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☆ Robert Oxnam, China Scholar Beset by Multiple Personalities, Dies at 81
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Robert B. Oxnam, an eminent China scholar who learned through psychotherapy that his years of erratic behavior could be explained by the torment of having multiple personalities, died on April 18 at his home in Greenport, N.Y., on the North Fork of Long Island. In the 1ate 1980s, Dr. Oxnam was president of the Asia Society, a television commentator and an accomplished sailor. In his 2005 book, “A Fractured Mind: My Life With Multiple Personality Disorder,” Dr. Oxnam recalled the session when Tommy first spoke to Dr. Smith. All that Dr. Oxnam could remember from the 50-minute session, he wrote, was telling the psychiatrist that he didn’t think the therapy was working for him. But Dr. Smith told him that he had been speaking to Tommy all that time.

Persons: Robert B, Vishakha Desai, Oxnam, Jeffery Smith, Bobby, Tommy, Smith Organizations: Asia Society Locations: China, Greenport, Long

☆ Larry Lucchino, Top Executive at Three M.L.B. Teams, Dies at 78
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Larry Lucchino, who as a top executive with the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres oversaw the design and construction of modern stadiums that evoke their surroundings — Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore and Petco Park in San Diego — and who as president of the Boston Red Sox preserved Fenway Park for generations, died on Tuesday. The Red Sox announced the death but did not say where he died or give a cause. He had been treated for cancer three times. In Mr. Lucchino’s 14 years with the team, the Red Sox won the World Series three times — the first of those championships, in 2004, broke an 86-year drought — and reached the postseason seven times. He oversaw improvements to Fenway Park that included installing seats above the Green Monster, the 37-foot-high left field wall, and vastly expanding concourses and concession areas.

Persons: Larry Lucchino, San Diego —, “, ” John Henry, ” Mr, Lucchino, Henry, Lucchino’s Organizations: Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Camden Yards, Boston Red Sox, Red Sox Locations: Baltimore, San Diego, Boston

☆ Zvi Zamir, Israeli Spy Chief in a Critical Period, Dies at 98
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His death was announced by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The announcement did not say where he died. “Zamir led a determined and initiative-taking approach in the State of Israel’s fight against Palestinian terrorism, which was strengthening at that time,” Mr. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. Terrorism was an increasing concern for Israel when Mr. Zamir was named the Mossad’s director in 1968. No incident crystallized that threat more than the attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September on the Israeli delegation at its dormitory in the Olympic Village in Munich on Sept. 5, 1972.

Persons: Zvi Zamir, —, Benjamin Netanyahu, “ Zamir, ” Mr, Zamir Locations: Egypt, Syria, State, Israel’s, Israel, Munich

☆ Robert Andrew Parker, 96, Dies; Prolific Magazine and Book Illustrator
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“There was a casualness in his attitude toward his work,” said Joe Ciardiello, an illustrator who was a friend of Mr. Parker’s. “So many artists can get so fussy about the correct kind of paper or the proper pen or paints. But Bob would use whatever he had — people would give him paint, he’d use cheap stuff, expensive stuff. The original plan was for Mr. Parker’s and Mr. Douglas’s hands to alternate onscreen, where they would appear to be creating van Gogh’s paintings. But they worked on only one, “Wheatfield With Crows,” before Mr. Parker’s job became copying about 100 of van Gogh’s drawings and paintings to use in the film.

Persons: ”, Joe Ciardiello, Mr, Parker’s, Bob, ” Robert Andrew Parker, William, Harriett, Cowdin, Parker, Kirk Douglas, Vincent van Gogh, van Organizations: U.S . Public Health Service, Army Air Corps, Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York School, Skowhegan, of Painting, MGM Locations: Norfolk, Va, Michigan, Fort Stanton, N.M, New York City, Paris, France

☆ Betty Rollin, Who Wrote Candidly About Her Breast Cancer, Dies at 87
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Betty Rollin, a network news correspondent who described intensely personal life passages in two memoirs — “First, You Cry,” about being diagnosed with breast cancer and having a mastectomy, and “Last Wish,” in which she revealed that she had helped her pain-ravaged mother end her life — died on Nov. 14 in Basel, Switzerland. She was 87. The cause was voluntary assisted suicide, at Pegasos, an assisted dying service, said Ellen Marson, a close friend, who disclosed the death to The New York Times on Thursday. Ms. Rollin had been dealing with pain from arthritis and a gastrointestinal condition, she said, and had been brokenhearted since the death of her husband, Harold Edwards, a mathematician, in 2020. “Betty recently told a few close friends she was going to do this,” Ms. Marson wrote in an email.

