Former Senator Arlen Specter Dies of Cancer

Former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter has died of cancer at age 82. The Republican-turned Democrat represented Pennsylvania for 30 years, playing key roles in confirmation battles for U.S. Supreme Court nominees.

First elected to the Senate as a Republican in 1980, Specter garnered national attention and Republican ire for resisting then-President Ronald Reagan's 1987 Supreme Court pick, Robert Bork. Specter again played a prominent role in President George H. W. Bush's 1991 nomination of Clarence Thomas to the nation's highest court, fiercely interrogating witness Anita Hill, who accused Thomas of sexual harassment.

Long known as a political moderate in a Republican Party that was shifting further to the right on social issues and other matters, Specter switched to the Democratic Party in 2009. At the time, it was assumed he would have been hard pressed to survive a primary fight against fellow-Republican challengers the following year. He lost his 2010 primary election battle to a Democrat who lost the general election to Pennsylvania's current Republican senator.

Before entering politics, Specter served as a prosecutor in Philadelphia. He also served as a counsel for the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Specter had several bouts of cancer in recent years. He is survived by a wife and two children.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong Dies at 82

Former U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died.

A family statement said the 82-year-old icon died Saturday in his home state of Ohio, following a cardiovascular procedure earlier this month.

Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. After stepping on the lunar surface, he sent the historic message: “that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” As an enthralled world looked on, Armstrong spent nearly three hours walking on the moon with fellow astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.

Armstrong had largely withdrawn from public life in recent years. But he spoke earlier this year at Ohio State University at an event honoring fellow space pioneer John Glenn, former senator from Ohio.

Weeks after the moon walk, Armstrong, Aldrin and the mission's third astronaut, Michael Collins, received a thunderous welcome with ticker-tape parades in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. They later made a world tour.

The moon walk marked America's victory in the Cold War space race with the Soviet Union that began in October 1957 with the launch of the Soviet satellite “Sputnik 1.”

President Barack Obama, in a statement Saturday, called Armstrong “among the greatest of American heroes, not just of his time, but of all time. When he and his fellow crew members lifted off … they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation. They set out to show the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable — that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible.”

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney called Armstrong an American hero who will inspire him for the rest of his life. He praised the astronaut for operating “with courage unmeasured and unbounded love for his country.”

Saturday's family statement described Armstrong as “a loving husband, grandfather brother and friend.” It asked that the public “honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty. And the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”

Armstrong's Apollo 11 mission earned decorations from 17 nations and many special American honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

In later years, he served as Deputy Associate Administrator at NASA headquarters, and was a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He and his family lived on a 120-hectare farm outside of Cincinnati.

Entertainment Pioneer Dick Clark Dies at 82

Dick Clark, entertainment pioneer and television host of American Bandstand, has died at age 82. Publicist Paul Shefrin said Clark suffered a heart attack Wednesday and died at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

He was not a singer or musician, but Dick Clark was one of the most famous names in rock and roll.  In the 1950s and ‘60s his afternoon television show, American Bandstand, was a daily staple for teens across the country and it changed the way Americans listened to pop music.

Born in Mount Vernon, outside of New York City, Clark hit the airwaves before he was even out of high school. His career began in the mailroom of a radio station run by his father and uncle. Before long, he was on the air. He continued to work as a disc jockey through college, and returned to the small, family run station after graduation. One year later, in 1952, he hit the “big time,” moving to  WFIL in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and soon was one of the best known radio DJ’s in town. At that time, WFIL also owned a television station that had an afternoon teen dance show called “Bandstand,” and in a few years Clark became the regular host of that program, too.

In 1957, the ABC television network decided to take “Bandstand” national, after Clark convinced them that a teen dance show would be popular all across the country.

“I was a very young fellow," noted Clark. "That show was getting huge audiences in Philadelphia. Sixty-five percent of the people watched Bandstand when it was in Philadelphia. It wiped out all the competition. I said ‘It doesn’t matter. It isn’t just Philadelphia, this is a universal language. It will work everywhere. Trust us, it will work. Give us five weeks.’  And in August of 1957, they did, and, as they say, the rest is history.”

