Keith Waterhouse, British Playwright, Dies at 80‎

Keith Spencer Waterhouse CBE died he was 80.^[1] Waterhouse was a novelist, newspaper columnist, and the writer of many television series.(6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009)

Keith Waterhouse was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He did two years of national service in the Royal Air Force.

His credits, many with life-long friend and collaborator Willis Hall, include satires such as That Was The Week That Was, BBC-3 and The Frost Report during the 1960s, the book for the 1975 musical The Card, Budgie, Worzel Gummidge, and Andy Capp (an adaptation of the comic strip).

His 1959 book Billy Liar was subsequently filmed by John Schlesinger with Tom Courtenay in the part of Billy. It was nominated in six categories of the 1964 BAFTA awards, including Best Screenplay, and was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1963; in the early 1970s a sitcom based on the character was quite popular and ran to 25 episodes—a respectable run for a British sitcom, although it has seldom been seen since.

Waterhouse's first screenplay was the film Whistle Down the Wind (1961). Without receiving screen credit, Waterhouse and Hall did extensive rewrites on the original script for Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain (1966). Waterhouse is also the author of the play Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell (1989; Old Vic premiere, 1999), based on the life of journalist Jeffrey Bernard.

His career began at the Yorkshire Evening Post and he also wrote regularly for Punch, the Daily Mirror, and for the Daily Mail. His extended style book for the Daily Mirror, Waterhouse On Newspaper Style,^[2] is regarded as a classic textbook for modern journalism. This was followed by a pocket book on English usage intended for a wider audience entitled English Our English (And How To Sing It).

He fought long crusades to highlight what he perceived to be a decline in the standards of modern English; for example, he founded the Association for the Abolition of the Aberrant Apostrophe, whose members attempt to stem the tide of such solecisms as "pound's of apple's and orange's" in greengrocers' shops.^[3]

In February 2004 he was voted Britain's most admired contemporary columnist by the British Journalism Review.

On 4 September 2009, a statement released by his family announced that Waterhouse had died quietly in his sleep at his home in London; he was 80.^[1]

Christian Poveda, was murdered he was 52

(CNN) -- A French filmmaker who recently finished a documentary about a violent street gang in El Salvador was found shot dead in the town of Tonacatepeque, about 10 miles northeast of the capital city of San Salvador, authorities said.

French documentary filmmaker Christian Poveda was found shot dead 10 miles northeast of San Salvador.

Christian Poveda, 52, was shot at least four times in the face, according to local reports.

Poveda's documentary, "La Vida Loca," which follows the lives of members of the Mara 18 street gang, had been screened at a handful of film festivals and is slated for wider release later this month. His body was found in an area controlled by that same gang, local reports said.

A motive of Poveda's murder Wednesday was being investigated, National Civil Police Director Carlos Ascencio Giron said in a statement. Citing the pending investigation, police did not immediately give any details, but Ascencio Giron said that the homicide and organized crime divisions of his department were handling the case jointly with the attorney general's office.

Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes said he was "very shocked" by the news of the murder.

According to a statement by the president's office, Poveda first arrived in El Salvador in the 1980s to cover the civil war as a photojournalist. He left to report from other war zones, but returned to research and film the gangs in El Salvador.

Poveda on Wednesday was traveling in his car after filming in a town called Soyapango when unknown assailants intercepted him and then shot him, according to the statement.

The homicide sector chief for the National Civil Police, Marco Tulio Lima, told the newspaper El Diario de Hoy that police detained one person in connection to the killing, but did not say if the person was a suspect.

"Christian Poveda's recent film about El Salvador's street gangs provided a powerful inside look into youth violence in one of Central America's most dangerous regions," said Carlos Lauria of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"We urge the authorities to conduct a prompt and exhaustive inquiry into his murder and bring all those responsible to justice."

In March, "La Vida Loca" was a hit with audiences at the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Mexico, the organization told CNN through a spokesman.

Poveda gave himself fully to his work and spent years following the Mara 18, the festival spokesman said.

