November 2006

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First black male soloist at the Met Opera dead at 85

Robert McFerrin Sr., opera singer and father of conductor and vocalist Bobby McFerrin, died of a heart attack Friday, November 24 at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital in suburban St. Louis. McFerrin was born in Marianna, Arkansas. His Baptist minister father forbade young Robert to sing anything but Gospel music. In 1936, McFerrin moved to St. Louis and was encouraged by a high school music teacher to develop his talent. During the late 1940s and early '50s, McFerrin gained success on Broadway, and performed with the National Negro Opera Company and the New York City Opera Company. In 1953 he won a Met Opera national audition and in 1953 debuted as Amonasro in Aida, three weeks after Marian Anderson became the first black to sing a principal role at the Met. McFerrin also provided the vocals for Sidney Poitier's character in the 1959 movie version of Porgy and Bess. He was 85.

Sources: Associated Press, IMDB, Wikipedia

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 29, 2006 5:27 PM | Comments (0)

 

Mastermind behind the Prius dead at 59

David W. Hermance, the Toyota executive credited with overseeing the development and launch of the most successful gas-electric hybrid car, the Prius, died in a plane crash off the coast of California on Saturday, November 25. Conflicting reports state Hermance was flying either a Russian Yak or an Interavia E-3 when, according to eyewitnesses, the engine stopped and the plane plunged into the sea. Hermance joined Toyota in 1991 after 26 years at General Motors. A year later, he was put in charge of engine and drivetrain calibrations for North America. Hermance was 59.

Sources: CNNMoney.com, Toyota.com, Automotive News

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 27, 2006 2:02 PM | Comments (1)

 

King of the Hobos dead at 89

Maurice Graham, who began hopping trains at age 14, died Saturday following a recent stroke. Graham, nicknamed "Steamtrain Maury," was a medical technician during World War II, then spent most of his life hitching rides on trains and living in hobo camps until 1980. During his travels, Graham visited penitentiaries and veterans homes, motivating inmates and cheering patients. Graham also spread goodwill for thirty years as Santa Claus at the Franklin Park Mall in Toledo. He was a founding member of the National Hobo Foundation and helped establish the Hobo Museum in Britt, Iowa. In 1990, he wrote Tales of the Iron Road: My Life As King of the Hobos. He was honored as National Hobo King five times at Britt's annual hobo convention, and was given the coveted title of Grand Patriarch of Hobos in 2004. Graham was 89.

Sources: Hobo News, Associated Press

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 22, 2006 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

 

Newspaper editor to whom Richard Nixon proclaimed "I am not a crook" dead at 76

Joseph Ungaro, a former managing editor of The Providence Evening Bulletin, died Sunday, November 12, at South County Hospital in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, of an undiagnosed illness. Ungaro was attending an annual convention of the Associated Press Managing Editors organization in 1973 when he asked President Richard Nixon whether he had accurately reported his income taxes. Nixon answered a subsequent question about the Watergate scandal, then doubled back to respond to Ungaro's question with the famous reply, "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook." Nixon later agreed to pay hundred of thousands of dollars in back taxes and Jack White, a reporter at Ungaro's newspaper, won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on Nixon's tax issues. In 1974, Ungaro moved on to the Westchester Rockland newspapers, followed by a stint as president and CEO of the Detroit Newspaper Agency. Ungaro served as president of the Associated Press Managing Editors in 1983 and spent the last decade working at Stars and Stripes, becoming its ombudsman. He was 76.

Sources: Associated Press, APME, Pulitzer.org

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 16, 2006 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

 

Creator of 180 classroom films dead at 90

Sid Davis, who cautioned teens about running with scissors, underage drinking, and syphilis, died October 16 of lung cancer at a home for seniors in Palm Desert. An unsuccessful lecture to his 5-year-old daughter on avoiding strangers led the movie set stand-in to begin producing the short films. Cowboy movie legend John Wayne, who used Davis as a stand-in, lent Davis the money to start his own production company. Davis produced more than 180 films from the 1950s into the early 1970s with names like The Dangerous Stranger, You Can't Stop on a Dime, Girls Beware, The Bottle and the Throttle, and Skipper Learns a Lesson (about a racist dog) that were shown in classrooms across the country. Many of the films were produced for around $1,000 and starred famliy and friends. Davis was 90.

