Final Exits, 22-28 August 2011

Wing Commander Billy Drake in May-June 1943. The United States Distinguished Flying Cross awarded to him can be partly seen, pinned to Drake's chest in the lower right corner of the picture. Photo: RAF/Imperial War Museum.

Obituaries for 22-28 August 2011 

22
* Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani, 72, Yemeni politician, Prime Minister (1994–1997).
* Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, Libyan-born Afghan Al-Qaeda leader.
* Nickolas Ashford, 70, American R&B singer-songwriter (Ashford & Simpson), throat cancer.
* Vicco von Bülow, 87, German cartoonist and actor. (German)
* John Howard Davies, 72, English television producer and director (Fawlty Towers, The Good Life), former child actor (Oliver Twist), cancer.
* Evgeni Dushko, 35, Russian politician, mayor of Sergiyev Posad, shot. (Russian)
* B.J. Hopper, 86, American actor (Flakes, The Toy, Because of Winn-Dixie).
* Jesper Klein, 66, Danish actor, liver cancer. (Danish)
* Jack Layton, 61, Canadian politician, Leader of the Official Opposition (2011) and New Democratic Party (2003–2011), cancer.
* Jerry Leiber, 78, American songwriter ("Stand By Me", "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "Kansas City"), cardiopulmonary failure.
* Samuel Menashe, 85, American poet, natural causes.
* Tony Ruffino, 74, American concert promoter, stroke.
* Michael Showers, 45, American actor (Treme, Breaking Bad, The Vampire Diaries), drowned.

23
* Paul Francis Duffy, 79, American-born Zambian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Mongu (1997–2011).
* Jeanette Ingberman, 59, American art curator, co-founder of Exit Art, complications of leukemia.
* Sybil Jason, 83, American child actress.
* Charles Jones, 56, New Zealand sports administrator, president of the World Croquet Federation. (body found on this date)
* Cephas Mashakada, 51, Zimbabwean musician, complications due to diabetes.
* Tamara Poletika, 89, Russian animator. (Russian)
* Frank Potenza, 77, American police officer and actor (Jimmy Kimmel Live!).
* Hasballah M. Saad, 63, Indonesian politician, Human Rights Minister (1999–2000).
* Peter Terpeluk, Jr., 63, American diplomat, Ambassador to Luxembourg (2002–2005), heart attack.
* Joey Vento, 71, American restaurateur, founder and owner of Geno's Steaks, heart attack.
* Curley Williams, 86, American baseball player (Newark Eagles).

24
* Janey Cutler, 82, Scottish singer (Britain's Got Talent).
* Frank DiLeo, 63, American music industry executive and actor (Goodfellas, Wayne's World), heart complications.
* Esther Gordy Edwards, 91, American Motown executive, creator of Hitsville U.S.A..
* Seyhan Erözçelik, 49, Turkish poet.
* Chango Farías Gómez, 73, Argentine folkloric musician and singer, lung infection.
* Mike Flanagan, 59, American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays), suicide by gunshot.
* Jenő Gerbovits, 86, Hungarian politician, minister without portfolio (1990–1991), tractor accident. (Hungarian)
* Paul Harney, 82, American golfer.
* Jack Hayes, 92, American composer and orchestrator (The Color Purple, The Unsinkable Molly Brown), natural causes.
* Clemente Isnard, 94, Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Nova Friburgo (1960–1992).
* Neil Kent, 49, British motorcycle racer, racetrack crash.
* Graeme Moody, 60, New Zealand sports broadcaster, drowned.
* Alfons Van Brandt, 84, Belgian footballer. (Dutch)

25
* Petre Bakevski, 64, Macedonian poet and publicist. (Macedonian)
* Donna Christanello, 69, American professional wrestler, heart attack.
* Jyles Coggins, 90, American politician, Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina (1975–1977).
* Elliott Johnston, 93, Australian judge.
* Graham Leggat, 51, Scottish-born American film society administrator, director of the San Francisco International Film Festival, cancer.
* Humberto Millan Salazar, 53, Mexican journalist, gunshot wound.
* Lazar Mojsov, 90, Macedonian politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1987–1988). (Serbian)
* Eugene Nida, 96, American linguist and bible translator.

26
* Aloysius Ambrozic, 81, Slovenian-born Canadian Roman Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Toronto (1990–2006).
* George Band, 82, British mountaineer.
* Ernest Makhanya, 49, South African footballer, after short illness.
* John McAleese, 61, British SAS soldier involved in the Iranian Embassy Siege.
* Liz Meyer, 59, American bluegrass music singer-songwriter, cancer.
* Lorenzo Morales, 97, Colombian vallenato composer.
* Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, 71, American novelist and educator, complications of a stroke.
* Donn A. Starry, 86, American army officer, Commanding General, TRADOC (1977–1981).

