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☆ Bennett Braun, Psychiatrist Who Fueled ‘Satanic Panic,’ Dies at 83
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Bennett Braun, a Chicago psychiatrist whose diagnoses of repressed memories involving horrific abuse by devil worshipers helped to fuel what became known as the “satanic panic” of the 1980s and ’90s, died on March 20 in Lauderhill, Fla., north of Miami. Jane Braun, one of his former wives, said he died in a hospital from complications of a fall. Dr. Braun lived in Butte, Mont., but had been in Lauderhill on vacation. Dr. Braun gained renown in the early 1980s as an expert in two of the most popular and controversial areas of psychiatric treatment: repressed memories and multiple personality disorder, now known as dissociative identity disorder. He claimed that he could help patients uncover memories of childhood trauma — the existence of which, he and others said, was responsible for the splintering of a person’s self into many distinct personalities.

Persons: Bennett Braun, Jane Braun, . Braun Locations: Chicago, Lauderhill, Fla, Miami, Butte, Mont

☆ Rev. Cecil Murray, Leader Amid Los Angeles Riots, Dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Cecil Murray, a minister who turned a struggling church in Los Angeles into one of the country’s largest congregations, then made it a base to combat the many ills facing the city’s Black population — most notably during and after the 1992 riots — died on Friday at his home in the View Park-Windsor Hills section of Los Angeles. The death was announced by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, where he had taught after retiring from the church. When Mr. Murray arrived at First African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1977, it was both storied and troubled: It was the oldest Black church west of the Mississippi, but it was loaded in debt and attracted just a few hundred congregants. Mr. Murray, known as Chip, brought new life to the church. Within a decade he had retired the church’s debt and brought attendance up to about 7,000.

Persons: Cecil Murray, —, Murray Organizations: Center for Religion, University of Southern, First African Methodist Episcopal Church Locations: Los Angeles, Windsor, University of Southern California, Mississippi

☆ Eleanor Collins, Canada’s ‘First Lady of Jazz,’ Dies at 104
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When the singer and pianist Nat King Cole’s 15-minute variety show debuted on NBC in November 1956, he made history as the first Black American to host a television program. But just over the country’s northern border, another Black entertainer had him beat: In the summer of 1955, Eleanor Collins had her own show on the CBC, Canada’s national broadcasting network. Though her show was a landmark in TV history — she was both the first woman and the first Black person to host a program in Canada — her selection was hardly a surprise. By the mid-1950s, Mrs. Collins was already widely regarded as Canada’s “first lady of jazz,” known for her mastery of the standards and her commanding performances on radio, early TV specials and in nightclubs around Vancouver, where she lived.

Persons: Nat King Cole’s, Eleanor Collins, Collins, “ Organizations: NBC, CBC, Canada’s Locations: American, Canada, Vancouver

☆ Rose Dugdale, Heiress Turned Irish Independence Fighter, Dies at 82
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Rose Dugdale, an Oxford-educated Englishwoman who left a life of wealth to become a partisan activist fighting for Irish independence, in a career that included bomb making, hijacking and art theft, died on March 18 in Dublin. Her death, in a nursing home, was confirmed by Aengus O Snodaigh, a friend and a member of the Irish Parliament. Throughout the 1970s, Ms. Dugdale, whose family owned a large share of the insurance company Lloyd’s of London, captivated the British and Irish news media with her exploits. She and an accomplice were arrested in 1973 for stealing thousands of dollars in art and silverware from her parents’ home, with plans to sell it and give the proceeds to the Irish Republican Army. Her father, Eric, appeared as a witness at her trial, and under British law she was allowed to cross-examine him herself — an opportunity she used to make political statements.

