Mark Ritts died he was 63, American actor and puppeteer

Mark Ritts died he was 63. Ritts was an American actor, puppeteer, television producer and director, and author. Ritts also produced and directed many independent videos and television spots as President of Mark Ritts Productions, Inc., to clients around the world.

(June 16, 1946 – December 7, 2009)

Ritts was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania in 1946. He graduated from Harvard with a degree in English literature. Beingn the son of noted puppeteers Paul and Mary Ritts, he pursued a sideline in puppetry, starring in PBS's The Real Adventures of Sherlock Jones and Proctor Watson and NBC's The Pink Panther Show, among many others.

Throughout the 1990s, Ritts was the voice and manipulator of "Kino", the Emmy Award-winning puppet co-host of PBS's Storytime, as well as one of the show's writers.

From 1992 to 1998, he participated on CBS's Beakman's World. In it, Ritts starred as Lester, a disgruntled actor in a rat suit who reluctantly helps Beakman with his experiments and trades barbs with Josie, Liza and Phoebe. The character was originally conceived as a puppet character, but at the last minute, the show's producers decided he would be a costumed actor.The program has been televised in nearly 90 countries around the world, and is seen in syndication throughout the United States.

After moving to California from the East Coast in 1994, Mark wrote and produced a Barney the Dinosaur special for Fox, as well as a one-hour documentary on microbiology called Creators of the Future, which debuted in prime time on PBS in 1999.

Ritts is also the co-author (with Don Fleming, Ph.D) of a parenting book entitled Mom, I Hate You, released by Three Rivers/Random House in April 2003. In July 2005, he and co-producer/writer/director Ted Field released Cast Off for Catalina, a DVD about visiting and enjoying southern California's Santa Catalina Island aboard your own boat. A second DVD, Cast Off for Mexico, was released in 2007. Ritts provided the voice for the character Gianciotto in the 2007 film Dante's Inferno.

He made a major high-definition documentary for Merck & Co. and creative directed an elaborate conference for Carlson Hotels at Las Vegas's Bellagio Resort and Casino. He was also a director of the Court TV series North Mission Road.

Ritts died from kidney cancer on December 7, 2009 in La Cañada, California. He was 63 years old.^[1]

He was married to actress and singer Teresa Parente and had a daughter and two sons with her.

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Eddie James died he was 46

Eddie James died in a motorcycle accident, James for more than 20 years, was the motorcycle enthusiast. He reveled in the freedom of long-distance riding, particularly to open areas in the West and South.

"I think it was a great escape for him," said his brother Jonathan Johnson. "He loved long horizons, the mountains."

With the wind blowing through his thick, snow-white hair, Mr. James rode his motorcycle to all 50 states, logging more than a half-million miles in his lifetime, his brother said. His favorite spots included Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Florida and Mississippi.

But Mr. James didn't just seek out vast stretches of highway and open terrain. He also explored oddball stops that were off the beaten path. For instance, he knew where to find the world's largest ball of twine in Darwin, Minn., and had visited the world's largest hand-dug well in Greensburg, Kan. He also had collected more than 650 stamps from hundreds of national parks.

And in 2006, Mr. James coordinated ride events for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation's "Ride for Kids," raising money to find the cause of and cure for childhood brain tumors.

"Basically, anything that involved motorcycling and traveling, he was on board for," said his fiancée, Lisa Erbes of Atlanta.

He was killed doing what he loved the most, dying Dec. 6 in a motorcycle crash on Interstate 75 close to the Northside Drive exit.

A memorial service for Edmund "Eddie" Clarence James III, 46, of Atlanta will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at H.M. Patterson and Son, Arlington Chapel, in Sandy Springs. The funeral home is in charge of arrangements.

Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he grew up in the tiny town of Silver Lake, Minn. In his early teens, he moved to Winsted, Minn., to live with his older sister. He found a job 15 miles down the road, cleaning barns, bailing hay and milking cows as a herdsman assistant. To travel back and forth, the then-15-year-old bought his first motorcycle.

"It was a green [Hodaka] Road Toad. Basically, it was a glorified dirt bike," said sister Aura Lee Carpenter. "It was noisy as all get out. It leaked oil, and it was so ugly. But he fell in love with it."

In the early '80s, he worked at several Minneapolis/St. Paul motorcycle dealerships, and in 1984, he was a founder of TeamStrange Airheads, which has evolved into one of the leading long-distance riding organizations nationwide.

In 1989, he started racing at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn. He enjoyed racing, and even involved family members. In fact, he made them his pit crew, Mrs. Carpenter said.

He even drove his 7-year-old niece to her first communion on his motorcycle, dropping her off at the church's front steps. "We never had a moment in my family … that Eddie and his bike weren't involved," she said.

