for a reunion at Liliesleaf Farm after Mr. Mandela became South Africa's first democratically-elected president in 1994.

Besides being an activist, Goldreich was also an artist. He designed the set for “King Kong,” a popular musical in South Africa about the life of a real-life black boxer.

Former Irish PM Dies at 85

Garret FitzGerald arriving for The Lisbon Treaty Count, 3 October 2009 (Photo: William Murphy)

Former Irish PM Dies at 85
Thursday, 19 May 2011

Former Irish Prime Minister Garret Fitzgerald has died in Dublin at the age of 85.

Mr. Fitzgerald served twice as prime minister. He is credited with organizing the framework for peace in Northern Ireland while improving Irish-British relations.

He also served as Ireland's foreign minister before retiring from politics in 1992.

Mr. Fitzgerald died one day after Britain's Queen Elizabeth's visit to Dublin. Queen Elizabeth offered her deep sympathy to all those who have suffered as a consequence of Ireland and Britain's troubled past.

Baseball Great Harmon Killebrew Dies

Photo: Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins in 1962.

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Hall of Fame baseball slugger Harmon Killebrew has died after a long battle with esophageal cancer at age 74.

Killebrew died peacefully Tuesday at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife Nita and their family at his side.

Last week, Killebrew announced that doctors had deemed his cancer incurable and he would no longer fight it, and he entered Hospice care.

The Minnesota Twins slugger was known for his tape-measure home runs. He hit 573 homers during his 22-year career, 11th-most in major league baseball history. Killebrew's eight seasons with 40 or more home runs is tied for second in league history behind only the legendary Babe Ruth.

Killebrew began his pro career at age 18 with the Washington Senators, and in his first full season with the club in 1959 he smashed 42 home runs. When the team moved to Minnesota in 1961, Killebrew – nicknamed Killer – was its first star. He helped power the team to its first World Series appearance in 1965.

He was named the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1969 when he hit 49 home runs, batted in 140 runs and walked 149 times. Those remain Minnesota team records.

Killebrew was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. In all, he played in 2,435 games with 1,584 runs batted in and an average of .256.

Kenyan Marathon Champ Wanjiru Dies in Fall

Photo: Samuel Wanjiru, breaking a world record in the 2007 Fortis City-Pier-City Half Marathon, 17 March 2007 (Photographer: FaceMePLS from The Hague, The Netherlands)

VOA News
16 May 2011

Police in Kenya say Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru has died after jumping off the balcony of his home during a domestic dispute.

Police say it appears the 24-year-old runner jumped in an attempt to stop his wife from leaving the house after she discovered him with another woman.

Regional police chief Jaspher Ombati said Wanjiru landed on a hard surface and sustained fatal injuries.

The dispute took place Sunday night in the Rift Valley town of Nyahururu, about 150 kilometers north of Nairobi. Wanjiru's wife, Triza Njeri, and his female companion were both questioned by police and then released.

Wanjiru set an Olympic record in 2008 to become the first Kenyan to win a marathon gold medal. He also won the London Marathon in 2009, and is a two-time winner of the Chicago Marathon.

But friends and colleagues say he was stressed by personal problems and had recently taken to heavy drinking.

Wanjiru was set to go before a court next week to face charges of possessing an illegal firearm.

In December, he was charged with threatening to kill his wife. Those charges were later dropped.

Ethiopian running great Haile Gebrselassie said on Twitter he was "totally shocked" to hear about Wanjiru's death. 

And in a statement Monday, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Wanjiru's death is a "big blow" to the country's dreams in next year's Olympics in London.

Golfing Great Seve Ballesteros Remembered

Photo: Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer, 19 July 2006 (Photographer: Peter from Liverpool, UK)



Nick Dye
Mallorca, Spain
11 May 2011

The funeral for Spanish golfing great Severiano Ballesteros was held Wednesday at his native fishing village in northern Spain, with a number of the top European golfers in attendance. The record holder of 50 European Tour victories died from a cancerous brain tumor at his home in Pedrena on Saturday at age 54.

There have been calls to change the European Tour's Harry Vardon logo to one showing Seve Ballesteros. There have been and will be further calls to name various holes after the five times major winner.

