Saturday, April 30, 2011

Hugh Martin, American songwriter ("Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas") and film composer (Meet Me in St. Louis, High Spirits), died from natural causes he was , 96.

Hugh Martin was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright died from natural causes he was , 96.. He is best known for his score for the classic 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St. Louis, in which Judy Garland sang three Martin songs, "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The last of these has become a Christmas season standard in the United States and around the English-speaking world and is widely considered one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time. Martin became a close friend of Garland and was her accompanist at many of her concert performances in the 1950s including her legendary stint at the Palace Theater.
 

(August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) 

Life and career

Martin wrote the music, and in some cases the lyrics, for five Broadway musicals: Best Foot Forward (1941); Look Ma, I'm Dancin'! (1948); Make a Wish (1951); High Spirits (1964) (music and lyrics, with Timothy Gray); and Meet Me In St. Louis (1989), a stage version of the film with an expanded score by Martin and Ralph Blane.
Martin's first Broadway credit was as an arranger for the 1937-1938 musical Hooray for What! and was a vocal or choral arranger for such later Broadway musicals as The Boys From Syracuse (1938–39), Too Many Girls (1939–40), DuBarry Was a Lady (1939–40), Cabin in the Sky (1940–41), and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949–51), Top Banana (1951–52), and Lorelei (1974). He was a vocal arranger for Sugar Babies (1979–82).
As a performer, Martin appeared on Broadway in Hooray for What!, Where Do We Go From Here (1938), and Louisiana Purchase (1940–41).
Ralph Blane was Martin's songwriting partner for most of his work, and the two recorded an album of their best songs entitled Martin and Blane Sing Martin and Blane with the Ralph Burns Orchestra in 1956 (now available on CD). Martin and Blane were twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song, for "The Trolley Song" in 1944, and for "Pass the Peace Pipe" (also co-written by Roger Edens) from Good News in 1947. Hugh Martin also received four Tony award nominations, three for High Spirits (Best Musical, Best Book Author of a Musical, Best Composer and Lyricist) and one for the 1990 Meet Me in St. Louis (Best Original Score).
Martin's other film work included songs for the films Athena (1954) starring Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, and Vic Damone, and The Girl Most Likely (1957) starring Jane Powell as well as the film version of his Broadway hit Best Foot Forward which starred Lucille Ball.
Martin collaborated with vocalist Michael Feinstein for a 1995 CD Michael Feinstein Sings The Hugh Martin Songbook, an album on which the then 80-year-old songwriter accompanied Feinstein on piano and sang a duet. On an earlier CD Feinstein recorded the memorable Martin composition, "On Such a Night as This". He also released an album of his music called Hugh Sings Martin on the record label PS Classics, which drew from his catalog as a composer, lyricist, arranger and singer. The album was released in conjunction with the Library of Congress.
Martin, a Seventh-day Adventist, spent much of the 1980s as an accompanist for gospel female vocalist Del Delker on her revival tours and in 2001 rewrote his most famous song (with the assistance of Garland biographer John Fricke) as a more specifically religious number, "Have Yourself A Blessed Little Christmas", which was recorded that year by Delker with the 86-year-old songwriter playing piano on the recording.

Other

Martin was the subject of a songbook collection, The Songs of Hugh Martin published by Hal Leonard Publishing in 2008. He published his autobiography Hugh Martin - The Boy Next Door in October 2010 at age 96. Martin was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Alabama Music Hall of Fame and lived in Encinitas, California.

Death

Martin died on March 11, 2011 in California, aged 96.

