[middbrew]

Coach Rick Majerus dies at 64

The jovial, basketball-obsessed coach who led Utah to the 1998 NCAA final and had only one losing season in 25 years with four schools, died Saturday. He was 64.

Rick Majerus, college basketball coach, dies at 64 - ESPN

[BergerKing]

Chicago Tribune

Dave Brubeck passes at 91, the day before his birthday.

[BigBadWulf]

Take Five - the song defines jazz and so did Dave. I had one of his in circulation this morning. G_d bless him! There's a club in heaven swinging hard right now.

[Laura Knotek]

Oscar Niemeyer, architect of Brazil's capital, dies aged 104

Oscar Niemeyer, the Brazilian architect who helped to shape the 20th century and mankind's vision of the future, died on Wednesday aged 104, according to Brazilian media.

Niemeyer died of respiratory failure in Botafogo hospital in Rio, the city where he was born in 1907, studied architecture and that he helped to shape with a famous landmarks, such as the Sambadrome, notoriously modelled on the body of a woman. But his influence spread much further to the design of the capital Bras�lia and many of its landmarks including the cathedral and Congress building. Overseas, he designed the United Nations secretariat in New York, the Communist party headquarters in Paris and Serpentine gallery summer pavilion in Hyde Park, London.

Brazil's biggest newspaper group announced the death at the top of its website with a photograph of the country's celebrated intellectual and two articles lauding him as "the concrete poet", "the pessimist who loved life" and the "traditionalist for tomorrow." Other stories recalled his nickname as the "Picasso of concrete".

Veja magazine also led its news coverage with obituaries for Niemeyer under the headline "The great name of Brazilian architecture" and photographs of some of his greatest works. The domestic media have been devoted considerable attention to the architect since he was hospitalised on 2 November.

One of the pioneers of modernist architecture, Niemeyer was hugely influential with his designs of buildings and urban landscapes in the 1950s, 60s and 70s - some of which still look futuristic today. He is said to have influenced numerous architects in subsequent generations, including Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, Tadao Ando and Christian de Portzamparc.

Though some critics said some of his later work was inferior, few doubt his reputation as one of the 20th century's great architects will endure.

"The work of Oscar Niemeyer is a celebration of technological knowledge that poetically transcends the everyday," wrote Lauro Cavalcanti, the director of Rio's Imperial Palace and author of a book on the architect. "His architecture introduces today the tradition of tomorrow."

Niemeyer leaves more than reinforced concrete. The 104-year-old had one daughter, five grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and seven great-great grandchildren. After his first wife, Annita Baldo, died, he remarried at the age of 99.

In works from Bras�lia's crown-shaped cathedral to the undulating French Communist party building in Paris, Niemeyer shunned the steel-box structures of many modernist architects, finding inspiration in nature's crescents and spirals. His hallmarks include much of the UN complex in New York and the Museum of Modern Art in Niter�i, which is perched like a flying saucer across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro.

"Right angles don't attract me. Nor straight, hard and inflexible lines created by man," he wrote in his 1998 memoir, The Curves of Time. "What attracts me are free and sensual curves. The curves we find in mountains, in the waves of the sea, in the body of the woman we love."

His curves give sweep and grace to Bras�lia, the city that opened up Brazil's vast interior in the 1960s and moved the nation's capital from coastal Rio.

Niemeyer designed most of the city's important buildings, while French-born, avant-garde architect Lucio Costa crafted its distinctive aeroplane-like layout. Niemeyer left his mark in the flowing concrete of the cabinet ministries and the monumental dome of the national museum. As the city's population grew to 2 million people, critics said it lacked "soul", "a utopian horror," in the words of art critic Robert Hughes. Niemeyer shrugged off the criticism. "If you go to Brasilia you might not like it, say there's something better, but there's nothing just like it," he said to O Globo newspaper in 2006 at age 98. "I search for surprise in my architecture. A work of art should cause the emotion of newness."

After a 1964 coup plunged Brazil into a 21-year military dictatorship, Niemeyer, a lifelong communist, decided to spend more time in Europe. While living in France in 1965, he designed the headquarters of the French Communist party. During the dictatorship he also designed the centre of the Mondadori publishing house in Italy, Constantine University in Algeria and other projects in Israel, Lebanon, Germany and Portugal.

He won the gold medal from the American Institute of Architecture in 1970, the Pritzker architecture prize from Chicago's Hyatt Foundation in 1988 and the gold medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1998.

Oscar Niemeyer, architect of Brazil's capital, dies aged 104 | Art and design | The Guardian

[BergerKing]

