Obituary News

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
August 4, 2008

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose stubborn, lonely and combative literary struggles dies He gained the force of prophecy as he revealed the heavy afflictions of Soviet Communism in some of the most powerful works of fiction and history written in the 20th century, died late Sunday in Russia, his son Yermolai said early Monday in Moscow. He said the cause was a heart condition. He was 89. He outlived by nearly 17 years the state and system he had battled through years ...

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Suzanne Tamim Lebanese Singer Killed in Dubai

Source: All About Jazz
August 3, 2008

Suzanne Tamim found stabbed to death

LONDON -- Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim was found stabbed to death in her Dubai apartment July 28. Tamim had shot to fame after winning the popular Studio Al Fan television show contest in 1996. Her subsequent career was blighted by a turbulent personal life, which included two divorces and a number of run-ins with police and the tabloids. The 31-year-old singer released two albums and several hit singles during her career, the last of ...

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Luther Davis Writer of Musicals and Movies, Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
August 3, 2008

Luther Davis, a Playwright who won a Tony Award in 1954 Dies

Tony's for the book of the musical Kismet and a screenwriter whose films included The Hucksters, with Clark Gable, and Lady in a Cage with Olivia de Havilland, died on Tuesday in the Bronx. He was 91 and lived in Manhattan and West Palm Beach, Fla.

A busy author for the screen and the stage, Mr. Davis wrote 15 movies and dozens of scripts for television series, and ...

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Clay Whitehead Nixon's Telecom Advisor Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
August 3, 2008

Clay 'Tom' Whitehead, 69; Nixon's telecom advisor revolutionized cable TV industry

Clay T. “Tom" Whitehead, who helped the cable TV industry flourish by bringing competition to the domestic satellite market in the early 1970s, died of prostate cancer July 23 at Georgetown University Hospital. He was 69. During the Nixon administration, Whitehead became the country's first telecommunications policy advisor and championed free markets in the satellite business. He later revolutionized communications satellite holdings by selling them outright to cable providers ...

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Hiram Bullock NY Times Obituary

Source: Michael Ricci
August 2, 2008

Hiram Bullock, 52, Soulful Guitarist, Dies

Hiram Bullock, a soulful and adaptable jazz and rock guitarist who was a member of the original band for Late Night with David Letterman, died last Friday in Manhattan. He was 52. The cause is pending, said Jennifer Armstrong, his partner of 16 years. Mr. Bullock was found to have cancer of the tongue last fall, she said. Mr. Bullock played on some blockbuster pop albums, including “The Stranger" by Billy Joel, Steely Dan's ...

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Michael Weiss Remembers Johnny Griffin

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
August 2, 2008

Long before he won the Thelonious Monk Institute Composers Competition in 2000, Michael Weiss established himself as a pianist. Fresh out of Dallas in his early twenties, he was soon working with Jon Hendricks, Junior Cook, Charles McPherson and Lou Donaldson, among others. He went on to play with Art Farmer, Clifford Jordan, Frank Wess, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the Mingus Epitaph Orchestra. As a leader, he had groups that included Cook, McPherson, Tom Harrell, Lew Tabackin and a ...

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Bud Browne Father of Surf Films Passes

Source: Michael Ricci
July 31, 2008

Surf's Up Bud Browne, a onetime Venice Beach lifeguard who became known as “the father of surf films." Browne began showing his 16-millimeter surf movies commercially up and down the California coast in the early 1950s. Browne died at the age of 96 in his sleep Friday at his home in San Luis Obispo, said his close friend Anna Trent Moore, daughter of surfing legend Buzzy Trent.

“Bud created the genre of surf films," Steve Pezman, publisher of ...

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Mourning the Internet Famous: Randy Pausch

Source: All About Jazz
July 30, 2008

When the silent film star Rudolph Valentino died in 1926, thousands gathered in the streets of New York in such an excitable state that a riot broke out, injuring 100 people. It was a leading indicator that the medium and its stars held Americans in thrall. Randy Pausch's death on Friday provides an example of how we'll mourn the passing of the internet famous. Pausch gained celebrity with his exceptional and touching “Last Lecture," which he delivered after he'd been ...

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