Persons: Rose Dugdale, Aengus O, Dugdale, Patricia Hearst, ’, Eric, — Organizations: Irish, Irish Republican Army Locations: Oxford, Dublin, London, United States

☆ Andrew Crispo, Disgraced Manhattan Gallery Owner, Dies at 78
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Andrew Crispo, a once high-flying art gallerist in Manhattan brought low by a long series of tabloid-worthy scandals, including tax evasion, extortion and implication in the grisly 1985 murder of a Norwegian art student, died on Feb. 8 in Brooklyn. Mr. Crispo left no immediate survivors, and word of his death emerged only recently. Mr. Crispo opened his namesake gallery at the corner of Madison Avenue and 57th Street in 1973, and for the rest of the decade he ranked among New York City’s best-known art dealers. Though he lacked formal training in art, he was widely respected for his exacting eye, which he used to identify promising young painters. “He could have been another Larry Gagosian today,” said Edward Ligare, an artist whom Mr. Crispo represented in the 1970s, referring to the Manhattan mega-gallerist.

Persons: Andrew Crispo, J, Benjamin Greene, Crispo, New York City’s, “, Larry Gagosian, ”, Edward Ligare Organizations: New York, Manhattan Locations: Manhattan, Norwegian, Brooklyn, Madison

☆ Giandomenico Picco, Diplomat Who Freed Hostages in Lebanon, Dies at 75
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Giandomenico Picco, an Italian diplomat who as a lead negotiator for the United Nations helped resolve conflicts across the globe — most notably spending nearly a year in the early 1990s shuttling around the Middle East to secure the release of 11 hostages held by terrorist groups in Lebanon — died on Sunday in Wilton, Conn., north of Norwalk. His son Giacomo said the cause of his death, at an assisted living home, was complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Picco spent 20 years with the U.N., mostly in a series of loosely defined roles that placed him at the center of some of the world’s most dangerous hot spots. Early in his career he helped manage the conflict between Greece and Turkey over the island of Cyprus; in 1986 he mediated between New Zealand and France after French secret agents sank the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace ship, in the Auckland harbor; and in 1988 he helped arrange the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Persons: Giandomenico Picco, Lebanon —, Giacomo, Picco Organizations: United Nations, Greenpeace Locations: Italian, Lebanon, Wilton, Conn, Norwalk, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, New Zealand, France, Auckland, Afghanistan

☆ Karl Wallinger, Who Sang With World Party and the Waterboys, Dies at 66
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Karl Wallinger, a Welsh singer-songwriter who helped define college radio in the 1980s and ’90s as a member of the Waterboys and the founder of World Party, died on Sunday at his home in Hastings, England. His daughter, Nancy Zamit, confirmed the death but did not provide a cause. Mr. Wallinger suffered a brain aneurysm in 2001 that forced him to stop performing for several years. Following on the heels of the post-punk, new wave and new romantic movements of the early 1980s, Mr. Wallinger embodied something of a throwback to the classical pop and folk styles of an earlier era, with music and lyrics influenced by the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Though he rejected the label “retro,” onstage he looked like a stylish hippie, with long stringy hair and tinted round glasses that would have fit in at Woodstock.

Persons: Karl Wallinger, Nancy Zamit, Wallinger, Bob Dylan Organizations: Waterboys, World Party, Beatles Locations: Welsh, Hastings , England, Woodstock

☆ Paolo Taviani, Half of a Famed Italian Filmmaking Duo, Dies at 92
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paolo Taviani, who with his brother Vittorio made some of Italy’s most acclaimed films of the last half century — including “Padre Padrone,” which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977 — died on Feb. 29 in Rome. His son, Ermanno Taviani, said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was pulmonary edema. The Taviani brothers emerged in the late 1950s as part of a generation of Italian filmmakers — including Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gillo Pontecorvo — who were inspired by the country’s Neorealist movement but determined to push beyond it. (Vittorio Taviani died in 2018.) “Padre Padrone,” for example, tells the story of a boy’s struggle between the demands of his overbearing father, who wants him to be a farmer, and his own dreams of becoming a linguist.

