Tony Blankley, British-born American commentator, newspaper editor and child actor, died from stomach cancer he was 63.

Anthony David "Tony" Blankley  was an English-American political analyst who gained fame as the press secretary for Newt Gingrich, the first Republican Speaker of the House in forty years, and as a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group died from stomach cancer he was 63.. He later became an Executive Vice President with Edelman public relations in Washington, D.C.^[6] He was a Visiting Senior Fellow in National-Security Communications at the Heritage Foundation,^[7] a weekly contributor to the nationally syndicated public radio program Left, Right & Center,^[8] the author of The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? and American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century.^[9]

^{(January 21, 1948 – January 7, 2012)}

He was a regular commentator for radio shows including The Diane Rehm Show,^[10] Left, Right & Center^[11] and The Steve Gill Show with a segment titled Fill In the Blanks.^[12] Earlier in his career, he was an editorial page editor for The Washington Times,^[13] a contributing editor and monthly columnist for George Magazine,^[14] and a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group.
Blankley's political opinions were generally considered to fall within traditional conservatism, although he was labeled as a neo-conservative by some critics. He denied this label, claiming that his views are more comparable to a classic conservative, such as former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.^[15] His political career spanned several decades, and his most prominent position was a seven-year stint as House Speaker Newt Gingrich's press secretary.^[16]
Prior to his career on Capitol Hill, Blankley served President Reagan as a policy analyst and speechwriter,^[17] and was a staff writer for Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler.^[18] Before coming to Washington, D.C., he spent 10 years as a prosecutor with the California Attorney General's office.^[19]
He was briefly a child actor, appearing, most notably, as Rod Steiger's son in The Harder They Fall (1955).^[20] The movie was, as Blankley liked to joke, both his and his co-star Humphrey Bogart's last movie.^[21][22] He graduated from UCLA^[19] and Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), earning a J.D.^[17] He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1972.^[23]
Blankley continued to write for The Washington Times. He lectured at many universities and institutes. On November 19, 2009, he presented his lecture A Year out from the 2010 Congressional Elections – National Politics, Policy and their Communication at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics of Saint Anselm College.^[24]

Death

Blankley died in Washington, D.C. of stomach cancer on January 7, 2012 at Sibley Memorial Hospital, aged 63.^[2][21][25]


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Ibrahim Aslan, Egyptian novelist and short story writer, died from heart failure he was 77.

Ibrahim Aslan  was an Egyptian novelist and short story writer died from heart failure he was 77..^[1]

^{(1935 – 7 January 2012)}

Life and work

Aslan was born in Tanta in the Nile delta in 1935, shortly before his family moved south to Cairo.^[2] His father was a Post Office employee, and Aslan too went on to work for the Cairo Post Office.^[3] The Cairene neighbourhoods of Imbaba and Kit Kat, where he lived and worked, are closely associated with his oeuvre.
Aslan emerged on the Arab literary scene in the mid-1960s, and is considered to be part of the movement known as the Sixties Generation which also included such authors as Gamal Ghitany, Sonallah Ibrahim, and Abdel Hakim Qasem.^[3] The avant-garde literary magazine Gallery 68 published eight of his stories during its short life.^[4]
Aslan published two volumes of short stories, three novels, and two volumes of non-fiction during a literary career spanning more than four decades.^[3] His first collection of short stories, called Buhayrat al-Masah (The Evening Lake), was released in 1971-72. A second collection called Youssef wal-Rida (Joseph and the Clothes) was published in 1987.
Aslan is best known for his first novel Malek al-Hazin (1983), translated by Elliott Colla under the English title The Heron; and its sequel 16 years later called As-safir al-Nil (1999), translated as Nile Sparrows by Mona El-Ghobashy. The Heron was selected as one of the top 100 Arabic novels by the Arab Writers Union and is his most famous work.^[3] The Heron was turned into an award-winning film (The Kit Kat, 1991) by leading Egyptian director Daoud Abdel Sayed. More recently, Magdi Ahmed Ali directed a film version under the title Birds of the Nile (2009).^[5]
Aslan won a number of literary prizes, including the Taha Hussein Award from the University of Minya in 1989 and the Egyptian State Incentive Prize in 2003-2004. Most recently, he won the 2006 Sawiris Prize for his book Hikayat min Fadlallah Uthman (Stories from Fadlallah Uthman).
Since 1992, Aslan had been culture editor at the Cairo bureau of the London-based al-Hayat newspaper.

Haydar Haydar controversy

In the summer of 2000, Aslan and fellow writer Hamdi Abu Golail were subjected to a lawsuit by a maverick Islamist lawyer following a campaign of agitation by the newspaper Al-Shaab.^[6] In their capacity as editors of Afaq al-Kitaba (Horizons of Literature),^[7] a series of modern Arabic classics published under the aegis of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Aslan and Abu Golail had decided to reprint A Banquet for Seaweed, a controversial novel by the Syrian writer Haydar Haydar.