To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 9:17 PM 0 comments

Frank Neuhauser, American patent attorney and spelling bee champion, winner of the 1925 Scripps National Spelling Bee died he was , 97

Frank Louis Neuhauser  was an American patent lawyer and spelling bee champion, who won the first National Spelling Bee in 1925 by successfully spelling the word "gladiolus  died he was , 97." Today, the bee is known as the Scripps National Spelling Bee.[1]

(September 29, 1913 - March 11, 2011)

Neuhauser was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 29, 1913, to German American parents.[1] His father, a stonemason, worked on spelling with his son on weekends if the weather was bad.[1]
Neuhauser defeated nine finalists on stage, who had been whittled down from approximately two million schoolchildren,[2] to win the first ever National Spelling Bee, held in Washington D.C. in June 1925.[1] He had prepared for the bee by copying the dictionary into a blank notebook.[2] Neuhauser, who was eleven years old at the time of the contest, met U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and was awarded five hundred dollars in gold pieces for his victory.[2] His hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, gave Neuhauser a parade in his honor and presented hims with bouquets of gladiolus.[1][2] His classmates and school also gave him a bicycle.[1] During his later life, Neuhauser often appeared as a guest of honor at more recent spelling bees.[1] He also appeared in the 2002 documentary film, Spellbound.[2]
Neuhauser went on to obtain a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Louisville in 1934.[2] He began working as a small appliance engineer for General Electric, which offered to send him to law school in order to gain additional patent lawyers.[2] Neuhauser received his law degree from George Washington University in 1940.[2] Neuhauser enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II.[2]
Following the end of World War II, Neuhauser returned to General Electric as a patent attorney. He worked for GE in Connecticut and New York City, before moving permanently to Maryland in the mid-1950s.[2] He remained on the staff of General Electric until 1978, when he left to join Bernard Rothwell & Brown, a law firm based in Washington D.C.[1][2]
Neuhauser formerly chaired the patent law divisions of both the District of Columbia Bar Association and the American Bar Association.[2] He was the former president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the former chairman of the National Council of Patent Law Associations.[2]
Neuhauser died from myelodysplastic syndrome at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, on March 11, 2011, at the age of 97.[2] He was survived by his wife of 66 years, Mary Virginia Clark Neuhauser; four children - Linda, Frank, Charles and Alan; and five grandchildren.[1]

To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 9:10 PM 0 comments

Danny Stiles, American radio host died he was , 87.

Danny Stiles  was a radio personality at WNYC, WNSW, WJDM and WPAT in the New York City market died he was , 87.. He had worked on the radio for sixty-three years in the New York City area,[2] including up to immediately prior to his death.

(December 2, 1923 – March 11, 2011)

Early life

Danny Stiles was born and grew up in Newark and Linden, New Jersey during The Great Depression. After graduating from high school in 1941, he enlisted for the Navy after the Bombing of Pearl Harbor. After being honorably discharged due to an injured hip, Stiles went to college and held several jobs before starting his radio career.[1]

Career

Stiles first radio job was at WHBI in Newark on December 2, 1947 buying the air time for sixty-five dollars a week.[1] His career took him to Allentown's WHOL in Pennsylvania and other stations in New Jersey before returning to Newark on WNJR (AM) as the "Kat Man."[3] At WNJR, Danny met a young Brooklyn native who worked as a gofer, Robert Smith, who would later move to the border blaster XERB-AM and broadcast as Wolfman Jack.[1]
Stiles, who called himself The Vicar of Vintage Vinyl, had a loyal fan following and a distinctive radio presence.[4] Immediately prior to his death, Danny was broadcasting from four stations in the New York area, as well as streaming twenty-four hours a day on the internet.[5] The broadcast material came largely from his personal collection of over 250,000 albums, many in their original 78 rpm format.[5]
Stiles died on March 11, 2011. At the time of his death, he was also being heard on WRCA, an AM station serving the metro-Boston, Massachusetts area.


To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 9:06 PM 0 comments

Donny George Youkhanna, Iraqi archaeologist, anthropologist and author, died from a heart attack he was , 60.


Donny George Youkhanna  was an Iraqi Assyrian archaeologist, anthropologist, author, curator, and scholar, and a visiting Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies at Stony Brook University  in New York, internationally known as “the man who saved the Iraq National Museum." He fought his way through to the Iraq National Museum in the days after the American-led invasion of Iraq and tried to stop the looters ransacking it but was unable to persuade American soldiers to protect it because they had been given no orders to do so. He became the international face of the plight of ancient sites and artefacts in Iraq, many of which were stolen or destroyed during the invasion.
Dr. George, who dropped his last name for professional purposes,[7] was instrumental in recovering over half of the 15,000 Mesopotamian artifacts[9][10][11] looted from the National Museum in Baghdad during the invasion. A majority of the artefacts date back to 6,000 years from the ancient empires of Assyria and Babylonia.[4]
Due to escalating threats from Islamic extremists[12] and lack of international financial support, Youkhanna was forced to flee Iraq with his family to the United States died from a heart attack he was , 60..