Renamed American Bandstand, the show became one of TV’s longest running series and was a part of network’s lineup from 1957 to 1987. 

Everyone who was anyone in the pop music business performed on Bandstand, from Jerry Lee Lewis and the Jackson Five to Prince and the Talking Heads. Paul Anka launched his career on American Bandstand in 1957 with the song “Diana.”

“I think Dick has been very massive, in that he was the first and one-of-a kind who allowed all of us that conduit [pipeline] to the public," Anka said. "Who not only was a very viable force then, but stayed contemporary through all of these years and uniquely kept everything that he was about very special.”

His initial television success led Dick Clark to diversify.  He soon moved into the music publishing and record business, which the US government later saw as a possible conflict of interest. At the time, payola, or bribery, was widespread in the music industry, with record companies paying DJ’s to play their records. Clark was a prime target of a Congressional investigation into this illegal activity. He was cleared of any suspicions, but was required by ABC to sell his publishing and recording companies in order to keep his television show.

Clark moved to Hollywood in 1963, and “American Bandstand” went with him. Soon, he started up Dick Clark Productions and was cranking out hit television programs. Some of the shows were music related, but many were game shows and award shows. He was also an author, leading some to wonder if Clark was a workaholic.

“People say ‘Why do you work so hard? You made enough money to retire on when you were a kid!’  And I say, everybody should be this lucky to live out the fantasy of their youth," Clark said. "I wanted to be in the radio business when I was 13. I started working on it when I was 17, and I don’t want to stop.”

In 1972, Clark became synonymous with one of the biggest party nights of the year, when he launched Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and watching the show every December 31 was soon a yearly tradition for millions and millions of Americans. Clark continued to host the show until 2004, when he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and struggling to speak. But a year later, Clark was back and even though his speech was, at times, still difficult to understand, many praised his bravery, including other stroke victims.

Dick Clark earned countless awards and honors during his long career: he has Emmys, Grammys, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

Clark was often teased for his eternally good looks, which earned him the nickname “America’s Oldest Teenager.” He always credited his youthful appearance to good genes, and was quoted as saying “If you want to stay young looking, pick your parents very carefully.”

Bulgarian-Born Pianist Alexis Weissenberg Dies at 82



 Bulgarian-born French pianist Alexis Weissenberg, whose passion for music saved him and his mother from a World War II concentration camp, has died at the age of 82.

Weissenberg died Sunday in Lugano, Switzerland, where his family had settled. He had suffered from Parkinson's disease for years.

Bulgarian Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov described Weissenberg as “one of the greatest piano players of the 20th century.”

An only child, Weissenberg was born into a Jewish family in Sofia in 1929. When he and his mother tried to flee German-occupied Bulgaria for Turkey during World War II, they were captured and thrown into a concentration camp.

Weissenberg's musical talent saved his and his mother's lives. A German officer who enjoyed listening to the three-year-old play the accordion helped them escape.

After the war, Weissenberg moved to New York to study at the Juilliard School of Music. Weissenberg's musical talent quickly catapulted him to fame. He performed with renowned musical composers, including Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein.

Weissenberg eventually settled in France and became a French national.

(Photo: Euroarts)

Mother of Late Pakistani PM Bhutto Dies

Nusrat Bhutto (in middle) is seen standing as Zulfiqar Bhutto meets with a little girl, 1975. Photo by Anne1965.

Begum Nusrat Bhutto, the wife of one Pakistani prime minister and the mother of another, has died at the age of 82 after a long illness.

Nusrat Bhutto's life mirrored much of the turmoil in Pakistan's politics. Her husband, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the Pakistan People's Party and served as Pakistani prime minister from 1973 until 1977.

The first lady took over as head of the party after Mr. Bhutto was executed in 1979, and also served in parliament.

Later, Nusrat Bhutto's daughter, Benazir, took over as head of the party and served two separate terms as Pakistan's prime minister.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007 addressing a campaign rally. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is now Pakistan's president.