Works

• Buhayrat al-Misa’ (Evening Lake) (short stories, 1971-2)
• Yusuf wa al-Rida’ (Yusuf and the Dress) (short stories, 1986-7)
• Malek al-Hazin (The Heron) (novel, 1983, English translation by Elliott Colla, AUC Press)
• Wardiyat Layl (Night Shift) (novella, 1991)
• As-safir al-Nil (Nile Sparrows) (novel, 1999, English translation by Mona El-Ghobashy, AUC Press)
• Hikayat min Fadlallah Uthman (Stories from Fadlallah Uthman) (short stories, 2003)
• Khulwat al-Ghalban (Poor Man's Hermitage) (non-fiction, 2003)
• Shay’un Min Hadha al-Qabil (Something Like That) (non-fiction, 2007)
• Hugratan wa Salah: Mutataliya Manziliyya (Two Rooms and a Hall: A Household Sequence) (2010)

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Clive Shell, Welsh international rugby player. [108] (death announced on this date), died he was 64.

Clive Shell was a Welsh international rugby union player died he was 64.. Shell made his debut for the Wales national rugby union team on 10 November 1973 against Australia where he kissed the ball on his first touch while putting the ball into a scrum. A scrum-half, he played club rugby for Aberavon RFC.^[2]

^{(9 September 1947 – 6 January 2012)}

Shell was one of several scrum halves of that era who were in competition with Gareth Edwards for a place in the Welsh side. Although the Australia encounter was his one and only cap, Shell played for Wales against Tonga (1974). In 1977, during a Welsh Cup semi-final, Shell received a broken jaw playing against Edwards and Cardiff RFC.
Shell formed a club half back partnership with John Bevan who was also capped by Wales. He captained Aberavon RFC in the seasons of 1977–78, 1978–79 and 1979–80 before retiring.
A school teacher by profession, Shell went on to coach Aberavon during the early 1980s. In 2007, he "narrowly avoided jail" on a drink-driving offence.^[3]
Shell's death was announced 6 January 2012.^[4]



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Spike Pola, Australian football player, died he was 97.

Jack Stephen "Spike" Pola was an Australian rules footballer who played for the West Perth Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) between 1935 and 1947 died he was 97..


(born Giovanni Stefano Pola; 16 November 1914 – 6 January 2012)

Career

Born in Fremantle in 1914 as Giovanni Stefano Pola, he anglicised his name to Jack Stephen Pola before a state schoolboys' football carnival in 1928 on the advice of his mother.^[2] Originally playing for Mount Hawthorn in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association, Pola progressed to West Perth's affiliated team in the Western Australian National Football Association (WANFA), which acted as a sort of reserves team for the club. In July 1935, he was selected in a WANFA representative side which toured the Goldfields.^[1] He made his senior debut for West Perth later that year. In 1941, he was named captain of West Perth, having served as vice-captain the previous year, and also played in West Perth's premiership side. He also shared the 1941 Breckler Medal, awarded to the club's best and fairest player, with Ted O'Keefe.^[3] Pola joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in January 1943 as a leading aircraftman, and was discharged in February 1945.^[4] He returned to West Perth in 1945, and was named captain for the season. He retired two years later, having played 152 games and kicked 203 goals. Pola died in January 2012 at his home in Mount Lawley, and was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery. He was the last surviving member of the 1941 premiership team.^[5]


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Sybil Plumlee, American teacher and police officer, died she was 100.

Sybil Virginia Plumlee  was an American teacher, caseworker and pioneering Portland, Oregon police officer who became the oldest living former member of the city's police force before her death died she was 100..

(née Burgess; April 29, 1911 – January 6, 2012)

Born in Seattle in 1911, Plumlee attended high school in Portland and graduated from Oregon Normal School, now known as Western Oregon University. She became a school teacher in Clarno, Oregon, but later returned to Portland, married and had a son. Following a divorce in 1943, she worked as an educator with the Ellis Mining Company in Bourne, Oregon. In 1945 she married Virgil "Paul" Plumlee, who died in 2010.
From 1947 to 1967 Plumlee served in the Portland Police Bureau unit then known as the Women's Protective Division. She is recognized as a pioneer in the law enforcement field, which was dominated by men. Plumlee wrote an unpublished memoir of her time on the police force called "Badge 357" and at age 96 published the book Stories of Hester Ann Bolin Harvey and Her Family, a collection of family stories and history. Plumlee died in 2012.