(October 23, 1950 – March 11, 2011)

The deciding factor that led to his departure from Iraq were death threats targeting his family specifically his son Martin, who was falsely accused of cursing Islam and teasing Muslim girls.[13] They threatened to decapitate his son which resulted in Youkhanna’s immediate departure to Damascus for protection from Islamic fundamentalists.[13]
Youkhanna was the Director General of Baghdad’s National Museum,[4] Chairman of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage and the President of the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage. He had excavated the ancient cities of Bekhma Dam area, Nineveh, and Um Al-Agareb as well as working on many restoration projects in Babylon, Nimrud, Nineveh, Ur and Baghdad.[14]
Youkhanna was a native of Iraq’s Al Anbar province[5] and was fluent in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Arabic, and English. He authored two books on the structural design and stone industries of Tell Es-Sawaan, and gave several presentations on the current museum conditions and historical archaeological sites of Iraq. In December 2008, Youkhanna was decisive in preventing the sale of royal Neo-Assyrian[15] earrings from the world famous Nimrud treasures at Christie's art auction in New York.[16]
He died on 11 March 2011 as a result of a heart attack while he was travelling via Toronto Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was 60.[7]

Education and Positions

  • Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology, University of Baghdad, 1974
  • Master of Arts in Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Baghdad, 1986
  • Ph.D. in Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Baghdad, 1995
  • Member Staff in the Iraq Museum, 1976
  • Director of Documentation Center, 1980
  • Field Director for the Restoration Project in Babylon, 1986-87
  • Archaeological Investigation in the Eastern Wall of Nineveh, 1988
  • Scientific Super Advisor for Bakhma Dam Archaeological Recue Project, 1989
  • Director of Relations, 1990
  • Director of Documentation Center, 1992
  • Assistant Director General of Antiquities for Technical Affairs, 1995
  • Professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Baghdad
  • Professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Babylon for Theology and Philosophy
  • Director of Excavation Team in the site of Um AL-Agareb, 1999-2000
  • Head of the Technical Committee, 1999-2000
  • Director General of Research and Studies, 2000-03
  • Director General of the Iraqi Museums, 2003-05
  • Member of the International Regional Committee of Interpol, 2003
  • Member of the Iraqi National Committee for Education, Science, and Culture, Iraqi UNESCO, 2004
  • Chairman of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, 2005
  • Member of the Iraqi Science Academy, Department of the Syriac Language, 2005
  • Board of Advisors, Assyrian Academic Society

[edit] Author

  • Co-Author of Photography: The Graves of the Assyrian Queens in Nimrud, 2000
  • Co-Author of Pots and Pans
  • Co-Author of The Looting of the Iraq Museum, 2005
  • Co-Author of The Destruction of the Cultural Heritage in Iraq, 2008[17]
  • Co-Author of Antiquities under Siege, Cultural Heritage in Iraq, 2008
  • Co-Author of Catastrophe, The Looting and Destructions of Iraq's Past, 2008
  • Author of Architecture of the Sixth Millennium B.C. in Tell Es-Sawwan
  • Author of The Stone Industries in Tell Es-Sawwan, 'Book in Process'

[edit] Publications

  • Stores in Ancient Mesopotamia, 1985.
  • A New Acheulian hand Axe from the Iraqi Western Desert in the Iraq Museum, 1993
  • Proverbs in Ancient Mesopotamia, 1994
  • The Architecture of the Sixth Millennium BC in Tell Esswwan, 1997
  • Precision Craftsmanship of the Nimrud Gold Material, 2002
  • Full Account on the Iraqi Museums and Archaeological sites, 2004