27
* Heribert Barrera i Costa, 94, Spanish politician. (Spanish)
* Lykourgos Kallergis, 97, Greek actor, director and politician.
* Stetson Kennedy, 94, American folklorist and civil rights activist.
* Daniel Morcombe, 13, Australian schoolboy, missing since 2003. (death confirmed on this date)
* John Parke, 74, Northern Irish footballer (Linfield, Hibernian, Sunderland, Northern Ireland), Alzheimer's disease.
* Iya Savvina, 75, Russian actress, People's Artist of the USSR. (Russian)

28
* Billy Drake, 93, British fighter pilot.
* Bruno Gamberini, 61, Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Campinas (since 2004).
* Len Ganley, 68, Northern Irish snooker referee.
* Johnny Giosa, 42, American drummer (BulletBoys), car accident.
* Martin Hines, 64, British entrepreneur, world go-kart champion.
* Leonidas Kyrkos, 87, Greek politician, after short illness. (Greek)
* Dmitri Royster, 87, American hierarch (Orthodox Church in America), Archbishop of the Diocese of the South (1978–2009).
* Dan Sicko, 42, American music journalist, ocular melanoma.

Veteran Greek Leftist Politician Dies

Veteran left-wing Greek politician Leonidas Kyrkos, who faced prison and a death sentence because of his politics, has died at 87 after a long illness.

Kyrkos was a medical student who joined the Greek resistance against the Nazi occupation in World War Two.

Greek authorities arrested him after the war, sentencing him to death for belonging to the Communist Party. Just days before Kyrkos and several other prisoners were to stand before a firing squad, an international outcry led the government to back away from the death sentence.

Kyrkos later edited a leftist newspaper, was elected to parliament and spent another five years in jail under the military dictatorship.

In recent years, Kyrkos became a more moderate voice, becoming critical of the far left and urged cooperation with the ruling Socialists.

Final Exits, 15-21 August 2011

Gun Hägglund (March 2, 1932 – August 19, 2011), Swedish television host and translator. Hägglund is sometimes recognized as the first female television news anchor in the world, hosting the Swedish national evening news show Aktuellt in 1958. Source: Filmarkivet.

Obituaries for 15-21 August 2011

15
* Ralph D. Albertazzie, 88, American pilot (Air Force One) and writer.
* Vasilis Andreopoulos, 88, Greek actor and author. (Greek)
* Russell Armstrong, 47, American investment banker and venture capitalist, television personality (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), suicide by hanging.
* Nenad Bijedić, 51, Bosnian football manager, cancer. (Turkish)
* Pap Dean, 95, American political cartoonist.
* Mark Fowler, 35, British kickboxer, head injuries.
* Michael Legat, 88, British author and publisher.
* Peter Mair, 60, Irish political scientist.
* Solomon Mujuru, 62, Zimbabwean military officer and politician, injuries from a fire.
* Hugo Perié, 67, Argentine politician, MP (since 2003), Montoneros militant, lung disease. (Spanish)
* Sif Ruud, 95, Swedish actress. (Swedish)
* Rick Rypien, 27, Canadian ice hockey player (Vancouver Canucks), suicide.
* Tōru Shōriki, 92, Japanese baseball team owner (Tokyo Giants), sepsis. (Japanese)
* Betty Thatcher, 67, British lyricist (Renaissance), cancer.

16
* Andrej Bajuk, 67, Slovenian politician and economist, Prime Minister (2000), stroke.
* Mihri Belli, 96, Turkish politician and writer, respiratory failure. (Turkish)
* Creed Black, 86, American newspaper publisher (Lexington Herald-Leader).
* Huw Ceredig, 69, Welsh actor.
* Joel Chin, 35, Jamaican record producer, shot.
* Akiko Futaba, 96, Japanese ryūkōka singer. (Japanese)
* Kampane, 33, American rapper, shot.
* Ahmet Kıbıl, 58, Turkish Olympic alpine skier. (Turkish)
* Frank Munro, 63, Scottish footballer (Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.), heart attack.
* Pete Pihos, 87, American Hall of Fame football player (Philadelphia Eagles), Alzheimer's disease.
* Ramesh Saxena, 66, Indian cricketer, brain haemorrhage.
* Aud Talle, Norwegian social anthropologist.
* Bernard William Schmitt, 82, American Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston (1989–2004).

17
* Augustus Aikhomu, 72, Nigerian admiral and politician, Vice President (1986–1993).
* Claudio Castiglioni, 64, Italian motorcycle entrepreneur (MV Agusta, Cagiva, Ducati, Husqvarna).
* Vasyl Dzharty, 53, Ukrainian politician, Prime Minister of Crimea (since 2010), cancer.
* Gualtiero Jacopetti, 91, Italian documentary film director. (Italian)
* Larry Johnson, 78, American radio personality, pneumonia.
* Michel Mohrt, 97, French writer, member of the Académie française (since 1985). (French)
* Pierre Quinon, 49, French pole vaulter and Olympic champion, suicide.
* Firmin Van Kerrebroeck, 88, Belgian professional cyclo-cross racer. (Dutch)
* Nikita Yemshanov, 28, Russian actor, car accident.

