Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Wade Mainer, American bluegrass musician, died at heart failure he was 104.

Wade Mainer  was an American singer and banjoist died at heart failure he was 104..

(April 21, 1907 – September 12, 2011)

With his band, the Sons of the Mountaineers, he is credited with bridging the gap between old-time mountain music and Bluegrass and is sometimes called the "Grandfather of Bluegrass." In addition, he innovated a two-finger banjo fingerpicking style, which was a precursor to modern three-finger bluegrass styles.
Originally from North Carolina, Mainer's main influences came from the mountain music of his family. In a career that began in 1934 and spanned almost six decades, Mainer transitioned from being a member of his brother's band into the founder of his own ensemble, the Sons of the Mountaineers, with whom he performed until 1953, when he became more deeply involved with his Christianity and left the music industry. After working at a General Motors factory and attending gospel revivals, Mainer was convinced that he should restart his career as a Christian gospel musician and began to tour with his wife in this capacity. He continued to release albums until 1993.

Personal life

Mainer was born near Weaverville, North Carolina, on a mountain farm in Buncombe County on April 21, 1907.[2] His family was poor during his childhood and they lived in a log cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Mainer credited his father who was, in Mainer's words, "a good singer – real stout voice", as of one of his influences. During his career as a musical artist, Mainer would perform many of the old songs that he had heard from his father.[3]
Mainer grew up listening to traditional mountain music and was largely influenced by his brother-in-law Roscoe Banks.[2] He first learned to play the banjo at square dances, where he would pick up instruments left by performers and practice on them.[4] After moving to Concord, North Carolina and working in a series of jobs at cotton mills, he became a part of his brother J.E.'s band, known as J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers. His entry into the band in 1934 marked the beginning of a nearly six-decade career in music.[2] J.E. played the fiddle while Wade performed on the banjo for the string band, and they played at fiddlers' conventions and other gatherings.[3]
Mainer married Julia Brown in 1937, shortly after forming his own band. Brown was a singer and guitarist popularly know at the time as Hillbilly Lilly. She had performed from 1935 until 1937 at WSJS Radio in Winston Salem. Brown is considered to be a pioneering female musical artist and later joined Mainer during his performances.[4]

Musical career

Mainer's first recordings came in 1934 and are compiled on Ragged But Right: 30's Country Bands. Mainer performed with The Mountaineers on tracks such as Maple on the Hill, Seven and a Half and Johnson's Old Grey Mule. Also included on the compilation are Mainer's later collaboration Short Life and It's Trouble with Zeke Morris, his solo effort Riding on That Train 45 and a sample song Mitchell Blues from his band the Sons of the Mountaineers.[5] Throughout his career, he was noted for his unique and innovative two-finger banjo fingerpicking style, which some view as a precursor to three finger bluegrass banjo styles.[2] Mainer took jobs at local radio stations to increase the visibility of his relative's ensemble, recording classics such as Take Me in the Lifeboat. During this time, he appeared on many regional stations including WBT in Charlotte, WPTF in Raleigh, WNOX in Knoxville and WPAQ in Mount Airy.[4]
Mainer performed in a series of live radio shows with The Mountaineers, sponsored by Crazy Water Crystals laxatives. In 1934, J.W. Fincher, the head of the company, observed their popularity at the first gig, the Crazy Water Crystal Barn Dance, a radio program out of Charlotte. Under the name J. E. Mainer's Crazy Mountaineers, they toured the American South on live radio shows and recorded fourteen songs for Bluebird Records. Maple on the Hill, which according to the National Endowment for the Arts was their biggest hit, had originally been composed in the 1890s by Gussie L. Davis.[3]
Mainer was in his brother J.E.'s band for two years, until he left for more traditional work, which at the time was far more profitable than his musical career. Making only five dollars a week under sponsorship, Mainer found that he could earn up to three times as much working at a yarn mill, which he described as being "gold" for the era.[4] After leaving his brother's group in 1936, he began to perform duet work with Zeke Morris, who was a fellow band mate from The Mountaineers. After a time working on this project, Mainer left to form the short-lived "Smilin' Rangers" which later became "Sons of the Pioneers". Zeke Morris then got together with his brother Wiley to form The Morris Brothers.[2]

Sons of the Mountaineers

Mainer named this new band Sons of the Mountaineers. Its initial lineup included Jay Hugh Hall and Clyde Moody as guitarists with Steve Ledford as a fiddler. Among the musicians who would join the group later were Jack and Curly Shelton, Tiny Dodson, Red Rector and Fred Smith. The band got its start performing on the radio and recording songs for Bluebird Records and their first hit, entitled "Sparkling Blue Eyes" was recorded in 1939.[2] From 1935 through 1941, Mainer recorded over 165 songs for the record label RCA Victor in various lineups, ranking him among one of the most prolifically recorded country music artists of that period.[3]
The Sons of the Mountaineers briefly stopped playing during World War II because Mainer could not afford to squander the valuable gasoline required for the journey to the radio stations.[2] One notable exception, however, came in 1942, when they were invited to the White House by Eleanor Roosevelt.[6] There in Washington D.C., they played several tunes, including "Down in the Willow Garden", a song personally requested by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.[4] During this time, they also appeared in a version of The Chisholm Trail in New York. At wars' end, the band was reorganized and once again began to play at stations across North Carolina. Recordings at this time were sporadic, due to the declining popularity of the genre. In 1953, after having renewed his commitment to Christianity, Mainer left the group and exited the industry for a time.[2][7]