[edit] Conferences

  • Recontre Assyriologic, Heidelberg, Germany, 1992
  • Recontre Assyriologic, London, UK, 2004
  • International Conference on the Excavations at the Ancient city of Nimrud, London, 2004
  • International Conference for the Protection of the Iraqi Antiquities, Istanbul, Turkey, 2004
  • Interpol International Regional Conference for the Protection of the Iraq Antiquities, Amman, Jordan. 2004
  • International Council of Museums ICOM Conference, Seoul, South Korea, 2004
  • Archaeological Institute of America, Boston, USA, 2004
  • International Conference for the Protection of Iraqi Antiquities, Washington DC, USA, 2005
  • Iraq Cultural Committee at UNESCO, Paris, France
  • U.S. Institute of Peace, Washington DC, 2008

[edit] Lectures given Worldwide

  • Belgium: Brussels National Museum
  • Britain: University of London, the British Museum
  • Denmark: National Museum in Copenhagen
  • Germany: University of Berlin, Pergamum Museum, University of Heidelberg, University of Frankfurt, University of Munich, Mainz Museum
  • Jordan: Department of Antiquities, German Archaeological Institute in Amman
  • Italy: University of Rome
  • Japan: University of Kukushikan, Japanese Society for the Antiquities of the Middle East
  • Spain: University Autónoma de Madrid
  • Sweden: University of Gothenburg, Museum of World Culture, Museum of Mediterranean and the Middle East
  • USA: University of Chicago, Harvard University, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Museums of Fine Art in Boston, Pennsylvania Museum, Iraqi Embassy in Washington DC, Yeshiva University, State University of Arizona, South Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, Bowers Museum of Art in Santa Ana, Denver Museum of Science and Nature, South Methodist University in Taos, New Mexico and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colorado, CSU Stanislaus, Turlock, Gustavus Adolphus College

[edit] Quotes

“ I am an Assyrian Christian, and all my ancestors had lived in Mesopotamia, now Iraq, from the ancient times of the Assyrians, more than five thousands years ago, I have dedicated all my life to work and serve my people and country with honor and loyalty, because this is my country. ”
-Statement of Dr. Donny George for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom [1][2]
“ Before the War of 2003, we were unofficially considered second class citizens, simply because we were Christians and Assyrians. Saddam went through large efforts to omit our identity as Christians and as Assyrians. He started a campaign of rewriting the history of Iraq in the way he envisioned it to be. He started calling the ancient Assyrians as Arabs, no more Assyrians; he also set up orders that newborn Christian babies should not be named Christian or Assyrian names but Arab Muslim names. All of us had really big troubles about that, because our names are an important part of our identity. ”
-Statement of Dr. Donny George for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom [1][2]
“ I used to live in a place called Dora; it is just five minutes driving distance from the Green Zone.... The situation is deteriorating; no one feels safe; there are no projects; and unemployment rates are huge.... I heard that there was talk of doing to the Christians what they did to the Jewish in the 1940s. ”
Soldiers and Citizens: An Oral History of Operation Iraqi Freedom [18]
“ I am 100 percent sure they are from the same tombs from Nimrud,” says Donny George, the former director of the Iraq Museum and now a professor of archaeology at Stony Brook University in New York. “Nothing of this nature has been excavated from it before – I witnessed the excavation. I would say it is 100 percent from there. ”
-Statement on Neo-Assyrian Royal Earings[15][16]
“ My appointment at Stony Brook University is another step in my life that was made possible by the generosity of the President of the University and the support of the Department of Anthropology,” said Dr. George, who will begin teaching three courses – Archeology of Mesopotamia and the Cultural Heritage of Iraq – and conducting archaeological research next semester. “This will enable me to serve the cultural heritage that we – all of mankind – have in Mesopotamia, today’s Iraq, with my experience, as well as the great international efforts that are being led by Stony Brook to restore Iraqi education. ”
-Statement on being appointed Professor at Stony Brook University[19]
“ The museum is a soft target and at the moment if we wanted to hold an exhibition we would need the whole Iraqi army to protect it. ”
- Statement on the Iraq National Museum[20]

To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 8:59 PM 0 comments

Nick Harbaruk, Polish-born Canadian ice hockey player, died from bone cancer he was , 67

Mikolaj Nicholas Harbaruk was a professional ice hockey player died from bone cancer he was , 67. Harbaruk played 364 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) and 181 in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Harbaruk played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, and Indianapolis Racers.
Harbaruk was born in Poland and immigrated to Toronto, Canada at the age of five. Harbaruk died from bone cancer on March 10, 2011, at the age of 67. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, Nancy, and two daughters.