18
* John Abley, 81, Australian football player, cardiac arrest.
* Kamal al-Nairab, 45, Palestinian militant commander (Popular Resistance Committee), air strike.
* Samir Chanda, 51, Indian art film director, cardiac arrest.
* Simon De Jong, 69, Canadian politician, MP for Regina East (1979–1988) and Regina—Qu'Appelle (1988–1997), leukemia.
* Immad Hammad, 39, Palestinian militant leader (Popular Resistance Committee), air strike.
* Johnson, 58, Indian film music composer, cardiac arrest.
* Paul Lockyer, 61, Australian journalist, helicopter crash.
* Scotty Robertson, 81, American basketball coach (New Orleans Jazz, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons), cancer.
* Anatoly Savchenko, 87, Russian animator. (Russian)
* Jerome J. Shestack, 88, American human rights activist and attorney, President of American Bar Association (1997–1998).
* Jean Tabary, 81, French comic strip artist. (French)
* Edie Wasserman, 95, American philantrophist, wife of Lew Wasserman, natural causes.
* Norm Willey, 83, American football player (Philadelphia Eagles).

19
* Gil Courtemanche, 68, Canadian journalist and novelist (Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali), cancer. (French)
* Gun Hägglund, 79, Swedish television personality, after short illness. (Swedish)
* Janusz Kierzkowski, 64, Polish track cyclist, after long illness. (Polish)
* Manolis Pagomenos, 63, Greek footballer, cancer. (Greek)
* Kerima Polotan Tuvera, 85, Filipino author and journalist.
* Brian Pope, 100, English rugby union player.
* Raúl Ruiz, 70, Chilean film director (Three Lives and Only One Death, Time Regained), pulmonary infection.
* Jimmy Sangster, 83, British director and screenwriter (Hammer Films).
* Vilem Sokol, 96, American conductor and music professor, cancer.
* Yevhen Yevseyev, 24, Ukrainian footballer, car accident.

20
* Reza Badiyi, 81, Iranian-born American television director (Mission: Impossible, The Six Million Dollar Man).
* Ross Barbour, 82 , last founding member of The Four Freshmen, lung cancer.
* Jon Egging, 33, British aviator (Red Arrows), air show crash.
* Rafael Halperin, 87, Israeli businessman and professional wrestler.
* Bryan Jensen, 50, American aviator, air show crash.
* José Eduviges Nava, 56, Mexican politician, Mayor of Zacualpan. (Spanish) (body found on this date)
* Nikos Themelis, 64, Greek author, cancer. (Greek)

21
* Christine Cole Catley, 88, New Zealand journalist, publisher and author, lung cancer.
* Ines Fančović, 86, Croatian actress. (Croatian)
* Sir Donald Farquharson, 83, British jurist.
* Brian Harrison, 89, Australian-born British politician and businessman.
* Budd Hopkins, 80, American artist and UFO researcher, liver cancer.
* John R. Hubbard, 92, American diplomat, President of University of Southern California (1970–1980), United States Ambassador to India (1988–1989).
* John J. Kelley, 80, American long-distance runner, winner of the 1957 Boston Marathon.
* Ezra Sued, 88, Argentine footballer (Racing Club de Avellaneda), infection. (Spanish)
* Muga Takewaki, 67, Japanese actor, cerebrovascular disease. (Japanese)
* Edith Tiempo, 92, Filipino author, National Artist of the Philippines, myocardial infarction.

Singer, Songwriter Nick Ashford Dies

Nick Ashford, half of the singing and song-writing duo Ashford and Simpson, died Monday at the age of 70 from throat cancer. A former publicist says Ashford died in a New York hospital surrounded by his family.

Ashford and Simpson's writing efforts yielded songs for many artists like Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Chaka Khan. The South Carolina native wrote and recorded with his wife Valerie Simpson at Motown Records. They penned such hits for the duet Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell as “Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing” and “Ain't No Mountain High Enough.” Diana Ross re-recorded “Ain't No Mountain High Enough,” and it became one of her signature songs.

Verdine White of the musical group Earth, Wind and Fire called Ashford's songwriting “unmatched in terms of great songwriting”.

Ashford and Simpson were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

Canada Opposition Leader Jack Layton Dies

Canada's New Democrat party leader Jack Layton died Monday from cancer. Layton's party announced his death, saying the charismatic politician died at his Toronto home, surrounded by his family.

During the May 2 elections, Layton helped his party become the dominant opposition group in Canada's Parliament while battling cancer. The NDP controls 103 of 308 total seats.

Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney called Layton an “honorable, decent, loyal” man.

Prime Minister Brian Harper offered the Layton family a state funeral for the popular politician. The funeral will be held Saturday's in Toronto.

Layton penned a letter for release upon his death. The letter encourages others battling cancer, despite his death, to continue fighting the disease. Layton said, “You must not lose your own hope.”

Canadians have left flowers and cards at the eternal flame located on Ottawa's Parliament Hill. The national flag has been lowered to half staff until after the funeral service.

Photo: An impromptu memorial for Jack Layton, Canadian Leader of the Opposition, on Parliament Hill the day he died. Ottawa, 22 August 2011. Photo by M. Rehemtulla

'Hound Dog' and 'Jailhouse Rock' Songwriter Dead at 78

Jerry Leiber, who along with his song writing partner Mike Stoller penned some of rock's earliest hits, died Monday at age 78 in Los Angeles. Leiber died following a heart ailment.

The duo's most famous songs defined the early years of rock and included: “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Yakety Yak”, “Charlie Brown” and “Stand By Me”.

The iconic rock songs by Leiber and Stoller were performed by artists such as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Rolling Stones, the Drifters and the Coasters.

