obituary

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Music Giant Jerry Wexler Dead at 91

(Newser) - Jerry Wexler, a music industry giant who coined the term "rhythm and blues" and worked to bring black popular music into the mainstream, died today at age 91, the New York Times reports. Wexler, a producer at Atlantic Records in its heyday, worked with new artists such as Aretha...

Oldest Working CEO Dead at 107
 Oldest Working 
 CEO Dead at 107 
OBITUARY

Oldest Working CEO Dead at 107

'Papa Jack' Weil, a Denver fixture, was 'to Western shirts what Henry Ford was to cars'

(Newser) - Jack A. Weil, the Henry Ford of Western shirts who was thought to be the oldest working CEO, died yesterday at age 107, the Denver Post reports. “Papa Jack,” as he was known in the Denver community, popularized the Western shirt as we know it. The sawtooth pocket...

Palestinian Poet Dead at 67
 Palestinian Poet Dead at 67
OBITUARY

Palestinian Poet Dead at 67

'Poet of resistance' depicted life under Israelis, supported and slammed PLO

(Newser) - Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish died yesterday from heart surgery complications in Houston at age 67, the Los Angeles Times reports. Considered Palestine’s unofficial poet laureate, Darwish penned the territory’s symbolic Declaration of Independence in 1988 and depicted life under Israeli rule in his work. "He was the...

Singer Isaac Hayes Dead at 65
 Singer Isaac Hayes Dead at 65 
OBITUARY

Singer Isaac Hayes Dead at 65

'Shaft' composer found unresponsive at home

(Newser) - Legendary singer/songwriter Isaac Hayes, whose "Theme from Shaft" claimed Academy Awards and Grammys alike, died early today at the age of 65, reports WMC-TV in Memphis. Hayes' wife found him lying unresponsive next to a still-running treadmill at their Memphis home; attempts to revive him failed and he was...

'The World Just Got a Little Less Funny'
 'The World
 Just Got a
 Little Less 
 Funny'
Appreciation

'The World Just Got a Little Less Funny'

Friends lament comedian's loss

(Newser) - Hollywood has woken up to a world without Bernie Mac, who died early today from complications of pneumonia. Here’s what the stars who knew him are saying, reports E!:
  • George Clooney: “The world just got a little less funny. He will be missed dearly.”
  • Chris Rock: “
...

'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' Scribe Dies
 'Girls Just Want
 to Have Fun'
 Scribe Dies
APPRECIATION

'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' Scribe Dies

Hazard, 59, best known for writing Lauper hit

(Newser) - Philadelphia music icon Robert Hazard, best known for writing the Cyndi Lauper hit “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” died at the age of 59 on Tuesday from cancer complications, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. "He was one of the biggest local performers ever," Hazard's former...

Remembering Russia's Prophet
Remembering Russia's Prophet
Appreciation

Remembering Russia's Prophet

Reflections on Solzhenitsyn's life reveal complex legacy

(Newser) - Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died yesterday at 89, left a complicated legacy and an unassailable record as one of the great writers of the 20th century. Three takes on the Nobel laureate:
  • The National Review, which on occasion published Solzhenitsyn’s work, says he may have been the man of the
...

Russian Writer Solzhenitsyn Dead at 89

Nobel winner revealed the horrors of Soviet work camps

(Newser) - Nobel-prize winning Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn died today of heart failure at 89, AFP reports. Two of his key works, One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich and The First Circle, revealed the horrors of Soviet gulags and got him expelled from the country in 1974. After 20 years...

Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer
Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer
Obituary

Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer

Noted Carnegie Mellon prof inspired millions with fairwell lesson

(Newser) - Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor whose "last lecture" became an international phenomenon, succumbed in his long battle with cancer today, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Pausch, 47, was a noted computer scientist before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but it was his final, inspirational address—now read by...

'Sophia' of Golden Girls Dead at 84

Veteran actress Estelle Getty suffered from dementia

(Newser) - Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's The Golden Girls, has died. She was 84. The two-time Emmy winner, who suffered from advanced dementia, died this morning at home,...