(August 16, 1943 – March 10, 2011)

Playing career

Prior to his NHL career, Harbaruk played three seasons with the Toronto Marlboros and helped the Marlies win the 1964 Memorial Cup. Harbaruk then spent five seasons with the Tulsa Oilers, a minor league affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he got a college degree. Harbaruk was claimed by the Penguins in the 1969 Intra-league draft. Harbaruk played four seasons with the Penguins. In October 1973 he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. After one season with the Blues, Harbaruk then joined the WHA and spent two 1/2 seasons with the Racers. Harbaruk also played in the minors with Vancouver Canucks, Oklahoma City Blazers, Pittsburgh Hornets and Rochester Americans. After retiring from active play, Harbaruk became the coach of Seneca College in Toronto.

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1960–61 Toronto Marlboros OHA 36 4 8 12 0 — — — — —
1961–62 Toronto Marlboros OHA 31 7 10 17 0 — — — — —
1961–62 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1962–63 Toronto Marlboros OHA 54 15 25 40 0 — — — — —
1964–65 Rochester Americans OHA 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1964-65 Tulsa Oilers CPHL 67 27 43 70 65 12 5 8 13 25
1965-66 Tulsa Oilers CPHL 70 20 46 66 97 11 1 4 5 10
1966-67 Tulsa Oilers CPHL 70 14 26 40 84 — — — — —
1967-68 Tulsa Oilers CPHL 54 20 30 50 96 11 1 6 7 14
1968-69 Tulsa Oilers CHL 69 26 19 45 89 7 2 5 7 18
1968-69 Vancouver Canucks WHL 3 1 1 2 2 — — — — —
1969–70 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 74 5 17 22 56 10 3 0 3 20
1970–71 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 78 13 12 25 108 — — — — —
1971–72 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 78 12 17 29 46 4 0 1 1 0
1972–73 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 78 10 15 25 47 — — — — —
1973–74 St. Louis Blues NHL 56 5 14 19 16 — — — — —
1974–75 Indianapolis Racers WHA 78 20 23 43 52 — — — — —
1975–76 Indianaplis Racers WHA 76 23 19 42 26 7 2 0 2 10
1976-77 Oklahoma City Blazers CHL 42 17 18 35 22 — — — — —
1976–77 Indianaplis Racers WHA 27 2 2 4 2 6 1 1 2 0
WHA totals 181 45 44 89 80 13 3 1 4 10
NHL totals 364 45 75 120 273 14 3 1 4 20

To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 8:51 PM 0 comments

Gabriel Laderman American painter, died from cancer he was , 81,,

Gabriel Laderman was a New York painter and an early and important exponent of the Figurative revival of the 1950s and '60s died from cancer he was , 81.
He studied with a number of leading American painters, including Hofmann, de Kooning, and Rothko.
 

(December 26, 1929 - March 10, 2011) 

Biography

Education

In 1948 he began by doing the exercises in Paul Klee's Pedagogical Sketchbook, which at the time was available only in the original Bauhaus edition in German.
In the summer of 1949 he went to Provincetown and studied with Hans Hofmann. Since he already knew about abstract expressionist painting (Willem de Kooning had had his first show) he began painting in that tradition, informed with what Hofmann had taught about forming.
He met de Kooning that summer and began to show him his work in September of that year on a regular basis, while also attending Brooklyn College where he studied with Ad Reinhardt, Alfred Russell, Mark Rothko, Burgoyne Diller, Jimmy Ernst, Stanley William Hayter and Robert J. Wolff (the chairman of the department).
He also began to go to Hayter's Atelier 17, which he used as a shop for printing his engraved and etched plates.
After graduating from Brooklyn, he spent a year as a graduate student in art history in the New York University Institute of Fine Arts. There, he studied Asian art and 14th century Italian art. Both traditions influenced his later work.
In 1955, after two years in the army, he went to Cornell University for his MFA, with an assistantship in painting. During his time there, he began to try to paint from nature with less distortion and invention.

