Copyright 2009 The New York Sun Tue, 19 May 2009 01:04:29 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Obituaries :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/obituaries istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/picking-up-the-flag-of-the-sun/86844/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST One day in April 2002, the managing editor of what was about to become The New York Sun, Ira Stoll, sat down with a reporter for the paper, Ben Smith, for an interview with New York's new mayor. When conversation turned to the proposed Second Avenue subway line, Mr. Stoll inquired whether the city might sell the subways to a private entrepreneur. The mayor, Michael Bloomberg, responded with the question, "What are you smoking?" That question inspired the headline over the Sun's first editorial... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/elinor-guggenheimer-96-consumer-advocate/86867/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST A joyful warrior for consumers, women, and the disadvantaged, Elinor Guggenheimer founded day care centers, women's organizations, and served on the New York City Planning Commission. As commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Guggenheimer, who died yesterday at 96, operated at a frenetic pace to protect the city's citizens from gas stations that gouged, delis that sold short-weight salamis, and fly-by-night lawyers who promised overnight divorces. Boasting "ten immediate goals"... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/osborn-elliott-83-former-newsweek-editor/86801/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The former editor of Newsweek, Osborn Elliott, widely credited with making the magazine competitive with archrival Time magazine, died yesterday at 83. He died of complications from cancer, his family told Newsweek. Elliott, known as Oz, was editor of the weekly news magazine between 1961 and 1976. The current editor, Jon Meacham, called Elliott "the architect of the modern Newsweek." "With his vision and his passion, he made the magazine into a global force, and those of us who stand in his... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/paul-newman-actor-succumbs-to-cancer-at-83/86722/ Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:14:24 EST WESTPORT, Conn. — Paul Newman, the Academy-Award winning superstar who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario, and the anti-hero of such films as "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Color of Money," has died. He was 83. Newman died yesterday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, his publicist, Jeff Sanderson, said. He was surrounded by his family and close friends. In May, Newman he had dropped plans to direct a fall production of "Of Mice... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/osborne-elliott-83-editor-of-newsweek/86733/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:44:02 EST A former Newsweek editor widely credited with making the magazine competitive with archrival Time magazine has died in New York City. Osborne Elliott was editor between 1961 and 1976. He was known as Oz. Details of his death haven't been released. The Newsweek editor, Jon Meacham, called Elliott "the architect of the modern Newsweek." He said Elliott's vision and passion "made the magazine into a global force." Mr. Meacham said that every election day Elliott would leave a telephone message... TOM CANAVAN http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/dick-lynch-72-giants-cornerback-turned-announcer/86571/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Dick Lynch, who starred at cornerback for the New York Giants during their glory years in the late 1950s and early 1960s and was a longtime radio analyst for the team, died in New York yesterday. He was 72 and had been treated for leukemia. Lynch played in the NFL from 1958-66 — his first season with Washington and the last eight with the Giants. He had 37 career interceptions, including a league-leading nine each in 1961 in 1963. He had four returns for touchdowns, three in 1963. "He was a... SUSAN GALLAGHER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/james-crumley-68-poetic-crime-novelist/86249/ Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST HELENA, Mont. — Crime novelist James Crumley, whose hardened detectives worked cases in dingy Montana bars and other rough hangouts around Big Sky Country, has died in Missoula, Mont. after years of poor health. Crumley died Wednesday at a hospital in Missoula, where the former Texan made his home, a longtime friend and writer. Crumley was 68, William Kittredge, said. He was perhaps best known for "The Last Good Kiss," which Men's Journal last year ranked no. 12 among its Top 15 Thrillers of... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/norman-whitfield-67-stalwart-motown-songwriter/86140/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Norman Whitfield, who died Tuesday, helped create the Motown sound by writing and producing scores of hits including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Just My Imagination." Sick in recent years with diabetes and other ailments, he was said to be 67 and died in a Los Angeles hospital. As the main producer for the Temptations from the mid-1960s, he also wrote and arranged the group's hits "I Wish It Would Rain" and "Cloud Nine," which won a Grammy in 1968, Motown's first. Whitfield's... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/rick-wright-65-pink-floyd-keyboardist/85906/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Richard Wright, who died yesterday at 65, was a co-founder of Pink Floyd. His brooding yet sometimes jazzy organ licks were an integral part of the band's trademark melancholy sound. His death from cancer, coming two years after former lead singer Syd Barrett's, leaves just two original members of Pink Floyd: guitarist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason. Wright is heard all over Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," the 1973 album that has sold more than 40 million copies. He later helped... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/david-foster-wallace-46-infinite-jest-writer/85775/ Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:29:05 EST CLAREMONT, Calif. — David Foster Wallace, the author best known for his 1996 novel "Infinite Jest," was found dead in his home, according to police. He was 46. Wallace's wife found her husband had hanged himself when she returned home about 9:30 p.m. Friday, a records clerk with the Claremont Police Department, said Jackie Morales, said. Wallace taught creative writing and English at nearby Pomona College. "He cared deeply for his students and transformed the lives of many young people," Dean... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/ralph-plaisted-80-north-pole-adventurer/85622/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Ralph Plaisted, who died Monday at 80, left his St. Paul, Minn., insurance agency in 1968 to become the first person indisputably to trek overland to the North Pole. But somehow, his name never quite made the Arctic explorers' pantheon with Peary and Cook and Byrd, whose achievements were far less certain. Leading a four-snowmobile caravan, Plaisted succeeded where he'd failed the year before and traveled for 43 days over perilous pack ice to reach the pole on April 19, 1968. A twin-engine... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/wd-mohammed-74-transformed-nation-of-islam/85520/ Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST W.D. Mohammed, who died yesterday in Chicago at 74, transformed the original Nation of Islam, led by his father, Elijah Muhammad, into a mainstream Sunni Muslim organization, rejecting its original black separatist ideology. "It's a great loss for the entire Muslim community," the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Michigan, Dawud Walid, told the Associated Press. "He was encouraging his followers to accept the best of their humanity and to extend the moral and... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/bill-melendez-91-peanuts-animator/85181/ Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Bill Melendez, who died Tuesday at 91, had an extraordinarily long career as an animator, and helped draw life into Bambi, Bugs Bunny, and Babar. But his most famous creation was the animated version of "Peanuts," which Melendez drew for nearly 70 television specials, four films, and hundreds of commercials. A Disney animator from the late 1930s who worked for several other studios before opening his own operation in 1964, Melendez created his first "Peanuts" animation in 1959 on behalf of the... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/tommy-bolt-92-temperamental-golf-champ/85182/ Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Tommy Bolt, the 1958 U.S. Open champion and Oklahoma native who had one of golf's sweetest swings and most explosive tempers, died Saturday in Cherokee Village, Ark. He was 92. Bolt won 15 times on the PGA Tour, with his lone major at Southern Hills in the 1958 by four shots over Gary Player. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002, which he called the highlight of his career. But it was temper that gained him the most notoriety. Called "Terrible Tommy" and "Thunder," Bolt was... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/jerry-reed-71-country-guitarist-and-genial-actor/85071/ Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Jerry Reed, who died Monday at 71, became a country music guitar hero as a session man, songwriter, and honky-tonk singer whose hits included "When You're Hot, You're Hot" and "Guitar Man," and a late-blooming novelty number, "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)." He parlayed decades of country music success into a lightweight film acting career, with roles that included Burt Reynolds's truck-driving sidekick, the Snowman, in the "Smokey and the Bandit" trilogy (1977-83), and also as Coach... RAQUEL MARIA DILLON http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/don-lafontaine-68-movie-trailer-voice-over-king/85072/ Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Don LaFontaine, the man who popularized the now-loved catch phrase "In a world where ..." and lent his voice to thousands of movie previews, died Monday at 68. LaFontaine made more than 5,000 trailers in his 33-year career while working for the top studios and television networks. In a rare on-screen appearance in 2006, he parodied himself on a series of American television commercials for a car insurance company, in which he played himself telling a customer, "In a world where both of our cars... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/edwin-guthman-89-pulitzer-prize-winning-journalist/84974/ Tue, 2 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Edwin O. Guthman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who was on the infamous "enemies list" prepared by aides of President Nixon and who served as press secretary to Robert F. Kennedy, has died at 89. Guthman, who had a rare blood disease called amyloidosis, died Sunday at his Pacific Palisades home, a family spokesman, Bryce Nelson, said. "Ed Guthman was not only a great friend, but a great journalist," a longtime political cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times, Paul Conrad, said yesterday... BRUCE BENNETT http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/manny-farber-91-eccentric-film-critic/84241/ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Manny Farber, who died August 18 at 91, was a critic who helped establish mainstream American filmmakers such as Howard Hawks, and even animation guru Chuck Jones, as legitimate subjects for serious artistic criticism. Farber was also an accomplished fine artist and art teacher with five decades of solo and group shows and multiple grant awards to his credit. His canvases are in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Los... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/pervis-jackson-70-sang-bass-for-the-spinners/84242/ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Pervis Jackson, the man behind the deep, rolling bass voice in a string of 1970s R&B hits by the Spinners, died Monday at a Detroit hospital. He was 70. A native of the New Orleans area, Mr. Jackson was one of the original five members of the group which started out in the late 1950s singing doo-wop in Detroit. They worked under the Motown label in the 1960s but shot to stardom after moving on to Atlantic Records in the 1970s. With song's like "Mighty Love," "I'll Be Around," "One Of A Kind... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/daniel-neal-heller-83-lawyer-who-beat-the-irs/84143/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Daniel Neal Heller, who died August 3 at 83, was a Miami lawyer involved in many high-profile cases, but the best-known was his protracted tax-evasion dispute with the Internal Revenue Service that ended with his winning a $500,000 settlement from the agency. He later boasted of being called "the man who beat the IRS," and said he donated the money to charity. Pugnacious and driven, Heller served as general counsel for Miami newspapers, and was credited with winning the first Florida "Sunshine... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/dorival-caymmi-94-brazilian-composer/84144/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Brazilian composer and singer Dorival Caymmi, who catapulted to fame when Carmen Miranda performed one of his songs in 1938, died Saturday in Sγo Paolo, Brazil. He was 94. Caymmi's lyrics were inspired by the beautiful women and folklore of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, where he was born. A deep, velvety voice also helped make him one of the country's most beloved artists. "His music is part of the nation's cultural heritage," the president of Brazil, Luiz Inαcio Lula da Silva... HILLEL ITALIE http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/jerry-wexler-legendary-record-producer/84000/ Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:51:03 EST Legendary record producer Jerry Wexler, who helped shape R&B music with influential recordings of Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and other greats, and later made key recordings with the likes of Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, has died, his co-author, David Ritz, says. He was 91. Mr. Ritz, co-author of Wexler's 1993 memoir, "Rhythm and the Blues," said he died at his Sarasota, Fla., home at about 3:45 a.m. today. He had been ill for a couple of years with congenital heart disease. Wexler earned his... DEANNA MARTIN http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/sandy-allen-53-worlds-tallest-woman/83875/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST A woman who grew to be 7 feet 7 inches tall and was recognized as the world's tallest female died early Wednesday, a friend said. She was 53. Sandy Allen, who used her height to inspire schoolchildren to accept those who are different, died at a nursing home in her hometown of Shelbyville, Ind. The cause of death was not announced, but Allen had suffered numerous health problems in recent years and been hospitalized with a blood infection and kidney failure. In London, a Guinness World Records... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/eva-reich-84-lectured-on-reichian-psychology/83874/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Eva Reich, daughter of Wilhelm Reich and lecturer on the controversial work on orgonomy that he pioneered more than a half century ago, died Sunday at her home in Hancock, Maine. She was 84. Eva Reich, a native of Vienna who moved to America in 1938, participated in many of her father's experiments, including those concerning UFOs and the "orgone energy" he said permeated the atmosphere and all living things. Wilhelm Reich, a psychiatrist who had studied with Sigmund Freud, died in prison in... http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/soul-singer-isaac-hayes-1942-2008/83535/ Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:30:01 EST MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The pioneering singer, songwriter, and musician whose relentless "Theme From Shaft" won Academy and Grammy awards, Isaac Hayes, died today, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said. He was 65. A family member found Hayes unresponsive near a treadmill and he was pronounced dead about an hour later at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, according to the sheriff's office. The cause of death was not immediately known. In the early 1970s, Hayes laid the groundwork for disco, for what... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/erik-darling-74-leader-in-folk-revival/83339/ Thu, 7 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Erik Darling, who died Sunday at 74, journeyed to New York to sing in Washington Square Park in the 1950s and became part of the folk music revival, with hits including "The Banana Boat Song" and "Walk Right In." He was also Pete Seeger's hand-picked successor as tenor/banjoist when Mr. Seeger left the Weavers in 1958. Born September 25, 1933, in Canandaigua, N.Y., Darling decided not to join the family paint store business and instead came to New York in the early 1950s. There he joined a... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/nicola-rescigno-92-co-founded-dallas-opera/83267/ Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Nicola Rescigno, who died Monday at 92, was founding conductor of both the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Dallas Opera, where he led the American debuts of singers including Joan Sutherland and Placido Domingo, the designer Franco Zeffirelli, and a host of others. He was closely associated with Maria Callas, and conducted her American debut in 1954 at the Lyric in "Norma." Three years later, the diva made national news at the Dallas Civic Opera debut with a program of showpiece arias under... ARON HELLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/abie-nathan-81-israeli-peace-activist/84834/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST JERUSALEM — Abie Nathan, the peace activist who made a dramatic solo flight to Egypt in a rattletrap single-engine plane and later founded the groundbreaking "Voice of Peace" radio station, died yesterday. He was 81. Nathan died at Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital, the hospital said in a statement. He burst onto the world of Middle East diplomacy in 1966 with his solo flight more than a decade before Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty. Although he failed in his initial bid to talk peace with the... DAVE GOLDBERG http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/gene-upshaw-63-nfl-star-and-union-leader/84407/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Gene Upshaw, a towering lineman on the football field who went on to win untold millions of dollars for NFL players as their union leader, has died at age 63. Upshaw had a Hall of Fame career as a guard for the Oakland Raiders — a team that won two of the three Super Bowls it reached during his 15 years in a black and silver jersey. But his work as executive director of the NFL Players Association over a quarter-century was even more important. It changed the business side of the league. Upshaw... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/ted-solotaroff-79-founder-of-new-american-review/83975/ Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Ted Solotaroff, who died August 8 at 79, founded the New American Review, an influential if small-circulation literary quarterly in the 1960s and 1970s. He later worked as a book editor with a stable of writers including Russell Banks, Robert Bly, and Bobbi Ann Mason, and he published glowingly reviewed memoirs. The New American Review, which he began in 1967, took its name from the New American Library, its original publisher, which was also a distinguished publisher of paperback books."... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/louis-teicher-83-half-of-a-virtuoso-pop-piano-duo/83189/ Tue, 5 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Louis Teicher, who died Sunday at 83, was half of the piano duo Ferrante & Teicher, which toured for four decades and released 150 albums, some as suitable for elevators as for concert halls. Yet for their fans — and there were enough to purchase 88 million of their records — they were "the grand twins of the twin grands," virtuoso showmen in the tradition of Liberace and perhaps Liszt. Ferrante & Teicher were perhaps best-known for their hit instrumental versions of 1960s movie themes... DOUGLAS BIRCH http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/alexander-solzhenitsyn-1918-2008/83087/ Sun, 3 Aug 2008 22:24:16 EST MOSCOW — The Nobel Prize-winning Russian author whose books chronicled the horrors of dictator Josef Stalin's slave labor camps, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, has died of heart failure, his son said Monday. He was 89. Stepan Solzhenitsyn told The Associated Press his father died late Sunday at his home near Moscow, but declined further comment. Through unflinching accounts of the years he spent in the Soviet gulag, Solzhenitsyn's novels and non-fiction works exposed the secret history of the vast... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/margaret-ringenberg-87-high-flying-aviatrix/83059/ Fri, 1 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Margaret Ringenberg, who died Monday at 87, was a pilot who ferried planes as a WASP during World War II and then blanketed her hometown of Fort Wayne, Ind., with air-dropped leaflets bearing news that war had ended. Later she became known as a leading endurance racer in the Powder Puff Derby and flew around the world. She raced as recently as a month ago, finishing third in the women-only annual Air Race Classic (the successor to the Powder Puff Derby). She died while attending the... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/jack-nash-79-a-founder-of-odyssey-partners-and-sun/82955/ Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Jack Nash, who fled Nazi Germany as a child and went on to co-found one of the seminal hedge funds, Odyssey Partners, died yesterday at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 79. He was also a founder of The New York Sun. RELATED: Jack Nash. Employed at Oppenheimer & Co., the pioneering mutual fund management and investment banking firm from the early 1950s, he became a partner and served as the fund's president between 1974 and 1979, when he was named chairman. He founded Odyssey with... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/june-walker-74-was-president-of-hadassah/82882/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST June Walker, who died yesterday at 74, was chairwoman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and an activist national president of Hadassah, where she spearheaded the women's Zionist organization's advocacy of stem-cell research and support of medical institutions in Israel. Walker was a respiratory therapist who taught for many years at Passaic Community College in New Jersey and was a director of education for pulmonary medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/eileen-slocum-92-grande-dame-of-newport/82883/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Newport society's grande dame Eileen Slocum, who lived in a Gilded Age mansion along Millionaire's Row and was a former national committeewoman for the Republican Party, died Sunday at age 92. Slocum lived in the Harold Carter Brown House, a Gothic Revival-style estate built in the 1890s by her uncle, a member of the wealthy family that established Brown University. In her later years, she was one of a diminishing number of year-round residents along Bellevue Avenue, also known as Millionaires'... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/joe-beck-62-jazz-guitarist/82788/ Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Joe Beck, a jazz guitarist who collaborated with artists such as Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, and James Brown, died July 22 at a hospital in Woodbury, Conn. He was 62, and had battled lung cancer. Beck was a prolific studio and session performer, arranger, and producer, with an identifiable harmonic and rhythmic sound. He was honored five times by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as a Most Valuable Player. Beck got his start as a teenager in the 1960s playing in a jazz trio in... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/h-tracy-hall-88-created-man-made-diamonds/82789/ Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST H. Tracy Hall, who died Friday at 88, was the first to synthesize diamonds in the laboratory, in 1954, fulfilling what scientists sought for at least two centuries. These weren't gem-quality diamonds, and the world is in no danger of being overrun with lab-generated Hope Diamonds. But the tiny, super-hard crystals he produced found a multitude of uses in industry in drill bits from oil wells to dentistry, as well as in diamond-tipped saws and polishing tools. A charter member of General... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/eugene-foster-81-pointed-finger-at-jefferson/82518/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Note: Correction appended. Dr. Eugene Foster, who died July 21 at 81, raised a fuss over presidential progeny that sloshed outside strictly historical circles when he showed through DNA testing that President Jefferson was the likely father of at least one child by one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. Unschooled as a historian, Foster was a pathologist who worked for many years at the University of Virginia Medical School at Charlottesville, Va., and later Tufts University New England Medical... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/sid-craig-76-co-founded-jenny-craig-diet-chain/82519/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Sid Craig, the co-founder of Jenny Craig Inc., who built the weight loss company with his wife and was a prominent thoroughbred horse owner, died Monday at 76 in San Diego. Sid and Jenny Craig founded Jenny Craig Inc. in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. The company eventually grew to include 655 weight loss centers in four countries. In 2006, Nestlι SA bought the Carlsbad, Calif.-based company for $600 million. In the 1970s, he bought a stake in a women's salon, Body Contour Inc., and later opened... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/estelle-getty-84-golden-girl-had-avant-garde/82436/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Note: Correction appended. Estelle Getty, who died yesterday at 84, played the tiny, tart-tongued octogenarian Sophia on TV's "Golden Girls" for seven seasons starting in 1985. Despite being two decades younger than the role, the job represented for Getty the culmination of decades of toiling in near obscurity in avant-garde New York productions, mostly far off Broadway. It was reprising one of those roles — as the Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song Trilogy" — that brought her fame... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/artie-traum-65-folk-guitarist-and-teacher/82381/ Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Artie Traum, who died at home Sunday at 65, was a guitarist who had a long career in folk and later jazz from his home base in Woodstock, N.Y. In the early 1960s, he gravitated toward the Greenwich Village folk scene, playing at Izzy Young's Folklore Center and Gerde's Folk City, seminal gathering spots for folkies. He joined Dave Van Ronk's band, the Ragtime Jug Stompers. He later formed a duo with his brother, Happy Traum. They performed at the 1969 Newport Folk Festival and then toured... The Daily Telegraph http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/les-crane-74-one-hit-wonder/82284/ Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Les Crane, who died on July 13 at age 74, became an unlikely one-hit wonder in the British and American pop charts with "Desiderata" (1971), his spoken-word version of an obscure prose poem that became a New Age anthem. "Go placidly amid the noise and haste," Crane solemnly intoned, "and remember what peace there may be in silence." Arriving at the chorus — "You are a child of the universe; No less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here" — Crane was augmented by a backing... WILL FRIEDWALD http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/jo-stafford-90-singer-of-swing-standards/82157/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Jo Stafford, who died Wednesday at 90, was a recording artist and big band vocalist who was among the most adored female singers of her generation, whether crooning a classic or cutting up with hillbilly high jinks. Between the end of the swing era and the early years of the rock 'n' roll era, Stafford was a constant presence on the pop records charts, landing nearly a hundred hits and selling a reputed 25 million records for Columbia Records alone. In an era of homey, emotional singers... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/red-foley-79-enduring-baseball-scribe/81889/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Red Foley, a stalwart of the New York baseball press and the most celebrated official scorer of his time in the major leagues, died yesterday at Booth Memorial Hospital in Flushing. He was 79. Between 1981 and 2001, Foley was an official scorer in 10 World Series, more than any other scorer in modern history. That included the Series of 1985, 1987, and 1991, which did not involve New York teams. Foley was a sports writer for the New York Daily News for 34 years, before retiring in 1981. He... Staff Reporter of the Sun http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/patricia-bozell-81-conservative-editor-matriarch/81890/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Patricia Buckley Bozell, who died Saturday at 81, was a matriarch of a prominent conservative family who helped found Triumph, a Catholic journal of opinion. She had throat cancer. She was married to L. Brent Bozell Jr., a National Review founder who ghostwrote Barry Goldwater's "The Conscience of a Conservative." The couple launched Triumph in 1966. Mrs. Bozell helped shape the journal as a bulwark against Vatican II reforms and such legislative prospects as legalized abortion. Among her 10... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/roy-huffington-90-tycoon-tapped-indonesian-oil/81891/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Roy Huffington, an oilman who played a major role in developing Indonesia's oil and natural gas sector and later served as an ambassador to Austria, died Friday at 90. Huffington also founded the Huffington Foundation, which donated millions of dollars to Houston charities, and served as the chairman of the New York-based Asia Society for more than seven years in the 1980s. Huffington served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and upon his return he became a field geologist for Humble Oil Co... DOUGLASS K. DANIEL http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/former-bush-press-secretary-tony-snow-dies-at-53/81721/ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:00:07 EST WASHINGTON — Tony Snow, a conservative writer and commentator who cheerfully sparred with reporters in the White House briefing room during a stint as President Bush's press secretary, died Saturday of colon cancer. He was 53. "America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character," President Bush said in a statement from Camp David, where he was spending the weekend. "It was a joy to watch Tony at the podium each day. He brought wit, grace, and a great love of country to his work."... JOHN PORRETTO http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/trailblazing-heart-surgeon-dr-michael-debakey/81722/ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:49:13 EST HOUSTON — The world-famous cardiovascular surgeon who pioneered such now-common procedures as bypass surgery and invented a host of devices to help heart patients, Dr. Michael DeBakey, has died. He was 99. DeBakey died last night at The Methodist Hospital at Houston from "natural causes," according to a statement issued early today by Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital. DeBakey counted world leaders among his patients and helped turn Baylor from a provincial school into one... STEPHEN MILLER http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/robert-bendick-91-early-producer-of-today-show/81675/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Robert Bendick, who died June 22 at 91 at his home in Guilford, Conn., was an early producer of NBC's "Today Show" who went on to create sports shows and documentaries, and also teamed with "King Kong" director Merian Cooper to develop Cinerama, a super-wide film format. In the 1970s, he produced Emmy-winning episodes of the PBS series "The Great American Dream Machine," and also "The Fight for Food," a public TV series focusing on global hunger problems. Born February 8, 1917, in Manhattan...