Renowned Architect Zaha Hadid Dies in Miami

by Amanda Scott

One of Britain's most innovative architects, Zaha Hadid, has died at age 65.

Hadid's firm says she died Thursday at a hospital in Miami, Florida, where she was being treated for bronchitis.

​​In 2004, Hadid became the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award for architecture.

The American philanthropist Thomas Pritzker, presenting the award, said Hadid's work "organizes land, space, structure and person so that each is inseparable from the other, and each calls to the other."

Born in Iraq, Hadid studied mathematics at the American University in Beirut. She completed her architectural studies in Britain, where she continued to live and work.

She designed projects around the world including the glass, granite and steel Guangzhou Opera House in China, the London Aquatics Center, built for the 2012 Olympics, and the Sheikh Zayed bridge in Abu Dhabi, a curved design meant to "evoke the undulating sand dunes of the desert."

At the time of her death, Hadid was working on stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and a new Iraqi parliament building in Baghdad.

Earlier this year, the Royal Institute of British Architects awarded Hadid its Gold Medal, honoring her as "a formidable and globally influential force in architecture."

"Part of architecture’s job is to make people feel good," Hadid said in her remarks to the RIBA, "in the spaces where we live, go to school or where we work - so we must be committed to raising standards."

(Photo: Zaha Hadid in 2011, from the Knight Foundation)

Frank Sinatra Jr. Dies at 72

Frank Sinatra Jr., son of the legendary singer and actor, died suddenly Wednesday in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he was performing in a musical tribute to his father.

The Associated Press reported that he had a heart attack and was 72 years old.

Sinatra was a singer and musician who made headlines in 1963 when he was kidnapped and released after his father paid a large ransom.

Gossip columnists said the kidnapping was a hoax and publicity stunt, but the FBI said it was genuine and the kidnappers were convicted.

While Sinatra could never come close to matching the fame and artistry of his father, he did become well-known as the musical director and conductor for the senior Sinatra's concerts.

(Photo: Frank Sinatra, Jr. in San Diego, 2008 by Phil Konstantin)

Nancy Reagan Remembered

by Ken Schwartz

Former first lady Nancy Reagan was remembered with laughter and tears Friday by 1,000 invited mourners during her funeral at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Nancy Reagan was 94 when she died of heart failure Sunday in Bel Air, California.

Current first lady Michelle Obama represented the White House at Friday's service. President Barack Obama said in his weekly address Saturday that "as president, I know just how important it is to have a strong life partner and President Reagan was as lucky as I am."

A long list of Reagan family friends, ranging from conservative Republicans to left-wing Democrats, attended the funeral. They included members of White House families going back nearly 60 years, including Caroline Kennedy, Steven Ford, former President George W. Bush, and ex-first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Rosalynn Carter.

Actors Tom Selleck and Bo Derek and singers Johnny Mantis and Wayne Newton were among the Hollywood elite.

Tough, dedicated to husband

Nancy Reagan was remembered as a tough and often stubborn woman, but someone who was 100 percent devoted to her late husband, President Ronald Reagan.

Daughter Patti Davis said the one sure way to get on Nancy Reagan's bad side was to show even the smallest bit of disrespect to her husband.

She recalls seeing them sitting together on a California beach at sunset — not talking or moving, just sitting.

Davis recalled how, as a young girl, she fell and cracked her skull, and Nancy Reagan tenderly held her head with one hand while driving with the other to a hospital emergency room.

She also had the mourners laughing with a story about his father getting a rubdown from a massage therapist. She said Nancy Reagan sneaked into the room, kissed her prone husband on the back of the neck, and snuck out, leaving the perplexed Reagan to believe it was the burly massage therapist who kissed him.

Advocacy for stem cell research

When Ronald Reagan died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in 2004, Nancy Reagan became an inexhaustible advocate for stem cell research, which doctors believe could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's.

Obama said he was "proud" that Nancy Reagan was one of the first people he called when he signed an order to resume federal stem cell research.

"Nobody understood better than Nancy Reagan the importance of pursuing treatments that hold the potential and the promise to improve and save lives," the president said.

Obama ordered all U.S. flags on government buildings flown at half-staff until Friday night, when Reagan's casket was put in the ground next to her beloved husband at the presidential library named for him.

Besides Patti Davis and son Ron Reagan, Nancy Reagan is survived by a stepson, Michael, who Ronald Reagan adopted during his first marriage to actress Jane Wyman.

Sir George Martin, ‘Fifth Beatle,’ Dies at 90

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has announced the death of the so-called "fifth Beatle," producer Sir George Martin, at age 90.

Starr posted the news on Twitter Wednesday, with a photograph of Martin with the Beatles captioned "Thank you for all your love and kindness George."