The Vivendi Trophy goes on with his name attached, and undoubtedly there'll be trophies and tournaments in his honor.

But essentially, his memory will live on regardless. It's not the 87 tournament wins or his success in Ryder Cups, but the way he played the game, the joy he brought and the inspiration he gave others.

Everyone seems to have a Seve story.  Thomas Levet is no exception. He plays on, celebrating the life of a legendary figure.

"The magic of that guy was unbelievable," recalled Levet. "You know he was like a magician. He could teach magicians. He would teach how to escape from things, because he was [that way]. The touch he had with the golf ball around difficulties was just unreal."

Colin Montgomerie attended the funeral in Pedrena together with Seve's great friends Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

"Very few people are called legends in this world and Seve was one of them," said Montgomerie. "Never before in our lifetime have we seen such a talent swing a golf club."

Monty and Olazabal have late tee times in Mallorca Thursday where Alejandro Canizares aims to go one better than last year and secure a Spanish victory.

"We all want to be like Seve," Canizares noted. "We try hard to be but it's very, very difficult to have something anything close to what he was. So hopefully a Spanish player wins and they dedicate the tournament in his memory."

Final Exits, 8-14 May 2011

Guitarist Cornell Dupree in Montreux, Switzerland, 2 July 1976. (Photo: Lioneldecoster)

Obituaries for 8-14 May 2011

8
* Huthaifa al-Batawi, Iraqi al-Qaeda leader, shot.
* Moayed al-Saleh, Iraqi brigadier general, head of counter-terrorism in Baghdad, shot.
* Wallace Clark, 84, Northern Irish maritime writer.
* Cornell Dupree, 68, American jazz and R&B guitarist, complications from emphysema.
* Gheorghe Guţiu, 87, Romanian Catholic hierarch, Archbishop of Cluj-Gherla (1994–2002).
* Li Desheng, 95, Chinese People's Liberation Army general. (Chinese)
* Charles McPhee, 49, American radio host, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
* Greg Percival, 86, Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (1977–1978; 1986–1988).
* Soňa Pertlová, 23, Czech chessplayer, cancer.
* Lionel Rose, 62, Australian world champion boxer.
* Hilton Rosemarin, 58, Canadian set decorator (Three Men and a Baby, Cocktail, Jumper), brain cancer.
* Carlos Trillo, 68, Argentine comic book writer (Cybersix). (Spanish)
* Galina Urbanovich, 93, Russian Olympic gold and silver medal-winning (1952) gymnast.
* Arkady Vaksberg, 83, Russian journalist, critic and biographer. (Russian)
* Sir Ronald Waterhouse, 85, British jurist.

9
* Gerald Bordman, 79, American playwright (American Musical Theatre) and author, cancer.
* David Cairns, 44, British politician, MP for Greenock and Inverclyde (2001–2005) and Inverclyde (since 2005), acute pancreatitis.
* Robert Ellsworth, 84, American politician and diplomat, U.S. Representative from Kansas (1961–1967), Ambassador to NATO (1969–1971), complications from pneumonia.
* Epiphanios of Vryoula, 76. American Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Spain and Portugal.
* Henry Feffer, 93, American professor and spine surgeon, treated Saddam Hussein, heart failure.
* Dolores Fuller, 88, American actress (Glen or Glenda), and songwriter ("Rock-A-Hula Baby").
* Jeff Gralnick, 72, American television news producer.
* Lidia Gueiler Tejada, 89, Bolivian politician, acting President (1979–1980), after a long illness.
* Manos Loukakis, 60, Greek poet and literary critic, cancer. (Greek)
* Ivo Pešák, 66, Czech singer, dancer and comic performer. (Polish)
* Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, 82, Nepali politician, Foreign Minister (1986–1990), altitude sickness.
* Wouter Weylandt, 26, Belgian road bicycle racer, race crash.

