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☆ Masamitsu Yoshioka, Last Pearl Harbor Bombardier, Dies at 106
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Sam Roberts | More About Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Masamitsu Yoshioka, the last known survivor among some 770 crew members who manned the Japanese airborne armada that attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, has died. He was 106. His death was announced on social media on Aug. 28 by the Japanese journalist and author Takashi Hayasaki, who spoke with Mr. Yoshioka last year. “When I met him last year, he spoke many valuable words with a dignified presence,” Mr. Hayasaki wrote. “Have Japanese people forgotten something important since the end of the war?

Persons: Masamitsu Yoshioka, Takashi Hayasaki, Yoshioka, ” Mr, Hayasaki, “, ” Locations: Pearl, Adachi, Tokyo, Yasukuni, Hawaii, Japan

☆ Howie Cohen, Whose Alka-Seltzer Ads Spawned Catchphrases, Dies at 81
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Howie Cohen, an advertising copywriter, often said he was congenitally familiar with indigestion. So perhaps it was only natural that in the 1970s, he, along with an ad agency colleague, would conjure up a catchy slogan that would not only sell more Alka-Seltzer but also become an American pop culture punchline: “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”That bedside lament, spoken by the comedian and dialectician Milt Moss — he actually said that thing on camera — vaulted from a 30-second TV commercial to sweatshirts, supermarket windows and even church marquees. It proved even more popular than “Try it, you’ll like it,” the first catchphrase for Alka-Seltzer that Mr. Cohen coined with his business partner, Bob Pasqualina, an art director at the Manhattan agency Wells Rich Greene.

Persons: Howie Cohen, Seltzer, dialectician Milt Moss —, Alka, Cohen, Bob Pasqualina, Wells Rich Greene Locations: American, Manhattan

☆ Tom Porton, Hall of Fame Teacher on a Humanitarian Mission, Dies at 74
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tom Porton’s remit as a teacher at James Monroe High School in the Bronx was English grammar and literature. Mr. Porton died on July 12 at 74 in an assisted living center in the Bronx. No cause was given, but he had been using a wheelchair and an oxygen tank for months, his son, Christopher Porton, said. Mr. Porton’s title at Monroe, coordinator of student affairs, hardly captured his impact. A bearded bear of a man, Mr. Porton was, in 1995, the first New York City teacher inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame.

Persons: Tom, Porton, Christopher Porton, Stephen Sondheim Organizations: James Monroe High School, Project Bravo, Montefiore Medical Center, New, National Teachers Hall of Fame, Kennedy Center Locations: Bronx, Monroe, New York City

☆ Walter Shapiro, Political Columnist With a Contrarian Streak, Dies at 77
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Walter Shapiro, a canny, penetrating and often contrarian political columnist whose career included stints as a presidential speechwriter, stand-up comic, professor, author and, as a college student, congressional candidate, died on Sunday in Manhattan. The cause of his death, in a hospital, was an infection related to his recent treatment for cancer, his wife, the journalist and author Meryl Gordon, said. The next year, at 16, he took his first airplane flight to attend President John F. Kennedy’s funeral. He began his career in journalism at Congressional Quarterly and went on to write for Washington Monthly, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, USA Today, The New Republic and Esquire. He later wrote for Salon, Yahoo News, Politics Daily and Roll Call.

Persons: Walter Shapiro, Meryl Gordon, Theodore H ., John F Organizations: Congressional Quarterly, Washington Monthly, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, The New, Esquire, Salon, Yahoo, Politics Locations: Manhattan, Norwalk, Conn, USA

☆ The Ambani wedding is costing millions — here's how to have a big impact on a much smaller budget
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Ambani is the youngest son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries. This was followed by a luxury cruise across the Mediterranean and yet more celebrations in July ahead of the big day. But a beautiful wedding doesn't need to be expensive and there are ways to put on a spectacular show with a much smaller budget, according to Manwani and Suglani. Couple Vanessa Acosta and Sam Roberts went even further, hosting their wedding in their own backyard on a budget of $3,000. So, then you're going to get the best suppliers, you're going to get the venue that you want at a reasonable price without paying the premiums."

