Former Israeli Prime Minister Shamir Dies

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who staunchly opposed giving up land to the Palestinians, has died. He was 96.

Shamir served as prime minister from 1983 to 1984 and again from 1986 to 1992.

He was known for resisting international pressure to make concessions, yet initiated a peace process in Spain that led to many future diplomatic overtures by his successors.

Born Yitzhak Jazernicki in Poland, he emigrated to British-ruled Palestine in 1935. He joined Lehi, the most hardline of Jewish movements fighting the British rule.

After Israel became a state in 1948, he became one of the founders of the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

Shamir gave up spying in 1965 and entered politics five years later to become speaker of the Knesset after his right-wing Likud party won general elections in 1977.

In 1999 he left Likud, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu, the current prime minister, of betraying his party's ideology by agreeing to limited Palestinian sovereignty over parts of the occupied West Bank.

He lived in a retirement home north of Tel Aviv until his death.

(Photo by Gerald B. Johnson: Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel is greeted by officials at Andrews Air Force Base as he and his entourage arrive for a state visit, 14 March 1988.)

Remembering Remote Control Inventor Gene Polley

by Ted Landphair

Whenever someone leaves the earth having changed it, we like to make note of it.

Not just the famous or notorious, but also obscure people who dreamed up something memorable or useful in our everyday lives.

So we’ve told you about those who brought us the TV dinner, the hula hoop, and that shocking-orange color called “Day-Glo.”

Recently we lost Eugene Polley of Downers Grove, Illinois, at age 96. He invented the Flash-Matic. That may not ring a bell until we tell you that this device, which looked like a combination hair dryer and ray gun, was the first really useful TV remote control.

Although they didn’t know his name, Eugene Polley became a hero to sedentary souls we call “couch potatoes,” and a villain to those who are fighting America’s obesity epidemic.

Polley started as a stock boy at the Zenith Electric Company in Chicago during the Great Depression of the 1930s. But he had a way with gadgets. He studied engineering and eventually helped Zenith develop bomb fuses, push-button radios, and video disks.

But the Flash-Matic was his crowning achievement, which Zenith introduced in 1955. For it, the company gave him a $1,000 bonus - and kept the patent and profits for itself.

The Flash-Matic was not the first hand-held control that could change TV channels and volume. But earlier models were tethered to the set by a cord, over which owners often tripped and on which family dogs sometimes chewed.

The Associated Press reported that the Flash-Matic performed “TV miracles” while being “absolutely harmless to humans.” This was noted because kids playing spacemen were running around America at the time, zapping each other with toy ray guns. 

The man known as “the father of the remote control” told the Baltimore Sun newspaper in 2000, “It makes me think maybe my life wasn’t wasted. Maybe I did something for humanity, like the guy who invented the flush toilet.”

At Eugene Polley’s passing, Sean O’Neal, a writer on the A.V. Club Web site, suggested a moment of silence in gratitude. To do that, he thought television viewers should punch “mute” on their remotes.

TV Remote Control Inventor Dies

The inventor whose device enabled people to watch television without ever having to get up to change the channel has died.

Eugene Polley, who developed the first wireless television remote control, was 96 years old when he died Sunday in Chicago.

Polley was an engineer with Zenith Electronics in 1955 when he built a hand-held box that pointed a beam of light at the television set. The box let viewers change channels and turn the set on and off, alleviating the need to get up to walk to the TV.

Over the years, the remote control has gone from a novel luxury to what many people consider a necessity.

During his 47-year career as an engineer, Polley earned 18 U.S. patents. His other innovations include push-button car radios and the video disc — the forerunner of today's DVDs.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rees.

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, 29-31 August 2011

David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta blues guitarist, 11 February 2008. Photo: Bengt Nyman.

Obituaries for 29-31 August 2011

29
* Mel Batty, 71, British long distance runner, heart attack.
* David "Honeyboy" Edwards, 96, American blues guitarist and singer, heart failure.
* Ben Gautrey, 18, English motorcycle racer, race crash.
* Wayne Hamilton, 20, Northern Irish motorcycle racer, race crash during 2011 Manx Grand Prix.
* Nicolás Mancera, 80, Argentine television host, cardiac arrest. (Spanish)
* R. B. McDowell, 97, Irish historian.
* Mark Ovendale, 37, English footballer (Luton Town, Bournemouth), cancer.
* David P. Reynolds, 96, American businessman and thoroughbred racehorse breeder.
* Junpei Takiguchi, 80, Japanese voice actor and narrator (Dragon Ball, Yatterman, Mazinger Z), stomach cancer.

30
* Alla Bayanova, 97, Russian singer, People's Artist of Russia, cancer. (Russian)
* Faye Blackstone, 96, American rodeo star, cancer.
* Peggy Lloyd, 98, American stage actress.
* Cactus Pryor, 88, American broadcaster, Alzheimer's disease.

31
* Wade Belak, 35, Canadian ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville Predators), suicide.
* Denis Collins, 58, Australian rules footballer, heart attack.
* Adam Easton, 71, Scottish motorcycle racer, race crash.
*Abderrahmane Mahjoub, 82, Moroccan-born French footballer.
* Robert Muir, 91, Canadian politician, MP for Cape Breton North and Victoria (1957–1968); Cape Breton—The Sydneys (1968–1979) and Senator (1979–1994).
* Radoslav Stojanović, 81, Serbian law expert and politician, professor at the University of Belgrade, a co-founder of Democratic Party. (Serbian)
* Rosel Zech, 69, German actress. (Veronika Voss, Aimée & Jaguar), cancer.

Belarus Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek Dies at 96

Thursday, 21 July 2011

The former leader of the Catholic Church in Belarus, Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, has died in a Pinsk hospital at the age of 96.

In a statement the Catholic Church of Belarus said he died early Thursday. The cause of death was not specified.

After entering the priesthood in 1939, Swiatek was sentenced to death for spying by Soviet authorities. But he escaped when Nazi Germany's forces occupied the city of Brest.

When the Soviet army took control of Belarus in 1944, Swiatek was re-arrested and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in the Gulag prison system. He served more than nine years before being released and returning to the church.

Swiatek became archbishop of the Minsk diocese in 1991, and was named a cardinal in 1994. He headed the church in Belarus until 2006.

Photo: Cardinal Kazimier Sviontak, 2009. (Photographer: Serge Serebro, Vitebsk Popular News)

Award-Winning Travel Writer Patrick Leigh Fermor Dies at 96

Sunday, 12 June 2011

World renowned British travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, who kidnapped the Nazi military commander of occupied Crete in World War II, has died at age 96.

Leigh Fermor's books about life in Greece and travel across Europe and the Caribbean are regarded as some of the best travel books ever written. They include The Traveller's Tree and Between the Woods and the Water.

Impatient with school, Leigh Fermor set off as a teenager in 1933 across the English Channel to the Netherlands on what turned out to be a three-year trek to Istanbul on foot, horseback, train, and car.

Later, as a British military officer, he disguised himself as a shepherd on Crete and led an operation to capture the German commander of the Nazi occupied Greek island.

Leigh Fermor eventually settled in Greece, where his books about his beloved adopted country made him one of Greece's most admired citizens and unofficial ambassadors of Greek culture.