'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.