Early life, education and career

Sybil Burgess was born April 29, 1911 in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of Charles and Stella Burgess. The family moved to Portland, where she attended both Lincoln High School and Jefferson High School, graduating from Jefferson in 1930.^[1] After graduating from Oregon Normal School (now Western Oregon University) she worked for a time as a teacher in a one-room school in Clarno, Oregon. She returned to Portland, married Lloyd Barker (also a teacher) and had a son named Louis Barker. The couple divorced in 1943. Sybil remained a single mother during World War II, working as a teacher with the Ellis Mining Company in Bourne, Oregon and buying a house in nearby Sumpter for $150. In 1945, she married Virgil P. "Paul" Plumlee.^[1] She survived the 1948 flooding of Vanport City, Oregon.^[2] Plumlee also worked at various times as a soda fountain clerk at a drugstore in northeast Portland and as a cab driver.^[2][3]
Plumlee became a caseworker for the Clackamas County Welfare Department after a female police officer encouraged her to take a civil servant test. She passed the test and was selected to join the force's single open position from a pool of 300 applicants.^[1][2] Plumlee served from 1947 to 1967 in the unit then known as the Women's Protective Division.^[1][3] Policewomen in that division did not work with male officers and did not wear uniforms. Their work focused on crimes such as child abuse, domestic violence and rape that generally were investigated in privacy.^[3] Records also show that Plumlee participated in undercover investigations, including one anti-homosexual campaign led by Mayor of Portland Dorothy McCullough Lee. In 1949 the Women's Protective Division sent Plumlee and Edna Trout to Music Hall, known in the 1940s for catering to gay men and lesbians, with the intent to "apprehend lesbians who might approach them and solicit attentions".^[4]
According to Louis Barker, his mother became a police officer "for the money" rather than to "make the world safe"; the household needed her income and she was also contributing to the support of her mother.^[3] Plumlee later said of the unit: "In some ways, the old Women's Protective Division was archaic, but on balance we did a lot of good."^[5] Plumlee is recognized as a pioneer in the law enforcement field,^[1][2][6] which was largely dominated by men.^[3]
Plumlee purchased her first computer when she was in her eighties and continued driving until age 98.^[3] Her husband died in 2010.^[1] She celebrated her centennial birthday at her residence in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Guests included Multnomah County Sheriff Daniel Staton, Lt. Mary Lindstrand and Frank Springer, the oldest living male retiree of the Portland Police Bureau. Birthday wishes and certificates of appreciation were also offered by President Barack Obama and Mayor of Portland Sam Adams.^[2] Plumlee died in 2012 and was survived by her son, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.^[1] Before her death, Plumlee was the oldest surviving former member of the Portland Police Bureau.^[1][3]

Writing and other interests

Plumlee wrote an unpublished memoir of her time on the police force called "Badge 357".^[1][2] At age 96, she published the book Stories of Hester Ann Bolin Harvey and Her Family. The collection of stories, such as her grandmother's journey across the Oregon Trail in 1850, included photographs and more than a century of family history.^[6] Plumlee also enjoyed camping, fishing and traveling.^[1]


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Thomas Virgil Pittman, American federal judge, died he was 95.

Thomas Virgil Pittman was a United States federal judge died he was 95..

(March 28, 1916 - January 6, 2012)

Born in Enterprise, Alabama, Pittman was in the United States Army Reserve during World War II, from 1938 to 1942. During this time, he received a B.S. from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa in 1939 and an LL.B. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1940. He was a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1940 to 1944, and was a U.S. Naval Reserve officer towards the end of World War II, from 1944 to 1946. He entered private practice in Gadsden, Alabama from 1946 to 1951, becoming a Circuit judge, 16th Judicial Circuit Court of Alabama from 1951 to 1953, and a Presiding judge of that circuit from 1953 to 1966. He was also a lecturer at the University of Alabama Center at Gadsden from 1948 to 1966.
On June 13, 1966, Pittman was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to a joint appointment to new seats on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama created by 80 Stat. 75. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 29, 1966, and received his commission the same day. On June 2, 1970, he was reassigned by operation of law to serve only on the Southern District. He served as chief judge of that District from 1971 to 1981, assuming senior status on July 15, 1981, and serving in that capacity until his death.
Judge Pittman died January 6, 2012, in Mobile, Alabama, at the age of 95.^[1]



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Ellen Pence, American sociologist and social activist, creator of the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, breast cancer she was 63.

Ellen Pence was a scholar and a social activist breast cancer she was 63.. She co-founded the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project,^[1] an inter-agency collaboration model used in all 50 states in the U.S. and over 17 countries.^[2] A leader in both the battered women's movement and the emerging field of institutional ethnography, she was the recipient of numerous awards including the Society for the Study of Social Problems Dorothy E. Smith Scholar Activist Award (2008) for significant contributions in a career of activist research.