"Creating documentary implies working for the love of the profession, and that was what our friend Christian showed us in the short time that we had the opportunity to know him," the Film Festival said in a statement.

The producer of Poveda's documentary, Carole Solive, told The Guardian newspaper that, "He went out alone . . . to get back in touch with the gang whose story he had filmed."

"But their boss was in prison and he found himself in the middle of very restless young capos who, for the first time, asked him for money," she said

Sheila Lukins died she was 66

Sheila Lukins died she was 66. Lukins was an American cook and food writer. She was most famous as the co-author, with Julee Rosso, of the The Silver Palate series of cookbooks, and The New Basics Cookbook, a very popular set of food guides which introduced many Americans to French, Southern and Eastern European cooking techniques and ingredients and popularized a richer and very boldly seasoned style of cooking to Americans in sharp contrast to the health-food movements of the 1970s. Together, their books sold more than seven million copies. She was also the co-founder and owner of the popular Silver Palate gourmet shop in New York City and, for 23 years, the food editor and columnist for Parade, a position previously held by Julia Child.

(1942 – August 30, 2009)

Born Sheila Gail Block in Philadelphia, she grew up in Norwalk and Westport, Connecticut.^[1] She studied art at the Tyler School of Fine Arts, the School of Visual Arts and New York University, where she earned a bachelor's degree with honor in Art Education. After graduation, she attended Le Cordon Bleu in London, England, while working in graphic design. Her culinary education continued in France, where she worked alongside Michelin-starred chefs in Bordeaux.

In 1977 she returned to New York City and, with friend Julee Rosso, opened and ran a gourmet food shop in New York City called The Silver Palate at the corner of Columbus Avenue and 73rd Street. In the 1980s they wrote, with Michael McLaughlin, The Silver Palate Cookbook, which broke cookbook records by selling 250,000 copies in its first year and went on to sell 2.5-million copies, followed by The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, and others. In 1986, she replaced Julia Child as the food editor for Parade.

After 11 years working together, Rosso and Lukins split up in the 1990s in a widely-reported feud. The Silver Palate shop, which had been sold to new owners in 1988, closed its doors in 1993, although a brand of sauces and condiments bearing its name continues to be sold. During this period Lukins published her own successful series of books including Sheila Lukins' All Round the World Cookbook and Celebrate! In 2007 she reunited with Rosso to publish a new 25th-anniversary edition of The New Basics Cookbook.

In June of 2009, she was diagnosed with brain cancer, and died of the disease on August 30, 2009, at her home in Manhattan, at age 66, surrounded by her children.^[1]

Books

with Julee Rosso

• The Silver Palate Cookbook, 1979
• The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, 1984 (Winner of the James Beard award in the "Entertaining" category in 1986)^[2]
• The New Basics Cookbook, 1989
• Silver Palate Desserts, 1995

[edit] By Sheila Lukins

• Sheila Lukins' All Round the World Cookbook, 1994
• USA Cookbook, 1997
• Celebrate!, 2003

Dominick John Dunne died he was 83

Dominick John Dunne^{[1] [2]} was an American writer and investigative journalist whose subjects frequently hinged on the ways high society interacts with the judicial system. He was a producer in Hollywood and was also known for his frequent appearances on television. He was the brother of author John Gregory Dunne; the writer Joan Didion was his sister-in-law. He was the father of Alexander Dunne, and of the actors Griffin Dunne and Dominique Dunne as well as two daughters who died in infancy.

(October 29, 1925 - August 26, 2009)

Dunne, the second of six children, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Dorothy Frances (née Burns) and Richard Edwin Dunne, a hospital chief of staff and prominent heart surgeon.^[3][4] His Irish Catholic family was wealthy (his maternal grandfather founded the Park Street Trust), but from his earliest days Dunne recalled feeling like an outsider in the predominantly WASPish West Hartford.^[3]

After Dunne's studies at the Kingswood School and Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut^[5] 'Nicky' Dunne – as he was known during his boyhood – attended Williams College and then served in World War II, including the battle of Metz. Afterward he moved to New York, then to Hollywood, where he directed Playhouse 90 and became vice-president of Four Star Television. He hobnobbed with the rich and the famous of those days. In 1979, beset with addictions, Dunne left Hollywood and moved to rural Oregon, where he says he dealt with his personal demons and wrote his first book, The Winners.