In the 1990s, the songwriters' tune “Smokey Joe's Cafe” became the inspiration for a Broadway play. The show won a 1996 Grammy as the best musical show album.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Chairman Martin Bandier called the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's 60 year partnership one of the greatest and most prolific song writing partnerships of all time.

Rare Unity at Funeral for Zimbabwean Hero Solomon Mujuru

20 August 2011
Peta Thornycroft
Johannesburg

The  burial Saturday of one of Zimbabwe’s best known soldiers drew record crowds and rare unity among Zimbabweans of all political parties. Retired general Solomon Mujuru, the former army commander who backed President Robert Mugabe to lead Zimbabwe during the war to end minority white rule, died in a fire at his farm house last week.  

President Mugabe praised Mujuru as a great soldier and freedom fighter and said his legacy would be defended by his comrades and a strong security service.

Mujuru, who was in Mr. Mugabe’s Zanu PF party for more than 40 years, was the husband of Zimbabwe’s current vice president Joice Mujuru.

Mr Mugabe said it was strange that a man known for his courage as a soldier should have been burned to ashes at his home.  And the president called the death, "inexplicable."  But he said people must accept this as God’s will.

At the ceremony at Heroe’s Acre on the outskirts of Harare,  Mr. Mugabe used the opportunity, as he often does at public events, to attack the West. “We continue to  say  to the British and allies and the Americans leave us alone. Get away from us we are an independent people we are a sovereign people but no,  the British want to debate us every month in parliament as if we are an extension of Britain," he said.

Mr Mugabe also said that political violence has decreased recently and called on the country to ensure that peace continued.  "Let’s create peace. We are very happy that over these last months there has been quite some remarkable peace in the country, and we all agree, no violence, no violence, no violence," he said.

Mr Mugabe was forced to enter into a unity government with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party after disputed elections in 2008.

Leaders of the MDC who attended the burial of Mujuru, have blamed Mr. Mugabe's Zanu PF party for incidents of political violence since the government came to power in 2009.

Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC leader and now prime minister in the inclusive government,  attended the funeral and praised Mujuru for his role in ending white rule.

Mujuru was known as "Rex Nhongo" during the war for independence and left government service to become a businessman and farmer. He never gave interviews and many  political analysts saw him as one of the few prepared to stand up to Mr Mugabe.

Ex-Zimbabwean Military Chief Dies

General Solomon Mujuru, Zimbabwe's retired military chief and husband of the current vice president, has died at his farm outside Harare.

Initial reports say Mujuru, who was in his mid-to-late 60s, was killed in a house fire.

Mujuru led the guerrilla war that won Zimbabwe its independence from Britain in 1980, and served as military commander under President Robert Mugabe for more than a decade.

He was married to Vice President Joice Mujuru, the leader of a faction of Zimbabwe's ruling party who is vying to succeed the 87-year-old Mugabe once he steps down from office. The other faction is led by Defense Minster Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Mr. Mugabe entered into a power sharing agreement with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008 after disputed elections were held.

Final Exits, 8-14 August 2011

Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army 1st Lt. Charles Patrick Murray Jr. prior to an awards ceremony held in the hangar bay aboard the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, Calif., 24 May 2008. Murray and six other recipients were to receive the Midway American Patriot Award and The National World War II Museum's American Spirit Award during the black-tie gala, "Beyond the Call of Duty." Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jennifer R. Hudson, United States Navy.

Obituaries for 8-14 August 2011

8
* Neal Abberley, 67, English cricketer, heart and lung condition.
* Ray Anderson, 77, American entrepreneur, cancer.
* Mike Barrett, 67, American Olympic and professional basketball player (Virginia Squires, San Diego Conquistadors).
* Royal Copeland, 86, Canadian football player (Toronto Argonauts), Alzheimer's disease.
* Mary Hendrick, 88, American businesswoman and NASCAR team owner, mother of racer Rick Hendrick.
* Anastasios Peponis, 87, Greek politician and author, heart problems. (Greek)
* Federico Richter Fernandez-Prada, 89, Peruvian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Ayacucho/Huamanga (1979–1991). (Spanish)
* Jiřina Švorcová, 83, Czech actress. (Czech)
* Guillermo Zarur, 79, Mexican actor. (Spanish)

9
* Wendy Babcock, 32, Canadian advocate for the rights of prostitutes, suspected suicide.
* Roberto Busa, 97, Italian Jesuit priest, pioneer in Digital Humanities.
* Jeanne Carroll, 80, American blues singer, heart attack.
* Adolphe-Maria Gustave Hardy, 91, French Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Beauvais (1985–1995).
* Jimmy Harris, 76, American football player (University of Oklahoma, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles), natural causes.
* Kolapo Ishola, 77, Nigerian politician, Governor of Oyo State (1991–1993).
* Eleanor Josaitis, 79, American activist, co-founder of Focus: HOPE, peritoneal cancer.
* Julian Kenny, 81, Trinidadian zoologist, environmentalist and politician, Senator (1995–2001).