By Alexis Stevens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was one of Besse Cooper’s secrets to long life: “I mind my own business and I don’t eat junk food.” This she said in 2009, when she turned 113.Cooper, of Monroe, who died Tuesday at 116 and 100 days, did a few amazing things in her lifetime. She lived on her own until age 105, when she moved into a nursing home, and even then she was still “with it,” her son Sidney Cooper told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2011.One accomplishment that will be hard for another person to top is being named the world’s oldest living person — twice.“We thought one was enough,” her joking son said at her 115th birthday party.Funeral arrangements had not been announced late Wednesday but will be handled by Meadows Funeral Home Inc. in Monroe.Cooper died after contracting a stomach virus over the weekend, according to her son. Sidney Cooper said his mother felt better Monday but had trouble breathing Tuesday and was placed on oxygen at her Walton County nursing home, where she died early in the afternoon.Guinness World Records, which had twice crowned Cooper the world’s oldest person, offered a touching tribute on its website.“At 116 years and 100 days, Ms. Cooper’s extraordinary life places her among the ten oldest people ever verified in history, and one of only eight people to reach the age of 116,” Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday said in the tribute. “We were proud to celebrate the life of Ms. Cooper in our most recent editions, and pleased that we were able to share the story of this remarkable woman.”Cooper, who was classified as a supercentenarian — one who is 110 or older — was first christened the world’s oldest person in January 2011. She had to relinquish the title three months later when Guinness discovered Maria Gomes Valentim of Brazil was 48 days older. When Valentim died June 21, 2011, Cooper recaptured the title.To celebrate her birthday this year, a bridge in Monroe was named in Cooper’s honor. She wasn’t able to attend the dedication but smiled when told of the honor, her family said.Besse Brown Cooper was born in 1896 in Sullivan County, Tenn., according to a biography on the East Tennessee State University website. To put her birth year in perspective, when she was born, Grover Cleveland was president of a nation with 45 states; Atlanta was less than half the size of Omaha, Neb.; the first modern Olympic Games had just been held in Greece; Henry Ford was tinkering with a motorized contraption he called the Quadricyle, the grandfather of the Model T; and Hollywood was a farming village.Cooper was a 1916 graduate of East Tennessee State Normal School, which later became ETSU. She moved to Georgia during World War I to teach because teachers in Georgia made more money, her son previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She married Luther Cooper in 1924 and stopped teaching after she had her first child at age 33. The couple reared four children during their nearly 40-year marriage. Luther Cooper died in 1963.And though she stopped teaching, the teacher in her remained. She insisted that her children get an education, her oldest daughter, Angie Tharp, said in 2010.Tharp had fond recollections of her childhood and the creativity of her mother. Cooper made tasty dishes from simple ingredients, her daughter said.“What she couldn’t do with an apple, it couldn’t be done,” she said.Cooper is survived by her children and a number of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

[BergerKing]

Spirit Drummer Ed Cassidy Dead at 89

[BergerKing]

Teammate charged after Cowboy killed in car crash - NFL- NBC Sports

[Laura Knotek]

Sir Patrick Moore, legendary BBC astronomer, dies aged 89

http://tv.uk.msn.com/features/sir-pa...r-dies-aged-89
Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

[sputneek]

It was yesterday 1980 that we lost a great individual. He still had so much to give. Figured I'd post this to remember the man that was John Lennon

Death of John Lennon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[BergerKing]

Alex Moulton - Telegraph

British inventor of the Moulton Bicycle and the Mini suspension.

[Laura Knotek]

Beatles Muse Ravi Shankar, Father of Norah Jones, Dies - Bloomberg

[BergerKing]

Bar Code's Co-Inventor N. Joseph Woodland Dies, 91 - ABC News

[BergerKing]

�Lost legend� Eddie Burns dies at age 84 - The Macomb Daily

[BergerKing]

Willie Ackerman Dead: Nashville Drummer Dies At 73

[middbrew]

Beatles Muse Ravi Shankar, Father of Norah Jones, Dies - Bloomberg

He was a great influence on a lot of musicians.

[BergerKing]

'Our Gang' star Jack Hanlon dies at 96 - TODAY Entertainment


Atlanta Civil Rights activist Jesse Hill.
http://atlantadailyworld.com/index.p...dead-at-age-86

[Laura Knotek]

Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, 88, dies

Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, 88, dies

[BergerKing]

Oldest and next oldest supercentenarians die within days of each other.

Dina Manfredini, world's oldest person, dies at 115

[middbrew]

Oldest and next oldest supercentenarians die within days of each other.

Dina Manfredini, world's oldest person, dies at 115

That's a long time to live. I hope she enjoyed the title while she had it.

[amazinglygraceless]

Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, 88, dies

Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, 88, dies

MOH Citation for Daniel Inouye

The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to

Inouye, Daniel K.

Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company E, 442nd Infantry. Place and date: San Terenzo, Italy, 21 April 1945. Birth: 7 September 1924, Honolulu, Hawaii. Entered service at: Honolulu, Hawaii.

Citation:
Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 21 April 1945, in the vicinity of San Terenzo, Italy. While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper’s bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions. In the attack, 25 enemy soldiers were killed and eight others captured. By his gallant, aggressive tactics and by his indomitable leadership, Second Lieutenant Inouye enabled his platoon to advance through formidable resistance, and was instrumental in the capture of the ridge. Second Lieutenant Inouye’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.

Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but beggard is the nation that has and FORGETS THEM

[Laura Knotek]

Atlanta Civil Rights Leader, Businessman Dies - ABC News

Jesse Hill Jr., a civil rights leader and businessman who later became the first black president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, died Monday. He was 86.

[BergerKing]

Atlanta Civil Rights Leader, Businessman Dies - ABC News

Jesse Hill Jr., a civil rights leader and businessman who later became the first black president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, died Monday. He was 86.

I got that in a double post above↑↑.

Former Baseball player Frank Pastore.
http://touch.latimes.com/#story/la-m...tore-20121219/

[Laura Knotek]

Former Solicitor General Robert Bork Dies

Former Solicitor Gen. Robert Bork Dies

[BergerKing]

Skippy Baxter | PressDemocrat.com

Gold medal winning Olympic Figure Skater, and choreorapher for Snoopy's skating routine.

[middbrew]

Former Solicitor General Robert Bork Dies

Former Solicitor Gen. Robert Bork Dies

Read that today. I hope he doesn't get borking from the ever after.