In November 1982, his daughter, Dominique Dunne, best known for her part in the film Poltergeist, was murdered. Dunne attended the trial of her murderer (John Thomas Sweeney) and wrote the article "Justice: A Father's Account of the Trial of his Daughter's Killer" for Vanity Fair.

Dunne went on to write for Vanity Fair regularly and fictionalized several real-life events, such as the murders of Alfred Bloomingdale's mistress Vicki Morgan and banking heir William Woodward, Jr., for best-selling books. He eventually hosted the TV series Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice on CourtTV (later truTV), in which he discussed justice and injustice and their intersection with celebrities. Famous trials he covered include those of O.J. Simpson, Claus von Bulow, Michael Skakel, William Kennedy Smith, and the Menendez brothers.

In 2005, Gary Condit won an undisclosed amount of money and an apology from Dunne, who had earlier implicated him in the disappearance of Chandra Levy, an intern from his district with whom he had been carrying on an affair. In November 2006, he was sued again by Condit for comments made about the former politician on Larry King Live on CNN^[6] but the suit was tossed out of court.

While it was rumored in early 2006 that he intended to cease writing for Vanity Fair, Dunne stated the opposite in a February 4, 2006 interview with talk show host Larry King. "Oh, I am at Vanity Fair. I'll be in the next issue and the issue after that. We went through, you know, a difficult period. That happens in long relationships and, you know, you either work your way through them or you get a divorce. And I didn't want a divorce and we've worked our way through and Graydon and I are close and he's a great editor and I'm thrilled to be there."^[7]

Dunne frequently socialized with, wrote about, and was photographed with celebrities. A Salon.com review of his memoir, The Way We Lived Then, recounted how Dunne appeared at a wedding reception for Dennis Hopper. Sean Elder, the author of the review, wrote: "But in the midst of it all there was one man who was getting what ceramic artist Ron Nagle would call 'the full cheese,' one guy everyone gravitated toward and paid obeisance to." That individual was Dunne, who mixed easily with artists, actors and writers present at the function. The final line of the review about Dunne quoted Dennis Hopper wishing he "had a picture of myself with Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer."^[8]

In 2008, at age 82, Dunne traveled from New York to Las Vegas to cover O.J. Simpson's trial on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery for Vanity Fair magazine, claiming it would be his last. During the trial, an unidentified woman approached and kissed him, causing her to be ejected from the courtroom. When he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, he expressed amazement[1]at how fast the word spread at his fan site, DominicksDiary.com.[2]

Dunne's adventures in Hollywood as an outcast, top-selling author and reporter, were catalogued in the release of Dominick Dunne: After the Party. This film documents his successes and tribulations as a big name in the entertainment industry. In the film, Dunne reflects on his past as a World War II veteran, falling in love and raising a family, his climb and fall as a Hollywood producer, and his epic comeback as a writer.

In September 2008, Dunne disclosed that he was being treated for bladder cancer.^[9] He was working on Too Much Money, his final book, at the time of his death.^[10] On September 22, 2008, Dunne complained of intense pain and was taken by ambulance to Valley Hospital.^[11] Dunne died on August 26, 2009 at his home in Manhattan from bladder cancer.^[12] However news of his death was minimal, as Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy had died the day before.^[13]

Brenda Joyce died she was 92

Brenda Joyce died she 92. Joyce was an American film actress. She was born as Betty Graffina Leabo in Excelsior Springs, Missouri.

Although she appeared in many B-movies of the 1940s, she is best-remembered as the seventh actress to play Jane in the Tarzan series of films. She succeeded Maureen O'Sullivan in the series and appeared in the role five times.