Later life

In 1953, Mainer and his wife settled in Flint, Michigan, where he found work at a General Motors factory. Although renouncing both the music industry and his trademark instrument, the banjo, he and Julia did continue to sing at gospel revival meetings. In the early 1960s, Molly O'Day convinced him that he could use the banjo in gospel recordings, which spurred a series of religiously-theme banjo albums beginning in 1961. He also began to record and tour with his wife.[2]
Mainer retired from General Motors in 1973.[8] Mainer has been credited with bridging the gap between old-time mountain music and Bluegrass and musicians such as Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley and Doc Watson have all cited Mainer as a source of influence. He has also been called the "Grandfather of Bluegrass."[4] His influence was not limited to the United States. Pete Smith, of the British newspaper The Advertiser, in a report for Mainer's 100th birthday, cited Mainer as "one of the most influential figures in the development of modern bluegrass," noting his picking style and his efforts in bringing bluegrass closer to the mainstream. In addition, Smith also credits him for making the banjo, an instrument previously described as "satanic," acceptable for spiritually-themed music.[9] Mainer continued to live with his wife in Flint, where he celebrated his centenary in 2007 and performed at a concert for his 101st birthday in 2008.[6][10] Mainer died of congestive heart failure on September 12, 2011. He was 104.

Awards and honours

In 1987, president Ronald Reagan bestowed upon him a National Heritage Fellowship for his contributions to American music.[2] In 1996 he received the Michigan Heritage Award and the Michigan Country Music Association and Services' Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1998 both he and his wife were inducted into the Michigan Country Music Hall of Fame, while Mainer received North Carolina’s Surry Arts Council Lifetime Achievement.[4]

Original discography

Wade Mainer/Zeke Morris

Matrix Title Record # Recording date
99133 "Come Back To Your Dobie Shack" Bluebird 6551 February 14, 1936
99134 "Just As the Sun Went Down" Bluebird 6383 February 14, 1936
99135 "What Would You Give In Exchange" Bluebird 8073 February 14, 1936
99136 "Bring Me a Leaf From the Sea" Bluebird 6347 February 14, 1936
99137 "Brown Eyes" Bluebird 6347 February 14, 1936
99138 "Maple On the Hill - Part 2" Bluebird 6293 February 15, 1936
99139 "Going To Georgia" Bluebird 6423 February 15, 1936
99140 "Nobody's Darling But Mine" Bluebird 6423 February 15, 1936
99141 "Mother Came to Get Her Boy Back From Jail" Bluebird 6383 February 15, 1936
99142 "Where the Red, Red Roses Grow" Bluebird 6293 February 15, 1936
102612 "My Cradle Days" Bluebird 6489 June 15, 1936
102613 "Gathering Flowers From the Hillside" Bluebird 6489 June 15, 1936
102614 "My Mother Is Waiting" Bluebird 6551 June 15, 1936
102615 "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again" Bluebird 6460 June 15, 1936
102616 "Nobody's Darling On Earth" Bluebird 6460 June 15, 1936
102617 "Shake Hands With Your Mother" Bluebird 6596 June 15, 1936
2530 "They Said My Lord Was A Devil" Bluebird 6653 October 12, 1936
2531 "Won't Somebody Pal With Me" Bluebird 6704 October 12, 1936
2532 "Hop Along Peter" Bluebird 6752 October 12, 1936
2533 "Just One Way To the Pearly Gates" Bluebird 6784 October 12, 1936
2534 "Dear Daddy, You're Gone Bluebird 6752 October 12, 1936
2535 "Been Foolin' Me, Baby" Bluebird 6704 October 12, 1936
2536 "I'll Be a Friend of Jesus" Bluebird 6784 October 12, 1936
2537 "Cowboy's Pony In Heaven" Bluebird 6653 October 12, 1936
7051 "Little Birdie" Bluebird 6840 February 16, 1937
7052 "I've Always Been a Rambler" Bluebird 6890 February 16, 1937
7053 "I'm Starting Life A New With You" Bluebird 6840 February 16, 1937
7054 "Little Rosebuds" Bluebird 6993 February 16, 1937
7055 "Train Carry My Gal Back Home" Bluebird 6890 February 16, 1937
7056 "In the Land Beyond the Blue" Bluebird 6936 February 16, 1937
7057 "A Change All Around" Bluebird 6993 February 16, 1937
7058 "Short Life and It's Trouble" Bluebird 6936 February 16, 1937
11812 "The Dying Boy's Prayer" Bluebird 7165 August 2, 1937
11813 "Free Again" Bluebird 7114 August 2, 1937
11814 "Answer To Two Little Rosebuds" Bluebird 7114 August 2, 1937
11815 "I'm Not Turning Backward" Bluebird 7165 August 2, 1937
11820 "Riding On That Train 45" Bluebird 7298 August 2, 1937
11821 "Little Maggie" Bluebird 7201 August 2, 1937
11822 "Little Pal" Bluebird 7201 August 2, 1937
11823 "Down In the Willow" Bluebird 7298/Victor 27497 August 2, 1937

