Kerri Lee Tucker died she was 25,

Kerri Lee Tucker–Kerri Lee Tucker aka “Miss Box Of Junk” girl on VH1 Classic’s television program “That Metal Show“, was reportedly found dead in her apartment early today. She was only 25 years of age. No further details are currently available.

Eddie Trunk, who co-hosts “That Metal Show” with Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson, writes on his web site, “Kerri was a great part of the show and we had fun with her on the days we shot. I did not know her well outside of our working relations but she was fun to have as part of ‘That Metal Show’ in seasons 2 and 3. We featured her prominently in our final skit [see video below] of season 3 which just aired and featured [original KISS drummer] Peter Criss. A fun day at Le Cirque.

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John Givens died he was 83

John Givens died he was 83. Givens was a basketball player and coach.

Givens, a native of McHenry, Kentucky^[1], played college basketball at Western Kentucky University. He was drafted by the NBA's Rochester Royals in the sixth round of the 1950. He joined the Air Force during World War II, where he also played basketball during his service years. In 1946 he attended Western Kentucky University and became a basketball star. While playing for WKU he was in the Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. He was a professional player for Sheboygan, WI, Redskins, where he was MVP during the 1950-51 season in the All Professional League while his team won the championship that year. He later played for the Minneapolis Lakers with the great George Mikan.

He then went on to become a high school coach. His coaching career experienced 194

victories and 97 defeats as of 1967. He coached for six schools, New Albany High School, where the team went to two state finals; Marion Indiana High School; Las Vegas, NM; and Highlands University. During the 1964-65 season he was the NAIA District 7 Coach of the Year, at Highlands University; then the Kentucky Colonels Pro-American Basketball Association, where he was the first coach for the Colonels; and finished his career with Thomas Jefferson High School as athletic director and finally, Fern Creek High Schools Girls Basketball. He had influenced a number of students and athletes during his career as teacher and coach.

Givens was a starting guard on the 1950-51 Sheboygan Red Skins of the National Professional Basketball League. The Red Skins finished with the league's best record at 29-16, after which the league dissolved. Givens was one of the league's most electric performers and finished seventh in NPBL scoring with 569 points in 44 games, a 12.9 per-game average.

Givens became the first head coach of the Kentucky Colonels during the American Basketball Association's first season in 1967-1968. Givens also became the first coach in the history of the ABA to be fired, after a 5-12 start. He was replaced as head coach of the Colonels by Gene Rhodes.^[3]

Givens later coached at Thomas Jefferson High School and Fern Creek High School, both in Jefferson County, Kentucky, before he retired.^[4]

Givens died on December 8, 2009 at his home in Louisville, Kentucky.^[5]

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Willie Maxine Perry died she was 64, American mother of filmmaker Tyler Perry.

Filmmaker Tyler Perry's mother, the inspriration for his "Madea" character, passed yesterday away at age 64 according to a message Perry's website. Willie Maxine Perry died she was 64.
Feb. 12, 1945 Dec 8, 2009

Mr. Perry gained popularity over the years playing Madea, the antithesis of the sweet old granny, in a dozen stage plays and films including Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea Goes to Jail, and the recent I Can Do Bad All by Myself.

In one of his most recent efforts Mr. Perry, 40, co-produced the film Precious with Oprah Winfrey. Mr. Perry, whose films have grossed almost $400 million worldwide, will appear tonight on ABC in a pre-recorded interview with Barbara Walters as part of Walters' The 10 Most Facinating People of 2009 special.

"When my mother was trying to protect me from my father, she started taking me everywhere with her. If I made one more trip to Lane Bryant I would have just died! She took me to the hair salon, all these women would get together and have their card games ... it gave me a sense of, a different sensibility toward women," Mr. Perry tells Ms. Walters in the interview.

Al Dorow died he was 80,

Albert Richard "Al" Dorow died he was 80. Dorow was a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League and the American Football League.

(November 15, 1929 – December 7, 2009)

Dorow, a quarterback, played college football at Michigan State University and was All-American in 1951. He was drafted in the third round of the 1952 NFL Draft. After serving the required two years in the military, Dorow played for the Washington Redskins during the 1954, 1955, and 1956 seasons, and for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1957. After being released by the Eagles before the start of the 1958 season, Dorow spent two years in the Canadian Football League, playing for Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Toronto. Dorow moved to the AFL for its inaugral season, playing for the New York Titans (forerunner of the New York Jets) in 1960 and 1961, before being traded to the Buffalo Bills for the 1962 season. Dorow injured his arm in the fourth game of the 1962 season and was unable to play again.

Dorow's awards include All American in football for MSU in 1951 and Most Valuable Player in the NFL Pro Bowl of 1956. Dorow's other accomplishments include leading the AFL in most touchdowns thrown (26) in 1960. Dorow also co-holds the CFL single-game record for sacks with 7, matched by two others.

After leaving professional football, Dorow was a backfield coach for Hillsdale College in Michigan for the 1963 and 1964 seasons. He then became an assistant to Duffy Daugherty at Michigan State for the 1965 through 1970 seasons. He was the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1971 and part of the 1972 season.

After football, Dorow worked as a salesman and manager, retiring in 1989.

Dorow died of bone cancer on December 7, 2009.

Grady Patterson died he was 85

Grady Leslie Patterson, Jr.died he was 85. Patterson was the South Carolina State Treasurer and a United States Air Force General.^[1] In Grady L. Patterson, Jr.’s thirty years as South Carolina State Treasurer, he has been responsible for many of the changes that modernized state government and protected South Carolina’s citizens. During his tenure, South Carolina transformed itself from an agricultural economy to one strong in manufacturing and technology, but certain financial truths never changed for Treasurer Patterson.

(January 13, 1924–December 7, 2009)

Born in Calhoun Falls, South Carolina, Patterson graduated from University of South Carolina. He served in World War II and was State Treasurer of South Carolina for thirty-seven years.^[2]

For years South Carolina was an innovator in the management of public funds under the guidance of Treasurer Patterson. He has always advocated common sense conservative management policies. State officials recognized Grady Patterson’s leadership, and he has often been the voice for responsible fiscal management in often-contentious policy debates.

Because of his common sense approach to state government, Patterson promoted several initiatives to keep state spending on a tight leash and to make the Treasurer’s Office more responsive to the needs of South Carolinians.

In 2006, he was defeated for reelection by Republican Thomas Ravenel.

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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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