Nick Counter died he was 69, American film executive and lawyer.

James Nicholas "Nick" Counter, III died he was 69. Counter was an American lawyer who served as head of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers from its founding in 1982 until March 2009.^[1] (21 March 1940 – 6 November 2009)

Counter was born in Phoenix, Arizona and grew up in the Denver area where he attended Denver East. He majored in electrical engineering at University of Colorado on a Boettcher scholarship. He was a football fullback, lettering as a senior. In their 21-20 win over Missouri in 1959, he scored the winning two-point conversion the year after the play was instated.^[2]

He later earned a law degree at Stanford University in 1966, then became a labor lawyer in Los Angeles. He was a key figure in the negotiations during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike and the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike.^[3]

Counter died aged 69 in Los Angeles.

Hans Lund died he was 59, American poker player, cancer.

Hans "Tuna" Lund died he was 59. Lund was an American professional poker player, based in Sparks, Nevada, who won two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, and was the runner-up at the 1990 WSOP Main Event.^[1](c. 1949 - 2009)

Lund began playing poker tournaments in 1977 and won a bracelet at the 1978 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in the $1,500 no limit hold'em event. A decade later he finished 2nd in the same event at the 1988 WSOP.^[1]

At the 1990 WSOP Lund was heads-up against Mansour Matloubi. On the decisive hand, he had a slight chip lead before the hand started, when with A-9 offsuit he called a pre-flop raise from Matloubi. He raised Matloubi's bet on the 9-4-2 flop, to put him practically all-in. Matloubi called with 10-10. An ace on the turn meant Lund only had to avoid the last two tens in the deck for the championship, but a 10 came on the river. He eventually finished runner-up, with Matloubi taking the title. He also finished in the money of the main event in 1991 (19th) and 1992 (3rd).^[1]

Lund went on to win a second bracelet at the 1996 WSOP in the $1,500 Ace to Five Draw event.^[1]

In addition to his two bracelets, Lund won a Hall of Fame watch, the Super Bowl of Poker main event and the Best All-Around Player Award at the Diamond Jim Brady tournament.^[1]

Lund retired from playing tournaments on a regular basis in 1997. He made a resurgence on the tournament circuit with two deep finishes at World Poker Tour events in 2007. He finished in 20th place at the L.A. Poker Classic, and 15th place at the Bay 101 Shooting Star. He also cashed in the 2006 WSOP Main Event and in the 2006 Five-Diamond World Poker Classic championship event.^[1]

His total live tournament winnings exceed $2,900,000.^[2] His 22 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,079,504 of those winnings.^[3]

Lund died November 6, 2009 after a long battle with cancer.^[4]

Tommy Reis died he was 95,

Thomas Edward (Tommy) Reis was a relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball in the 1938 season. He batted and threw right-handed.(August 6, 1914 – November 6, 2009)

Born in Newport, Kentucky, Reis was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies from the Wilkes-Barre team (Eastern) in the 1937 rule V draft. He debuted with Philadelphia in 1938, then was purchased by the Boston Bees during the midseason. In eight appearances, he posted a 0-1 record with six strikeouts and a 12.27 ERA in 11.0 innings.

At the time of his death, Reis was recognized as one of the oldest living MLB players. With the death of Gene Corbett on January 28, 2009, Reis became the last living former baseball player who played at Baker Bowl, the home ballpark for the Phillies between May 2, 1895 and June 30, 1938, as a member of the Phillies.

Ron Sproat died he was 77

Ronald Sproat was an American screenwriter and playwright known for Dark Shadows.

(died 6 November 2009 in Manhattan, New York, age 77)

Sproat served as head writer on Dark Shadows and created Barnabas Collins.^[3] Sproat has written for Never Too Young, a teen soap opera that aired on ABC from 1965 to 1966 and Strange Paradise, a Canadian soap opera that aired in syndication in the United States from 1969 to 1970.

In addition to television writing, Sproat has also written for musical theatre including Abie's Island Rose and Back Home: The War Brides Musical, both of which ran off Broadway.^[4][5]

Sproat received his MA from the University of Michigan, and performed undergraduate work at Hamilton College. While at Hamilton College, he won the William Duncan Saunders Award for creative writing. Sproat also attended Yale University where he earned a MFA. While attending Michigan, Sproat was also the recipient of the Avery Hopwood Award.^[3]

^{To see more stars that died click here.}

William H. Avery died he was 98,

William Henry Avery died he was 98, Avery was an American Republican Party politician who served as the thirty-seventh Governor of Kansas from 1965 until 1967.

(August 11, 1911 – November 4, 2009)

Born in 1911 near Wakefield, Kansas, Avery graduated from the University of Kansas in 1934. While attending the KU he joined Delta Upsilon Fraternity. He was a member of the Wakefield School Board, and served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1951 to 1955, and in the Congress for the Republican Party from 1955 to 1965.^[1]

Avery is remembered as the governor who sanctioned the executions of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, the murderers of the Clutter family, made famous by the Truman Capote book In Cold Blood. Capote describes the governor as "a wealthy farmer" conscious of public opinion. Also as governor, he dedicated a memorial in Delphos, Kansas for Abraham Lincoln and Grace Bedell, the eleven year old girl who suggested to presidential candidate Lincoln to grow his famous beard.^[2]

After losing the governorship to Robert Docking in the 1966 election, Avery attempted but failed to win a seat in the Senate, losing in the primary to future U.S. presidential candidate Bob Dole. Following his retirement from politics, he worked for Clinton Oil Company and became president of Real Petroleum Company.