Wade Mainer's Smilin' Rangers

Matrix Title Record # Recording date
11825 "Ramshackle Shack" Bluebird 7274 August 2, 1937
11826 "Memory Lane" Bluebird 7274 August 2, 1937
11827 "Wild Bill Jones" Bluebird 7249 August 2, 1937
11828 "I Want To Be Loved" Bluebird 7249 August 2, 1937
11816 "What Are You Goin' To Do Brother" Bluebird 7384 August 3, 1937
11817 "Companions Draw Nigh" Bluebird 7384 August 3, 1937
11818 "Mountain Sweetheart" Bluebird 7587 August 3, 1937
11819 "Don't Forget Me, Little Darling" Bluebird 7587 August 3, 1937

Wade Mainer and his Sons of the Mountaineers

Matrix Title Record # Recording date
18763 "Lonely Tomb" Bluebird 7424 January 27, 1938
18764 "Pale Moonlight" Bluebird 7483 January 27, 1938
18765 "All My Friends" Bluebird 7424 January 27, 1938
18766 "Since I Met My Mother-In-Law" Bluebird 7742 January 27, 1938
18767 "Don't Get Too Deep In Love" Bluebird 7483 January 27, 1938
18768 "Don't Leave Me Alone" Bluebird 7561 January 27, 1938
18769 "I Won't Be Worried" Bluebird 7561 January 27, 1938
18770 "Where Romance Calls" Bluebird 7753 January 27, 1938
18771 "Another Alabama Camp Meetin'" Bluebird 7753 January 27, 1938
18772 "Mitchell Blues" Bluebird 7845 January 27, 1938
26981 "Father Along" Bluebird 8023 September 26, 1938
26982 "Dear Loving Mother and Dad" Bluebird 8152 September 26, 1938
26983 "Can't Tell About These Women" Bluebird 7965 September 26, 1938
26984 "That Kind" Bluebird 7861 September 26, 1938
26985 "If I Had Listened To Mother" Bluebird 8137 September 26, 1938
26986 "She Is Spreading Her Wings For A Journey" Bluebird 8023 September 26, 1938
26987 "The Same Old You and Me" Bluebird 7924 September 26, 1938
26988 "Life's Evenin' Sun" Bluebird 8007 September 26, 1938
26998 "You're Awfully Mean To Me" Bluebird 7861 September 26, 1938
26999 "Home In the Sky" Bluebird 8007 September 26, 1938
27700 "A Little Love" Bluebird 7924 September 26, 1938
27701 "North Carolina Moon" Bluebird 8628 September 26, 1938
27702 "More Good Women Gone Wrong" Bluebird 7965 September 26, 1938
32625 "Sparkling Blue Eyes" Bluebird 8042 February 4, 1939
32626 "We Will Miss Him" Bluebird 8042 February 4, 1939
32627 "I Left My Home In the Mountains" Bluebird 8091 February 4, 1939
32628 "I Met Her At A Ball One Night" Bluebird 8091 February 4, 1939
32629 "You May Forsake Me" Bluebird 8120 February 4, 1939
32630 "Look On and Cry" Bluebird 8120 February 4, 1939
32631 "One Little Kiss" Bluebird 8145 February 4, 1939
32632 "Mama, Don't Make Me Go To Bed" Bluebird 8145 February 4, 1939
32633 "Crying Holy" Bluebird 8203 February 4, 1939
32634 "Heaven Bells Are Ringing" Bluebird 8203 February 4, 1939
41200 "Sparkling Blue Eyes No.2" Bluebird 8249 August 21, 1939
41201 "The Poor Drunkard's Dream" Bluebird 8273 August 21, 1939
41202 "Were You There" Bluebird 8273 August 21, 1939
41203 "The Gospel Cannon Ball" Bluebird 8249 August 21, 1939
41204 "The Great and Final Judgement" Bluebird 8288 August 21, 1939
41205 "What a Wonderful Savior Is He" Bluebird 8288 August 21, 1939
41206 "Why Not Make Heaven Your Home" Bluebird 8340 August 21, 1939
41207 "Mansions In the Sky" Bluebird 8340 August 21, 1939
41208 "Not a Word of That Be Said" Bluebird 8359 August 21, 1939
41209 "Drifting Through an Unfriendly World" Bluebird 8359 August 21, 1939
71014 "Shake My Mother's Hands For Me" Bluebird 8848 September 29, 1941
71015 "Anywhere Is Home" Bluebird 8965 September 29, 1941
71016 "I Can Tell You the Time" Bluebird 8965 September 29, 1941
71017 "He Gave His Life" Bluebird 8887 September 29, 1941
71018 "Ramblin' Boy Bluebird 8990 September 29, 1941
71019 "The Precious Jewel" Bluebird 8887 September 29, 1941
71020 "Old Ruben" Bluebird 8990 September 29, 1941
71021 "Precious Memories" Bluebird 8848 September 29, 1941