Mr. James moved to Atlanta a year ago and owned multiple bikes at the time of his death. He was a big bear of a man who lived life to the fullest and loved children, family members said.

"He's Santa Claus on a motorcycle," Mrs. Carpenter said. "He loved his bike. His whole life revolved around that."
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John Pittenger died he was 79,

John C. Pittenger, former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education and former state representative died Sunday at Homestead Village from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 79.

"'Pitt,' as he was affectionately known, was a true patriot, serving his nation, his state and his community as a military veteran, as an educator, a farmer, a lawyer, a state legislator and a state Cabinet secretary," Bruce Beardsley, chairman of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee, said.

"To me, and to my political colleagues, he was a friend and trusted mentor," Beardsley said. "He played an invaluable behind-the-scenes role in the renaissance of the local Democratic Party, advising me, my predecessor and many others. He helped the party raise money, and he enjoyed and had a remarkable knack for motivating and recruiting people to volunteer for the party. It was almost impossible to say 'no' to Pitt."

Beardsley said Pittenger was the "epitome of a great American. Throughout a lifetime of service, he never abandoned the effort to make the world a little better place, although he did come to discover that it's a lot harder than he thought it would be. He will be sorely missed."

Mike Sturla, the current state Congressman for the 96th District, said, "I, along with countless others, consider him a mentor. Very few people talked to him and didn't learn learn something. I respected what he accomplished and what he tried to get others to accomplish."

Jim Shultz actively campaigned for Pittenger's election in the 1960s.

"He was a mentor to me and others. We sought out his counsel and great advice. He was selfless, taking an interest in our lives, in our careers and families," said Shultz, a friend of Pittenger for more than 50 years. "I admired his passion for the Democratic Party. He was the personification of Mr. Democrat."

Just three months ago, Pittenger was on the phone to committee people and working to get people registered to vote, Shultz said.

"He was passionate about public service," Shultz said. "I will greatly miss him."

G. Terry Madonna, director of Franklin & Marshall College's government department and a political analyst, said Pittenger was an early mentor of his, too.

"I deeply respected his views on politics and government. He was the first person to introduce me to politics when I was in college and to participating in government," Madonna said. "He deliberately sought out some of the young people at the college to get involved in politics."

Madonna said Pittenger encouraged young people to get into politics as an "honorable profession."

"He stressed that good people need to get into government service," Madonna said. "He was a man of incredible integrity with very, very strong convictions and willing to express them. He was an incredible role model."

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said Pittenger was "certainly a man of principles and an anchor in the Lancaster Democratic Party for many years."

"Even when he was not living here, he participated from a distance," Gray said. "His intellectual abilities were great, and he was a warm, caring person. His character traits were reflected in his politics. He was motivated to get the best for a person, whether aged, infirm or young. He was a tremendous guy."

After practicing law in Lancaster from 1958 to 1965, Pittenger became involved in Democratic politics. He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 96th District from 1965 to 1966. During this term, Pittenger helped draft the bill that set up the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency scholarship program and was a principal sponsor of the Mental Health/Mental Retardation Act of 1966.

He was defeated in the next election, but was re-elected the following term, serving from 1969 to 1970. As a member of the Democratic Policy Committee and chairman of the Joint Legislative Data Processing Committee, Pittenger helped develop assessment procedure reform and computerize all state registration and election figures.

Also during his two terms, Pittenger authored a controversial proposal for charging graduated -- or income-based -- tuition at state colleges and universities and vigorously supported a bill to strengthen the powers of the state Board of Education. He was the first member of the General Assembly to bring high school seniors to Harrisburg on a regular basis to serve as pages in the House of Representatives.

He also served as director of research for the minority Caucus of the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1968.

In 1971, while a member of the Commission on School Finance, Pittenger was appointed legislative secretary to Gov. Milton J. Shapp and served as a liaison between the governor's office and the Department of Education.

As legislative secretary, he helped steer the state's first personal income tax bill through the General Assembly, played an instrumental role in securing reforms to Workmen's Compensation and Unemployment Compensation Acts and guided to passage the bill that created the Department of Environmental Resources.

A year later, Shapp named Pittenger the state secretary of education.

As secretary, he established due process rights for handicapped children and created the Governor's School for the Arts and the state government internship program for state college students.

He also led the fight to mandate equal athletic programs for female students in public schools and supervised the first complete rewrite of the school code in 30 years. In addition, he played a key role in adopting the system of statewide achievement and attitudinal testing in grades five, eight and 11.

He served for three years as chairman of the legislative committee of the National Council of Chief State School Officers.