Her first four appearances as Jane were opposite Johnny Weissmuller. However, her last performance as Jane, in Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949), was with Lex Barker as Tarzan. Joyce and Karla Schramm from the silent era were the only two actresses to play Jane opposite two different actors playing Tarzan.

(February 25, 1917^[1] – July 4, 2009^[2])

She retired from acting in 1949.

She was married to Owen Ward from 1941 until their divorce in 1949; they had three children, Pamela Ann, Timothy Owen and Beth Victoria.

Brenda Joyce died on July 4, 2009 in a nursing home in Santa Monica, California.^[2]

Dave Lester Laut died he was 52

David "Dave" Lester Laut died he was 52. Laut was an American shot putter. He was born in Findlay, Ohio.

(December 21, 1956 – August 27, 2009)

He won the bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He also won the gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games and the bronze at the 1981 IAAF World Cup.

His personal best throw was 22.02 metres, achieved in August 1982 in Koblenz.

Laut was murdered at his home in Oxnard, California on August 27, 2009 by an armed prowler. He was shot three times and died immediately. He had been the Athletic Director for Hueneme High School in the Oxnard Union High School District.

Adam Michael Goldstein (DJ AM) has died he was 36 years old

Adam Michael Goldstein has died he was 36. DJ ASM was an American club disc jockey better known as DJ AM. Goldstein was a former member of the rock band Crazy Town, and scratched on albums for Papa Roach, Madonna, and Will Smith, among others. He collaborated with Travis Barker of Blink-182 at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, and appeared in several television series.

(March 30, 1973 – August 28, 2009)

On September 19, 2008, Goldstein was seriously injured when a Learjet he was traveling in crashed on takeoff. Singer Mandy Moore, with whom he was close, flew to be by his side at the Georgia hospital where he was staying.^[1] He had been battling post-traumatic stress after the crash, and suffering from 'survivor guilt'.^[2]

Goldstein was found dead at his New York City apartment at around 5:20 p.m. on Friday, August 28, 2009.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a Jewish family,^[3][4][5] His father verbally abused him, as Goldstein said, it was "unbelievably cruel." Later he found out his father was secretly gay and addicted to drugs.^[6] Eventually his father was sent to jail for committing bank fraud and died of AIDS.^[7] He began taking drugs, so his mother placed him in a treatment center that specialized in “tough love.” Unbeknownst to his mother, the place was an abusive house of horrors that would eventually be shut down. "The counselors beat us. They spit in our faces. They starved us. They never let us see or talk to our parents," Goldstein later pictured the situation.^[8]

When Goldstein was 20 years old, he started deejaying, which he'd been obsessed with ever since he saw Herbie Hancock do the song “Rockit” at the Grammy Awards. He started going to AA meetings again and distanced himself from friends who were still using drugs. "By then, I was booking jobs at every major club and had started to gain a following," he told Glamour magazine. ^[9]

Goldstein was a member of the rock band Crazy Town, known for their hit "Butterfly". He has also scratched on albums for Papa Roach, Madonna, Will Smith, and Shifty and played concerts with Jay-Z. He has played private events for celebrities like Jim Carrey, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Stiller, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, and Kate Hudson.^[10] He had had a one-year contract with Las Vegas' Pure Nightclub inside Caesar's Palace to play at the venue every Friday and opening a nightclub at Caesars Atlantic City called Dusk.^[11]

He had recently collaborated with Travis Barker of Blink-182 and +44 in several performances, including the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that DJ AM would make his first appearance with Travis Barker since the two survived the plane crash. The duo performed at New Year's Nation's Los Angeles 2008 New Year's Eve Party at The Wiltern. Their performance was streamed live on the Internet via New Year's Nation's official site, and was broadcast at other New Year's Nation parties across the U.S.^[12][13] Before the gig Barker told press, "I'm ready to get back onstage with AM and continue to rock the house. I'm very excited to bring in the New Year in my hometown of L.A."^[14]