Persons: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio, Padre Padrone, —, Ermanno Taviani, Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Gillo Pontecorvo —, Vittorio Taviani Organizations: Cannes Film Locations: Rome

☆ Max Hardy, 40, Dies; Helped Bring Chef-Driven Cuisine to Detroit
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Max Hardy, who helped bring a new level of chef-driven yet accessible cuisine to his native Detroit, and who was widely considered among the most promising of a young generation of Black culinary stars, died on Monday. His publicist, David E. Rudolph, announced the death but did not provide a cause or location. He said Mr. Hardy had been in good health as recently as the weekend. Though he was born in Detroit, Mr. Hardy moved with his family to South Florida when he was young. He married those influences with a deep love for South Carolina Lowcountry cuisine like shrimp and grits, fried fish and hoppin’ John.

Persons: Max Hardy, David E, Rudolph, Hardy, ’ John, Amar’e Stoudemire Organizations: South, Caribbean Fusion Locations: Detroit, South Florida, Jamaica, South Carolina, New York City

☆ Richard Lewis, Acerbic Comedian and Character Actor, Dies at 76
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His publicist, Jeff Abraham, said the cause was a heart attack. Mr. Lewis announced last year that he had Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Lewis was among the best-known names in a generation of comedians who came of age during the 1970s and ’80s, marked by a world-weary, sarcastic wit that mapped well onto the urban malaise in which many of them plied their trade. He became a regular on late-night talk shows, favored as much for his tight act as for his casual, open affability as an interviewee. And he was at the forefront of the boom in stand-up comedy that came with the expansion of cable television in the late 1980s.

Persons: Richard Lewis, Robin Hood, HBO’s, ”, Jeff Abraham, Lewis Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Chuck Mawhinney, 74, Dies; Deadliest Sniper in Marine Corps History
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Mawhinney, who served in Vietnam from May 1968 to March 1970, had 106 confirmed kills and another 216 probable kills, averaging about four a week — more than the average company, which comprised about 150 soldiers. As a sniper, Mr. Mawhinney filled a number of roles. He would stay up all night with his rifle and night scope, watching the perimeter of an encampment for incursions. He would go out on patrol with other Marines, ready to support them if a firefight broke out. But mostly he and his spotter, a novice sniper who helped him identify targets, went out alone, looking for individual targets to kill as a way of sapping enemy morale.

Persons: Chuck Mawhinney, Mawhinney, Chris Kyle, Adelbert Waldron Organizations: Marine Corps, Coles, Navy SEAL, Army Locations: South Vietnam, Baker City, Oregon, Vietnam, Iraq

☆ William Beecher, Who Revealed Secret Cambodia Bombing, Dies at 90
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

William Beecher, who as a reporter for The New York Times revealed President Richard M. Nixon’s secret bombing campaign over Cambodia during the Vietnam War, and who later won a Pulitzer Prize at The Boston Globe, died on Feb. 9 at his home in Wilmington, N.C. His daughter, Lori Beecher, and son-in-law, Marc Burstein, confirmed the death. President Nixon ordered the bombings, code-named Operation Menu, in March 1969 in response to stepped-up attacks by the North Vietnamese Army and South Vietnamese guerrillas based in Cambodia, a neutral country. The campaign was so secret that even William P. Rogers, the secretary of state, was unaware of it. Mr. Beecher’s article about the bombings, which appeared on the front page of The Times on May 9, 1969, noted that in the previous two weeks alone, some 5,000 tons of ordnance had been dropped on Cambodia.

Persons: William Beecher, Richard M, Lori Beecher, Marc Burstein, Nixon, William P, Rogers Organizations: The New York Times, The Boston Globe, North Vietnamese Army, South, Times Locations: Cambodia, Vietnam, Wilmington, N.C

☆ Frank Kitson, 97, Dies; Helped Shape the Conflict in Northern Ireland
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Gen. Frank Kitson arrived in Northern Ireland in September 1970, charged with leading a brigade of British paratroopers in Belfast. The 30-year struggle known as the Troubles, pitting loyalists, who wanted to stay part of Britain, against Republicans, who wanted to separate, was just beginning — and over the next two years, General Kitson would do much to shape the course of the conflict. By then, General Kitson was considered one of Britain’s leading warrior-intellectuals. General Kitson was short and stocky, with a ramrod posture and a high, nasal voice. He detested small talk and spoke rarely, but he had a martial charisma that won him widespread admiration among his ranks.