Pittenger resigned as secretary in late 1976 to accept a position as visiting lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

In 1978, state House Speaker K. Leroy Irvis asked Pittenger to chair a commission on the reform of the Pennsylvania House. His commission's report led to the establishment of the Bi-Partisan Management Committee and other major reforms.

In 1979, Pittenger threw his hat into the ring in the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Richard Schweiker, but withdrew a year later when Mayor Pete Flaherty of Pittsburgh entered the race.

Pittenger was named dean of Rutgers University Law School in 1981. There, he instituted an exchange program with the law faculty of Karl Francis University in Graz, Austria; presided over the development of specialties in taxation and international law; and helped persuade Rutgers to build a law school dormitory in Camden.

Although he stepped down as dean in 1986 to move back to Pittwillow Farm --the family farm in southern Chester County --he continued to teach at the law school until his retirement in 1994.

Throughout the years, Pittenger taught several courses as an adjunct professor in the government department at F&M and served as the college's pre-law advisor.

He also was the co-author, with Henry W. Bragdon, of "The Pursuit of Justice," an introduction to constitutional law for high school students, and of "Politics Ain't Beanbag," a political memoir.

Once Pittenger moved to Homestead Village in 1997, he became active in Democratic politics once more. He said he wouldn't be happy until the day there was a Democratic mayor in Lancaster, a Democratic governor in Harrisburg and a Democrat in the White House -- all at the same time.

Pittenger attended public school in Swarthmore and Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in American history in 1951 and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1958.

Between college and law school, Pittenger was a Frank Knox Fellow at the London School of Economics. He received the honorary degree, doctorate of humane letters, from Franklin & Marshall College in 1981.

A first lieutenant, he served in the infantry and government intelligence in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1955.

He was a member of the Society of Friends.

Active in community affairs, Pittenger served as president of Lancaster Opera Workshop and Harvard Club of Central Pennsylvania and vice president of the board of Family and Children's Services and Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment. He was a trustee of Lincoln University.

An avid squash and badminton player, he served intermittently for 15 years as the first coach of F&M's men's squash team.

He received the Lancaster Jaycee Good Government Award in 1967, the B'Nai B'rith Man of the Year Award in 1968 and the Penn State Special Award for Leadership in 1976. The Lancaster County Democratic Committee honored him in 2003 with its first Lifetime Achievement Award.

Born in Philadelphia, he was the son of the late Nicholas Otto and Cornelia VanDerveer Chapman Pittenger.

He was married to Pauline Miller Pittenger.

Surviving in addition to his wife are two stepsons, Josiah Leet of Lancaster and Matthew Leet of Oakland, Calif.; and a sister, Jane Kellenberger of Boulder, Colo.

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Michael "CoCo" Polakovs died he was 86

Michael "CoCo" Polakovs was a professional circus clown for nearly 80 years. He has entertained tens of millions as CoCo the Clown with circuses around the world. Additionally, Michael was a member of Greenhill Masonic Lodge 521Polakovs was the son of the late Nicolai and Valentina Novikoff Polakovs.
.
Feb. 23, 1923 - Dec. 6, 2009

Michael leaves behind Hazel Fannin Polakovs, his loving wife of 49 years; six children, Graham Ahrhart of Sarasota, Patty Dale Dalton her husband, Perry, of Ashland, Byron Laird of Pippa Pass, Ky., Bruce Laird of Ashland, Michelle Polakovs of Catlettsburg and David Polakovs of San Francisco; five grandchildren, Mike Ahrhart, Melody Dalton Hogsten, Christopher Dalton, Stephanie Laird Maynard and Amanda Laird; five great-grandchildren, Emma Dalton, Kayla Dalton, Kayla Rice, Cole Maynard and Alex Ahrhart; and a sister, Olga Kerr of Norfolk, England.
He was preceded in death by three sisters and one brother.

Eki Fatu died he was 36

Eki "Eddie"^[6] Fatu^[2][5] died he was 36 . Fatu was a Samoan-American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Umaga. He was best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment, where he was a two-time Intercontinental Champion.

(March 28, 1973 – December 4, 2009)

He was a member of the Anoa'i wrestling family and frequently worked as a part of a tag team – variously named The Island Boyz, the Samoan Gangstas, and 3-Minute Warning – with his cousin Matt Anoa'i. During Fatu's first stint with WWE, he was known as Jamal and Matt was billed as Rosey. In late 2005, Fatu returned to WWE. Repackaged under the ring name "Umaga", Fatu went undefeated for many months on WWE's Raw brand throughout much of 2006, before suffering his first defeat under the Umaga name in January of 2007. Known by his many nicknames, including "The Samoan Bulldozer" and "The Samoan Savage", Fatu died on December 4, 2009, as a result of a heart attack.