Sources: Associated Press, IMDB, Prelinger Collection

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 13, 2006 2:43 PM | Comments (0)

 

Pope John Paul II's English tutor dead at 83

Retired Bishop W. Thomas Larkin died in his home in Clearwater, Florida, on Saturday, November 4, after a long battle with leukemia. Larkin grew up in Mount Morris, New York, and was ordained in 1947. His first assigment was in Daytona Beach. He later studied in Rome for his doctorate. His roommate was Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II. The two became friends and Larkin helped Wojtyla learn English. From 1979 to 1988, Larkin oversaw the 300,000-member Diocese of St. Petersburg. Under his leadership, 19 new parishes, a radio station, and offices for Hispanics, blacks, and the disabled were created. Larkin was 83.

Sources: Associated Press, Diocese of St. Petersburg

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 6, 2006 5:19 PM | Comments (0)

 

First U.S. physician convicted of illegally performing an abortion in a hospital dead at 91

Dr. Jane Hodgson, Minnesota's first female obstetrician and gynecologist, defied the state's abortion ban by performing the procedure in a St. Paul hospital in 1970. Hodgson was convicted, but the ruling was overturned after the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Hodgson was born in Crookston in 1915, the daughter of a family physician, and graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School. She also studied at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. Hodgson developed abortion clinics in Minnesota and throughout the country, and traveled the world promoting public health. Derided by anti-abortion advocates, the Minnesota chapter of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) named its reproductive freedom award in Hodgson's honor and Tim Stanley, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota and the Dakotas, called Hodgson "an international and national icon." She died on October 23 at age 91.

Sources: Legacy.com, Associated Press, WCCO.com

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 3, 2006 12:20 AM | Comments (2)

 

Last boxer to fight Muhammad Ali found dead in Jamaica

Former heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick was found Saturday, October 28, in a Kingston, Jamaica, church courtyard with chop wounds to his head. Various records list his age as 52, 56, and 49. Constable Sheldon Francis stated an arrest has been made and an interrogation has begun. Berbick beat Ali in 1981 in a unanimous decision in the Bahamas and went on to win the WBC heavyweight title four years later. He held the title until a 20-year-old Mike Tyson knocked Berbick out in the second round in 1986, to become the youngest heavyweight champion. Berbick's career foundered following the Tyson fight. Legal troubles and convictions for assault, rape, and second-degree grand theft were followed by two deportations from the U.S.

UPDATE: A 20-year-old nephew of former heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick has been charged with killing him.

Sources: BoxRec.com, Associated Press, World Boxing Council

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 2, 2006 6:29 AM | Comments (0)

 

"Long Black Veil" co-writer dead at 86

Marijohn Wilkin, who began writing songs in the 1950s, died at her Nashville home after suffering from heart problems. Wilkin wrote the country standard "Long Black Veil" (with Danny Dill), "Cut Across Shorty," "Waterloo," and, following a religious conversion in the 1970s, the gospel favorite "One Day at a Time" with Kris Kristofferson. Wilkin's songs have been performed by Johnny Cash, the Beatles, the Band, Patsy Cline, Rod Stewart, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, and the Chieftains. Wilkins also performed as a back-up singer and founded Buckhorn Music where Kristofferson began as a songwriter in 1965. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975 and earned three BMI/Country Awards, a 2005 SOURCE Foundation Award, and a Gospel Music Association Dove Award. Wilkins was 86.

Sources: Reuters, Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Music News Nashville

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 1, 2006 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

 

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