(1948 – January 6, 2012) 

Background

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Pence graduated from St. Scholastica in Duluth with a B.A. She was active in institutional change work for battered women since 1975, and helped found the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project in 1980.
She is credited with creating the Duluth Model of intervention in domestic violence cases, Coordinated Community Response (CCR), which uses an interagency collaborative approach involving police, probation, courts and human services in response to domestic abuse. The primary goal of CCR is to protect victims from ongoing abuse.^{[citation needed]}
She earned her Ph.D in Sociology from the University of Toronto in 1996. She used institutional ethnography as a method of organizing community groups to analyze problems created by institutional intervention in families. She founded Praxis International in 1998 and was the chief author and architect of the Praxis Institutional Audit, a method of identifying, analyzing and correcting institutional failures to protect people drawn into legal and human service systems because of violence and poverty.^{[citation needed]} Ellen pence died at the age of 63, from breast cancer .

Activism and Research

Pence's focus was on legislative efforts, legal reform projects, shelter and advocacy program development, and training programs for judges, probation officers, law enforcement officers, and human service providers. Pence was the author of several educational manuals and curricula for classes for battered women, men who batter, and law enforcement officers. She co-authored two books: Educational Groups for Men Who Batter: The Duluth Model and Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence: Lessons from the Duluth Model.^[3]
Until late 2011 she was the executive director of Praxis International.^[4] and worked with a national team of experts to run an advocacy learning center ^[5] to strengthen advocacy programs' skills and capacities in their work toward ending violence against women.

Death

Pence died of breast cancer on January 6, 2012, aged 63, in St. Paul, Minnesota.^[6]


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Basil Payne, Irish poet, died he was 88.

Basil Payne Irish poet died he was 88..^[1]

^{(23 June 1923 – 6 January 2012)}

Life and work

Payne was educated at Synge Street CBS and University College Dublin. In the 1960s he held many poetry readings in Dublin, and in 1964 he won a Guinness International poetry prize, followed by another Guinness International prize in 1966. From 1972 to 1978 he lectured in literature at several universities in the USA, and in 1975 he received the Governor's Special Citation for unique contribution to the Arts in New Jersey. His published work amounts to three slim volumes, and numerous inclusions in anthologies of Irish poetry. According to his website, a more voluminous later work, Dark and Light Fantastic, remains unpublished. His first book "Sunlight on a Square" has now been re-published on Amazon kindle.

Published works

• Sunlight on a Square (Dublin, John Augustin, 1961, republished on Amazon Kindle, 2012);
• Love in the Afternoon (Dublin, Gill and MacMillan, 1971);
• Another Kind of Optimism (Dublin, Gill and MacMillan, 1974)

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W. Francis McBeth, American composer, died he was 78.

William Francis McBeth was a prolific American composer, whose wind band works are highly respected  died he was 78.. His primary musical influences included Clifton Williams, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson. The popularity of his works in the United States during the last half of the twentieth century led to many invitations and appearances as a guest conductor, where he often conducted the premiere performances of some of his compositions, the majority of which were commissioned. His conducting activities have taken him to forty-eight states, three Canadian provinces, Japan, and Australia.^[1] At one time, his "Double Pyramid Balance System" was a widely used pedagogical tool in the concert band world.
From 1957 until his retirement in 1996, McBeth taught at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.^[2]

^{(March 9, 1933 – January 6, 2012)} 

Career

McBeth was born in Ropesville, Texas (near Lubbock). His parents were Joseph Phinis McBeth, a Baptist minister, and Lillie May Carpenter McBeth. McBeth had a brother, Harold, and a sister, Laura Fay. He had an early start to his musical training, studying piano with his mother and taking up the trumpet in the second grade. He graduated from Irving High School in Irving, Texas where he served as President of the IHS Senior Class of 1951, as well as President of Future Farmers of America. He lettered in football and track and was a member of the tiger band and choir. Mary Sue White McBeth, wife of Frances, was also in the Irving High Tiger Band class of 1951. He attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. While an undergraduate at H-SU, McBeth played in the university band. From December 1952 to January 1953, the band traveled with U.S. Camp Shows to Europe. He also played string bass in a jazz combo, which was unusual for the time period due to widespread segregation throughout the South.
McBeth married Mary Sue White in 1953. They had a daughter, Laura and a son, Matthew. He served in the military from 1954 to 1956 with the 101st Airborne Band at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and the 98th Army Band at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He was initiated into the University of Texas Alpha Iota Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in 1957.
In 1962, McBeth conducted the Arkansas All-State Band, with future president Bill Clinton playing in the tenor saxophone section. He served as the third conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra from 1970 until 1973. He died on January 6, 2012, aged 78 in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