Persons: Frank Kitson, Kitson, General Kitson, Mike Jackson, Kitson’s Organizations: British, Republicans, Oxford, Subversion, Peacekeeping Locations: Northern Ireland, Belfast, Britain, Africa, Asia

☆ Aston Barrett, 77, Bass-Playing Force With Bob Marley and Wailers, Dies
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Aston Barrett, who as the bass player and musical director for the Wailers — both with Bob Marley and for decades after the singer’s death in 1981 — crafted reggae’s hypnotic rhythms and complex melodies that helped elevate the genre to international acclaim, died on Saturday in Miami. The cause of death, at a hospital, was heart failure after a series of strokes, according to his son Aston Barrett Jr., a drummer who took over the Wailers from his father in 2016. Mr. Barrett was already well known around Jamaica as a session musician when, in 1969, Mr. Marley asked him and his brother, Carlton, a drummer, to join the Wailers as the band’s rhythm section.

Persons: Aston Barrett, Bob Marley, —, Aston Barrett Jr, Barrett, Marley Organizations: Wailers Locations: Miami, Jamaica

☆ Clyde Taylor, Literary Scholar Who Elevated Black Cinema, Dies at 92
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Clyde Taylor, a scholar who in the 1970s and ’80s played a leading role in identifying, defining and elevating Black cinema as an art form, died on Jan. 24 at his home in Los Angeles. His daughter, Rahdi Taylor, a filmmaker, said the cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. As a young professor in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s — first at California State University, Long Beach, and then at the University of California, Los Angeles — Dr. Taylor was at the epicenter of a push to bring the study of Black culture into academia. Black culture was not merely an appendage to white culture, he argued, but had its own logic, history and dynamics that grew out of the Black Power and Pan-African movements. And filmmaking, he said, was just as important to Black culture as literature and art.

Persons: Clyde Taylor, Rahdi Taylor, —, Dr, Taylor Organizations: California State University, University of California, Black Power Locations: Los Angeles, Long Beach

☆ Dexter Scott King, Younger Son of Martin Luther King Jr., Dies at 62
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dexter Scott King, who as one of four children of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked closely with — but also frequently fought against — his siblings and the civil rights community over his father’s legacy, died on Monday at his home in Malibu, Calif. The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta said the cause was prostate cancer. Mr. King was the longtime chairman of the King Center, an institution established by his mother, Coretta Scott King, in 1968 to advance the vision of her husband. Both positions put him at the center of a shifting, byzantine web of alliances and conflicts with his siblings — in particular his brother, Martin Luther King III, and his younger sister, Bernice King — and with his father’s former allies.

Persons: Dexter Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr, —, King, Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III, Bernice King — Organizations: King Center for Nonviolent, King Center Locations: Malibu , Calif, Atlanta, Memphis

☆ Red Paden, Juke Joint ‘King’ Who Kept the Blues Alive, Dies at 67
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Red Paden, who as the self-proclaimed “king of the juke joint runners” spent four decades as the owner of Red’s, an unassuming music spot in downtown Clarksdale, Miss., and one of the last places in the United States to offer authentic Delta blues in its natural setting, died on Dec. 30 in Jackson, Miss. His son, Orlando, said the death, in a hospital, was from complications of heart surgery. Red’s is the quintessential example: low-ceilinged and the size of a large garage, decorated with old music posters and lighted with neon signs and string bulbs (red, of course). There is no stage at Red’s, just a well-worn carpet, enough for a singer, a guitarist and maybe a drummer. A refrigerator holds beer, and when he felt like it Mr. Paden (pronounced PAY-den) would fire up the smoker on the sidewalk and cook a mess of ribs.