10
* Omar Ahmad, 46, American entrepreneur and politician, Mayor of San Carlos, California (2007–2011), heart attack.
* Michael Baze, 24, American jockey.
* Bill Bergesch, 89, American baseball executive (New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds).
* Vasilis Bozikis, 67, Greek photojournalist, cancer. (Greek)
* Mia Amber Davis, 36, American plus-size model and actress (Road Trip), postoperative complications.
* Cleve Dean, 57, American arm wrestling champion, heart attack.
* Bill Gallo, 88, American cartoonist and newspaper columnist, complications from pneumonia.
* Patrick Galvin, 83, Irish writer.
* M. S. Gurupadaswamy, 89, Indian politician and minister, heart attack.
* Héctor Medina, 35, Honduran journalist, shot.
* Zim Ngqawana, 51, South African jazz saxophonist, stroke.
* Burt Reinhardt, 91, American broadcast journalist and former President of CNN, complications from strokes.
* Stanley Wright, 62, American jazz musician.
* Norma Zimmer, 87, American entertainer (The Lawrence Welk Show).

11
* Leo Kahn, 94, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Staples, complications from a series of strokes.
* Albert Kanene Obiefuna, 81, Nigerian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Onitsha (1995–2003).
* Reach Sambath, 47, Cambodian journalist, stroke.
* Robert Traylor, 34, American basketball player (Bucks, Cavaliers, Hornets), suspected heart attack. (body found on this date)
* Snooky Young, 92, American jazz trumpeter.

12
* Aaron Douglas, 21, American college football player (University of Alabama).
* Daryl Hawks, 38, American sportscaster (WMAQ-TV). (body found on this date)
* Mose Jefferson, 68, American businessman, cancer.
* Jack Jones, 86, American Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter (Los Angeles Times), lung disease.
* Lloyd Knibb, 80, Jamaican drummer (The Skatalites), liver cancer.
* Ron Springs, 54, American football player (Cowboys, Buccaneers), complications from surgery.
* Miyu Uehara, 24, Japanese glamour model, apparent suicide by hanging.

13
* Derek Boogaard, 28, Canadian hockey player (Wild, Rangers).
* Pam Gems, 85, British playwright.
* Bernard Greenhouse, 95, American cellist.
* Princess Maria Elisabeth of Orléans-Braganza, 96, German noblewoman. (Portuguese)
* Wallace McCain, 81, Canadian businessman, co-founder of McCain Foods, pancreatic cancer.
* Mel Queen, 69, American baseball player (Reds, Angels) and pitching coach (Blue Jays).
* Jack Richardson, 81, Canadian record producer (The Guess Who).
* Bruce Ricker, 68, American film documentarian and producer (Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser).
* Badal Sarkar, 85, Indian dramatist, colon cancer.
* Piotr Żyżelewicz, 46, Polish drummer (Voo Voo), stroke.

14
* Ferial Alibali, 78, Albanian actress. (Albanian)
* Murray Handwerker, 89, American businessman (Nathan's Famous).
* Birgitta Trotzig, 81, Swedish author.
* Ernie Walker, 82, Scottish football administrator.
* Joseph Wershba, 90, American television producer and reporter.

Final Exits, 1-7 May 2011

Dana Wynter in the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956.

Obituaries for 1-7 May 2011

1
* Alex, 52, Indian actor and magician, after short illness.
* Spyrydon Babskyi, 52, Ukrainian Orthodox hierarch, Archbishop of Vinnytsya in UOC-KP (1992–1993). (Russian)
* Sir Henry Cooper, 76, British Olympic heavyweight boxer.
* Agustín García-Gasco Vicente, 80, Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Valencia (1992–2009), cardiac arrest.
* Moshe Landau, 99, Israeli jurist, Chief Justice (1980–1982), presided over Adolf Eichmann's trial (1961).
* Ted Lowe, 90, British snooker commentator.
* Steven Orszag, 68, American mathematician, chronic lymphomic leukemia.
* Ivan Slavkov, 70, Bulgarian sports official.
* William O. Taylor II, 78, American journalist and publisher (The Boston Globe), brain tumor.
* Reynaldo Uy, 59, Filipino politician, Mayor of Calbayog, shot.
* J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr., 87, American mathematician and nuclear scientist.