Yankee Bobby Murcer Dies
 Yankee Bobby Murcer Dies 

Yankee Bobby Murcer Dies

Longtime player and broadcaster was beloved by fans

(Newser) - Bobby Murcer, a beloved New York Yankee who played for the team or called their games for more than four decades, died today from complications of brain cancer, the Daily News reports. Murcer, 62, played his first game for the Yankees as a teenage shortstop in 1965, then later moved...

Tony Snow Was Good at His Job
Tony Snow Was Good at His Job
Appreciation

Tony Snow Was Good at His Job

Press secretary won over a hostile press corps with wit, knowledge

(Newser) - When Tony Snow took over as press secretary 2 years ago, the White House press corps wanted blood. Snow’s predecessors, the hostile Ari Fleischer and misinformed Scott McClellan, had left a bad taste in their mouths. But then came Snow, a breath of fresh air who won over the...

Benihana Founder Dead at 69
 Benihana Founder Dead at 69 

Benihana Founder Dead at 69

'Rocky' Aoki led a colorful life

(Newser) - Hiraoki “Rocky” Aoki, a former wrestler, daredevil speedboat racer and balloonist who also happened to have founded the Benihana restaurant chain, is dead at 69, the Los Angeles Times reports. The colorful Aoki opened the first Benihana in New York in 1964 with proceeds from an ice cream truck...

Michael DeBakey Dead at 99
 Michael DeBakey Dead at 99 
obituary

Michael DeBakey Dead at 99

Heart pioneer developed key devices, operated on thousands

(Newser) - Michael DeBakey, the pioneering heart doctor considered to be the father of modern cardiovascular surgery,  died last night at 99 in Houston, the Houston Chronicle reports.  During his long career, DeBakey operated on some 60,000 patients, including figures like Russian president Boris Yeltsin, trained thousands of surgeons,...

Investor Templeton Dies at 95

He founded huge investment firm, awards for spiritual research

(Newser) - Influential investor and philanthropist John Marks Templeton has died at age 95. The founder of Templeton Mutual Funds, one of the biggest investment funds in the world, died in the Bahamas, the Washington Post reports. In 1999, Money magazine called him "arguably the greatest global stock picker of the...

Legendary New York Editor Dead at 82

New Journalism pioneer Felker defined city magazine format

(Newser) - Clay Felker, founder and editor of New York magazine, died today at 82. Felker was the pioneer of a distinctive format that has become the model for weekly magazines: long, novelistic features alongside short, spicy service pieces. "Clay was obsessed with power, and he invented a magazine in the...

Model Dies in 9-Story Fall in NYC; Suicide Suspected

Korshunova graced covers of Elle , Vogue

(Newser) - A Kazakh model was found dead after falling from her ninth-floor Manhattan apartment in an apparent suicide, the New York Post reports. Twenty-year old Ruslana Korshunova had appeared on the covers of French Elle and Russian Vogue, and starred in ads for Christian Dior and Vera Wang. She had just...

Seinfeld: Death Was a Laughing Matter for Carlin
Seinfeld: Death Was a Laughing Matter for Carlin
Appreciation

Seinfeld: Death Was a Laughing Matter for Carlin

Even when he dies, Jerry'll still wrestle with 'Carlin already did it'

(Newser) - Nine days ago death was just another thing to joke about for George Carlin, writes Jerry Seinfeld in the New York Times. The comics were talking about the deaths of Tim Russert and Bo Diddley, and Carlin said, “I feel safe for a while. There will probably be a...

Artist Tasha Tudor Dead at 92
Artist Tasha Tudor Dead at 92

Artist Tasha Tudor Dead at 92

Children's illustrator claimed to be reincarnation of 19th-century wife

(Newser) - Tasha Tudor, the children’s illustrator known for her bucolic watercolors and old-fashioned lifestyle, died Wednesday at her Vermont home. Called a 19th-century Martha Stewart, Tudor's art appeared in nearly 100 books and countless greeting cards, plates, dolls, and quilts. The New York Times once applauded her for capturing “...

In Russert's Life, Lessons for All
In Russert's Life,
Lessons for All
Opinion

In Russert's Life, Lessons for All

We can learn much from how he lived, writes Noonan

(Newser) - Media coverage of Tim Russert's death was unprecedented in scope—and worth every second, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. Russert lived a life worth emulating with his emphasis on family, intregrity, faith, self-discipline, and guts. As for the journalists talking about his open-mindedness and serious approach to...

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