Persons: Paden, ”, Red’s Locations: Clarksdale, Miss, United States, Jackson, Orlando, Red’s

☆ Mexican Whiskey Is on the Rise, Powered by Ancient Corn
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In September, Gran Maizal also began exporting its whiskey to the United States, home to the world’s best-known corn-based spirit, bourbon — a move that its founders see as both a challenge and an opportunity. “Bourbon has been the center of the popularity and growth of whiskey in the U.S. for the last 20 years,” said Gonzalo de la Pezuela, who founded Gran Maizal with Cesar Ayala. ”So why not invite people to try a high-end whiskey from the birthplace of corn?”Despite their common ingredient, Gran Maizal whiskey is a world apart from traditional bourbons, let alone barley-based whiskeys like Irish and Scotch. In bourbon, the charred oak barrel in which it ages is responsible for most of the flavor; in Gran Maizal, the centerpiece is the corn. “And we quickly were able to say, ‘Well, you know what?

Persons: Gran Maizal, “ Bourbon, ”, Gonzalo de la, Cesar Ayala, de, Ayala, ’ Organizations: Gran Maizal Locations: United States, U.S, Gran

☆ Peter Tarnoff Dies at 86; Diplomat Helped Plot ‘Argo’ Escape from Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Peter Tarnoff, a seasoned diplomat whose work behind the scenes for presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton included establishing a secret channel to Fidel Castro and helping arrange the escape of six U.S. Embassy officials from Iran, an escapade later depicted in the 2012 movie “Argo,” died on Nov. 1 at his home in San Francisco. His wife, Mathea Falco, said the cause of death was complications of Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Tarnoff was part of a cohort of Foreign Service officers who, inspired by the words of President John F. Kennedy, joined the American diplomatic corps in the early 1960s. Many of them cut their teeth on assignment in South Vietnam, and several — among them Mr. Tarnoff, Anthony Lake, Frank Wisner II and Richard Holbrooke — went on to play leading roles in the U.S. foreign policy establishment. But while outsize personalities like Mr. Holbrooke, a frequent contender for secretary of state, and Mr. Lake, a national security adviser under Bill Clinton, became famous, Mr. Tarnoff preferred to wield his influence out of the public eye.

Persons: Peter Tarnoff, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Fidel Castro, ”, Mathea Falco, Tarnoff, John F, Kennedy, Anthony Lake, Frank Wisner, Richard Holbrooke —, Mr, Holbrooke Organizations: Embassy, Foreign Service Locations: Iran, San Francisco, South Vietnam, U.S

☆ George Tscherny, Whose Graphic Designs Defined an Era, Is Dead at 99
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

George Tscherny, a leading figure in postwar graphic design whose work unified the crisp, clean lines of European modern art with an American commercial pop sensibility, died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. His daughter Carla Tscherny confirmed the death. Mr. Tscherny (pronounced CHAIR-nee) started his career in the early 1950s, near the beginning of an extended golden era of American consumerism and corporate growth — a period that demanded new types of advertising. Many of the designers who crafted the signature images of the era were European immigrants, often refugees like Mr. Tscherny, who brought a familiarity with the latest in modern art and design. Their work graced advertising campaigns, produced on Madison Avenue, that pushed cigarettes and toothpaste and jet travel into American homes.

Persons: George Tscherny, Carla Tscherny, Tscherny Locations: American, Manhattan, Madison

☆ Philip Meyer, Reporter Who Pioneered Data-Driven Journalism, Dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Philip Meyer, a former reporter who pioneered new ways to incorporate data, quantitative methods and computers into investigative journalism, died on Saturday at his home in Carrboro, N.C., a suburb of Chapel Hill. His daughter Melissa Meyer said the cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease. With a career spanning the latter half of the 20th century and several years into the 21st, Mr. Meyer was at the center of a revolution within the craft and business of journalism — a revolution that, to a large degree, he helped shape. When he began working as an assistant editor at The Topeka Daily Capital in Kansas in the mid-1950s, computers were room-size, turtle-speed contraptions, and reporting was done mostly through interviews, with the occasional trip to the library or the government records office. Mr. Meyer was among the few reporters who saw the growing power of computers to crunch data and produce new insight into complex questions.