Universal Music Group has confirmed the death, but details have not been released.

British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted a tribute early Wednesday, calling Martin "a giant of music."

Martin, a classically trained musician, signed the four young Beatles to a music contract in 1962. He was considered essential to their success, helping them arrange, and produce many of their biggest hits, starting with one of their first: 1962's "Love Me Do."

​​In some cases, Martin's classical music training filled in gaps for band members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Starr, who entered the industry with only a basic knowledge of reading and writing music. Martin is credited with scoring now-iconic trumpet solos, string quartet interludes, and piano breaks in some of the Beatles' most memorable songs.

After the breakup of the Beatles in 1970, Martin went on to work with other artists such as Elton John, Bob Dylan, and Sting. He was knighted by the British monarchy in 1996.

Martin continued working on Beatles-related projects, recording two solo albums for Paul McCartney and, in 2006, developing a Beatles-based Cirque de Soleil show called "Love" that has won two Grammy awards for its soundtrack.

Guinness World Records has named Martin as the most successful music producer ever, with more than 50 number-one hit records in Britain and the United States alone, over a career that lasted six decades.

Tennis Journalist, Historian Bud Collins Dies

American tennis writer and sportscaster Bud Collins, who called himself a “scribbler and a babbler,” has died at age 86.

Collins, who died Friday at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, was credited with paving the way for newspaper reporters to move into broadcasting, becoming a familiar face to U.S. television audiences with his “Breakfast at Wimbledon” coverage on NBC.

He made one of his final public appearances last September in New York, when the media center at the U.S. Open was dedicated in his honor. A plaque for him reads: “Journalist, Commentator, Historian, Mentor, Friend.”

Collins wrote several books, including The Education of a Tennis Player (with Rod Laver, 1971), Evonne! On the Move (with Evonne Goolagong Cawley, 1974), and a memoir, My Life With the Pros (1989).

He also wrote several tennis encyclopedias, including The Modern Encyclopedia of Tennis, The Bud Collins Tennis Encyclopedia, and Total Tennis, which became an authoritative standard in the sport.

Collins was married to photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen.

US Author Pat Conroy Dies

Author Pat Conroy, who chronicled both the beauty and the pain of growing up in the American South, has died at age 70 after a bout with pancreatic cancer.

Conroy's publisher announced the news late Friday, saying the author known for his lyrical prose died at home in Beaufort, South Carolina, surrounded by friends and family.

Conroy's novels often described troubled family relationships juxtaposed with descriptions of the natural beauty of coastal South Carolina - an area known for hospitality and gracious living, but also a dark history of slavery and racism.

Four of Conroy's novels were made into movies, the best-known of which are The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini.

'Coronation Street' Creator Tony Warren Dies at 79

British writer Tony Warren, who created the long-running soap opera "Coronation Street,'' has died at 79. The show he leaves behind is 56 years old, a national cultural fixture whose fans have included royalty, poets, rappers and millions of TV viewers.

Broadcaster ITV said Wednesday that Warren died Tuesday night, "surrounded by his loving friends,'' after a short illness.

Anthony McVay Simpson — Warren was a stage name — was a 24-year-old actor when he had the idea for a television series set in a working-class street in northwestern England, where he had grown up. He wrote the initial 13-episode run of what was originally called "Florizel Street'' — renamed before it was first broadcast in December 1960.

Some TV executives had their doubts about the program, calling the characters' northern speech "the language of the music halls.'' But its workaday setting, memorable characters, dramatic story lines and tart northern humor was a hit.

"Corrie'' — as it is popularly known — set the model for British TV soaps, which to this day offer grit rather than the gloss of their American counterparts.

"Coronation Street'' still has millions of regular viewers and a surprising range of fans around the world. Prince Charles once made a cameo appearance, and his wife Camilla pulled a pint in fictional pub The Rovers Return during a 2010 visit to the set. The late poet laureate John Betjeman compared "Corrie'' to the novels of Charles Dickens, while Snoop Dogg recorded a message for its 50th anniversary.

For Warren, the show's success had a dark side. He said in a 2010 interview that the pressure of creating it left him addicted to alcohol and morphine for many years.

Warren wrote for the show for many years, and ITV said he remained a consultant on the series until the day he died.

Warren also wrote several novels, other TV shows and the 1960s film "Ferry Cross The Mersey,'' starring the Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers. But nothing else had the impact of "Coronation Street.''

Actress Helen Worth, who has played the often-married, long-suffering Gail McIntyre in the soap since 1974, said Warren was "a genius of our time.''

"He brought real life into our homes for us all to relate to and enjoy. He will, of course, live on forever through 'Coronation Street,''' she said.