10
* P. C. Alexander, 90, Indian politician, Governor of Tamil Nadu (1988–1990), Maharashtra (1993–2002) and Goa (1996–1998).
* Valeriu Damian, 66, Romanian businessman, suspected homicide. (Romanian) (body found on this date)
* Ignacio Flores, 58, Mexican football player (Cruz Azul, national team), shot. (Spanish)
* Norton Fredrick, 73, Sri Lankan cricketer, illness.
* Billy Grammer, 85, American country singer.
* Oldřich Machač, 65, Czech ice hockey player, heart failure.
* Babak Masoumi, 39, Iranian futsal player and coach, blood cancer. (Farsi)
* Lilia Michel, 85, Mexican actress. (Spanish)

11
* Agustín Romualdo Alvarez Rodríguez, 88, Spanish Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop and vicar apostolic of Machiques (1986–1995).
* Don Chandler, 76, American football player (New York Giants, Green Bay Packers).
* Karen Drambjan, 57, Armenian-born Estonian activist, shot.
* Noah Flug, 86, Polish-born Israeli economist, advocate for rights of Holocaust survivors.
* Richard Floyd, 80, American politician and lawmaker.
* Clair George, 81, American CIA officer (Iran–Contra affair), cardiac arrest.
* David Holbrook, 88, English writer and academic.
* Jani Lane, 47, American musician (Warrant).
* Scott LeDoux, 62, American boxer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
* Richard Mannington Bowes, 68, English murder victim, beaten.
* Karen Overington, 59, Australian politician, Victorian MLA for Ballarat West (1999–2010).
* Bob Shamansky, 84, American politician, U.S. Representative from Ohio (1981–1983).
* Joe Trimble, 80, American baseball player (Red Sox, Pirates).
* Paul Wilkinson, 74, British academic, expert on the study of terrorism (University of St Andrews).

12
* Austin-Emile Burke, 89, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Halifax (1991–1998).
* Geertruida Draaisma, 109, Dutch centenarian, oldest verified person in the Netherlands.
* Ernie Johnson, Sr., 87, American baseball player (Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Baltimore Orioles) and broadcaster (Atlanta Braves).
* Patricia Lourival Acioli, 47, Brazilian judge, shot.
* Dănuţ Murariu, 56, Romanian banker, CEO of Romanian International Bank Iași branch, apparent suicide by drowning. (Romanian)
* Charles P. Murray, Jr., 89, American Army colonel, Medal of Honor recipient.
* Robert Robinson, 83, English radio and television presenter.
* Francisco Solano López, 83, Argentine comics artist (El Eternauta), complications from a stroke. (Spanish)

13
* Marc Druyts, 44, Belgian cyclist. (Dutch)
* Tareque Masud, 54, Bangladeshi independent film director, traffic collision.
* Topi Sorsakoski, 58, Finnish singer, lung cancer.

14
* Marcos Barreto, 51, Brazilian actor, heart attack. (Portuguese)
* Shammi Kapoor, 79, Indian film actor and director, renal failure.
* Fritz Korbach, 66, German football player and manager, laryngeal cancer. (Dutch)
* Paul Reeves, 78, New Zealand Anglican archbishop, Primate (1980–1985), Governor-General (1985–1990), cancer.
* Friedrich Schoenfelder, 94, German actor. (German)
* Shawn Tompkins, 37, Canadian kickboxer and mixed martial artist. (body found on this date)

Oldest Bataan March Survivor Dies at 105

The oldest survivor of the harrowing World War II march from Bataan province near the Philippine capital, Manila, to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp has died at the age of 105.

Albert Brown died Sunday at a nursing home in the northern U.S. state of Illinois.

He survived the so-called Bataan Death March that U.S. and Philippine prisoners were forced to make in 1942 after losing the battle of Bataan. The Japanese Imperial Army forced about 75,000 prisoners of war to march more than 90 kilometers to a Japanese camp. Thousands died during the forced transfer, which an Allied military commission later categorized as a Japanese war crime.

Brown was in his late 30s when he endured the march, but it was not until Japan's surrender in 1945 that he could return home. During his internment, he endured near starvation, cruel treatment by the Japanese prison guards and a host of diseases and ailments.

His remarkable experience during the march and in the Japanese camp is chronicled in a recently published book Forsaken Heroes of the Pacific War: One Man's True Story by Kevin Moore and Don Morrow.

In 2007, Brown was recognized at an annual convention of Bataan survivors as the oldest one still living.

Photo: U.S. and Filipino forces surrender to the Japanese Army at Bataan. Photo by U.S. military / Department of Defense, courtesy of National Park Service.

Bollywood Actor Kapoor Dead at 79

Indian actor Shammi Kapoor has died. He was 79.

Kapoor is best known as the gyrating, swivel-hipped, handsome actor who helped to transform Bollywood's song and dance sequences into a more modern style.

His bio on his fan website says his “special way” with songs was his “most readily identifiable trademark.”

He made his film debut in 1953 and became the leading Bollywood heart-throb of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He continued acting long after his “heart-throb” days were finished.

Kapoor was born into an acting dynasty. His father was a well-known theater personality and his brothers were also successful actors.

Shammi Kapoor died from renal failure Sunday.

(Photo of Shamsher Raj Kapoor, courtesy of Hasnainsikandar.)