Persons: Anant Ambani, Mukesh Ambani, Radhika Merchant, Ashish Vaishnav, Ambani, Mark Zuckerberg, Shah Rukh Khan, Karishma, Priya Suglani, Suglani, you've, Manwani, they're, Vanessa Acosta, Sam Roberts, Acosta, nobody's Organizations: Getty, Reliance Industries, CNBC, Suppliers Locations: MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA, Mumbai, Jamnagar, Indian, Gujarat, London

☆ The average wedding costs well over $30,000. Some couples are having 'micro weddings' instead
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-06 | by ( Ana Teresa Solá | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Vanessa Acosta marries Sam Roberts in their backyard in Pasadena, California, on May 25, 2024. Courtesy: Vanessa AcostaLast year, Vanessa Acosta and Sam Roberts found their dream venue for a black-tie wedding. Why micro weddings are becoming appealingVanessa Acosta and Sam Roberts pose together on a street in California. Courtesy: Vanessa AcostaThe average cost of a wedding ceremony and reception in 2023 was $35,000, according to The Knot 2023 Real Weddings Study. The average guest count at weddings has been declining since 2006, when the average was about 184 people, according to data from The Wedding Report.

Persons: Vanessa Acosta, Sam Roberts, Acosta, Roberts, Allison Cullman, Zola, Shane McMurray, McMurray, Vanessa, Sam, Vanessa acosta, Lauren Kay Organizations: Finance, CNBC Locations: Pasadena , California, California, U.S, Cullman

☆ The former executive assistant to a tech CEO found decapitated in a Manhattan apartment in 2020 has been convicted of murder
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Zenebou Sylla | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The former executive assistant of a tech CEO was found guilty Monday of murdering his boss – whom he then decapitated and dismembered – in 2020, according to a news release from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. A jury on Monday found Haspil guilty of one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree grand larceny, one count of second-degree burglary and other charges, according to the DA’s office statement. Haspil became Saleh’s assistant in May 2018, where he was tasked with a variety of responsibilities including handling Saleh’s finances – which is how he gained access to Saleh’s financial records, according to the DA’s office release. That fall, Haspil began stealing from Saleh’s companies using two separate schemes, the DA’s office stated. The next day, Haspil returned to the apartment “to dismember the body and clean up the crime scene,” according to the release.

Persons: –, Tyrese Haspil, Fahim Saleh, Haspil, “ Tyrese Haspil, Attorney Alvin Bragg, “, Saleh’s, ”, Sam Roberts, Temilade Adelaja, Saleh Organizations: CNN, Manhattan, Attorney’s Office, Prosecutors, Attorney, ” CNN, Legal Aid Society, New, PayPal, Reuters, Bentley University in Locations: Nigerian, Lagos, Nigeria, Manhattan, Saudi Arabia, New York, Bentley University in Massachusetts

☆ The man who dismembered tech CEO Fahim Saleh said he was so in love he was disturbed. Prosecutors say he was on Bumble.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewA Manhattan jury is about to decide the fate of Tyrese Haspil, the 25-year-old former personal assistant on trial for the brutal murder of his boss, tech CEO Fahim Saleh. That's the only major question," Roberts told the jury, arguing that his client was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance, or EED. Those thefts spiked when he got into the relationship, Roberts told the jury, referencing a graph of the embezzlements over time. When it was the government's turn to make closing arguments, prosecutor Linda Ford popped the love bubble.

Persons: —, Tyrese Haspil, Fahim Saleh, Saleh, Haspil, Sam Roberts, Roberts, Chauveau, Marine, Linda Ford, Ford, Bumble, April Newbauer Organizations: Service, Haspil, Business Locations: New York, Nigeria, Manhattan, France

☆ Fahim Saleh murder jury must decide if Tyrese Haspil believed stabbing and dismembering tech CEO was 'reasonable'
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Days before admittedly stabbing and dismembering tech CEO Fahim Saleh, ex-personal assistant Tyrese Haspil admittedly used $750 of his victim's money to buy this 6-by-6-inch cake for his girlfriend. Anything less than unanimity — say if one juror accepts Haspil's EED defense and 11 do not — will cause a mistrial. Killer Tyrese Haspil, left, and Fahim Saleh in the lobby of Saleh's Lower Manhattan condo complex, one minute before the attack. Tyrese Haspil, accused of the 2020 murder-dismemberment of tech CEO Fahim Saleh, in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. Fahim Saleh is facing his killer, Tyrese Haspil, as the elevator doors close on the victim's apartment.