Awards

The most outstanding of his awards have been the Presley Award at Hardin-Simmons University, the Howard Hanson Prize at the Eastman School of Music for his Third Symphony in 1963, recipient of an ASCAP Special Award each consecutive year from 1965 to present, the American School Band Directors Association's Edwin Franko Goldman Award in 1983, elected Fellow of the American Wind and Percussion Artists by the National Band Association in 1984, National Citation from Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity in 1985, in 1988 Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia's Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award for his achievement and continued contribution to American music, Kappa Kappa Psi's Distinguished Service to Music Medal in 1989, Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic's Medal of Honor in 1993, the John Philip Sousa Foundations Sudler Medal of Honor in 1999, and Past President of the American Bandmasters Association. In 1975 McBeth was appointed Composer Laureate of the State of Arkansas by the Governor, the first Composer Laureate named in the United States. ^[1]

Works

Works for Orchestra

Symphonies

• 1955 Symphony No. 1, opus 7
• 1956 Symphony No. 2, opus 10
• 1963 Symphony No. 3, opus 27
• 1969 Symphony No. 4, opus 49A

Other Orchestral Works

• 1956 Suite on a Biblical Event, opus 8
• 1956 Overture for Orchestra, opus 9
• 1957 Pastorale, for woodwinds and strings, opus 11
• 1960 Pastorale and Allegro, opus 21
• 1961 Allegro Agitato, opus 24
• 1963 Quanah, opus 29
• 1974 Grace, Praeludium and Response, opus 53
• 1974 The Badlands, opus 54A
• 1975 Kaddish, opus 57A

Works for Winds

(The bulk of McBeth's wind ensemble and concert band music is published by Southern Music Company of San Antonio, Texas.)

• 1954 Orfadh, opus 3
• 1954 Divertimento for Band, opus 4
• 1957 Andalusia, opus 14a
• 1957 Call and Response, opus 14b
• 1959 Cavata, opus 17
• 1960 Second Suite for Band, opus 20
• 1961 Narrative, opus 23
• 1961 Chant and Jubilo, opus 25
• 1963 Mosaic, opus 29A
• 1964 Reflections Past, opus 30
• 1964 Joyant Narrative, opus 34
• Two Fanfares
  1. 1959 Thaxton Fanfare, opus 16
  2. 1964 Cooper Fanfare, opus 32
• 1965 Battaglia, opus 36
• Two Symphonic Fanfares
  1. 1965 Jenkins Fanfare, opus 35
  2. 1966 TCU Fanfare, opus 38
• 1966 Cantique and Faranade, opus 39
• 1967 Texas Tech Fanfare, for two wind orchestras, opus 43
• Symphonic Sounds for the Field
  1. 1967 Bowie Fanfare, opus 41
  2. 1968 Fredericksburg Fanfare, opus 45
• 1967 Masque, opus 44
• Big Sounds for young bands
  1. 1967 Weiss Fanfare, opus 42
  2. 1968 Jayton Fanfare, opus 46
• 1969 Drammatico, opus 48
• 1969 Divergents, opus 49
• 1971 The Seventh Seal, opus 50
• 1973 Festive Centennial, opus 51
• 1973 To be Fed by Ravens, opus 52
• 1974 Capriccio Concertant', opus 54
• 1975 Kaddish for Symphonic Band, opus 57
• 1976 New Canaan, opus 58
• 1977 Canto, opus 61
• 1979 Caccia, opus 62
• 1979 Cavata, opus 63
• 1981 The Feast of Trumpets, opus 64
• 1981 Grace Praeludium, opus 65
• 1982 Flourishes, opus 66
• 1983 Praises, opus 70
• 1984 Beowulf – An Heroic Trilogy, opus 71
• 1986 To the Unknowns, opus 73
• 1986 With Sounding Trumpets, opus 74
• 1987 The Fifth Trumpeter, opus 75
• 1988 They Hung Their Harps in the Willows, opus 77
• 1990 Of Sailors and Whales, opus 78
  1. Ishmael
  2. Queequeg
  3. Father Mapple
  4. Ahab
  5. The White Whale
• 1991 Drayton Hall Esprit, opus 79
• 1992 Daniel in the Lion's Den, opus 80
• 1992 This Land Of El Dorado, opus 81
• 1993 Wine From These Grapes, opus 83
• 1993 Through Countless Halls of Air, opus 84
  1. First Flight – Daedalus And Icarus,
  2. Kitty Hawk – Orville And Wilbur,
  3. High Flight – BeeGee and the Blackbird
• 1997 The Sea Treaders
• Come Wandering Shepherds
• Eulogies by the Bard of Great Falls
• Fanfare „The Lions of North Bridge“
• Lauds And Tropes
  1. Laud I, II.
  2. Trope I, III.
  3. Laud II, IV.
  4. Trope II, V.
  5. Laud III
• Tenebrae
• The Gathering of the Waters
• When Honor Whispers And Shouts
• Variants on a Chorale of Clifton Williams (unpublished, 1977)
• When Rossi Strikes
• The Dream Catcher
• Scaramouche
• Estampie

Pedagogical Works

• Effective Performance of Band Music: Solutions to specific problems of 20th Century Music (Southern Music Co. 1972)
• New Theories of Theory: Helpful New Ideas for the Understanding of 18th Century Harmony (Southern Music Co. 1979)
• The Complete Honor Band Manual: A guide for the Preparation and Organization of Honor Band Clinics (Southern Music Co. 1986)
• Twentieth Century Techniques of Composition for the Beginning Student (Delta Publications 1994)

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Bob Holness, South African-born British quiz show host and actor (Blockbusters), died he was 83.