Teaching

In 1957 he was appointed Instructor in art at SUNY, New Paltz. After two years at New Paltz he was offered a raise in rank, but chose to return to New York where he taught at Pratt Institute until 1967 when he began teaching at Queens College, CUNY.
From 1967 through 1996 he was artist in residence and lectured at many schools and museums, including Princeton University, Yale University, Bennington College, Philadelphia College of Art, Pennsylvania Academy, University of Pennsylvania, the Tyler School of Art, Moore College of Art, Boston University, The Boston Museum School, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Amherst College, Stanford University, Kansas City Art Institute, Art School of Surabaya, Art Center Jakarta, USIS centers in Japan in Tokyo, Nagoy, Sapporo and Fukuoka, Royal College of Art, Bangkok, Victorian College of Art, Melbourne; College Ballarat, Indiana University, Bloomington, Louisiana State University, Arizona State, American University, Skowhegan, Chautauqua, the Art Students League of New York, and the Yale-Norfolk School.
He retired from teaching in 1996 but continued to paint.

Paintings and exhibitions

His first exhibited painting, in 1949, was abstract expressionist, in the vein of de Kooning's work.
Starting with a show of engravings and intaglios at the The Tanager Gallery in 1960 his work was painted from nature and always representational.
Starting in 1962, he exhibited with the Schoelkopf Gallery until the gallery was closed, due to the death of its proprietor.
Subsequently, he showed with Peter Tatistcheff.[4][5]
His work, starting in the 1980s was usually of the figure including a number of major paintings with subject matter. The early subject matter paintings were all about crimes, and several were based on the Maigret series of detective novels by the Belgian author Georges Simenon.

Death

Laderman died of cancer, at age 81, on March 10, 2011, in Manhattan.[2]

Selected museum exhibitions

Awards and honors

Selected collections


To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 8:47 PM 0 comments

Emmett J. Rice, American economist and banking official, died from heart failure he was , 91.

Emmett John Rice was a former governor of the Federal Reserve System, a Cornell University economics professor, expert in the monetary systems of developing countries and the father of the current Ambassador to the United Nations in the Cabinet of President Barack Obama, Susan E. Rice died from heart failure he was , 91.. His son, John Rice, received an M.B.A, from Harvard Business School, and is the founder of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (an organization committed to developing top minority talent for leadership roles in the business and non-profit sector).
 

(December 21, 1919 – March 10, 2011)

Background

Rice traced his roots to the American South. He was born in Florence, South Carolina and was the son of Sue Pearl (née Suber) and the Rev. Ulysses Simpson Rice.[3] His father passed away when Rice was 7.[4] He attended segregated schools before his family moved to New York City when he was 16.[5] Rice studied at the City College of New York, receiving a B.B.A. in 1941 and an M.B.A. in 1942 from City College of New York. He then joined the U. S. Army Air Force in World War II, serving with the Tuskegee Airmen. After the war, he earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and was a Fulbright scholar in India. Rice integrated the Berkeley Fire Department as a student by becoming its first African American fireman. He next taught economics at Cornell as the university's only black assistant professor. He then served as a governor of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1986.[6]

Career

In 1950 and 1951, Rice was a research assistant in economics at Berkeley, and in 1952 he was a research associate at the Reserve Bank of India as a Fulbright Fellow. In 1953 and 1954, he was a teaching assistant at Berkeley.[7]
From 1954 to 1960, Rice was an assistant professor of economics at Cornell University. From 1960 to 1962, he took leave from Cornell to work as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. From 1962 to 1964, he was an adviser to the Central Bank of Nigeria in Lagos.[7]
From 1964 to 1966, Rice was Deputy Director, then Acting Director, of the Treasury Department's Office of Developing Nations. From 1966 to 1970, he was U.S. Alternate Executive Director for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the International Development Association, and the International Finance Corporation.[7]
From 1970 to 1971, Rice was executive director of the Mayor's Economic Development Committee for Washington, D.C., on leave from the Treasury Department. From 1972 he was senior vice president of the National Bank of Washington.[7]
Rice was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. He was the second black member, after Andrew Brimmer, who was appointed in 1966. Rice served on the Board for seven years under Chairman Paul A. Volcker[8]
After leaving the Federal Reserve in 1986, Rice served on corporate boards and consulted.