His reality television appearances include Punk'd, where his former fiancée, Nicole Richie, was the subject of a practical joke, and the third season of The Simple Life. Goldstein appears as himself in the "What About Bob?" episode of Entourage's third season; he gets the last pair of an exclusive line of shoes, right before Vince (Adrian Grenier) and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) arrive. He had recently finished filming a reality show for MTV, called Gone Too Far, in which he and concerned families staged interventions for drug abusers.^[15]

He was also a co-owner of the popular club LAX. In 2009, DJ AM became Rain Nightclub's regular Friday night DJ.^[16]

On September 19, 2008, after having performed at a college event with frequent collaborator Travis Barker, Goldstein was seriously injured when a Learjet he was traveling in crashed on takeoff in West Columbia, South Carolina. The crash killed both crew members and two other passengers, and critically injured Goldstein and Barker.^[17] They were both transported to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia, and were both listed in critical condition.^[18] According to reports, Goldstein suffered burns on his hands and part of his head. His ex-girlfriend, singer Mandy Moore, with whom he was still close, flew to be by his side at the Georgia hospital where he was staying.^[19][20] Goldstein was released from the hospital on September 26, 2008, a spokeswoman told AP.^[21]

In December 2008, Goldstein filed a civil lawsuit against the plane's charter company, Learjet and Goodyear tires; the suit claims negligence on the part of the pilots and a manufacturing defect on the part of the plane. Goldstein was asking for damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement and loss of earnings.^[22] Goldstein was the last passenger to file a civil suit; the estates of deceased passengers Chris Baker and Charles Still have already filed suits, as has crash survivor Travis Barker, although Barker and Still's suits did not name the deceased pilots as defendants.^[23]

"I have a great deal of faith that everything happens for a reason. I put myself in God's hands," Goldstein told People magazine in October 2008.^[24]

Goldstein was addicted to crack cocaine and "at 24 I felt like my life was over," he told Glamour magazine in January 2008. At the time he hadn't taken drugs or had a drink for nine and a half years. "At any given moment, I'm five seconds away from walking up to someone, grabbing their drink out of their hand and downing it. And if I do that, within a week, tops, I’ll be smoking crack," he added.^[25]

He began dating actress Nicole Richie in 2004 and announced their engagement a year later in February 2005.^[26] However, the couple broke up in late 2006.^[27] "The one thing that stands out about Adam is that I can be myself," Richie said after the breakup.^[28] After his breakup with Richie, Goldstein dated singer-actress Mandy Moore.^[29][30] He was good friends with Steve Aoki, Cory Kennedy, Samantha Ronson, John Mayer, Paris Hilton, Travis Barker and DJ Eric Cubeechee.^[31]

DJ AM was an avid "sneakerhead" (posting on sneaker enthusiast message board Niketalk.com), he collected athletic shoes, primarily Nikes. His collection of over 600 shoes includes a pair of Nike Air Force 1 shoes that were created specifically for him, with his DJ AM logo appearing on the shoe itself. In a new commercial, he starred alongside Mike Epps and Kobe Bryant sporting the Nike Air Yeezy, the signature shoe for Kanye West.^[32]

Adam Goldstein was found dead at his New York City apartment at 210 Lafayette Street at around 5:20 p.m. on Friday, August 28, 2009. He was 36 years old. Friends called the police, who along with paramedics broke into the apartment and found Goldstein's body. Sources say the cause of death may have been accidental drug overdose.^[33][34] Statements by a New York law enforcement official to the Associated Press indicate that drug paraphernalia was found in the apartment, but no signs of foul play.^[35] A rep for Goldstein released a statement: "Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein was found deceased this afternoon in his New York City apartment. The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear. Out of respect for his family and loved ones, please respect their privacy at this time."

A week before his death, Goldstein and longtime girlfriend Hayley Wood had broken up. On August 21, Life & Style magazine reported that Goldstein's friends took him out for dinner earlier that week in Los Angeles "because he was depressed." His friends told TMZ.com that he continued to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).^[36] "He struggled with pain after the crash," a close friend of Goldstein told E! News Friday. "But it seemed like he was functioning fine and never missed work."^[37]