Robert Wentworth John Holness was a British radio and television presenter died he was 83..

(12 November 1928 – 6 January 2012)

Early life

Holness was born in Vryheid, Natal, South Africa.^[2] When he was seven,^[3] his family moved to the UK, initially to Herne Bay, Kent where his grandfather Nathaniel was brought up, then later to Ashford, Kent. After attending Ashford Grammar School (now The Norton Knatchbull School) and Maidstone College of Art,^[4] he then worked for a printing company before returning to South Africa. In 1955, he received his first job as a radio presenter. He also married Mary in 1955, whom he met in South Africa. In 1956 he played 'Agent 007' in a radio production of Moonraker.^[2][3][5] The couple returned to the UK in 1961. His daughter, Ros, was a member of the band Toto Coelo.
Holness joined the BBC as a presenter on Late Night Extra, initially on the BBC Light Programme and later on BBC Radio 1 and 2, presenting alongside people like Terry Wogan, Michael Parkinson and Keith Fordyce. From 1971, the show was broadcast solely on Radio 2. Between 1975 and 1985, he was co-presenter with Douglas Cameron of the breakfast-time AM Programme on London's LBC radio station. He originally joined the station as an airborne traffic reporter. He won the Variety Club Award for 'Joint Independent Radio Personality of the Year' in both 1979-84.^{[citation needed]}
Between 1985-97, he returned to Radio 2, presenting many shows including Bob Holness Requests the Pleasure and Bob Holness and Friends, as well as covering various weekday shows for holidaying presenters. From the late 1960s Until 1998, he also presented the request programme Anything Goes on the BBC World Service.^[2]

Baker Street

Holness was the subject of an urban myth,^[6][7] claimed to have been initiated in the 1980s by broadcaster Stuart Maconie who, writing for the New Musical Express in a section called 'Believe It Or Not', said that Holness had played the saxophone solo on Gerry Rafferty's 1978 song "Baker Street".^[8] Tommy Boyd, among others, has disputed Maconie's claim to authorship of the rumour.^[9] The actual performer was Raphael Ravenscroft. The story clearly appealed to Holness' sense of humour as he often played along with the myth, and also at various times jokingly claimed to be the lead guitarist on Derek and the Dominoes' "Layla", and the mysterious individual putting Elvis Presley off his stride on the 'laughing' version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"

Television career

In 1962, Holness became the host of UK game show Take a Letter, was relief host of Thames Television's magazine programme Today in 1968, and from 1983 until 1994 presented the British version of Blockbusters, for which he is best known. In 1995, he hosted Yorkshire Television's big-budget game show flop Raise the Roof before becoming the chairman of a revived Call My Bluff for the BBC. Holness appeared on one episode of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in 2004, when he presented the last round of Ant and Dec's Blockbusters, with Ant as a contestant.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life, illness and death

Bob Holness gave his support to many charities, including the children's charities Teenage Cancer Trust, Young People's Trust for the Environment and National Children's Home (now Action for Children), of which he was vice-President from 1994.^[10] These were among the approximately 30 charities that he supported.^[11]
On 24 November 2002, Holness suffered a major stroke, following which a brain scan revealed he had previously suffered a number of transient ischaemic attacks over several years. He also suffered from hearing loss, and began to use a hearing aid in 2003.^[12] He was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2005.^[13] In the last few years of his life he suffered from vascular dementia and lived in a nursing home.^[14]
His family announced on 6 January 2012 that he had died that day, in his sleep, aged 83.^[5] He is survived by his wife Mary, as well as their three children, Carol, Ros and Jon, and seven grandchildren; Sam, Tom, Arthur, Theo, Rylan, Cassian and Lily.^[5]


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Roger Boisjoly, American aerospace engineer, anticipated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, died from cancer he was 73.

Roger Mark Boisjoly was an American mechanical engineer, fluid dynamicist, and an aerodynamicist who worked for Morton Thiokol, the manufacturer of the solid rocket boosters (SRBs) for the Space Shuttle program died from cancer he was 73.. Prior to his employment at Thiokol, Boisjoly worked for companies in California on lunar module life-support systems and the moon vehicle.^[2] He is best known for having raised objections to the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger the day before the loss of the spacecraft and its crew.