Other discography

Studio albums

  • 1961: Soulful Sacred Songs
  • 1971: Sacred Songs of Mother and Home
  • 1973: The Songs of Wade Mainer
  • 1976: From the Maple to the Hill
  • 1980: Old Time Songs
  • 1984: Old Time Banjo Tunes
  • 1987: In the Land of Melody
  • 1989: How Sweet to Walk
  • 1990: String Band Music
  • 1993: Old Time Gospel Favorites
  • 1993: Carolina Mule[7]
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Ralph Lomma, American mini golf entrepreneur, died he was 87.

Ralph John Lomma is often credited, along with his brother, Al, with popularizing miniature golf in the mid 1950s through their design and manufacture of now famous obstacles such as castles, clown heads and windmills died he was 87..[2][3] Lomma Enterprises, which Ralph Lomma founded, is still in business today.
(March 13, 1924 – September 12, 2011)

History

In 1959, he engineered the development of Elk Mountain, Pennsylvania into a ski resort and in 1961, Lomma founded the Village of Four Seasons, Pennsylvania. Lomma Enterprises is the world's largest supplier for the pint-size sport, with courses in all 50 states and five continents. Lomma claimed that one course was built in a federal penitentiary and another aboard an aircraft carrier, nearly 6,000 miniature golf courses in all.
In the 1980s, Lomma was appointed by Ronald Reagan to the Coast Guard Commission and sat on the board of directors of Allied Artists film company, at that time involved with the production of The Wild Geese, starring Richard Harris, and Cabaret starring Liza Minnelli.
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Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, Iraqi sculptor, died from kidney failure he was 82.

Mohammad Ghani Hikmat,   was an Iraqi sculptor and artist credited with creating some of Baghdad's highest profile sculptures and monuments died from kidney failure he was 82..

(1929 – September 12, 2011)

His best known works include the Victory Arch and two statues of Queen Scheherazade and King Shahryar, located on Aby Nuwas Street.[1] Hikmat also spearheaded the recovery of art looted from the National Museum of Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and fall of Saddam Hussein.[1]
Hikmut was born in 1929 in Baghdad's Kadumiya neighborhood.[1] He graduated from the Fine Arts Institute in Baghdad in 1953, before completing his studies in 1957 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy.[1] Hikmut joined the Baghdad Group for Modern Art in 1953 and the Al-Zawiya Group (meaning The Corner) in 1967.
Mohammed Ghani Hikmat died in Amman, Jordan, where he was receiving medical treatment, on September 12, 2011, at the age of 82.[1]
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Alexander Galimov, Russian ice hockey player, died from injuries sustained in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster he was 26.

Alexander Saidgereyevich Galimov  was a Russian professional ice hockey player died from injuries sustained in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster he was 26. . At the time of his death, he was a member of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) [1] whose team plane crashed on September 7, 2011.

( May 2, 1985 – September 12, 2011)

Playing career

Alexander Galimov was born in 1985 in Yaroslavl, then the Soviet Union. He began his professional career in 2004 with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. The 6-foot, 196-pounder, played 341 RSL/KHL games, scoring 64 goals and 126 points, while racking up 280 penalty minutes.
Galimov was a member of the silver-medal winning Russian U20 team at the 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He also played for the Russia men's national ice hockey team on the 2009–10 and 2010–11 Euro Hockey Tours.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash

On September 7, 2011, a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft, carrying nearly the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team including Galimov, crashed just outside Yaroslavl, Russia. The team was traveling to Minsk to play their opening game of the season, with its coaching staff and prospects. Galimov was the only player from the team's roster to survive the initial impact. A crew member, Alexander Sizov, also survived.
Galimov suffered burns to over 90 percent of his body.[6] The medical team in Yaroslavl managed to stabilize him, and on the following day, September 8, he was transported to the Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, where he was placed in a medically induced coma, and on artificial ventilation.[7]
On September 12, 2011, Galimov died from the burns he had sustained in the crash.[8][9] Lokomotiv Yaroslavl marketing manager Yevgeni Chuev said it was likely that another memorial, this time specifically for Galimov, would be held on September 13, 2011.[10]