Persons: Betty Rollin, — “, —, Ellen Marson, Ms, Rollin, Harold Edwards, “ Betty, Marson, Betty Organizations: New York Times Locations: Basel, Switzerland, Pegasos, Manhattan

☆ Gary Winnick, Who Won and Lost With Global Crossing, Dies at 76
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Gary Winnick, a former junk-bond salesman who in 1997 founded Global Crossing, a telecommunications company that laid fiber-optic cable underwater around the world to speed internet and phone traffic, but that imploded five years later under billions of dollars in debt, died on Saturday at his estate in Los Angeles. His son Matthew confirmed the death but said he did not know the cause. Mr. Winnick received renewed attention in June when his estate, in the Bel Air neighborhood, was put up for sale for $250 million. Mr. Winnick started Global Crossing without a background in telecommunications but with an ambitious goal: to build the world’s first privately financed global fiber-optic network. Mr. Winnick was certain that by spending $15 billion on the network, he had found the right business at the right time.

Persons: Gary Winnick, Matthew, Winnick Organizations: Bel Air, Telephone Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Walter Davis, Basketball Star With a Velvet Touch, Dies at 69
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Walter Davis, whose smooth shooting propelled him to basketball stardom with the University of North Carolina and the Phoenix Suns, but who late in his career struggled with drug addiction, died on Thursday while visiting family in Charlotte, N.C. Davis, a 6-foot-6 forward, played at North Carolina from 1973 to 1977 for Dean Smith, one of the most successful coaches in college history. In one of Davis’s signature games, in March 1974, North Carolina was losing to Duke, 86-78, with 17 seconds left. North Carolina went on to win in overtime, 96-92. “I wasn’t trying to bank it in,” Davis, then a freshman, said afterward.

Persons: Walter Davis, Davis, Dean Smith, Bobby Jones, Phil Ford, Mitch Kupchak, “, ” Davis, ” Organizations: University of North, Phoenix Suns, North, Tar Heels, Duke, After North Locations: University of North Carolina, Charlotte, N.C, North Carolina, After, After North Carolina

☆ Robbin Bain, Pageant Winner and ‘Today Girl,’ Is Dead at 87
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Robbin Mele Gaudieri, who, as Robbin Bain, embodied traditional women’s roles as the winner of a beauty contest designed to promote beer in 1959 and later as the “Today Girl,” handling fashion and beauty segments, on the popular NBC-TV morning show, died on Oct. 21 in Southampton, N.Y., on Long Island. In 1959, she was elected Miss Rheingold, representing what was then the most popular beer in the New York region and was also sold in Pennsylvania and throughout New England. She defeated five other finalists in an election that the brewer said attracted 24 million votes. As Miss Rheingold, she received $50,000 (about $530,000 in today’s dollars) and spent a year making appearances in the United States and Europe. An ad that ran early in her reign said, “You’ll soon be seeing Robbin Bain almost everywhere you look, such an attractive reminder of the popular beer she represents — Rheingold Extra Dry!”