Persons: Philip Meyer, Melissa Meyer, Meyer Organizations: The, The Topeka Daily Capital Locations: Carrboro, N.C, Chapel, The Topeka, Kansas

☆ Anthony Vidler, Architectural Historian Who Reshaped His Field, Dies at 82
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Anthony Vidler, an architectural historian who, beginning in the 1960s, reshaped his field by setting aside dry chronologies of styles and movements for an interdisciplinary approach borrowing from psychoanalysis, French literary theory and cultural studies, died on Oct. 19 at his home in Manhattan. His wife, the literary critic Emily Apter, said the cause was B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Mr. Vidler, who was born in Britain during World War II, was part of a generation of European and Latin American architectural historians who arrived in the United States in the 1960s and ’70s, bringing with them new, theory-driven viewpoints about architecture as a realm of ideas and not just design. Sometimes cast as architecture’s version of the British Invasion, scholars like Mr. Vidler, Kenneth Frampton and Alan Colquhoun settled in New York City and in architectural programs at a small number of institutions, above all Princeton University, where Mr. Vidler taught for almost 20 years and remained affiliated for decades. He also served as dean of the architecture schools at Cornell, from 1997 to 1998, and Cooper Union, from 2001 to 2013.

Persons: Anthony Vidler, Emily Apter, Vidler, Kenneth Frampton, Alan Colquhoun Organizations: Princeton University, Cornell, Cooper Union Locations: Manhattan, Britain, United States, British, New York City

☆ Anita A. Summers, Economist, Dies at 98; Brought Rigor to Public Policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Anita A. Summers, an economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who injected quantitative rigor into a wide variety of public policy topics, including zoning, education and tax incentives, died on Sunday at her home in Gladwyne, Pa. She was 98. Her son Lawrence H. Summers, the economist and former secretary of the Treasury, confirmed the death. Though she spent much of her career in academia, Mrs. Summers was far from a hidebound intellectual. She was the founding chairwoman of Wharton’s public policy and management department, the first of its kind at a business school. (It is now called the department of business economics and public policy.)

Persons: Anita, Summers, Lawrence H Organizations: Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Treasury, Wharton, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Locations: Gladwyne, Pa

☆ Victor R. Fuchs, ‘Dean’ of American Health Care Economists, Dies at 99
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Victor R. Fuchs, whose comprehensive grasp of the challenges facing the United States health care system, and eloquence in explaining those challenges to policymakers and the general public, made him what many called the “dean” of American health care economists, died on Saturday at his home on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. Dr. Fuchs was best known for a slim, erudite book published in 1975 with the attention-grabbing title “Who Shall Live? Health, Economics and Social Choice.” He was among the first to articulate in clear, layman’s prose why the United States was in the midst of rapidly rising health care costs, while costs in other countries stayed manageable. The book has become required reading among physicians, health economists and anyone interested in the knotty issue of American health care, and it has never been out of print. Dr. Fuchs showed that the real problem facing the country was not health care coverage but health care costs; America, he wrote, was spending more and more without achieving better health outcomes.

Persons: Victor R, Fuchs, Fred Organizations: Stanford University, Health Locations: United States, Palo Alto, Calif, America

☆ Jules Melancon, Oyster Farmer Who Tried Something New, Dies at 65
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His father, Loyman Melancon, said the cause was metastatic cancer. Mr. Melancon spent most of his life farming oysters the old-fashioned way, working a dredge across the bottom of the shallow, brackish waters of the lower Mississippi River Delta. He captained his own 65-foot steel-bottom boat, My Melanie, named for his wife and returned every evening sagging under the weight of the day’s catch. In his prime, the ursine Mr. Melancon would lug two 120-pound sacks of oysters onto a truck. But it was lucrative, too: He’d sell 400 of those bags in a day, at up to $15 a bag, to canneries and wholesalers that shipped worldwide.

Persons: Jules Melancon, Loyman Melancon, Melancon, Melanie Locations: Louisiana, New Orleans, Cutoff, La, Mississippi

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