Persons: —, They'll, Tyrese, Fahim Saleh, Haspil, Saleh, Tyrese Haspil, Louis Vuitton, Chauveau, Alan Chin, who'd, Barry Rosenfeld, he'd, Linda Ford, He'd, Exed, Tasers, Fahim Saleh's, Joseph Goldstein, Sam Roberts —, Society — Organizations: Service, Business, Attorney, Louis, Manhattan, Home Depot, York Penal Law, Amazon, Buy.Taser.com, New York, Society Locations: Manhattan, France, Lower Manhattan, American, Gokada, Nigeria, Brooklyn, Lagos, New York, balaclava, New

☆ Ricardo M. Urbina, Trailblazing Latino Judge in Capital, Dies at 79
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ricardo M. Urbina, a trailblazing Latino lawyer who scored victories for civil liberties as an empathetic federal judge and for civil rights as a record-breaking track star — helping to fuel an epochal protest at the 1968 Olympics — died on Monday in Washington. His death, in an assisted living facility, was caused by complications of Parkinson’s disease, his son, Ian Urbina, said. Judge Urbina, the first Latino appointed to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the United States District Court in Washington, figured most prominently in cases that originated with the federal government’s war against terrorism and that put him at odds with the administration of President George W. Bush. In 2007, he extended habeas corpus rights to Shawqi Ahmad Omar, a citizen of Jordan and the United States who was about to be transferred to Iraqi custody to be tried as a terrorist.

Persons: Ricardo M, —, Ian Urbina, Judge Urbina, George W, Bush, Shawqi Ahmad Omar Organizations: Superior, District of Columbia, United States, Court, United Locations: Washington, Jordan, United States

☆ Edward Stone, 88, Physicist Who Oversaw Voyager Missions, Is Dead
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Edward C. Stone, the visionary physicist who dispatched NASA’s Voyager spacecraft to run rings around our solar system’s outer planets and, for the first time, to venture beyond to unravel interstellar mysteries, died on Sunday at his home in Pasadena, Calif. His death was confirmed by his daughter Susan C. Stone. Inspired by the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik in 1957, while he was a college student, Dr. Stone went on to oversee the Voyager missions 20 years later for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which the California Institute of Technology manages for NASA. Twin spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched separately in the summer of 1977 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Almost five decades later, they are continuing their journeys deep into space and still collecting data.

Persons: Edward C, NASA’s, Susan C, Stone Organizations: Soviet, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, NASA Locations: Pasadena , Calif, Cape Canaveral, Fla

☆ Trump got special treatment from NYC probation, and defense lawyers are crying foul
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In New York, probation officers talk to the defendant and the prosecutor in separate pre-sentencing interviews in preparation for what's known as a pre-sentencing report. AdvertisementTrump is not getting preferential treatment by being allowed to do his interview via video and with his lawyer, a city spokeswoman told Business Insider. It is true that defendants who are locked up while awaiting sentencing typically do pre-sentencing interviews via video, defense lawyers told Business Insider. But defendants like Trump, who are at liberty, are almost always required to appear alone and in person for their probation interviews, lawyers told BI. "I've never been present at a probation interview," said veteran Legal Aid attorney Sam Roberts.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, Trump, it's, Ivette Davila, Richards, it's President Trump, Justice Manhattan Juan Merchan, Blanche, I've, Sam Roberts, he's, Thomas Eddy, there's, Eddy, Blanche wasn't Organizations: Service, of, Business, Associated Press, Legal Aid Society, The Bronx Defenders, Defender Services, Neighborhood, Service of Harlem, it's, New, Justice Manhattan Locations: New York City, Mar, New York, Manhattan, York City, Rochester , New York

☆ Susanne Page, Who Took Rare Photos of the Hopi and Navajo, Dies at 86
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Susanne Page, whose intimate photographs of the Hopi tribe and Navajo nation opened a rare window on the everyday culture of Indigenous people in America’s Southwest, died on May 13 in Alexandria, Va. She was 86. The cause of her death, at the home of her daughter, Kendall Barrett, was brain cancer, another daughter, Lindsey Truitt, said. Page was in the midst of a 40-year career as a photographer for the United States Information Agency when she began creating vivid images of Native Americans and the flora and fauna that sustained them — work that embraced the beauty of the natural world and its profound spiritual significance to those Indigenous people. Her work appeared in magazines like National Geographic and Smithsonian and in several books. Along the way she introduced the subject of Native Americans of the Southwest to Jake Page, an editor and columnist at Smithsonian.