2
* Leonid Abalkin, 80, Russian economist.
* Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, 46, Kuwaiti Al-Qaeda computer expert, shot.
* Danny Kassap, 28, Congolese-born Canadian long-distance runner.
* Osama bin Laden, 54, Saudi founder of Al-Qaeda, planned September 11 attacks, shot.
* Alexander Lazarev, 73, Russian actor. (Russian)
* Eddie Lewis, 76, English footballer (Manchester United, West Ham United), cancer. (death announced on this date)
* Ernest Mothle, 69, South African jazz musician.
* René Emilio Ponce, 64, Salvadoran general and defence minister, army chief of staff during the Civil War.
* David Sencer, 86, American public health official, director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1966–1977), heart disease.
* Shigeo Yaegashi, 78, Japanese footballer. (Japanese)

3
* Paul Ackerley, 61, New Zealand hockey player and coach, skin cancer.
* Jackie Cooper, 88, American actor (Skippy, Our Gang, Superman) and director (M*A*S*H).
* Sergo Kotrikadze, 74, Georgian football player and coach, heart attack. (Russian)
* Mildred Robbins Leet, 88, American philanthropist, co-founder of Trickle Up, complications of a fall.
* Patrick Roy, 53, French politician, pancreatic cancer. (French)
* Thanasis Veggos, 83, Greek actor, stroke.

4
* Lázaro Blanco, 73, Mexican photographer, cancer. (Spanish)
* Velzoe Brown, 101, American jazz pianist.
* Frans de Kok, 87, Dutch conductor. (Dutch)
* Néstor Groppa, Argentine poet. (Spanish)
* Jacques Georges Habib Hafouri, 94, Syrian Catholic hierarch, Archbishop of Hassaké-Nisibi (1982–1996).
* Jagdish Khebudkar, 77, Indian writer, renal failure.
* Sammy McCrory, 86, Northern Irish footballer.
* Thomas G. Nelson, 74, American federal judge, complications from declining health.
* Françoise Olivier-Coupeau, 51, French politician, cancer. (French)
* Frans Sammut, 66, Maltese writer, natural causes.
* Bernard Stasi, 80, French politician, Minister for Overseas Departments and Territories (1973–1974), Alzheimer's disease. (French)
* Louis Stumberg, 87, American businessman, introduced Tex Mex TV dinners, after long illness.
* Sada Thompson, 83, American actress (Family), lung disease.

5
* Halit Çelenk, 89, Turkish lawyer and socialist activist, cancer and asthma.
* Claude Choules, 110, British-born Australian veteran, last combat veteran of World War I.
* Thomas Compaoré, 23, Burkinabé basketball player, heart attack. (German)
* Salomón Hakim, 91, Colombian neurosurgeon, researcher and inventor.
* Arthur Laurents, 93, American playwright, librettist, stage director, and screenwriter (Anastasia, Rope, West Side Story).
* Dougie McCracken, 46, Scottish football player (Ayr United), suspected suicide.
* Yosale Merimovich, 86, Israeli football player and manager. (Hebrew).
* Nigel Pickering, 81, American guitarist (Spanky and Our Gang), liver cancer.
* Rolo Puente, 71, Argentine actor, pulmonary emphysema.
* Dana Wynter, 79, German-born British actress (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), heart failure.

6
* Barry Connolly, 72, Australian football player.
* Quazi Nuruzzaman, 86, Bangladeshi veteran of the Liberation War, natural causes.
* Duane Pillette, 88, American baseball player (Yankees, Browns, Orioles, Phillies).
* Mike Spoerndle, 59, American music club founder (Toad's Place). (body discovered on this date)
* Yoon Ki-Won, 24, South Korean football player, suicide by inhaling toxic fumes.

7
* Seve Ballesteros, 54, Spanish golfer, brain cancer.
* Willard Boyle, 86, Canadian physicist, Nobel laureate (2009).
* Jack Gordon, 66, American politician, member of the Mississippi House of Representatives (1972–1980), State Senator (1980–1992; 1996–2011), brain cancer.
* Allyson Hennessy, 63, Trinidadian broadcaster.
* Gunter Sachs, 78, German mathematician, photographer, author and multi-millionaire industrialist, suicide by gunshot.
* John Walker, 67, American musician (The Walker Brothers), liver cancer.
* George Webley, 53, British broadcaster and music arranger.
* Doric Wilson, 72, American playwright and gay activist.

Last Combat Veteran of World War I Dies

Britain's last male WWI Veteran.