Persons: Robbin Mele Gaudieri, Robbin Bain, Lara McLanahan, Miss Rheingold, “ You’ll, — Organizations: NBC, Miss Locations: Southampton, N.Y, Long, New York, Pennsylvania, New England, United States, Europe

☆ Jane Garrett, Book Editor With a Prizewinning Touch, Dies at 88
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jane Garrett, who as an editor at the Alfred A. Knopf publishing house guided seven books to Pulitzer Prizes for history but watched another book lose its prestigious Bancroft Prize over scholars’ criticism of the author’s research, died on Oct. 12 at her home in Middlebury, Vt. She was 88. Ms. Garrett worked at Knopf for 44 years, initially as an editor and special assistant to Alfred Knopf himself, who had a strong devotion to publishing history books. At first she steered his projects to completion, but she soon began acquiring books on her own. In 1973, “People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the History of American Civilization,” by Michael Kammen, became the first of the books edited by Ms. Garrett to win a Pulitzer. Ms. Garrett was at a book party in Boston when she met Alan Taylor, who was starting to work on a book about William Cooper, the founder of Cooperstown, N.Y., and the father of the novelist James Fenimore Cooper.

Persons: Jane Garrett, Alfred A, Bancroft, Anne Eberle, Ms, Garrett, Alfred Knopf, Michael Kammen, Voyagers, Bernard Bailyn, Garrett’s, Robert V, Bruce, Alan Taylor, William Cooper, James Fenimore Cooper Organizations: Knopf, “, Modern American Science Locations: Middlebury , Vt, America, Harvard, Boston, Cooperstown, N.Y

☆ Arnold Diaz, Who Reported on New York’s Swindlers, Dies at 74
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The cause of the death, at a hospital, was multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, his son, Alex, said. Mr. Diaz wanted not only to resolve victims’ problems but also to embarrass the malefactors for their misdeeds. He confronted them, chased them and shoved microphones in their faces in search of answers. At WCBS, Channel 2, where he spent more than 20 years, his “Shame on You” investigations were introduced with a short animation that featured a jingle and a hand with a wagging index finger. When the segment moved to WNYW, Channel 5, it was renamed “Shame, Shame, Shame”; later, on WPIX, Channel 11, it was called “What a Shame!”

Persons: Arnold Diaz, Alex, Diaz Organizations: New York, WCBS, WPIX Locations: New York City, Greenwich, Conn, WNYW

☆ Joanna Merlin, Known for Her Work Both Onstage and Off, Dies at 92
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

She moved to Los Angeles with her parents and her sister when she was 15. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles, for a year in the early 1950s and, after acting in plays in the Los Angeles area in the early and mid-1950s, appeared in her first movie role, a small part in Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” (1956). After some more screen work and roles in Off and Off Off Broadway plays, Ms. Merlin made her Broadway debut in 1961 in Jean Anouilh’s “Becket,” as Gwendolen, the mistress of Thomas Becket, one of Britain’s most powerful figures in the 12th century, who was played by Laurence Olivier. Although she lacked a strong singing voice, she was cast as Tzeitel, the oldest daughter of Tevye the milkman, the show’s principal character. The syndicated columnist Leonard Lyons wrote that when Ms. Merlin was pregnant in 1965 with her daughter Rachel, Zero Mostel, who played Tevye, told the stage manager: “Joanna’s baby just kicked.

Persons: Cecil B, “, Merlin, Jean Anouilh’s “ Becket, ”, Thomas Becket, Laurence Olivier, Sigmund Freud’s, Henry Denker’s “, Bertolt Brecht’s, Courage, Jerome Robbins, Robbins, Leonard Lyons, Rachel, Zero Mostel, Tevye, Bette Midler, Prince Organizations: University of California, Cecil, Broadway Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Ivor Robson, Golf’s Celebrated Voice at the British Open, Dies at 83
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At the British Open, a Scotsman named Ivor Robson became one of the most distinctive and revered voices in golf by saying little. Called a starter, he stood at a lectern near the first tee at each round of that major championship, where his job was simple: to introduce each player. “On the tee, from U.S.A., Jack Nicklaus,” he would say in his slightly high-pitched, singsong brogue. He did not eat or drink anything before he took his position or for the next nine or 10 hours. Nor would he take a bathroom break, at a “comfort station,” even if he had time between introductions.