(April 25, 1938 – January 6, 2012) 

O-ring safety concerns

Boisjoly wrote a memo in July 1985 to his superiors concerning the faulty design of the solid rocket boosters that, if left unaddressed, could lead to a catastrophic event during launch of a Space Shuttle. Such a catastrophic event did occur less than a year later resulting in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
This memo followed his investigation of a solid rocket booster (SRB) from a shuttle flight in January 1985. During his investigation, he discovered that the first of a system of two O-rings had failed completely, and that some damage had been caused to the second O-ring.
The O-rings were two rubber rings that formed a seal between two sections of the SRBs. The sections of the boosters were joined using tang and clevis joints and the rings were intended to seal the joint, while allowing for the inevitable movement between the sections under flight conditions. By design, pressure from within the booster was to push a fillet of putty into the joint, forcing the O-ring into its seat. The system never functioned as designed. The rings were supposed to sit in a groove and seal the joint between the sections of the booster. It was found, however, that flight dynamics caused the joints in the SRB's to flex during launch, opening a gap through which rocket exhaust could escape. As the joints flexed, the rings would come out of their grooves and move to a new position in the joint, a process called extrusion. The extruded ring would form a seal in this new position, but during the time it took for the ring to shift, the joint was unsealed and hot gasses could escape, a process called blow-by. These hot gasses would cause damage to the rings until the seal was achieved.
Boisjoly's investigation showed that the amount of damage to the O-ring depended on the length of time it took for the ring to move out of its groove and make the seal, and that the amount of time depended on the temperature of the rings. Cold weather made the rubber hard and less flexible, meaning that extrusion took more time and more blow-by took place. He determined that if the O-rings were damaged enough they could fail.
If the second O-ring had failed, Boisjoly realized, the results would almost certainly have been catastrophic with the complete loss of the shuttle and crew seemingly the only outcome. His investigation found that the first O-ring failed because of the low temperatures on the night before the flight had compromised the flexibility of the O-ring, reducing its ability to form a seal. The temperature at launch had been only 10 °C (50 °F), the coldest on record (until January 28, 1986). The first rubber O-ring had formed a partial seal, but not a complete one, but the second O-ring had held.
Boisjoly sent a memo describing the problem to his managers, but was apparently ignored.^[3] Following several further memos, a task force was set up – including Boisjoly – to investigate the matter, but after a month Boisjoly realized that the task force had no power, no resources and no management support. In late 1985 Boisjoly advised his managers that if the problem was not fixed, there was a distinct chance that a shuttle mission would end in disaster. No action was taken.

Challenger disaster

Following the announcement that the Challenger mission was confirmed for January 28, 1986, Boisjoly and his colleagues tried to stop the flight. Temperatures were due to be down to −1 °C (30 °F) overnight. Boisjoly felt that this would severely compromise the safety of the O-ring, and potentially lose the flight.
The matter was discussed with Morton Thiokol managers, who agreed that the issue was serious enough to recommend delaying the flight. They arranged a telephone conference with NASA management and gave their findings. However, after a while, the Morton Thiokol managers asked for a few minutes off the phone to discuss their final position again. Despite the efforts of Boisjoly and others in this off-line briefing, the Morton Thiokol managers decided to advise NASA that their data was inconclusive. NASA asked if there were objections. Hearing none, the decision to fly the ill-fated STS-51L Challenger mission was made.
Boisjoly's concerns proved correct. In the first moments after ignition, the O-rings failed completely and were burned away, resulting in the black puff of smoke visible on films of the launch. This left only a layer of insulating putty to seal the joint^{[citation needed]}. At 59 seconds after launch, buffeted by high-altitude winds, the putty gave way. Hot gases streamed out of the joint in a visible torch-like plume that burned into the external hydrogen tank. At about 73 seconds, the adjacent SRB strut gave way and the vehicle quickly disintegrated.
Boisjoly was relieved when the flight lifted off, as his investigations had predicted that the SRB would explode during the initial take-off. However, seventy-three seconds later, he witnessed the shuttle disaster on television.

Later career

After President Ronald Reagan ordered a presidential commission to review the disaster, Boisjoly was one of the witnesses called. He gave accounts of how and why he felt the O-rings had failed. After the commission gave its findings, Boisjoly found himself shunned by colleagues and managers and he resigned from the company.
Boisjoly became a speaker on workplace ethics.^[4] He argued that the caucus called by Morton Thiokol managers, which resulted in a recommendation to launch, "constituted the unethical decision-making forum resulting from intense customer intimidation."^[5]
For his honesty and integrity leading up to and directly following the shuttle disaster, Boisjoly was awarded the Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1988.^[1][4]
When Boisjoly left Morton Thiokol, he took 14 boxes containing every note and paper he received or sent in seven years. On May 13, 2010, he donated his personal memoranda — six boxes of personal papers, including memos and notes from congressional testimony — to Chapman University in Orange, California. Rand Boyd, the special-collections and archival librarian at Chapman's Leatherby Libraries, said the materials will be catalogued and archived. It was to be about six months to a year before library visitors would be able to view the materials.^[6]
Boisjoly died on January 6, 2012, of cancer of the colon, kidneys, and liver.^[2]


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Tom Ardolino, American drummer (NRBQ), died he was 56.