Persons: Susanne Page, Kendall Barrett, Lindsey Truitt, Page, Jake Page Organizations: United States Information Agency, Geographic, Smithsonian Locations: Navajo, Southwest, Alexandria, Va

☆ Jury in trial of tech CEO Fahim Saleh's killer hears grisly 911 call: 'His head is not there anymore!'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

the operator asks, to which the woman sobs, "No! the 911 operator asks Saleh's cousin in the recording played Friday. the operator asks. Prosecutors told jurors that these bags held Saleh's head and limbs. A crime scene photo showing tech CEO Fahim Saleh under attack by his killer just inside the victim's Manhattan condominium.

Persons: —, Gokada, Fahim Saleh, Saleh, Tyrese Haspil, Linda Ford, Sam Roberts, Alan Chin, Haspil, Chavaux, Roberts, he'd, sobs, gasps, Prosecutors, he's, Gigi Jordan Organizations: Service, Business, Manhattan, Prosecutors Locations: Bangladeshi, Nigeria, Manhattan, France

☆ Alfonso Chardy, Who Helped Expose Iran-Contra Scandal, Dies at 72
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Alfonso Chardy, whose methodical reporting ushered The Miami Herald to a Pulitzer Prize for exposing the Iran-contra scandal in 1986 and contributed to three other Pulitzers that the newspaper won, died on April 9 in a Miami hospital. The cause was a heart attack, said his wife, Siobhan T. Morrisey. Mr. Chardy was instrumental in uncovering a link between the illegal sale of weapons to Iran orchestrated by senior Reagan administration officials to facilitate the release of Western hostages, and the covert diversion of proceeds from that sale to support right-wing rebels in Nicaragua known as the contras. The Westerners were being held in Lebanon by the Iranian-supported militant group Hezbollah. In Nicaragua, the contras were battling the leftist Sandinista government.

Persons: Alfonso Chardy, Siobhan T, Chardy, Reagan, Oliver L Organizations: Miami Herald, Sandinista Locations: Iran, Miami, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Iranian

☆ Terry Anderson, Reporter Held Hostage for Six Years, Dies at 76
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Terry Anderson, the American journalist who had been the longest-held Western hostage in Lebanon when he was finally released in 1991 by Islamic militants after more than six years in captivity, died Saturday at his home in Greenwood Lake, N.Y., in the Hudson Valley. The cause was apparently complications of recent heart surgery, said his daughter, Sulome Anderson. Mr. Anderson, the Beirut bureau chief for The Associated Press, had just dropped his tennis partner, an A.P. The same car had tried to cut him off the day before as he returned to work from lunch at his seaside apartment. The militants, supported by Iran, were retaliating against Israel’s use of American weapons in earlier strikes against Muslim and Druze targets in Lebanon.

Persons: Terry Anderson, Sulome Anderson, Anderson, Reagan Organizations: Islamic, Associated Press, Benz, Islamic Jihad Organization Locations: American, Lebanon, Greenwood Lake, N.Y, Hudson, Beirut, South Lebanon, Iran, Nicaragua

☆ Martin Wygod, a Winner on Wall Street and the Racetrack, Dies at 84
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Martin J. Wygod, a Wall Street whiz who graduated from walking horses after races to owning and breeding championship thoroughbreds when he made millions from investing in online companies that sold pharmaceuticals by mail and pruned medical paperwork, died on April 12 in San Diego. His daughter, Emily Bushnell, said he died in a hospital from complications of lung disease. Raised near two racetracks in suburban New York and mentored by a software pioneer, an investor and a gambler, Mr. Wygod was said to have been the youngest managing partner of a New York Stock Exchange brokerage in the 1960s. The sale netted Mr. Wygod $250 million. “Marty Wygod made $6 billion for himself because he developed a data base.”