Czech Anti-Communist Activist Masin Dies at 81

Ctirad Masin, a Czech anti-communist fighter who shot his way to freedom in a daring escape in 1953, died Saturday in a war veteran's residence in the U.S. midwestern city of Cleveland, Ohio. He was 81.

Masin, his brother Josef and another man, Milan Paumer, were part of the Masin brothers resistance cell established after the communists seized power in 1948 in the then Central European nation of Czechoslovakia. The group carried out raids in Czechoslovakia, killing several people, before fleeing to the West in 1953.

Two members of the five-person cell were captured during the escape and executed but the other three reached West Berlin after a month-long manhunt involving thousands of East German police and soldiers.

The three later settled in the United State and served in the U.S. army. Paumer returned home following the fall of communism in 1989 and died last year. The Masin brothers never returned to Czechoslovakia, which split in 1993 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, saying it has not fully rid itself of its communist past.

Many Czechs consider the fighters to be heroes but others say they were criminals. In 2008, the group was awarded a prime minister's medal.

Photo: Ctirad Masin, 1950, courtesy of Barbara Masin, digitized by Don Rumata.

Final Exits, 1-7 August 2011

Marshall Grant (left), American bassist (Tennessee Two).

Obituaries for 1-7 August 2011

1
* Viktor Aniskin, 65, Russian journalist. (Russian)
* Stan Barstow, 83, English novelist.
* Gerard Buisman, 59, Dutch troubadour. (Dutch)
* Carmela Marie Cristiano, 83, American Roman Catholic nun (Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth); first nun to seek political office in New Jersey.
* Leo Figueres, 93, French politician. (French)
* Florentina Gómez Miranda, 99, Argentine lawyer and women's rights activist.
* Gamini Goonesena, 80, Sri Lankan cricketer.
* Ivan Mesquita, 79, Brazilian actor. (Portuguese)
* Con Murphy, 51, Irish judge, after short illness.
* Chieko N. Okazaki, 84, American Mormon women's leader, first non-Caucasian woman to hold a senior position in the LDS church, heart failure.
* Zhanna Prokhorenko, 71, Russian film actress (Ballad of a Soldier). (Russian)
* Harald Stender, 86, German footballer. (German)

2
* Leslie Esdaile Banks, 51, American author (The Vampire Huntress Legend Series), adrenal cancer.
* Baruj Benacerraf, 90, Venezuelan-born American immunologist, Nobel laureate (1980).
* Ralph Berkowitz, 100, American composer.
* Tokon Koboshevich Dayyrbekov, 52, Kyrgyz actor. (Russian)
* DeLois Barrett Campbell, 85, American gospel singer (The Barrett Sisters), pulmonary embolism.
* Vittorio Citterich, 81, Italian journalist and news anchor. (Italian)
* Al Federoff, 87, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers).
* James M. Flinchum, 94, American journalist.
* Asadullo Gulomov, 58, Tajik politician, Deputy Prime Minister (2006–2011). (Russian)
* Andrey Kapitsa, 80, Russian geographer and explorer, discovered and named Lake Vostok.
* Nikolay Kutuzov, 85, Russian conductor, People's Artist of the USSR. (Russian)
* Coby van Megen, 78, Dutch table tennis player. (Dutch)
* Clarence E. Miller, 93, American politician, U.S. Representative from Ohio (1967–1993), pneumonia.
* Larry Moyer, 60, American ARCA stock car racer, after long illness.
* Attilio Pavesi, 100, Italian Olympic cyclist, oldest living Olympic champion. (Italian)
* Richard Pearson, 93, Welsh actor.
* Venere Pizzinato, 114, Italian supercentenarian, third-oldest living person in the world.
* Italo Rossi, 80, Brazilian actor. (Portuguese)
* José Sanchis Grau, 79, Spanish comic book artist. (Valencian)
* James Ford Seale, 76, American murderer, Ku Klux Klan member.

3
* Wolf Böhringer, 81, German chess player. (German)
* Rudolf Brazda, 98, German concentration camp prisoner, last known survivor of homosexual deportation.
* Richard Cates, 85, American lawyer.
* Annette Charles, 63, American actress (Grease), cancer.
* Antonio M. Diaz, 83, Filipino politician, Representative from Zambales (1969–1972, 1992–2001, 2004–2011).
* Nicholas Kachurin, 51, Russian magazine editor (Top Gear). (Russian)
* Vladimir Lobashev, 78, Russian nuclear physicist. (Russian)
* Ingrid Luterkort, 101, Swedish actress. (Swedish)
* Andrew McDermott, 45, British singer (Threshold), complications of kidney failure. (German)
* Simona Monyová, 44, Czech writer, stabbed. (Czech)
* Jorge Neri, 67, Mexican composer, liver cancer. (Spanish)
* Ray Patterson, 89, American basketball executive (Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets).
* Nikolay Petrov, 68, Russian pianist, People's Artist of the USSR, stroke.
* William Sleator, 66, American science fiction writer.
* Bubba Smith, 66, American football player (Baltimore Colts) and actor (Police Academy).
* Mohsen Koochebaghi Tabrizi, 87, Iranian Shi'ite Muslim marja, heart attack. (Persian)
* Angel Turconi, 88, Italian footballer. (Italian)
* Jane Walker, 69, British journalist, pancreatic cancer.
* Allan Watkins, 89, Welsh cricketer, after short illness.
* Oleh Yemtsev, 59, Ukrainian entertainer, after long illness. (Russian)

