Phyllis Schlafly 'First Lady of US Anti-Feminism' Dies

Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative activist who almost single-handedly helped defeat the proposed Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and pushed the Republican Party to the right in ensuing decades, has died. She was 92.

Schlafly died Monday of cancer at her home in St. Louis, her son John Schlafly said.

Known as "the first lady of anti-feminism," Schlafly rose to national attention in 1964 with her self-published book, “A Choice Not an Echo,” that became a manifesto for the far right. The book, which sold 3 million copies, chronicled the history of the Republican National Convention and is credited with helping conservative Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona win the 1964 GOP nomination.

She later helped lead opposition to the ERA, a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee equal rights under the law regardless of gender. Schlafly argued that the measure would mean the end of the traditional family.

Supporters of the measure argued it would require that laws determining child support and job opportunities be designed without regard to gender.

Schlafly told the Associated Press in 2007 that perhaps her greatest legacy was the Eagle Forum, which she founded in 1972. The ultraconservative group has chapters in several states and claims 80,000 members. "I've taught literally millions of people how to participate in self-government,'' Schlafly said.

The Eagle Forum pushes for low taxes, a strong military and English-only education. The group is against efforts it says are pushed by radical feminists or encroach on U.S. sovereignty, such as guest worker visas. The group's website describes the Equal Rights Amendment as having had a "hidden agenda of tax-funded abortions and same-sex marriages.''

Saint Louis University history professor Donald Critchlow, who profiled Schlafly in his 2005 book, “Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade,” said the defeat of the amendment helped revive conservatism and pave the way for Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980.

Schlafly remained active in conservative politics well into her 80s, when she was still writing a column that appeared in 100 newspapers, doing radio commentaries on more than 460 stations, and publishing a monthly newsletter.

Photo by Gage Skidmore: Phyllis Schlafly speaking at CPAC in Washington D.C. on 12 February 2011.

Abstract Master Ellsworth Kelly Dies at 92

American master of abstract art, Ellsworth Kelly, died Sunday at his home in Spencertown, New York at the age of 92.  His death was announced by Matthew Marks of the Matthew Marks Gallery in New York.

The painter, sculptor and printmaker had studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston after his discharge from the U.S. Army in 1945.  His formative years as an artist were spent in Paris from 1948 to 1955 with support from the GI Bill.

He is credited with a distinctive style of American painting by combining solid shapes and colors of European abstraction with forms from everyday life.

“He was simply one of the great modern painters or our era, certainly of the 20th century,” said Harry Cooper, head curator of Modern Art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.  Cooper also said Kelly became “something of a brand” similar to Jackson Pollock. “He was totally original, committed to his kind of abstraction and he never wavered,” said Cooper.

Art News  said, “He was among a handful of artists, emerging in the years after World War Two, who defined the art of the past half-century.”

In recent days, art museums and celebrities who love art have paid tribute to Kelly on social media.

Legendary White House Reporter Helen Thomas Dead at 92

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas, who covered American presidents for nearly 50 years, has died at the age of 92.

Friends and colleagues say she died early Saturday at her home in Washington.

Thomas was a pioneer for women in journalism at a time when men dominated the profession. She covered every U.S. commander-in-chief since President John F. Kennedy.

She was known to often express strong views on sensitive issues even when questioning a president during nationally broadcast news conferences.

In 2010 Thomas was recorded on video saying that Israel should get out of Palestine. She later apologized but ended her White House career after the video led to widespread condemnation.

Helen Thomas worked for the United Press International wire service and Hearst newspapers. She ended dozens of presidential news conferences with the familiar phrase "Thank you, Mr. President."

Indian Sitarist Ravi Shankar Dies

Indian composer and sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar has died in a California hospital. He was 92.

A statement released by his family, late Tuesday, said Shankar had been in “fragile health” for several years. The statement says he underwent surgery last week and never recovered.

Shankar was one of India's best known performers. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released a message on “Twitter” Wednesday reacting to his death. The prime minister called Shankar a “national treasure” and a “global ambassador of India's cultural heritage.”

The late Beatle George Harrison called Shankar “the godfather” of world music. The two collaborated on several projects, including a 1971 relief concert for Bangladesh. Shankar also worked with violinist Yehudi Menuhin.

Shankar was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor, and also won three Grammy awards. He has been nominated for the 2013 Grammy for his album, “The Living Room Sessions, Part 1.”

He was the father of American singer Norah Jones and performer Anoushka Shankar.

(Photo by Alephalpha, 1988)

Burmese Independence Leader Dies in China

One of the last surviving Burmese independence leaders has died in exile.