He was one of five former governors interviewed for the documentary The Kansas Governor, in which he proudly stated that in his many years of politics he had never played a round of golf. Avery was married to Hazel Bowles ^[3] (January 4, 1914 - August 17, 2004)^[4] from 1940 until her death. He died on November 4, 2009 at age 98. Flags in the state were ordered lowered until November 14 in his honor.^[5]

At the time of his death, he was the second oldest living governor of any state behind Albert Rosellini of Washington and was the oldest living former U.S. Representative following the September 25, 2008 death of Glenn Andrews of Alabama. Avery's death left former New York Representative William F. Walsh as the oldest living former House member.

Art D'Lugoff, 85, American jazz nightclub owner

Art D'Lugoff died he was 85 D'Lugoff was an American jazz impresario. He opened The Village Gate, a jazz club in New York City's Greenwich Village, in 1958.^[1] D'Lugoff sought out the hottest talent, hosting prominent jazz artists, including Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Aretha Franklin, and Miles Davis, as well as the best in comedy, including Bill Cosby, Mort Sahl, Woody Allen, and John Belushi.(August 2, 1924 - November 4, 2009)

D'Lugoff turned away Bob Dylan, prompting the latter to write music in the basement of the club.^[2] He also fired a young Dustin Hoffman for providing poor table service. Playwright Sam Shepard once bused tables.^[3] D'Lugoff styled himself on the famous showman Sol Hurok.^[4] His avant-garde programming also set the stage for theatrical nudity in New York - the 1974 musical review Let My People Come featured a fully nude co-ed cast. ^[3]

Financial reverses led D'Lugoff to declare bankruptcy in 1991. He closed the club in 1994.^[4] In the wake of The Village Gate's closing, D'Lugoff dreamed of opening a new jazz club near Times Square. He worked on raising money for the development of a national jazz museum and hall of fame to be located in New York City.^[2][5] D'Lugoff's idea of a museum eventually developed into the National Jazz Museum of Harlem.^[6]

D'Lugoff won the Paul Robeson Award in 1992.

In 2008 the Village Gate re-opened under the name "Le Poisson Rouge", with D'Lugoff as a consultant. ^{[7] [1]}

On November 4, 2009, after complaining of a shortness of breath, he was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital where he died at the age of 85. ^[3] On November 7, 2009, citing an unnamed source, the New York Post claimed that at the time of his death, D'Lugoff was weeks away from re-launching his nightclub at an even bigger downtown venue.^[3]

D'Lugoff's wife, Avital D'Lugoff, worked as a photographer. The couple had four children: Sharon, Dahlia, Racheal, and Raphael. To see more stars who died click here

Charles August died he was 90,

Charles "Chuck" J. August died he was 90. Augusr was an American businessman who founded Monro Muffler and Brake.^[1][2](c. 1919 – November 3, 2009)

August's career in automotive maintenance and repair began as a Midas Muffler franchisee in 1957 in Rochester, New York.^[1] In 1966, he discontinued his affiliation with Midas.^[2] August launched a new company, Monro Muffler, the same year with two business partners, his brother, Burton S. August, and Sheldon Lane.^[1] The company was named for Monroe County, New York, except August dropped the "e" in the name.^[1] The company later added brake service several years later and was renamed Monro Muffler Brake Inc.^[1]

In 1977, Monro Muffler had twenty stores in New York.^[2] By the mid-1980s, August's Monro Mufflers had expanded to 59 stores, which sales of $21 million per year.^[1] Most of these stores were located in upstate New York.

August sold his controlling interest in Monro Mufflers in 1984 to an investment group headed by Donald Glickman and Peter J. Solomon.^[1] The company later had its initial public offering in 1991.^[2] August remained as a member of the Monro Muffler board of directors during the 1990s, when the company rapidly expanded.^[2] He resigned and retired from the board in 2002.^[2]

August actively supported the Boy Scouts during his life. He was a member of the Otetiana Council Boy Scouts of America for more than 60 years, and served as the council's president.^[2] He was rewarded the Silver Antelope Award and the Silver Beaver citation for his involvement with the Boy Scouts.^[2]

He donated more than $1 million dollars to the United Way of Greater Rochester over a period of 10 years.^[1] The United Way awarded August with the Tocqueville Award in 1992.^[2]

August was named to the Rochester Business Hall of Fame in 2003. He was a member of the Nathaniel Rochester Society at Rochester Institute of Technology.^[2] August was also a founder of the Temple Sinai in Brighton and a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Home Foundation.^[2]

August originally resided in Brighton, New York, with his family for many years before moving to nearby Pittsford, New York.^[1]

August died on November 3, 2009, at the age of 90.^[1] He was survived by his wife, Jean August; his brother and co-founder of Monro Mufflers, Burton August; and three grown children - Susan Eastwood, Jan August and Andrew August.^[1] His memorial service was held at the Temple Sinai in Brighton, New York.