Persons: Martin J, Emily Bushnell, Wygod, ” Jan Buck, “ Marty Wygod Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, Merck, Princeton Group International, New York Times Locations: San Diego, New York

☆ Don Wright, Editorial Cartoonist With a Skewer for a Pen, Dies at 90
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Don Wright, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist whose pointed work punctured duplicity and pomposity and resonated with common-sense readers, died on March 24 at his home in Palm Beach, Fla. His death was confirmed by his wife, Carolyn Wright, a fellow journalist. In a 45-year career, Mr. Wright drew some 11,000 cartoons for The Miami News, which folded in 1988, and then The Palm Beach Post, where he worked until he retired in 2008. But he reached a readership far beyond Florida: His cartoons appeared in newspapers nationwide through syndication. Mr. Wright’s readers knew where he stood, and especially what he was against, whether it was the Vietnam War; Israel’s military support for the pro-apartheid regime in South Africa (he depicted a menorah with missiles in place of candles); sexual abuse by clergymen; the John Birch Society, the anti-Communist fringe group; and racial segregationists, notably the violent Ku Klux Klan.

Persons: Don Wright, Carolyn Wright, Wright Organizations: The Miami News, John Birch Society, Communist, Klux Klan Locations: Palm Beach, Fla, Florida, Vietnam, South Africa

☆ Nijole Sadunaite, Lithuanian Nun Who Opposed Soviet Rule, Dies at 85
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Nijole Sadunaite, a fearless but forgiving Roman Catholic nun and anti-Soviet Lithuanian nationalist who was inspired by Pope John Paul II and publicly hailed by President Ronald Reagan, died on March 31 in Vilnius. Her death was confirmed by Sister Gerarda Elena Suliauskaite, laureate of the Freedom Prize of the Republic of Lithuania, which was also given to Sister Sadunaite in 2018 for her defense of democracy and human rights. In 1975, Sister Sadunaite (pronounced sah-DOO-nay-teh) was arrested by K.G.B. agents who had stormed an apartment where she was writing an underground newspaper, The Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, which documented abuses against Christians in the Baltic state. “I had typed six pages when I was caught, so I effectively got one year for every page,” she told The Atlantic in 1994.

Persons: Nijole, Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, Sister Gerarda Elena Suliauskaite, Sadunaite, “, ” Organizations: Catholic Church Locations: Soviet Lithuanian, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania, Baltic

☆ Stephen Adams, Who Made Yale Music School Tuition-Free, Dies at 86
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stephen Adams, a billionaire whose anonymous $100 million gift to the Yale School of Music granted a tuition-free education to talented students embarking on careers in a capricious profession, died on March 14 at his home in Roxbury, Conn. His death was confirmed by his wife, Denise (Rhea) Adams. Mr. Adams, who graduated from Yale College in 1959, was not a musician himself. In 1999, he marked his class’s 40th-anniversary reunion by donating $10 million to the music school — the largest contribution it had ever received. Six years later, he and his wife surpassed that record when they made their $100 million gift, anonymously.

Persons: Stephen Adams, Denise, Rhea, Adams Organizations: Yale School of Music, Yale College, Wine Spectator Locations: Roxbury, Conn

☆ Malachy McCourt, Actor, Memoirist and Gadabout, Dies at 92
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Malachy McCourt, who fled a melancholic childhood in Ireland for America, where he applied his blarney and brogue to become something of a professional Irishman as a thespian, a barkeep and a best-selling memoirist, died on Monday in Manhattan. His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by his wife, Diana McCourt. In 1952, when he was 20, the Brooklyn-born Mr. McCourt reunited with New York. Frank would also become a late-blooming author, whose books included the Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiographical work “Angela’s Ashes” (1996). The family, Malachy would write, was “not poor, but poverty-stricken.”