Thursday, 5 May 2011

Claude Choules, the last known surviving combat veteran of World War One, has died in an Australian nursing home two months after celebrating his 110th birthday.

His family says Choules died in his sleep early Thursday morning in the western city of Perth.

The British-born Choules joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14, a year after the outbreak of World War One. He witnessed the surrender of the German Imperial Navy in 1918 and the scuttling of the German naval fleet off the waters of Scotland the following year.

He was assigned to the Royal Australian Navy in 1926, and served as a chief demolition officer during World War Two. He searched Fremantle Harbor for enemy mines and wired merchant ships to be destroyed in the event of an invasion by Japanese forces.

After retiring from the RAN in 1956, Choules settled down near Perth with his wife Ethel, whom he met during his voyage to Australia. She died in 2003. He recounted his wartime experiences in his autobiography, “The Last of the Last,” which he published at the age of 108.

The last known American World War One veteran, Frank Buckles, passed away in February at the age of 110. Another Briton, Florence Green, served during the war in a non-combat role in the Royal Air Force.

Hollywood Star Jackie Cooper Dies at 88

Actor Jackie Cooper, from the film School's Out. Hal Roach (producer), Robert F. McGowan (director), film released 22 November 1930, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation / Hal Roach Studios.

Hollywood Star Jackie Cooper Dies at 88
Wednesday, 4 May 2011

U.S. actor Jackie Cooper, who entertained millions as both a child star and an adult, has died at age 88.

Cooper's family says the actor died of old age Wednesday at a California nursing home.

Cooper rose to fame in the early 1930s as a star of the Our Gang comedy series, playing a mischievous blonde-haired boy with a perpetual crush on his schoolteacher, Miss Crabtree.

Our Gang led to bigger parts in feature films, including 1931's Skippy. It was for this role that Cooper made history, becoming, at age nine, the youngest performer ever nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.

After serving in World War II, a grown-up Cooper made a comeback on stage and as the star of two hit television series – The People's Choice, playing a small town politician, and Hennesey, where he portrayed a Navy doctor. He also made a successful return to films, playing newspaper editor Perry White in the Superman series.

Recalling the threat that directors would use to make him cry on camera as a child, Cooper named his popular autobiography Please Don't Shoot My Dog.

Final Exits, 29-30 April 2011

Obituaries for 29-30 April 2011

29
* Abdul Hameed, 83, Pakistani writer and novelist.
* Waldemar Baszanowski, 75, Polish weightlifter.
* Robert B. Duncan, 90, American politician, U.S. Representative from Oregon (1963–1967; 1975–1981).
* Salim Ghazal, 79, Syrian-born Lebanese Melkite Catholic hierarch, Curial bishop of Antioch for Melkites (2001–2005).
* Garland Gregory, 92, American football player (San Francisco 49ers), after brief illness.
* Jeff Kargola, 27, American Freestyle Motocross rider, racing accident.
* Vladimir Krainev, 67, Russian pianist, People's Artist of the USSR, aortic aneurysm. (Russian)
* Joanna Russ, 74, American science fiction author, following a series of strokes.
* Walter Santoro, 89, Uruguayan politician, former Minister of Industry, natural causes. (Spanish)

30
* Ronald D. Asmus, 53, American diplomat and political analyst, cancer.
* Saif al-Arab al-Gaddafi, 29, son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, airstrike.
* Richard Holmes, 65, British military historian.
* Matthew Marker, 31, American race car driver, injuries in a racing accident.
* Emilio Navarro, 105, Puerto Rican Negro league baseball player.
* Evald Okas, 95, Estonian painter. (Estonian)
* Ernesto Sabato, 99, Argentine writer (El Túnel, On Heroes and Tombs), pneumonia.
* Apostolos Santas, 89, Greek Resistance veteran. (Greek)
* Phoebe Skiani, 51, Greek journalist. (Greek)
* Eddie Turnbull, 88, Scottish football player and manager.

Beloved Greek Film Comedian Thanassis Veggos Dies at 84

Tuesday, 3 May 2011

Greek comedian Thanassis Veggos, whose slapstick comedies made him one of the country's most beloved performers, has died after suffering a series of strokes.

He was 84 years old.