4
* Henk Alkema, 66, Dutch composer, music arranger and musician. (Dutch)
* Michael Bukht, 69, British radio executive, television personality and chef.
* Vladimir Klipel, 94, Russian writer. (Russian)
* Eugene V. Kolokolnikov, 64, Russian athletics coach. (Russian)
* Naoki Matsuda, 34, Japanese footballer, suspected heart attack.
* Erhard Pumm, 65, German trade unionist. (German)
* Conrad Schnitzler, 74, German musician (Tangerine Dream, Kluster, Eruption, Berlin Express), stomach cancer.
* Piet Stoffelen, 71, Dutch politician. (Dutch)
* Erika Thijs, 51, Belgian politician, cancer. (Dutch)
* Sherman White, 82, American basketball player (Long Island University).

5
* Claudio Díaz, 52, Argentine journalist, thyroid cancer. (Spanish)
* Mark Duggan, 29, British taxi driver, shooting by police triggered 2011 London riots, shot.
* Marion D. Hanks, 89, American Mormon leader.
* Donald Ray Kennard, 74, American politician, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (1976–2008), brain aneurysm rupture.
* Andrzej Lepper, 57, Polish politician, suspected suicide by hanging.
* Takehiko Maeda, 82, Japanese television writer. (Japanese)
* Jennifer Minetti, 71, German actress. (German)
* Gary Nixon, 70, American motorcycle racer, complications from a heart attack.
* Francesco Quinn, 48, Italian-born American actor (Platoon, The Young and the Restless), son of Anthony Quinn, apparent heart attack.
* Erkki Wessman, 80, Finnish writer. (Finnish)
* Stan Willemse, 86, British footballer (Chelsea).

6
* Marshall Grant, 83, American bassist (Tennessee Two).
* Bernadine Healy, 67, American cardiologist, director of the National Institutes of Health (1991–1993), brain cancer.
* Fred Imus, 69, American radio talk show host, brother of Don Imus. (body found on this date)
* Kuno Klötzer, 89, German football coach. (German)
* Fe del Mundo, 99, Filipino pediatrician, National Scientist of the Philippines, heart attack.
* Roman Opałka, 79, French-born Polish painter. (Polish)
* John W. Ryan, 81, American academic administrator, President of Indiana University (1971–1987).
* Henri Tisot, 74, French actor. (French)
* William Wong, 88, American restaurateur, founder of Kowloon Restaurant.

7
* Joseph Candolfi, 89, Swiss Roman Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of Basel (1983–1996). (German)
* Hugh Carey, 92, American politician, Governor of New York (1975–1982) and U.S. Representative (1961–1974).
* Cornelius Elanjikal, 92, Indian Roman-Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Verapoly (1987–1996). (Malayalam)
* Mark Hatfield, 89, American politician, Governor of Oregon (1959–1967) and U.S. Senator (1967–1997).
* Harri Holkeri, 74, Finnish politician, Prime Minister (1987–1991), after long illness.
* Leo Mattioli, 39, Argentine cumbia singer, cardiac arrest.
* Tom Radney, 79, American politician, Alabama state senator, after long illness.
* Jiří Traxler, 99, Czech-born Canadian jazz musician. (Czech)
* Nancy Wake, 98, New Zealand-born Australian French Resistance leader, chest infection.
* Charles Wyly, 77, American billionaire and philanthropist, co-founder of Michaels Stores, automobile accident.
* Joe Yamanaka, 64, Japanese rock singer, lung cancer. (Japanese).

Former US Senator Hatfield Dies at 89

Mark Hatfield, a former five-term U.S. senator and outspoken war critic, has died at a home in the northwestern city of Portland.

He died Sunday at the age of 89. No cause of death was given.

Hatfield served 30 years in the Senate beginning in 1967, where he worked to end U.S. military involvement in Vietnam and later voted against the Persian Gulf war – a vote in opposition to all but one of his fellow Republican Party senators.

He also pushed for a ban on U.S. nuclear weapons testing in the 1980s.

Hatfield took part in the U.S. invasion of Iwo Jima while serving in the Navy, and visited the Japanese city of Hiroshima after it was hit by an American atomic bomb.

His Senate career was marred by two ethics scandals involving financial ties between his wife and a Greek financier, and failing to report thousands of dollars worth of gifts.

Before being elected to the Senate, Hatfield served two terms as governor of the state of Oregon.

Photo: U.S. Senate Historical Office

Poland’s Former Deputy PM Lepper Dead at 57

Authorities in Poland say former deputy prime minister Andrzej Lepper has been found dead and that it appears he committed suicide. He was 57.

Police say Lepper's body was found in his Warsaw office Friday and that everything indicates he killed himself. A police spokesman is quoted as saying authorities have ruled out the involvement of third parties.

A former pig farmer, Lepper was a member of the populist Self-Defense Party, which became a junior partner in a conservative nationalist government that held power from 2006 until 2007. He served as deputy prime minister and agriculture minister in that government, which was led for most of its short tenure by then-Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Lepper was removed from his posts after he was linked to a corruption investigation.