Nusrat Bhutto spent her final years in Dubai, where she died Sunday. Her body is being returned to Pakistan to be buried in a family graveyard.

Final Exits, 22-28 July 2011

Frank Foster (left) and Dan Morgenstern in 2008. (Photo: nea.gov)

Obituaries for 22-28 July 2011

22
* Tom Aldredge, 83, American actor (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire), lymphoma.
* Linda Christian, 87, Mexican-born American actress, first Bond girl (1954 television adaptation of Casino Royale).
* Tore Eikeland, 21, Norwegian politician, killed in 2011 Norway attacks. (Norwegian)
* Dmitri Furman, 68, Russian historian and philosopher, after long illness. (Russian)
* Charles Manatt, 75, American lawyer, banker and political figure, complications of a stroke.
* Malcolm Muir, 96, American jurist.
* Ifti Nasim, 64, Pakistani-born American poet and radio host, heart attack.
* Tex Nelson, 74, American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles).
* Wolfram Thiem, 55, German Olympic rower. (German)
* Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, 79, New Zealand politician, longest-serving female member of the House of Representatives (1967–1996).
* Brian Vallee, 70, Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker, cancer.
* Cees de Wolf, 65, Dutch footballer (Ajax Amsterdam). (Dutch)

23
* David Aiken, 93, American operatic baritone and opera director.
* Toyoo Ashida, 67, Japanese animator (Fist of the North Star, The World of Narue, Gulliver Boy, F-Zero: GP Legend) (Japanese)
* Mathilde Aussant, 113, French supercentenarian, oldest person in France.
* Terence Boston, Baron Boston of Faversham, 81, British politician, MP for Faversham (1964–1970).
* John Chervokas, 74, American advertising writer.
* Robert Ettinger, 92, American cryonicist, respiratory failure.
* Ina van Faassen, 82, Dutch actress. (Dutch)
* Jack Fitzpatrick, 88, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Country Curtains, Massachusetts State Senator (1973–1980).
* Milton Gwirtzman, 78, American speech writer, advisor to the Kennedy family, metastatic melanoma.
* Johnny Hoes, 94, Dutch singer, composer and producer. (Dutch)
* Fran Landesman, 83, American lyricist and poet.
* Butch Lewis, 65, American boxing promoter, heart attack.
* Conrad Meyer, 89, British prelate, Bishop of Dorchester (1979–1988)
* Bill Morrissey, 59, American singer-songwriter.
* Nguyen Cao Ky, 80, Vietnamese air force chief and political leader, Prime Minister of South Vietnam (1965–1967).
* Richard Pike, 61, British chemist.
* George Ramos, 63, American reporter, editor and columnist (Los Angeles Times).
* Daryoush Rezaei, 35, Iranian nuclear scientist, shot.
* John Shalikashvili, 75, Polish-born American army general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1993–1997), stroke.
* Elmer B. Staats, 97, American public servant, Comptroller General of the United States (1966–1981).
* Amy Winehouse, 27, British singer-songwriter ("Rehab").

24
* Kaveinga Fa'anunu, 48, Tongan politician, MP for Tongatapu 9 (since 2010), head and neck cancer.
* Tresa Hughes, 81, American actress (Another World, Don Juan DeMarco, Fame).
* Gilbert Luján, 70, American painter, prostate cancer.
* Paul Marchand, 74, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Timmins (since 1999).
* Josip Bobi Marotti, 89, Croatian actor. (Croatian)
* Christopher Mayer, 57, American actor (The Dukes of Hazzard, Santa Barbara, Liar Liar).
* Virgilio Noè, 89, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Peter (1991–2002).
* Mike Palm, 86, American baseball player (Boston Red Sox).
* Dan Peek, 60, American singer-songwriter (America).
* David Servan-Schreiber, 50, French physician, neuroscientist and author, cancer.
* G. D. Spradlin, 90, American actor (North Dallas Forty, The Godfather Part II).
* Skip Thomas, 61, American football player (Oakland Raiders), apparent heart attack.
* Jane White, 88, American actress (Beloved, Klute, Once Upon a Mattress).