Thomas Robert "Tom" Ardolino was a rock drummer best known as a member of NRBQ (New Rhythm and Blues Quartet) died he was 56.. Ardolino was initially a fan of the band, and began corresponding and trading tapes with keyboardist and co-founder Terry Adams.


(January 12, 1955 – January 6, 2012)

On one occasion, original NRBQ drummer Tom Staley did not return for an encore, and Adams invited Ardolino to fill in. Ardolino performed well enough that when Staley left the band in 1974, his bandmates agreed that Ardolino was the natural choice as successor.^[1] Ardolino remained in the lineup until the band went on hiatus in 2004, returning for occasional reunion performances, and lending his support when Adams decided to reclaim the NRBQ name for a new band in 2011. While lead vocals were generally performed by other members of NRBQ, live shows often included a moment where Ardolino would take the spotlight and sing, either with a karaoke backing track or with one of the other band members drumming.
Ardolino was a resident of Springfield, Massachusetts, and he appeared in a promotional video to campaign for the world premiere of The Simpsons Movie in Springfield.
Ardolino's solo album "Unknown Brain" was released in 2004 on CD by Bumble Bee Records, Japan and on vinyl LP in the USA on Mystra Records. The album consists mostly of basement recordings made in 1971-72. The cover states "WARNING: If out-of-tuneness bothers you, do not listen."^[2]
Ardolino was also an avid collector of song poems, having contributed to the "MSR Madness" series of compilations.
In December 2011 nrbq.com posted the following news "Tom Ardolino is presently dealing with a number of health issues and is expected to be in the hospital for some time." He died on January 6, 2012 at a Springfield, Massachusetts hospital. Later that day, a post on the NRBQ Headquarters page on Facebook read, "We regret to inform you that Tom Ardolino passed away today. Tom will be missed but his spirit lives on through those who were touched by him." ^[3][4] An article from the Washington Post later specified the cause as diabetes.^[5]


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Alexander Sizonenko, Russian basketball player, world's tallest person (1991), died he was 52.

Alexander Alekseyevich Sizonenko was a Soviet basketball player died he was 52..

(Ukrainian: Олександр Олексійович Сизоненко; Russian: Александр Алексеевич Сизоненко; 27 July 1959 – 5 January 2012)

Sizonenko was born in the village of Zaporizhia, Ukrainian SSR. Possibly the tallest person to have ever played professional basketball, he was measured by Guinness World Records at 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in) and named the world's tallest man in 1991. Sizonenko was said to have grown since this measurement was taken, although age reduced his standing height considerably. Because of his enormous growth, his mobility was increasingly impaired.
Sizonenko played professionally for Spartak Leningrad (1976–1978) and for Stroitel Kuybyshev (1979–1986). Sizonenko was also a member of the Soviet national team and appeared on its behalf for 12 games.
He lived in Saint Petersburg, was divorced and had a son Alexander born in 1994. In 2011 he was moved to a hospital in St. Petersburg, where he died on 5 January 2012. He was 52.


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Amit Saigal, Indian rock magazine publisher, concert promoter and musician, drowned he was 46.

Amit Saigal was an Indian rock musician, promoter of rock music, publisher and impresario drowned he was 46.. Saigal founded the music magazine Rock Street Journal and promoted rock music in India. Amit was also termed as "Papa Rock" by the rock music community of India.^[1]

^{(6 July 1965 – 5 January 2012)} 

Career

Amit Saigal's Rock Street Journal (RSJ) was the first rock magazine in India. He started RSJ in 1993. Saigal printed 2,500 copies of RSJ from his hometown, Allahabad.^[3]
Saigal used RSJ to promote rock concerts, such as the Great Indian Rock festival (GIR) that toured metros to Pub Rock fest and introduced rock/indie music to various clubs around the country.
He had over 25 years of experience in the music business in India, and was closely involved in the club as well as the concert market in India, and had been an encouragement to many emerging rock bands and musicians.
Saigal was also part of a band called Impact that played classic rock songs.^[2]

Death

On 5 January 2012, while on vacation, Saigal and his friends had gone for a swim after anchoring his sailboat off Bogmalo beach in Goa. Saigal reportedly drowned due to unknown reasons. By the time lifeguards could reach him, he was already dead.^[2]


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