Last year, Lepper was found guilty of demanding sexual favors from female members of his party and was handed a jail sentence against which he appealed.

Photo: Leader of Samoobrona, Andrzej Lepper in 2002. (Photographer: Błażej Pajda)

Remembering Folk Artist Bill Morrissey

2 August 2011
Katherine Cole

Singer-songwriter Bill Morrissey, 59,  died on July 23, but his death hasn’t received the same attention as that of Amy Winehouse on the same day. Based in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, Morrissey was well known to folk music fans, releasing 10 studio albums and earning two Grammy nominations. One of Bill Morrissey’s Grammy nominations came for his 1999 album “Songs of Mississippi John Hurt.”

Morrissey became a professional musician at a young age. He grew up studying the great folk singers and songwriters of the 1960s. He also spent time working in restaurants and as a commercial fisherman, no doubt studying his co-workers as he went about his business, and later turning their quirks and behaviors into song.  Songs about old mill towns and the people who populated them was a specialty of his. “Small Town On The River” is one example.

Morrissey’s own life was as difficult as those of the characters in his songs. He battled alcoholism, depression, and was eventually diagnosed as bipolar. And, as he wrote on his website, “I’m on medication for depression, but sometimes the depression is stronger than the medication.”  He persevered, however, and, on good days, continued to write and perform.

Morrissey released “Something I Saw, or Thought I Saw” in 2001, featuring songs written soon after his second divorce. Many critics compared it to Richard and Linda Thompson’s break-up album “Shoot Out The Lights,” as both deal with fractured relationships. “Birches” is one of Bill Morrissey’s best-loved songs. It about the middle of a marriage, telling the tale of a love that’s still strong, but perhaps not burning as bright as it once did.

Morrissey died while on tour, which is likely when most performers would prefer the inevitable to happen. In addition to his 10 solo CDs, Morrissey and his good friend Greg Brown released a Grammy-nominated duo CD. He also wrote a well-received novel called “Edson,” and had just completed a second novel at the time of his death.  If you’d like to find out more about Bill Morrissey, his songs and his books, visit his website: Bill Morrissey.net.

Renowned Russian Pianist Nikolai Petrov Dies

Renowned Russian pianist Nikolai Petrov has died after suffering a stroke a few months ago while performing in Belarus.

An assistant for Petrov said he passed away Wednesday in a Moscow hospital.

He was 68.

Petrov was an award winning pianist who performed 70 to 100 concerts each year.

His career included performances with top orchestras in New York, Washington and across Europe.

He also taught at the Moscow Conservatory.

Petrov's funeral is scheduled for Friday in Moscow.

Final Exits, 29-31 July 2011

29
* John Edward Anderson, 93, American businessman and philanthropist, pneumonia.
* Jack Barlow, 87, American country music singer, after long illness.
* Antonis Carouzos, 63, Greek businessman, cancer. (Greek)
* Richard Marsh, Baron Marsh, 83, British politician and businessman, MP for Greenwich (1959–1971), Chairman of British Rail (1971–1976).
* Nella Martinetti, 65, Swiss singer-songwriter.
* Gene McDaniels, 76, American singer-songwriter.
* Ivan Milas, 72, Croatian politician. (Croatian)
* Takeshi Miyaji, 45, Japanese video game designer (GunGriffon, Grandia).
* Dimitar Panitza, 80, Bulgarian journalist and editor.
* Matthew J. Perry, 89, American federal judge.
* Agnes Varis, 81, American philanthropist, cancer.
* Max Harry Weil, 84, Swiss-born American physician, pioneer of critical care medicine, prostate cancer.

30
* Mario Echandi Jiménez, 96, Costa Rican politician, President (1958–1962), pneumonia.
* Vincent Kympat, 65, Indian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Jowai (since 2006).
* Sam Norkin, 94, American caricaturist and illustrator.

31
* Eliseo Alberto, 59, Cuban-born Mexican writer, complications from a kidney transplant.
* Rick Buckley, 74, American radio executive (WOR (AM)), brain embolism.
* Clyde Holding, 80, Australian politician, federal minister (1984–1990).
* John Hoyland, 76, English abstract painter, complications following heart surgery.
* Andrea Pazzagli, 51, Italian footballer (A.C. Milan), stroke.
* Ruth Perelman, 90, American philanthropist.
* Joseph Albert Rosario, 96, Indian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Amravati (1955–1995).
* Ljubiša Stojanović, 59, Serbian singer, car accident.

Nobel Prize Winning Immunologist Dies at 90

Venezuelan-born doctor Baruj Benacerraf, whose research on the human immune system won him a Nobel Prize for Medicine, has died.

Dr. Benacerraf was living in Boston, Massachusetts and had been suffering from pneumonia. He was 90 years old.

Dr. Benacerraf was born in Caracas and grew up in Paris, arriving in the United States in 1939 to study medicine.

His research into why some people are better able to fend off disease and infection than others brought him the 1980 Nobel Price for Medicine, which he shared with two fellow researchers.

Dr. Benacerraf also ran the Boston-based Dana-Farmer Cancer Institute.