25
* Michael Cacoyannis, 89, Cypriot filmmaker (Zorba the Greek).
* Bakır Çağlar, 69–70, Turkish jurist, lawyer and constitutional law professor, bleeding stomach. (Turkish)
* V. S. Krishna Iyer, 89, Indian activist and politician, after long illness.
* Jeret Peterson, 29, American free style skier, 2010 Winter Olympics silver medalist, suicide by gunshot.
* Ravichandran, 71, Malaysian-born Indian actor, lung infection.
* Mike Reaves, 52, American rock musician (Full Devil Jacket), prostate cancer.
* Irma Schmidt, 112, American supercentenarian, Connecticut's oldest resident.

26
* Joe Arroyo, 55, Colombian singer.
* Jacques Fatton, 85, French-born Swiss footballer. (German)
* Frank Foster, 82, American jazz saxophonist and composer, complications from kidney failure.
* Bobby Franklin, 54, American politician, apparent heart attack.
* Richard Harris, 63, American football player (Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks) and coach (Winnipeg Blue Bombers), heart attack.
* Sakyo Komatsu, 80, Japanese science fiction writer, pneumonia.
* Georges Kwaïter, 83, Syrian-born Lebanese Melkite Catholic hierarch, Archbishop of Saïdā (1987–2006).
* Elmer Lower, 98, American broadcast executive, president of ABC News (1963–1974).
* Silvio Narizzano, 84, Canadian-born British film and television director.
* Margaret Olley, 88, Australian painter.
* Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz, Mexican journalist, cut throat. (body found on this date)
* Josephine C. Reyes, 82, Filipino educator, President of Far Eastern University (1985–1989).
* Howard Stein, 84, American financier, complications of a stroke.
* Tim Smooth, 39, American rapper, cancer.

27
* Wilfred Arsenault, 57, Canadian politician, cancer.
* Rudolf Baláž, 70, Slovak Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Banská Bystrica (since 1990).
* Richard Chavez, 81, American activist and labor organizer, brother of Cesar Chavez, complications from surgery.
* Ghulam Haider Hamidi, 65, Afghan politician, Mayor of Kandahar (since 2007), bombing.
* Rei Harakami, 40, Japanese musician, cerebrovascular disease. (Japanese)
* Hideki Irabu, 42, Japanese baseball player (Chiba Lotte Marines, New York Yankees, Montreal Expos), hanged. (body discovered on this date)
* Jerome Liebling, 87, American photographer, filmmaker and academic (Hampshire College).
* Polly Platt, 72, American film producer (Say Anything...), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
* Bejaratana Rajasuda, 85, Thai royal, only daughter of King Vajiravudh of Thailand.
* Eduard Rozovsky, 84, Russian cinematographer (Amphibian Man, White Sun of the Desert), car accident. (Russian)
* Pietro Sambi, 73, Italian-born Vatican Roman Catholic titular archbishop, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States (since 2005), respiratory failure.
* Francis John Spence, 85, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Kingston (1982–2002).
* John Stott, 90, British Anglican clergyman.

28
* Elazar Abuhatzeira, 70, Moroccan-born Israeli rabbi, stabbed.
* Frank Bender, 70, American forensic artist, pleural mesothelioma.
* Bernd Clüver, 63, German singer, complications from a fall. (German)
* Howard W. Creecy, Jr., 57, American preacher and civil rights leader, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, heart attack.
* Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, 25, British journalist, explosion.
* David Legrant, 87, American acting teacher and actor.
* Agapito Lozada, 72, Filipino Olympic swimmer.
* John Marburger, 70, American physicist and presidential adviser, non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
* Fortino Cortés Sandoval, 39, Mexican politician, Mayor of Florencia de Benito Juárez, shot. (Spanish) (body found on this date)
* Judy Sowinski, 70, American roller derby player. (death reported on this date)
* Jack Thompson, 82, British politician, MP for Wansbeck (1983–1997). (death reported on this date)
* John Milton Yinger, 95, American sociologist.
* Abdul Fatah Younis, 67, Libyan rebel leader and government official, former Interior Minister, shot.

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.