Many in Greece referred to Veggos as the “Greek Charlie Chaplin” because, like the legendary American comedian, Veggos portrayed the average everyman struggling to cope with life.

He played in more than 120 movies from the 1950s until just last year. Most of his films were known for outlandish slapstick, but he also appeared on the stage and on television in dramatic parts.

Greek President Karolos Papoulias calls Veggos' death a cause of national grief, saying his loss is irreplaceable and his films will entertain generations to come.

Legendary Greek Resistance Fighter Apostolos Santas, Who Defied Nazis, Dies at 89

Photo: The German War Flag is raised on the Acropolis of Athens, April 1941. (Photo by Scheerer, from Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)   

Monday, 2 May 2011

Legendary Greek resistance fighter Apostolos Santas, who secretly scrambled to the top of the Acropolis in 1941 to tear down a Nazi flag, has died.

Greek officials say he died Saturday in Athens at 89. No cause of death was announced.

On May 31, 1941, the teenage Santas and another young resistance fighter, Manolis Glezos, secretly climbed to the top of the Acropolis and tore down the swastika. It was the first symbolic act of resistance against the Nazi occupation of Greece.

Santas joined the Greek underground and fought against both the Germans and Italian fascists.

Santas later joined a left-wing resistance group and was forced into exile during the civil war that broke out in Greece following the end of World War Two. He returned to Greece in 1963.

In 2008, the Greek parliament formally honored Santas and Glezos for their bravery in seizing the Nazi flag.

Bin Laden Spent 30 Years Fighting, Then Hiding

Monday, 2 May 2011

U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that the world's most wanted terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden, has been killed. He was 54.

After the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, then-U.S. president George W. Bush vowed to capture bin Laden – the man the president believed was behind the attacks.

Bin Laden first publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks in a video released in October 2004. He eluded attempts to capture him, disappearing along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and sparking perhaps the largest manhunt in history.

But bin Laden's image as the world's most-wanted terrorist stands in sharp contrast to his peaceful and comfortable upbringing.

He was one of more than 50 children of a wealthy Saudi construction magnate and was raised in the opulence of Saudi Arabia's upper-class.

Bin Laden went on to pursue an engineering degree and seemed prepared to work in the family business.

However, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, bin Laden left home to join the fight against the Soviets.

He initially provided logistical support for new recruits to the Afghan mujahedin Islamic fighters – the same ones supported by the United States. But in the mid-1980s, bin Laden decided to use his share of his family's wealth to form his own militia force, which later became known as “al-Qaida” – Arabic for “The Base.”

In 1990, Saudi Arabia invited the U.S. to deploy troops within the country following Iraq's invasion of the oil-rich state of Kuwait. Bin Laden saw the arrival of non-Muslims on land considered holy in Islam as an affront to his religion. He protested strongly against the move, resulting in his expulsion from Saudi Arabia in 1991.

Bin Laden found refuge in Sudan, where he is said to have orchestrated attacks on the U.S. military in Somalia and Saudi Arabia. He returned to Afghanistan in 1996 after the Sudanese expelled him due to pressure from the U.S.

While there, he continued his campaign against the United States by allegedly masterminding the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. His popularity grew among disaffected Arabs and those unhappy with U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Stopping bin Laden became the top priority for the United States following the 2001 attacks, a goal that Mr. Obama says remained the top priority under his leadership.

The Taliban refused to surrender the al-Qaida leader to U.S. authorities, prompting the United States to go to war in Afghanistan. The U.S. ousted the Taliban in December 2001, and Osama bin Laden went into hiding.

In his years at large, bin Laden released a series of audiotapes condemning the United States.

Now, nine years, seven months and 20 days since the September 11 attacks, Mr. Obama says “justice has been done” after a U.S. strike team killed bin Laden in a firefight during a raid on his hideout in Pakistan.

US Officials: Osama Bin Laden is Dead

VOA News
1 May 2011

U.S. officials say U.S. President Barack Obama is about to announce that the world's most wanted terrorist, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, is dead and the United States has his body.

Mr. Obama is expected to make the announcement during a nationwide television appearance at the White House Sunday night.

This development would come nearly 10 years after the catastrophic attacks by al-Qaida operatives on the United States on September 11, 2001.