Death

Rice died at of congestive heart failure on March 10, 2011 at his home in Camas, Washington.[9] He was 91.


To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 8:42 PM 0 comments

Friday, April 29, 2011

Eddie Snyder, American composer ("Strangers in the Night", "Spanish Eyes")died he was , 92

Edward Abraham Snyder was an American composer and songwriter. Synder is credited with co-writing the English language lyrics and music for Frank Sinatra's 1966 hit, "Strangers in the Night"died he was , 92.

(February 22, 1919 - March 10, 2011)

Snyder was born in New York City on February 22, 1919.[1] He studied piano at the Juilliard School before taking a job as a songwriter at the Brill Building.[1]
The music for "Strangers in the Night" was originally written by Croatian composer Ivo Robic but when it failed to gain recognition in the song festival for which it had been composed, Robic sold the rights to German bandleader and composer Bert Kaempfert, who used it in the spoof spy film A Man Could Get Killed. Snyder subsequently collaborated with British lyricist Charles Singleton, although Snyder always insisted that he also contributed to the final music form, and the song is now credited to all four.[1]

The first vocal version was cut by Jack Jones in April 1966, but the best-known is that recorded by Frank Sinatra three days later. At the session an angry Sintra turned on guitarist Glen Campbell, who had been brought in at the last moment. Campbell did not know the song and busked his way through the first take while listening to the tune. Sinatra was used to recording in a single take, and when told he would have to sing it again, he glared at Campbell and shouted: "Is that guy with us or is he sleeping?". On take two Sinatra himself added the famous "doo-bie-doo-bie-doo" improvisation at the end. In the original 1966 recording, this fades prematurely, but in a recently remastered version, it continues for an additional nine seconds. Despite its popularity, Sinatra is known to have detested the song and often expressed his distaste for it when performing it in concert.[1]
"Strangers In The Night" has been performed an estimate of four million times since Sinatra recorded the originally, won Snyder a Golden Globe for Best Original Song in a Film in 1966.[1] Snyder also composed "Spanish Eyes" for Al Martino in 1965, which later became a hit in the United Kingdom in 1973.[1]
Eddie Snyder died on March 10, 2011, at the age of 92. He was survived by his wife, Jessie.[1]

To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 9:46 PM 0 comments

David Rumelhart, American psychologist, created computer simulations of neural processing, died from Pick's disease he was , 68.

David Everett Rumelhart is an American psychologist who made many contributions to the formal analysis of human cognition, working primarily within the frameworks of mathematical psychology, symbolic artificial intelligence, and parallel distributed processing  died from Pick's disease he was , 68.. He also admired formal linguistic approaches to cognition, and explored the possibility of formulating a formal grammar to capture the structure of stories.

(June 12, 1942 – March 13, 2011)

In 1986, Rumelhart published Parallel Distributed Processing: Explorations in the Microstructure of Cognition with James McClelland, which described their creation of computer simulations of perception, giving to computer scientists their first testable models of neural processing, and which is now regarded as a central text in the field of cognitive science cognitive scientists.[2]
Rumelhart's models of semantic cognition and specific knowledge in a diversity of learned domains using initially non-hierarchical neuron-like processing units continue to interest scientists in the fields of artificial intelligence, anthropology, information science, and decision science.
In his honor, in 2000 the Robert J. Glushko and Pamela Samuelson Foundation created the David E. Rumelhart Prize for Contributions to the Theoretical Foundations of Human Cognition.[3][2]

Biography

Rumelhart began his college education at the University of South Dakota, receiving a B.A. in psychology and mathematics in 1963. He studied mathematical psychology at Stanford University, receiving his Ph. D. in 1967. From 1967 to 1987 he served on the faculty of the Department of Psychology at the University of California, San Diego. In 1987 he moved to Stanford University, serving as Professor there until 1998. Rumelhart was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1991 and received many prizes, including a MacArthur Fellowship in July 1987, the Warren Medal of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, and the APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. Rumelhardt, co-recipient with James McClelland, won the 2002 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Psychology.[4]
Rumelhart became disabled by Pick's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, and at the end of his life lived with his brother in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He died in Chelsea, Michigan.