Career statistics



Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2004–05 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 41 1 1 2 37 9 0 0 0 0
2005–06 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 35 5 3 8 46 11 3 0 3 2
2006–07 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 54 16 13 29 50 7 1 1 2 10
2007–08 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl RSL 51 9 9 18 45 10 0 0 0 14
2008–09 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 55 7 6 13 28 19 2 2 4 8
2009–10 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 52 13 12 25 46 16 8 6 14 33
2010–11 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 53 13 18 31 31 18 9 5 14 10
RSL/KHL totals 341 64 62 126 283 90 23 14 37 77
Medal record
Competitor for Russia Russia
Men's ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Silver 2005 USA

International

Year Team Event Place GP G A Pts PIM
2005 Russia WJC 2 6 1 2 3 0
Junior totals 6 1 2 3 0

See also

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Andy Whitfield, Welsh-born Australian actor (Spartacus: Blood and Sand), died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma he was 39.

Andy Whitfield  was a Welsh-Australian actor and model died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma he was 39. He was best known for his leading role in the Starz television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand during 2010.[2]

(died 11 September 2011)



Whitfield was born in Amlwch, Wales. He studied engineering at the University of Sheffield, England and worked in Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia as an engineer before settling in Sydney in 1999.[3][4] He appeared in several Australian television series, such as Opening Up, All Saints, The Strip, Packed to the Rafters, and McLeod's Daughters.
Whitfield gained his first prominent role in the Australian supernatural film Gabriel.[5] He also starred in the 2010 television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which was filmed in New Zealand.[5] He portrays a version of the historical Spartacus, although in this retelling he is a conscripted soldier condemned to death who defeats all four of his executioners and is thereby recycled as a gladiator. The actual Spartacus, like this fictional version, was destined to lead a rebellion against the Romans (the Third Servile War).[6] Whitfield also appeared in the Australian thriller The Clinic starring opposite Tabrett Bethell (of Legend of the Seeker fame) which was shot in Deniliquin.[7]
In August 2010, Whitfield teamed up with Freddie Wong and created a 2-minute YouTube video named "Time Crisis", based on the game Time Crisis.[citation needed] Whitfield made a brief, uncredited voice-only appearance in the prequel mini-series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which premiered on 21 January 2011.[8]

Illness and death

In March 2010, Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and began undergoing treatment immediately in New Zealand.[9] This delayed production of season two of Spartacus: Vengeance.[9] While waiting for Whitfield's treatment and expected recovery, the network produced a six-part prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, with only a brief uncredited voiceover from the actor. Although declared cancer-free only two months later, he suffered a recurrence of the disease later in the year and was ultimately compelled to abandon the role.[10][11][12] Starz recast Australian actor Liam McIntyre as Whitfield's successor.[13]
Whitfield died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Sydney, Australia, on 11 September 2011, at the age of 39, 18 months after his initial cancer diagnosis.[1][14]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2004 All Saints Matthew Parkes "Opening Up" (season 2, episode 7)
2008 The Strip Charlie Palmer (season 1, episode 2)
(season 1, episode 7)
Packed to the Rafters Nick Leigh "All in the Planning" (season 1, episode 10)
McLeod's Daughters Brett Samuels "Nowhere to Hide" (season 8, episode 4)
2010 Spartacus: Blood and Sand Spartacus Lead role
2011 Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Spartacus (voice / uncredited) "The Bitter End" (season 1, episode 6)
Film
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Gabriel Gabriel Lead role
2010 The Clinic Cameron Marshall
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Walter Righter, American clergyman, bishop in the Episcopal Church, after long illness, died he was 87.

Walter Cameron Righterwas a bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America  died he was 87.. He served the Diocese of Iowa from 1972 to 1988. He then served as assistant bishop for the Diocese of Newark from 1989 to 1991.

(October 23, 1923 – September 11, 2011) 

Early life and Ministry

Righter was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He served with the field artillery in the United States Army in World War II where he saw action in the Battle of the Bulge.[2] He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1948 and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from Berkeley Divinity School in 1951. Righter married Nancy Tolbert[2] and together they raised four children.[3] He was ordained a deacon on April 7, 1951 and a priest on October 6 of the same year.[4] The Rev. Righter served parishes in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania and Georgetown, Pennsylvania [disambiguation needed ] and then the Church of the Good Shepherd in Nashua, New Hampshire. While in Nashua he also served as the Ecumenical Relations Chairman for the Diocese of New Hampshire and on the Standing Committee on Structure of the National Convention.[5]

