Merrill Kenneth Albert, American author and trial lawyer, died from heart disease he was 88.

Merrill Kenneth Albert was an American author and trial lawyer best known for his colorful courtroom tactics died from heart disease he was 88. . One of Los Angeles’ foremost trial advocates, Albert introduced several practices – such as the use of dummies and other tools in reconstructing incidents – familiar in current legal practice but virtually non-existent when he began his career. He was a pioneer in the development and use of biomechanical devices and modeling in major personal injury cases to explain the mechanical properties of the musculoskeletal system in relation to the physics and dynamics of collisions with cars, trains, and human beings involved in accidents. He was the lead trial attorney in “bet the company” cases for the Union Pacific Railroad, the Santa Fe Railroad, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, Swinerton Construction Co., and the Regents of the University of California. Some of his more dramatic trials are recounted in Tales of the Rails: Railroad Claims Stories, by Norman Udewitz.^[2]

 

^{(April 19, 1923 – December 23, 2011)}

Early Life and education

Albert was born on April 19, 1923 in New Haven, Connecticut. He and his brother were later abandoned by their mother at an Oakland, California orphanage^{[citation needed]}. Left under the name of Merrill Smith, he picked apples at the Salvation Army Home for Boys during the Great Depression. He was placed in several foster homes until ultimately being permanently settled with the Tucker family of Oakland. After graduating at the top of his class from Oakland Technical High School in 1940, he attended the University of California, Berkeley. His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, when Albert joined the United States Merchant Marine discovering upon entrance that Albert rather than Smith was his birth name. After obtaining his captain’s papers?? from the Merchant Marines, he was honorably discharged and returned to his studies at UC Berkeley. There he was elected president of his fraternity and became captain of the varsity tennis team. After completing his undergraduate degree, Albert was admitted to UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, where he was subsequently published as the reviewing editor of the California Law Review. He graduated in 1955, the sixth in his class.

Legal career

In the three decades following his graduation from law school, Merrill Albert practiced law in Los Angeles, specializing in defending large corporations against a wide range of high-exposure personal injury and other “bet the company” lawsuits. It was during this time that Albert began using incident reconstructions during trials in order to demonstrate whether or not the plaintiffs’ claims were physically possible. He was also a pioneer in the early use of biomechanical accident reconstruction dummies at trial. He tried over 300 cases, winning the vast majority of them, many against the foremost plaintiff’s trial attorneys of the era. His courtroom tactics were likened by many of his contemporaries to those of the fictional Perry Mason, which reportedly more than once took their inspiration from Albert’s actual trials^{[citation needed]}.

Retirement and writing

In 1990 Albert retired from the practice of law and devoted himself to the full-time enjoyment of opera, tennis, horse racing (he was a long-time member of the Santa Anita Park Turf Club), and various other pursuits. He also began writing, and his novel, The Big Casino, was published posthumously in 2003.^[3] The book has proved popular in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India^{[citation needed]}.
It was followed in 2011 by the collection The Year 2012 Ushers in the Age of Fire and Other Short Stories, a series of tales centering on a coming apocalypse and a Polynesian tribe’s attempts to prepare for it.^[4] At the time of his death Albert was at work on two other books. Adolf Hitler is Alive! – which postulates an enclave of Nazis who had escaped from Berlin to set up a secret society in the Antarctica to plot their revenge – and the Trinity of Life, a philosophical speculation on tripartite confluences in history, politics, and religion throughout human history – will be published posthumously^{[citation needed]}.



To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Zithulele Sinqe, South African Olympic long distance runner, died from a car accident, he was 48.

Zithulele Sinqe was a South African long distance runner died from a car accident, he was 48..

Biography

He was born in Mthatha.^[2] In the 1980s, and despite restrictions under Apartheid, Sinqe emerged as one of the leading marathon and half-marathon athletes in the world.^[3] His two greatest races were the 1986 South African marathon championships, where he won in 2:08:04 in a titanic struggle with Willie Mtolo, who was second in 2:08:15.^[4] and his even closer contest over the half marathon with Matthews Temane in July 1987 in East London. Both men were credited with the same time of 60:11 but Temane was adjudged to have just defeated Sinqe.^[5]
In addition to the 1986 South African marathon championships, Sinqe also won the 1987 edition before Willie Mtolo won on two occasions.^[6] He competed at the 1992 Olympic marathon without finishing the race.^[2] 2:08:04 was also his lifetime best result. In the half marathon he achieved 1:00:11 hours in 1987,^[2][7] which was the world's best time that year, jointly with compatriot Matthews Temane.^[8]

To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Marion Segal Freed, American film producer, editor and screenwriter, died he was 77.

Marion Segal Freed was an American film producer, editor and screenwriter  died he was 77.. Segal Freed worked as an editor on such movies as Russian Roulette, Fun With Dick and Jane, Carbon Copy, Badlands and Days of Heaven.^[1] She was married to actor George Segal for 25 years, until their divorce in 1984. Later she married director Herb Freed.<sup>[1]

(1934 – 22 December 2011)</sup> 


To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Michael von Grünau, Canadian psychologist and neurophysiologist, died he was 67.