To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 9:16 PM 0 comments

Thursday, April 28, 2011

David Viñas, Argentine dramatist, critic and novelist, died from pneumonic infection he was , 83.

David Viñas  was an Argentine dramatist, critic, and novelist died from pneumonic infection he was , 83..

(July 28, 1927 – March 10, 2011)

Life and career

Viñas grew up in Buenos Aires, and enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires, becoming head of the student organization Federación Universitaria de Buenos Aires. He published his first novel in 1955, and first came to wide attention when he won the Gerchunoff Prize for his novel Un Dios Cotidiano (1957). He received the Premio Nacional for Jauna (1971). The following year, his play Lisandro won the National Prize for Theater.
Viñas' work centers on Argentine history, and generally does not partake of the magical realism favored by his contemporaries. He is deeply concerned with Argentina's legacy of authoritarianism and the problems posed by the nature and historical dominance of the Argentine military. Two of his children disappeared during the 1976-83 military regime, and he spent that era in exile, returning to Argentina in 1984.
He was an early mentor of critic and essayist Beatriz Sarlo, although he adhered to a more traditional leftist position than did Sarlo in later years. Following the election of left-wing Peronist Néstor Kirchner in 2003, he became a vocal supporter of his, and in 2008 co-founded Carta Abierta ("Open Letter") with journalist Horacio Verbitsky, an informal think tank of left-wing public figures in literature, journalism and academia who regularly publish opinion columns in defense of Kirchnerism and progressive social policy, generally.[2]
Viñas directed the Institute of Argentine Literature at his alma mater.

To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 7:16 PM 0 comments

Sona Aslanova, Azerbaijanian soprano died she was , 86.

Sona Aslanova  was a Soviet and Azerbaijanian soprano, Meritorious Artist of Azerbaijan Republic known for her historic performances of Azerbaijani, Russian, and international classical and folk vocal music repertoire  died she was , 86.

(4 October 1924 – 9 March 2011)

Biography

Sona Aslanova studied and then taught operatic singing at the Baku Conservatory. Among her professors was Sofia Lisenko-Golskaya, a student of Francesco Lamperti.[3]
She sang in numerous live and recorded broadcasts on the radio and appeared in many films both as a singer and as an actress. Among her most recognized roles is Nigar from Koroglu, Asya from |Arshin Mal Alan, and Asli from Asli and Kerem. All three operas were written by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, who also guided her as she began her operatic career.
Aslanova represented Azerbaijan on tours to Soviet republics and to a number of foreign countries. She worked side by side with such prominent Azerbaijani figures in the arts as the singers Bulbul and Rashid Behbudov. [1]


Honours

Awarded the titles of the Meritorious Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1956 and the Order of the Badge of Honour in 1959.[1]

Filmography

  • Doğma Xalqıma (Koroglu)(1954), film-opera, as Nigar video
  • Görüş (1955) as Firəngiz video
  • Bizim Küçə (1961)
  • Telefonçu Qız (1962), episodic role video
  • Əmək və Qızılgül (1962)
  • Arşın Mal Alan (1965), film-operetta, as voice of Asya video
  • Bizim Cəbiş Müəllim (1969), as Ana video
  • O Qızı Tapın (1970)
  • Gün Keçdi (1971)
  • Ömrün Səhifələri (1974), episodic role video
  • Bir az da Bahar Bayramı (1979)
  • İstintaq (1979)
  • Anlamaq İstəyirəm (1980)
  • Üzeyir Ömrü (1981)
  • Qəmbər Hüseynli (2007)

To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Posted by Admin at 7:12 PM 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
 
Design by emfaruq. All Rights Reserved.