Diocese of Iowa

Rev. Righter was elected the seventh Bishop of Iowa October 8, 1971 at a Special Convention held at St. Paul’s Church in Des Moines. He was consecrated a bishop by the Most Rev. John Elbridge Hines, and the Rt. Rev.s Charles F. Hall and Gordon V. Smith on January 12, 1972. The consecration was an ecumenical service held at St. Ambrose Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines and the service used came from the Services for Trial Use. He was the 671st bishop consecrated in the United States, and served as the Bishop of Iowa for 16 years.
When Bishop Righter came to Iowa there were 21,618 baptized people in 33 parishes, 36 organized missions and two unorganized missions. There were 70 clergy serving the diocese. The numbers of people in the church, like other mainline Protestant Churches, started to decline after that time.[5] Because of the decline Righter conceived of a program called the Second Mile, which he proposed to the Diocesan Convention in 1976. It was a five year plan for renewal and evangelization in the church. The culmination of the program in 1981 was a visit by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie.
The Diocese of Iowa developed relationships with Companion Dioceses during Bishop Righter’s episcopate. In 1975 it initiated an informal relationship with the Diocese of the Central Philippines but the connection lapsed. In 1983 Righter appointed a Companion Diocese Committee and it developed a relationship with the Diocese of Brechin in Scotland. In 1990 another link was developed between the Dioceses of Iowa and Brechin with the Diocese of Swaziland in Africa.
Bishop Righter ordained the first woman in Iowa, the Rev. S. Suzanne Peterson, as a deacon on December 18, 1976 at St. Paul’s Church in Des Moines. The Rev. Anne Wagner Baker was received in 1978 from the Diocese of Missouri to serve as assistant rector at Trinity Church in Iowa City and chaplain at the area hospitals.[6]
In the later years of his episcopate in Iowa the diocese started a program called Responding in Ministry and Mission, which provided funds for social justice projects in Africa and across the diocese. Bishop Righter retired as the diocesan bishop on December 31, 1988.

Diocese of Newark

Following his retirement Righter served as the assistant bishop to the Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong of the Diocese of Newark from 1989-1991. While he was serving in New Jersey he ordained Barry Stopfel a deacon in 1990. Rev. Stopfel was openly gay and living with his partner. Bishop Righter had also signed a statement saying he supported the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals.[7] This was a change of opinion for Bishop Righter. Shortly after becoming a bishop he wrote that homosexuality was an illness that could be cured and voted against the ordination of homosexuals in 1979.[3] Ten bishops brought a presentment, or a formal accusation, against Bishop Righter accusing him of violating a doctrine of the church and his own ordination vows. The presentment was supported by a quarter of the church’s 300 bishops.[7] On February 27, 1996 a hearing was held at the Cathedral Church of St. John in Wilmington, Delaware. It was presided over by the Rt. Rev. Edward Jones of Indianapolis and eight other bishops.[7]
In an 7-1 decision on May 15, 1996 the court dismissed the charges against Bishop Righter stating that the Episcopal Church "has no doctrine prohibiting the ordination of homosexuals," and that Bishop Righter did not contradict the "core doctrine" of the church.[4][8] In 1998 Righter wrote a reflection on the trial and his life in a book titled A Pilgrim's Way.

Later life and Death

Bishop Righter and his wife Nancy retired to Allstead, New Hampshire before moving to Export, Pennsylvania. He was invited by the rector of Calvary Church in Shadyside to celebrate weekday Eucharist and to be listed as part of the parish clergy. Bishop Robert Duncan of the conservative Diocese of Pittsburgh objected.[3] After the diocese split from the Episcopal Church in 2008 Righter applied for canonical residency and was immediately welcomed. He was in poor health in the months before his death from heart and lung ailments. His funeral was held at Calvary Church and his interment was in the parish's columbarium.[3]
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Yuli Ofer, Romanian-born Israeli businessman and entrepreneur, died he was 87.

Judah "Yuli" Ofer was an Israeli businessman who specialized in the field of real estate and industry, and one of the wealthiest people in Israel died he was 87.. A member of the Ofer family, the annual Forbes magazine's list of The World's Billionaires estimated in 2011 his fortune, together with that of his elder brother Sammy, to be $10.3 billion, ranked him in 2011 as the 79th in wealthiest people in the world, and the wealthiest man in Israel.










(1924– 11 September 2011) 

 Life and career

Born 1924[1] in Romania. The Ofer family immigrated to Mandate Palestine while Yuli was six months old. The family lived in Haifa. Yuli Ofer served in the Israeli Defense Forces in infantry and ended his relatively long military career at the rank of major. Afterwards he began his business career in Haifa, were he supplied equipment for ships and along with his brother Sammy they both established the Ofer Brothers Group. In 1956 he and Sammy established the shipping company "Mediterranean routes".[citation needed]
During the 1960s and 1970s the Ofer Brothers Group became an international shipping company as Yuli Ofer became in charge of conducting the company's operations in Israel and Sammy Ofer became in charge of conducting the company's international operations. In the 1980s the Ofer Brothers Group began getting into the Tanker industry in Hong Kong and Singapore. With time they also established a subsidiary company which focused on Cruise ships named "Royal Caribbean". In 1994 the Ofer Brothers were among the purchasers of the controlling interest in the Mizrahi Bank, and in 1999 the family purchased the Israel's largest holding company Israel Corporation and in addition acquired several properties from the Israeli government among them the Oil Refineries in Haifa, Israel Chemicals and Zim.[citation needed]
Yuli Ofer founded the "Melisron" company which specializes in real estate and owned several shopping malls in Israel: Ramat Aviv Mall, Renanim Mall, Kiryon Mall and 20 other shopping centers.
In 2002, the Ofer brothers separated their assets: Sammy Ofer's assets in real estate and in the Mizrahi bank was transferred to his brother Yuli, and in exchange Yuli's assets in the Israel Corporation holding company were transferred to Sammy.