Persons: Ivor Robson, “, Jack Nicklaus, ”, singsong, Rory McIlroy, didn’t Organizations: Scotsman Locations: U.S.A, Northern Ireland

☆ Martin Goetz, Who Received the First Software Patent, Dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Martin Goetz, who joined the computer industry in its infancy in the mid-1950s as a programmer working on Univac mainframes and who later received the first U.S. patent for software, died on Oct. 10 at his home in Brighton, Mass. In 1968, nearly a decade after he and several other partners started the company Applied Data Research, Mr. Goetz received his patent, for data-sorting software for mainframes. Ms. Jacobs said her father had patented his own software so that IBM could not copy it and put it on its machines. “By 1968, I had been involved in arguing about the patentability of software for about three years,” Mr. Goetz said in an oral history interview in 2002 for the University of Minnesota. “I knew at some point in time the patent office would recognize it.”

Persons: Martin Goetz, Karen Jacobs, Goetz, Jacobs, ” Mr, “, ” Organizations: Univac, Applied Data Research, Computerworld, Software, IBM, University of Minnesota Locations: Brighton , Mass

☆ Robert Klane, Writer of ‘Weekend at Bernie’s,’ Dies at 81
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Robert Klane, a comic novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker with a taste for gleeful vulgarity who wrote the screenplay for “Weekend at Bernie's,” the 1989 cult film about two young insurance company employees who create the illusion that their murdered boss is still alive, died on Aug. 29 at his home in Woodland Hills, Calif. His son Jon said the cause was kidney failure. Mr. Klane wrote “Weekend at Bernie’s” more than two decades into a career that began with the publication of two humorous novels: “The Horse Is Dead: A Tasteless Novel” (1968) and “Where’s Poppa?” (1970). He adapted “Where’s Poppa?” into the screenplay for a twisted comedy about a single lawyer (played by George Segal) who dreams of scaring to death or institutionalizing his aged, maddening mother (Ruth Gordon). Ted Kotcheff, who directed “Weekend at Bernie’s,” wrote in his 2017 memoir, “Director’s Cut: My Life in Film,” that Mr. Klane had been inspired to write it by his time as an advertising copywriter in the 1960s, when the top executives at one of the agencies where he worked invited employees to their beach houses on Long Island.

Persons: Robert Klane, Jon, Klane, George Segal, maddening, Ruth Gordon, Ted Kotcheff, ” Locations: Woodland Hills, Calif, Long

☆ Max Gomez, Longtime TV Medical Reporter, Dies at 72
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Max Gomez, an award-winning medical and science journalist who delivered informed reports for more than 40 years on TV stations in New York and Philadelphia, most recently during the Covid-19 pandemic, died on Sept. 2 at his home in Manhattan. His partner, Amy Levin, said the cause was head and neck cancer, with which he had been diagnosed four years ago. One of his reports on Alzheimer’s disease focused on his father, a physician, who was swindled as his memory abandoned him. Dr. Gomez had been chief medical correspondent at WCBS, Channel 2, in New York City since 2007 and made his last appearance there in March 2022. He also worked at WNBC, Channel 4, and WNEW, Channel 5 (now WNYW), as well as KYW, Channel 3, in Philadelphia.

Persons: Max Gomez, Amy Levin, Dr, Max, ”, Gomez Organizations: WCBS, WNBC, WNEW, KYW Locations: New York, Philadelphia, Manhattan, New York City

☆ David Jacobs, Who Turned Soap Opera Into Prime-Time Gold, Dies at 84
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

David Jacobs, who more than anyone invented the modern prime-time soap opera when he created “Dallas,” the long-running CBS series about an amoral oil baron and his feuding family, and followed it a year later with “Knots Landing,” died on Sunday in Burbank, Calif. His son, Aaron, said he died in a hospital from complications of a series of infections. Mr. Jacobs had also recently received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. “Which meant Texas to me,” Mr. Jacobs recalled in a 2008 interview with the Television Academy. Working with Michael Filerman, an executive at Lorimar Productions, he wrote a script about the wealthy Ewing family.