Articles posted by Sports Illustrated, the New York Daily News, and The Washington Post during the weekend of August 30, 2007, named Fatu as one of a number of superstars to have purchased pharmaceuticals from an online pharmacy, a violation of the WWE "Talent Wellness" program. Fatu specifically was said to have received somatropin, a growth hormone, between July and December 2006, after the "No drugs from online sources" rule was instituted. Fatu violated this rule again in 2009. Due to his unwillingness to seek rehabilitation, Fatu was released from his WWE contract.^[51][52]

Fatu was born in San Francisco,California, a member of the famous Anoa'i wrestling family. His mother, Vera, was the sister of Afa and Sika of the Wild Samoans, and his later Umaga gimmick would be compared to their "wildness".^[7] His two older brothers, Sam (better known as Tonga Kid and Tama) and Solofa Jr. (better known as Rikishi), are also professional wrestlers who have achieved success of their own.^[5] Dwayne Johnson, known in wrestling as The Rock, is his cousin.

On April 27, 2008, Fatu's mother Vera died after a seven-year battle with cancer.^[53]

A few days prior to December 4, 2009, returning home to Spring, Texas, Fatu had just completed a wrestling tour with Hulk Hogan in Australia.

On December 4, 2009, Fatu was hospitalized after his wife found him not breathing with blood coming out of his nose a few hours after he had fallen asleep the night before while watching television. He was rushed to a local hospital in Houston, Texas and was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit.^[54] It was reported that Fatu had suffered a heart attack.

Fatu was pronounced dead around 6:00 PM EST after suffering a second heart attack.^[5][55][56]

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"Big Bill" Lister died he was 86

"Big Bill" Lister died he was 86. Lester was an American honky tonk country music singer. Born Weldon E. Lister, he was nicknamed "Radio's Tallest Singing Cowboy," standing over 6-foot-7 without his cowboy boots and hat.^[1][2]

(January 5, 1923 – December 1, 2009)

For several years in the 1950s, he sang with Hank Williams, Sr., as a member of Williams' "Drifting Cowboys Band," after Williams had fired most of the original members of the band. Lister is best known for his ties to Williams' song "There's a Tear in My Beer." Lister recorded the song in the 1950s, after being given a demo recording by Williams. Years later, after his wife found the old demo recording in their attic, he gave the recording to Williams' son, Hank Williams, Jr. Junior went on to record an overdubbed version of the song in 1988, in which (late) father and son sang together, some 40 years apart. That recording won a Grammy Award and a Country Music Association (CMA) Award in 1990.^[1]

Other Lister recordings included "RC Cola and a Moon Pie," recorded for Capitol Records in 1961.^[2]

Lister, who toured as one of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys and was dubbed "Radio's Tallest Singing Cowboy," died he was 86.

He died in San Antonio after a brief illness. His family said Lister was performing nightly for crowds of 300-plus on a cruise from Galveston to the Caribbean until just a few months ago.

Jack Rose, died he was 38,

Jack Rose, a renowned Philadelphia-based acoustic guitarist, has died of a heart attack at 38, the Philadelphia Daily News reports.

Rose was born in Virginia in 1971. His professional musical career began in the Richmond noise band Pelt, which formed in 1993. But Rose is best known for his solo work, which he began recording in the early 2000s, releasing numerous EPs and LPs on a number of different labels, most frequently VHF.



Rose, who also went by the moniker Dr. Ragtime, reached new levels of exposure in 2004, recording a Peel Session on BBC Radio 1, appearing on a limited compilation by Devendra Banhart called 'Golden Apples In The Sun,' and being named among The Wire's 50 Records of the Year with the release 'Raag Manifestos.' The following year, he released 'Kensington Blues,' which also received high marks from publications including Pitchfork and Dusted.


Rose was considered instrumental in bringing ragtime into the modern era and transforming it into something that was both referential and original. But as a self-taught player proficient on the guitar, including the 6-string, 12-string and lap steel, he brought a wide range of influences to his music.


Explaining his process in a 2007 interview, Rose said his favorite music was "anything that's pre 1942; Cajun, Country, Blues, Jazz all that stuff... that's my favorite kind of music." Rose also pointed to later musicians, such as John Fahey and Robbie Basho, as influences.

Touring extensively in the U.S. and Europe, Rose released live albums such as 'Jack Rose,' as well as his recorded work, which he preferred to put out on vinyl. Recently, he reunited with Pelt members for the album 'Dr. Ragtime and His Friends' and teamed up with Three Lobed Recordings for two critically acclaimed albums, 2008's 'I Do Play Rock and Roll' and 2009's 'The Black Dirt Sessions.'


In a video compilation tribute, Arthur Magazine writes that "everyone should know about Jack and his music. His style is like no other."