Death

Yuli Ofer died on September 11, 2011, aged 87 at his home in Herzliya; with his elder brother Sammy having died three months prior.

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Isabell Masters, American politician, third-party candidate for President of the United States (1984, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004), died she was 98.

Dr. Isabell Masters Ph.D.  of Topeka, Kansas, was a five-time perennial third-party candidate (Looking Back Party) for President of the United States.

(January 9, 1913 – September 11, 2011)

Masters' five presidential campaigns are the most for any woman in U.S. history.[2] She was a candidate in the United States presidential election, 1984, the United States presidential election, 1992 (339 votes), the United States presidential election, 1996 in which she was only on the ballot in Arkansas (but also received a few votes in California and Maryland) (752 votes total, 2000), and the United States presidential election, 2004. Her 1992 running mate was her son, Walter Ray Masters while her 1996 running mate was her daughter, Shirley Jean Masters.

Contents

Biography

Personal life

Isabell Masters was born Isabell Arch in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on January 9, 1913.[2][3] Her father, a businessman, was of African American and German descent.[2] Masters graduated from Douglas High School in Oklahoma City and received a bachelor's degree in education from Langston University.[2][4] She later earned a doctorate from the University of Oklahoma.[4] An educator by profession, Masters taught in California, New York, Nevada and Kansas during her career.[4] She specifically worked in schools in the American cities of Pasadena, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Kansas City and Syracuse, New York.[2]
Masters married Alfred Masters, who became the first African American to enlist in the United States Marines when he was sworn in on June 1, 1942.[2][3] They had six children together, but their marriage disintegrated during the late 1940s.[2] She raised six children as a single mother.[2] Despite personal and professional challenges, Masters obtained her master's degree in higher education from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[2] She later earned a doctorate from the University of Oklahoma during her late 60s.[2][4]

Presidential campaigns

In 2000 she was a write-in candidate in Kansas alongside George W. Bush and Al Gore. Her vice-presidential running mate was her daughter, Alfreda Dean Masters.
She made several unsuccessful attempts at winning the Republican primary elections for President. In 1996 she was on the ballot in Oklahoma and won 1,052 votes (Bob Dole won by a large margin).[5]
In addition to her presidential campaigns, Masters ran for city council in Topeka, Kansas, and was once a candidate for Mayor of West Palm Beach, Florida.[4]
Masters' had six children. They include Rev. Thomas A. Masters Sr. of the New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church (Riviera Beach, Florida), the current Mayor of Riviera Beach who was a community leader protesting efforts by the George W. Bush legal team to stop the Florida election recount following the controversial 2000 United States presidential election. Her daughter, political scientist Cora Masters, became the fourth wife of former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry in 1994, but they later divorced.[2]
Isabell Masters died in her sleep on September 11, 2011, in at a nursing facility in Lake Worth, Florida, at the age of 98.[6] She had lived with her son, Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters, for the last four years of her life.[6]
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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Arthur Evans, American gay rights activist and author, aortic aneurysm, died he was 68.


Arthur Scott Evans was an early gay rights advocate and author, most well known for his 1978 book Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture died he was 68..

(October 12, 1942– September 11, 2011) 





Early life

When Evans graduated from public high school in 1960, he received a four-year scholarship from the Glatfelter Paper Company in York to study chemistry at Brown University. While at Brown, Evans and several friends founded the Brown Freethinkers Society, describing themselves as "militant atheists" seeking to combat the harmful effects of organized religion.
The society picketed the weekly chapel services at Brown, then required of all students, and urged students to stand in silent protest against compulsory prayer. National news services picked up the story, which appeared in a local York newspaper.
As a result, the paper company informed Evans that his scholarship was cancelled. Evans contacted Joseph Lewis, the elderly millionaire who headed the national Freethinkers Society. Lewis threatened the paper company with a highly publicized lawsuit if the scholarship were revoked. The company relented, the scholarship continued, and Evans changed his major from chemistry to political science.