Persons: David Jacobs, ”, Aaron, Jacobs, ” Ingmar Bergman’s, ” Mr, Michael Filerman, Ewing Organizations: CBS, Television Academy, Lorimar Productions Locations: Burbank , Calif, Sweden, Southern California, Texas

☆ Paul Brodeur, Reporter Who Exposed the Hazards of Asbestos, Dies at 92
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paul Brodeur, whose deeply reported articles in The New Yorker brought national attention to subjects like the toxic hazards of asbestos and the destructive impact of chlorofluorocarbons on the ozone layer, died on Aug. 2 in Hyannis, Mass. His death, in a hospital, was caused by complications of pneumonia and hip replacement surgery, said his daughter, the novelist and memoirist Adrienne Brodeur. Mr. Brodeur’s first long-form article for The New Yorker, “The Magic Mineral,” published in 1968, described at great length the history of asbestos, a heat-resistant fiber with a history of being used in thousands of products — including building and insulation materials, rugs, potholders, roofing, military helmets and gas masks — and its connection to cancer, particularly mesothelioma, among workers who had been exposed to it. “There is not an automobile, airplane, train, ship, missile or engine of any sort that does not contain asbestos in some form or other, and it has found its way into literally every building, factory, home and farm across the land,” he wrote. “And, because its minuscule fibers are eminently respirable, asbestos has also found its way into the lungs of man, where, by remaining as indestructible as it does in nature, it can wreak terrible havoc.”

Persons: Paul Brodeur, memoirist Adrienne Brodeur, Mr, Brodeur’s, ” Organizations: Yorker Locations: Hyannis, Mass

☆ Seiichi Morimura, 90, Who Exposed Japanese Wartime Atrocities, Dies
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Seiichi Morimura, who wrote a searing exposé of the Japanese Army’s secret biological warfare program in occupied China, describing how it forcibly infected thousands of prisoners with deadly pathogens, died on July 24 in Tokyo. The announcement of his death by his publisher, Kadokawa, was cited in Japanese media. Mr. Morimura detailed the atrocities committed by the Japanese program — called Unit 731 — in a widely sold book, “Akuma no Hoshoku,” or “The Devil’s Gluttony” (1981). Under the Japanese occupation, before and during World War II, at least 3,000 prisoners — men, women and children — became guinea pigs at a facility euphemistically named the 731st Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Headquarters, on the Manchurian plain near Harbin. Most of the victims were Chinese, but some were Korean, Russian and Mongolian.

Persons: Seiichi Morimura, Morimura, ”, vivisections, — Organizations: Kadokawa, —, 731st, Water Supply Locations: China, Tokyo, Harbin

☆ Louise Levy, Who Was Studied for Her Very Long Life, Is Dead at 112
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When she celebrated her birthday last year, she told The Rye Record, “I’m glad I can still speak and have my sense of humor, but I would caution you not to try and live to be 112!”She had been the oldest known living person in New York State, according to LongeviQuest, which maintains a database of supercentenarians, people who have lived into a 12th decade. Mrs. Levy was one of more than 700 people, all 95 or older, recruited since 1998 to participate in a study by the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in the Bronx to learn the genetic reasons for their unusually long, healthy lives. “It’s not luck,” Dr. Nir Barzilai, an endocrinologist who directs the institute, said by phone. “They exceeded luck. The biggest answer is genetics.”Using the blood and plasma of the test group, all Ashkenazi Jews — a comparatively homogeneous population whose genetic variations are easier to spot — the institute’s Longevity Genes Project has discovered gene mutations that are believed to be responsible for slowing the impact of aging on people like Mrs. Levy and protecting them against high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

Persons: “ I’m, Levy, “ It’s, ” Dr, Nir Barzilai Organizations: Rye, Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein School of Medicine Locations: New York State, Bronx

☆ Bill Geddie, a Creator of ‘The View,’ Is Dead at 78
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bill Geddie, whose long working relationship with the barrier-breaking television newswoman Barbara Walters began when he produced her prime-time specials on ABC, then expanded when he collaborated with her on “The View,” one of TV’s most successful daytime talk shows, died on July 20 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. His wife, Barbara (Pratt) Geddie, said the death was heart-related. “The View” was Ms. Walters’s idea — she wanted a program on which women from different generations would discuss the issues of the day — but it was Mr. Geddie who oversaw it for 17 years, ushering the changing, sometimes unruly cast of panelists through a daily hour of hot topics, disagreements and personal revelations. “I think he loved doing a show with all women,” Meredith Vieira, who was the moderator of “The View” for nine years from its start in 1997, said in a phone interview. “He was a strong producer who deferred to the female point of view, which was essential for a man running a women’s show.”Joy Behar, the only original cast member still on the show, said by phone that Ms. Walters was “the queen” and Mr. Geddie “took care of everything else.”