Persons: Malachy McCourt, Diana McCourt, McCourt, Frank McCourt, Frank, Malachy, Angela, ” Organizations: America Locations: Ireland, Manhattan, Brooklyn, New York, Limerick

☆ William Whitworth, Revered Writer and Editor, Is Dead at 87
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

William Whitworth, who wrote revealing profiles in The New Yorker giving voice to his idiomatic subjects and polished the prose of some of the nation’s celebrated writers as its associate editor before transplanting that magazine’s painstaking standards to The Atlantic, where he was editor in chief for 20 years, died on Friday in Conway, Ark., near Little Rock. His daughter, Katherine Whitworth Stewart, announced the death. She said he was being treated after several falls and operations in a hospital. As a young college graduate, Mr. Whitworth forsook a promising career as a jazz trumpeter to do a different kind of improvisation as a journalist. He covered breaking news for The Arkansas Gazette and later for The New York Herald Tribune, where his colleagues eventually included some of the most exhilarating voices in American journalism, among them Dick Schaap, Jimmy Breslin and Tom Wolfe.

Persons: William Whitworth, Katherine Whitworth Stewart, Whitworth forsook, Dick Schaap, Jimmy Breslin, Tom Wolfe Organizations: Yorker, The Arkansas Gazette, The New York Herald Tribune Locations: Conway, Little Rock

☆ Brooke Ellison, Prominent Disability Rights Advocate, Is Dead at 45
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Brooke Ellison, who after being paralyzed from the neck down by a childhood car accident went on to graduate from Harvard and became a professor and a devoted disability rights advocate, died on Sunday in Stony Brook, N.Y., on Long Island. Her death, in a hospital, was caused by complications of quadriplegia, her mother, Jean Ellison, said. As an 11-year-old, Brooke had been taking karate, soccer, cello and dance lessons and singing in a church choir. But on Sept. 4, 1990, she was struck by a car while running across a road near her home in Stony Brook. After waking from a 36-hour coma, she spent six weeks in the hospital and eight months in a rehabilitation center.

Persons: Brooke Ellison, Jean Ellison, Brooke Organizations: Harvard Locations: Stony Brook, N.Y, Long

☆ Si Spiegel, War Hero Who Modernized Christmas Trees, Dies at 99
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Before he became known as the father of artificial Christmas trees, Si Spiegel was a valiant Army aviator. In the closing days of World War II, he was piloting his B-17 Flying Fortress in an armada of 1,500 Allied bombers that pummeled Berlin. Struck by antiaircraft flak, two of the plane’s four engines lost power as Mr. Spiegel reversed course to return to England. Rather than bail out over Germany and risk being captured as a prisoner of war — especially given that he was Jewish — Mr. Spiegel managed to crash-land in Soviet-occupied Poland. After being stuck there for weeks, he improvised a daring escape, using parts of his own plane to jury-rig another B-17 that had crashed nearby, then flying to an American base in Italy.

Persons: Si Spiegel, Spiegel Locations: Berlin, England, Germany, Soviet, Poland, Italy

☆ Anne Edwards, Best-Selling ‘Queen of Biography,’ Dies at 96
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Anne Edwards, a prodigious and peripatetic author who published best-selling books about the actresses Vivien Leigh and Katharine Hepburn as well as 14 other celebrity biographies, eight novels, three children’s books, two memoirs and one autobiography, died on Jan. 20 in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was 96. Her daughter, Catherine Edwards Sadler, said she died of lung cancer at a senior living facility. A child performer on radio and the stage, Ms. Edwards sold her first screenplay in 1949, when she was 22 (the movie “Quantez,” a western starring Fred MacMurray, was released in 1957); her first novel (the mystery “The Survivors”) in 1968; and her first biography (of Judy Garland) in 1975. Her “Vivien Leigh: A Biography” (1977) spent 19 weeks on The New York Times’s hardcover best-seller list. Reviewing that book for The Times, Richard R. Lingeman wrote that Ms. Edwards “has, with tact, sympathy and intelligence, given us an admirable portrait of Vivien Leigh that is a portrait of an admirable lady.”

Persons: Anne Edwards, Vivien Leigh, Katharine Hepburn, Catherine Edwards Sadler, Edwards, Fred MacMurray, Judy Garland, Richard R, Lingeman, Edwards “, ” Organizations: York, The Times Locations: Beverly Hills, Calif, ”

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