Move to New York City

Evans withdrew from Brown and moved to Greenwich Village, which he later described it as the best move he ever made in his life.
In 1963, Evans discovered gay life in Greenwich Village, and in 1964 became lovers with Arthur Bell who later became a columnist for The Village Voice. In 1966, Evans was admitted to City College of New York, which accepted all his credits from Brown University.
Evans participated in his first sit-in on May 13, 1966, when students occupied the administration building of City College in protest against the college's involvement in Selective Service. A picture of the students, including Evans, appeared the next day on the front page of The New York Times.
In 1967, after graduating with a BA degree from City College, Evans was admitted into the doctoral program in philosophy at Columbia University, specializing in ancient Greek philosophy. His doctoral advisor was Paul Oskar Kristeller, one of the world’s leading authority on Renaissance humanist philosophy. Kristeller had studied under Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger in Germany but fled to the US after his parents were killed in the Holocaust.
Evans participated in many anti-war protests during these years, including the celebrated upheaval at Columbia in the spring of 1968. He also participated in the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. While at Columbia, Evans joined the Student Homophile League, founded by Nino Romano and Stephen Donaldson, although Evans himself was still closeted. On December 21, 1969, Evans, Marty Robinson, and several others met to found the early gay rights group Gay Activists Alliance.[3]
In November 1970, Robinson and Evans, along with Dick Leitsch of the Mattachine Society, appeared on The Dick Cavett Show, making them among the first openly gay activists to be prominently featured on a national TV program. In 1971, Evans and Bell separated. Bell died from complications of diabetes in 1984.

Move to Washington

By the end of 1971, Evans had become alienated from urban life and the academic world. With a second lover, Jacob Schraeter, he left New York in April 1972 to seek a new, countercultural existence in the countryside.
Evans, Schraeter, and a third gay man formed a group called the "Weird Sisters Partnership". They bought a 40-acre spread of land on a mountain in Washington State, which they named New Sodom. Evans and Schraeter lived there in tents during summers.
During winter months in Seattle, Evans continued research that he had begun in New York on the underlying historical origins of the counterculture, particularly in regard to sex. In 1973, he began publishing some of his findings in the gay journal Out and later in Fag Rag. He also wrote a column on the political strategy of zapping for The Advocate, the gay newspaper.

Move to San Francisco

In 1974, Evans and Schraeter moved into an apartment at the corner of Haight and Ashbury Streets in San Francisco, in which Evans remained until he died. Schraeter returned to New York in 1981 and died from AIDS in 1989.
In the fall of the 1975, Evans formed a new pagan-inspired spiritual group in San Francisco, the Faery Circle. The Circle combined countercultural consciousness, gay sensibility, and ceremonial playfulness.
In early 1976 he gave a series of public lectures based on his research on the historical origins of the gay counterculture; these "Faeries" lectures took place at 32 Page Street, an early San Francisco gay community center. In 1978 he published this material in his groundbreaking book Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture. The book offered evidence that many of the people accused of "witchcraft" and "heresy" in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were actually persecuted because of their sexuality and ancient pagan practices.
Evans also was active in Bay Area Gay Liberation (BAGL) and the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club, which later became the vehicle through which Harvey Milk rose to political prominence.
In the late 1970s, Evans became upset at the pattern of butch conformity that was then overtaking gay men in the Castro neighborhood. Adopting the nom de plume "The Red Queen", he distributed a series of controversial satirical leaflets on the subject. In a leaflet titled Afraid You’re Not Butch Enough? (1978) he skewered those who pursued hypermasculine bodies and wardrobes as "zombies" and "clones", presaging the "Castro clone" moniker.

Later writings and activism

In 1984 Evans directed a production at the Valencia Rose Cabaret in San Francisco of his own new translation, from ancient Greek, of the Euripides play The Bacchae. The hero of Euripides' play is the Greek god Dionysos, the patron of homosexuality. In 1988, this translation, with Evans' commentary on the historical significance of the play, was published by St. Martin’s Press as The God of Ecstasy: Sex-Roles and the Madness of Dionysos.
As AIDS began to spread in 1980s, Evans became active in several groups that later became ACT UP/SF. Evans was HIV-negative. With his close friend, the late Hank Wilson, Evans was arrested while demonstrating against pharmaceutical companies making AIDS drugs, accusing the companies of price-gouging.
In 1988, Evans began work on a nine-year project on philosophy. Thanks to a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission, it was published in 1997 as Critique of Patriarchal Reason and included artwork by San Francisco artist Frank Pietronigro. The book is an overview of Western philosophy from ancient times to the present, showing how misogyny and homophobia have influenced the supposedly objective fields of formal logic, higher mathematics, and physical science. Evans' former advisor at Columbia University, Dr. Kristeller, called the work "a major contribution to the study of philosophy and its history."
In his later years, Evans devoted much time to improving neighborhood safety in the Haight-Ashbury district. As part of that effort he wrote a series of scathing reports, "What I Saw at the Supes Today", which he distributed free on the Internet.

Death

Diagnosed in October 2010 with an aortic aneurysm, Evans died in his Haight-Ashbury apartment of a massive heart attack on September 11, 2011.
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