Persons: Bill Geddie, Barbara Walters, Pratt, Geddie, —, “, ” Meredith Vieira, ” Joy Behar, Walters, ”, Geddie “ Organizations: ABC, Rancho Mirage, Calif Locations: Rancho

☆ Richard Barancik, Last of the World War II Monuments Men, Dies at 98
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Richard Barancik, the last surviving member of the Allied unit known as the Monuments Men and Women, which during and after World War II preserved a vast amount of European artworks and cultural treasures that had been looted and hidden by Nazi Germany, died on July 14 in Chicago. His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by his daughter Jill Barancik. We did everything we could to salvage what the Nazis had done. It’s the best we could do.”An Army private first class, Mr. Barancik served in England and France — where he was not on the front lines, his daughter said, and enjoyed the marching, food and structure of military life — until Germany surrendered. After being deployed to Salzburg, Austria, he volunteered for the Monuments Men serving for three months as a driver and guard.

Persons: Richard Barancik, Jill Barancik, Barancik, — Organizations: Fine Arts, Los Angeles Times, Army, France —, Monuments Locations: Nazi Germany, Chicago, Washington, Europe, England, France, Germany, Salzburg, Austria

☆ Dick Biondi, Fast-Talking Star of Top 40 Radio, Dies at 90
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dick Biondi, an exuberant, fast-talking Top 40 radio personality, nicknamed “the Screamer,” who in the early 1960s became one of Chicago’s most popular disc jockeys and, thanks to the strength of his station’s signal, was heard well beyond the city, died on June 26 in Chicago. His death was confirmed by Pamela Enzweiler-Pulice, the director of a forthcoming documentary, “The Voice That Rocked America: The Dick Biondi Story.”Mr. Biondi was a yeller, though not a shock jock, at WLS-AM, which had just changed its format to rock ‘n’ roll when he was hired for the late evening shift in 1960 for $378 a week (about $3,900 in today’s dollars). The station’s reach into 38 states and Canada provided Mr. Biondi with a platform that made him a major media personality as rock music’s popularity surged. Mr. Biondi, who was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998, quickly established himself as a Chicago star. He called himself “the Wild I-tralian”; hosted record hops and charity events; and recorded a novelty song, “On Top of a Pizza,” a parody of “On Top of Old Smoky” that in 1961 became a local hit.

Persons: Dick Biondi, ”, Pamela Enzweiler, ” Mr, Biondi Organizations: WLS, Radio Hall of Fame Locations: Chicago, America, Canada

☆ Carlo Vittorini, Publisher Who Lifted Parade Magazine, Dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Carlo Vittorini, who as publisher guided Parade magazine, the nearly ubiquitous weekly Sunday newspaper supplement, to revenue and circulation heights, died on June 25 at his summer home in Nantucket, Mass. His wife, Nancy Vittorini, said the cause was congestive heart failure. Mr. Vittorini spent 50 years in the magazine business, nearly all of it when it was still thriving. In 1992, when Parade’s circulation was soaring, he confidently told The St. Joseph News-Press/Gazette of Missouri: “Nobody can get a message out as quickly as we can. Newhouse Jr., the chairman of Advance Publications, as Parade’s publisher, president and chief executive.

Persons: Carlo Vittorini, Nancy Vittorini, Vittorini, Joseph, ”, Newhouse Jr Organizations: Sunday, Joseph News, Press, of, Newsweek can’t, S.I, Advance Locations: Nantucket, of Missouri

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