Former Brigadier General Kyaw Zaw died Wednesday at a hospital in southern China, where he had lived since fleeing Burma in 1976. He was 93.

Kyaw Zaw rose to prominence as one of the “30 Comrades” who led the fight for Burma's independence from Britain in the 1940s, and he was a founding member of the Burmese communist party. He fled to China 35 years ago due to differences with the military junta ruling Burma at the time.

Former Burmese Army Chief U Tin Oo, who fought alongside Kyaw Zaw for Burmese independence, praised him for pushing for the fair treatment of the country's ethnic minorities. Now with the opposition National League for Democracy party, U Tin Oo said that Kyaw Zaw's death is a great loss for Burma.

Kyaw Zaw had been in poor health and recently expressed a desire to return from China to make a final visit and pay his respects at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon, one of Burma's most revered Buddhist sites.

Burmese officials granted permission for Kyaw Zaw to return, but he was too weak to make the trip. A top government official said that the offer to return still stands for Kyaw Zaw's daughters, who lived with him in China.

Korea’s Sun Myung Moon, Founder of Unification Church, Dead at 92

Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church and one of the most prominent Koreans in the world, has died. He was 92 years old.

The Unification Church in South Korea said its founder succumbed to complications from pneumonia on Monday in a church-run hospital east of Seoul.

Reverend Moon's global business empire is worth billions of dollars. In the United States, the church controls the Washington Times newspaper and the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan.

The church, established in 1954, has millions of followers worldwide. In recent decades the church staged a number of mass wedding ceremonies for hundreds of church members whom Moon had selected to marry each other. He usually wore an ornate robe while presiding at such ceremonies, with a crown atop his head.

Unification Church members also have been known for their extreme commitment to the organization – in some cases turning over all their earnings to the church. That church's alleged tactics – using deceptive tactics to recruit followers and keep tight control over their lives – prompted critics to denounce the group as a cult more than a religious sect.

Once a staunch anti-communist, Moon was imprisoned in his native North Korea in the late 1940s. However, he later set aside ideology to do business with North Korea's founder, the late Kim Il Sung. A church-affiliated firm, Pyeonghwa Motors, established a carmaking business in partnership with the North Korean state in 1999.

In recent years, several of Moon's children took on influential leadership roles in the church's sprawling empire, and there have been reports of in-fighting among his descendants, often due to disputes where religious and economic interests diverged.

In 1982, Moon was convicted of tax fraud in the United States and he spent 13 months in a U.S. federal prison.

Moon's followers, popularly known as “Moonies” in the U.S., believe that marriage is central to the Unification Church's mission of uniting the world's Christian denominations.

(Photo: Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han.)

Country Music Pioneer Kitty Wells Dies at 92

American singer Kitty Wells, whom fans and critics call the first female country music superstar, has died at 92 following a stroke.

Wells rose to the top of the country music charts at a time when nearly every big name in the genre was a man. She was the first female country soloist to sing about such themes as heartbreak and cheating spouses.

Wells' 1952 record of It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels was the first country music recording by a woman to reach number one.

Fans named Wells the top female country music artist from 1953 to 1968. She continued performing into her 80s.

Camilla Williams



 Camilla Williams, 92, American opera singer, complications from cancer. Died 29 January 2012.

Camilla Williams passed away peacefully at her Bloomington, Indiana home, surrounded by family and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, attorney Charles T. Beavers.

Photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, 31 May 1946.

South African Anti-Apartheid Veteran Albertina Sisulu Dies at 92

The University of Johannesburg confers an honorory doctoral degree (Doctor Litterarum et Philosophiae (honoris causa)) to Albertina Sisulu in acknowledgment of her revolutionary role in pre-1994 South Africa. (Photo: Dawidl)

South African Anti-Apartheid Veteran Albertina Sisulu Dies at 92
Thursday, 2 June 2011

A veteran of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement, Albertina Sisulu, had died in her Johannesburg home. She was 92.

Sisulu was an important figure in the ANC Women's League at the height of apartheid and was the widow of Walter Sisulu, one of Nelson Mandela's mentors. Walter Sisulu died in 2003.

The ruling African National Congress said Thursday that Albertina Sisulu dedicated all her life to the ANC and to the defeat of apartheid in South Africa.

Sisulu reared five children while her husband spent 25 years in prison on Robben Island alongside Mr. Mandela. Albertina Sisulu also spent months in prison and often had her movements restricted by the apartheid government.

Albertina Sisulu held leadership posts in the ANC and served in parliament, taking a seat after the first all-race elections in 1994.

She lived to see her children take prominent positions in post-apartheid South Africa. Her daughter, Lindiwe Sisulu, is defense minister and her son, Max Sisulu, is a member of parliament.