Michael von Grünau, BSc, MA, PhD was a Canadian psychologist and neurophysiologist at Concordia University died he was 67..^[1]

^{(October 3, 1944 – December 22, 2011)} 

Life and career

Michael von Grünau was born in West Germany, the son of Viktoria Hanke and Werner von Grünau. His father was a translator and a writer; his mother was a housewife and a writing assistant for her husband.
von Grünau grew up in West Germany, but emigrated to Canada in about 1965 to study Physics at University of Toronto. He graduated in 1968, but then commenced a MA in Psychology, graduating in 1971, and a PhD, graduating in 1975. His PhD was supervised by Paul Kolers.
Around this time, he conducted research into the Color Phi phenomenon, investigating the influence of color on apparent movement from stationary images and also the fluttering heart phenomenon in which a red patch on a blue background appears to jump around as an observer moves his or her eyes.
In the early 1980s von Grünau moved to the Department of Psychology at Queen's University at Kingston, where he founded a neurophysiology laboratory to study the visual system of cats. He continued his psychophysical studies of human visual perception. Key research he accomplished during this period included ????.
In about 1987, von Grünau spent about 18 months as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Research Council (Canada) in the Division of Physics, under the supervision of Bill Cowan. He worked mainly with Patrick Cavanagh.
In 1989, von Grünau moved to the Department of Psychology at Concordia University in Montreal. There he worked mainly in the psychophysics of human visual perception, on phenomena surrounding higher-order motion aftereffects, visual search and attention in the real world, visual flow fields, and eye movements.
In 1991, von Grünau married Marinez de Andrade. They adopted a son, Fernando in 1999, from Brazil, and a daughter, Gabriela, in 2002, from China.
von Grünau died on 22 December 2011, from cancer.


To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Bennie Ellender, American college football coach (Arkansas State, Tulane), died from Alzheimer's disease he was 86.

Bennie Ellender, Jr. was an American football player and coach.^[3] He served as the head football coach at Arkansas State University from 1963 to 1970 and at Tulane University from 1971 to 1975, compiling a career college football record of 79–49–4 died from Alzheimer's disease he was 86..

(March 2, 1925 – December 22, 2011)

Ellender led the Arkansas State program to three consecutive Pecan Bowl games, which was one the regional bowl games set up for the NCAA College Division to choose a champion. His 1970 team finished 11–0 and was ranked #1 in the final polls, earning his team the College Division championship. Ellender was selected AFCA College Division Coach of the Year following the season.^[4] After the 1970 season, Ellender left ASU to become head football coach at his alma mater, Tulane.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Arkansas State Indians (NCAA College Division Independent) (1963)
1963	Arkansas State	2–6
Arkansas State Indians (Southland Conference) (1964–1970)
1964	Arkansas State	7–0–2	2–0–2	2nd
1965	Arkansas State	6–3	1–3	5th
1966	Arkansas State	7–2	2–2	T–3rd
1967	Arkansas State	4–5	2–2	3rd
1968	Arkansas State	7–3–1	3–0–1	1st	L Pecan
1969	Arkansas State	8–1–1	4–0	1st	W Pecan
1970	Arkansas State	11–0	4–0	1st	W Pecan
Arkansas State:		52–20–4	18–7–3
Tulane Green Wave (NCAA University Division / Division I Independent) (1971–1975)
1971	Tulane	3–8
1972	Tulane	6–5
1973	Tulane	9–3			L Bluebonnet	15	20
1974	Tulane	5–6
1975	Tulane	4–7
Tulane:		27–29
Total:		79–49–4
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
#Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

To see more of who died in 2011 click here

William Duell, American singer and actor (1776, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest), died he was 88.

William Duell was an American actor and singer died he was 88.. He was known for his roles as Andrew McNair in the musical 1776, Jim Sefelt in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Johnny the Shoe Shine Guy on the 1982 crime comedy series Police Squad!. Described as a short, odd-looking character actor with a Shakespearean background, he had many minor roles in plays, films and TV series. His last work was a cameo in the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

(August 30, 1923 – December 22, 2011) 

Early life and career

He was born George William Duell in 1923, but sometime in his youth, his mother legally changed his name to Darwin William Duell. Duell never cared for his given name, and always went by William. Duell graduated from the Green Mountain Junior College (now Green Mountain College) (Vermont), Illinois Wesleyan University, and Yale University. A theater scholarship at GMC is named after him.
He portrayed Congressional Custodian Andrew McNair in the Broadway version of 1776, which made him the one actor who stayed throughout the entire run of the show and was never understudied. In the 1997 Broadway Revival of 1776, Duell was a replacement member of the cast, filling the role of Caesar Rodney after Michael McCormick took on the role of John Adams.^[2] In 2010, he appeared in an one-night only concert semi staged reading of Evening Primrose by Stephen Sondheim.^[3]

Later life and death

Duell married his wife, Mary Barto, in 2004. Duell died of respiratory failure in December 2011.^[1] He was 88.

To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Bettye Danoff, American golfer, founding member of the LPGA, died he was 88.

Bettye Danoff  was an American professional golfer. She was one of the 13 founding members of the LPGA tour in 1950 died he was 88 Bettye Danoff, American golfer, founding member of the LPGA, died he was 88...^[1]

^{(May 21, 1923 – December 22, 2011)}

Born Bettye Jane Mims, she began playing golf at age 6. Her parents had opened a driving range and nine-hole golf course in Grand Prairie Texas.^[2] She also played under the names Bettye Mims White and Bettye Mims Danoff.
The LPGA Tour wasn't founded until 1950. Before then, she four straight Dallas Women's Golf Association Championships in addition to two Texas Women's Amateur Championship. In 1947, she defeated Babe Zaharias, 1 up, in the Texas Women's Open. Zaharias had won 17 consecutive tournaments before losing to Danoff.^[3] Also before her LPGA days, Danoff played exhibitions with PGA Tour stars.
Danoff was a mother to three daughters who traveled with her as she played off the LPGA Tour. After the death of her husband in 1961, Danoff played in a limited amount of tournaments. She was the LPGA Tour's first grandmother.

Amateur wins

• 1947 Texas Women's Amateur
• 1948 Texas Women's Amateur

Professional wins (1)

• 1953 Hardscrabble Open^[4]

To see more of who died in 2011 click here