Sakyo Komatsu, Japanese science fiction writer, died from pneumonia he was , 80.

Sakyo Komatsu was a Japanese science fiction writer and screenwriter died from pneumonia he was , 80.. He was one of the most well known and highly regarded science fiction writers in Japan.

(January 28, 1931 – July 26, 2011)

Early life

Born Minoru "Sakyo" Komatsu in Osaka, he was a graduate of Kyoto University where he studied Italian literature.^[3] After graduating, he worked at various jobs, including as a magazine reporter and a writer for stand-up comedy acts.^[4]

Career

Komatsu's writing career began in the 1960s. Reading Kōbō Abe and Italian classics made Komatsu feel modern literature and science fiction are the same.
In 1961, he entered a science-fiction writing competition: "Peace on Earth" was a story in which World War II does not end in 1945 and a young man prepares to defend Japan against the Allied invasion. Komatsu received an honourable mention and 5000 yen.^[5]
He won the same competition the following year with the story, "Memoirs of an Eccentric Time Traveller". His first novel, The Japanese Apache, was published two years later and sold 50,000 copies.
In the West he is best known for the novels Japan Sinks (1973) and Sayonara Jupiter (1982). Both were adapted to film, Tidal Wave (1973) and Bye Bye Jupiter (1984). The story "The Savage Mouth" was translated by Judith Merril and has been anthologized.
At the time of publication, his apocalyptic vision of a sunk Japan wiped out by shifts incurred through geographic stress" worried a Japan still haunted by the atomic devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was inspired to write it thinking of what would happen if the nationalistic Japanese lost their land, and ironically prefigured the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear plant disaster decades later on March 11, 2011 - the result of which he was interested in "to see how Japan would evolve" after the catastrophe.^[5]
Komatsu was involved in organizing the Japan World Exposition in Osaka Prefecture in 1970.^[4] In 1984, Komatsu served as a technical consultant for a live concert in Linz, Austria by Japanese electronic composer Isao Tomita. He won the 1985 Nihon SF Taisho Award.^[6] Komatsu was one of two Author Guests of Honor at Nippon 2007, the 65th World Science Fiction Convention in 2007 in Yokohama, Japan. This was the first Worldcon to be held in Asia.
With Shin'ichi Hoshi and Yasutaka Tsutsui, Komatsu was considered one of the masters of Japanese science fiction.^[5]

Death

Ironically, Komatsu died shortly after the destruction that followed the themes of his first and hugely successful novel. In the issue of his quarterly magazine published on July 21, Komatsu said he hoped to see how his country would evolve after the catastrophe. "I had thought I wouldn't mind dying any day," he wrote. "But now I'm feeling like living a little bit longer and seeing how Japan will go on hereafter."^[5] He died five days after publication, aged 80.

Works

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Novels

• Apache Japan
• Japan Sinks (1973)
• Bye Bye Jupiter (さよならジュピター Sayonara Jupitā^?) (1982)
• Tokyo Blackout (首都消失, The Capital Vanishes) (1985)
• Blue Space Adventure (1985)
• Virus (復活の日, The Day of Resurrection)(1964)
• Kyomu Kairo (Nihilistic Corridor) (1999)
• Espy (2000)
• Flow Innocent Fruit (2000)
• Flying City 008 : Tale of Aozora City (2003)
• Homework Given by Alien (宇宙人のしゅくだい Uchūjin no Shukudai^?)(2004)

Reviews, talks, and essays

• OMORO (1981)
• SF's seminar Sakyo Komatsu (1982)
• ISBN 4-334-97142-3 Testament to the SF (Kobunsha Publishing Co., Ltd., 1997)
• ISBN 4-19-861266-8 Educated (徳間書店, 2001)

Manga

• Minoru Mori comic fantasy Sakyo Komatsu ISBN 4-09-179421-1 Collection (Shogakukan, 2002)

Film

• Nihon Chinbotsu (Submersion of Japan) (1973)
• ESPY (1974)
• Tokyo Blackout
• Virus (1980)
• Sayonara Jupiter (1984)
• Nihon Chinbotsu (Submersion of Japan) (2006)

TV programs

• PIPI alien (1965, NHK, a live-action cartoon + synthesis of the original work)
• Aeropolice
• Fiying City 008 (1969, NHK, Science Fiction Marionette Drama）
• Time of the Apes (1974, TBS, Science Fiction Tokusatsu Drama）
• Nihon Chinbotsu (1974, TBS, Terevision Version of Film)
• Sakyo Komatsu's Animation Theater (1989)

 

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Elmer Lower, American broadcast executive, president of ABC News (1963–1974) died he was , 98.

Elmer Wilson Lower  was an American journalist and president of ABC News from 1963 to 1974 died he was , 98..

(March 7, 1913 – July 26, 2011)

Lower received his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1933. Afterwards, he worked for 20 years for a variety of newspapers in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Missouri, specializing in political beats.^[1]
Lower was named president of ABC News in 1963. During his tenure, he was responsible for hiring Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, Frank Reynolds, and Sam Donaldson. In that time, the news division grew from 250 to 750 employees, and the evening news expanded from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. He joined the faculty of his alma mater in 1978, and was appointed appointed dean of the School of Journalism for the 1982-1983 academic year. Lower was honored with a lifetime achievement Emmy award in 1975.^[2]
Lower died on July 26, 2011 at the age of 98 in Vero Beach, Florida.

 

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Silvio Narizzano, Canadian-born British film and television director died he was , 84.

Silvio Narizzano was a Canadian film director, educated at Bishop's University, Quebec died he was , 84..

(February 8, 1927 – July 26, 2011)

His best received film was Georgy Girl (1966),^[1] which was entered into the 16th Berlin International Film Festival.^[2] His other work included a film version of Joe Orton's Loot (1970), Why Shoot the Teacher? (1977) and the made-for-television films Staying On (1980, adapted from the Paul Scott novel Staying On), and The Body in the Library (1984, adapted from the Agatha Christie novel The Body in the Library). Come Back, Little Sheba (1977), a televised version of the play by William Inge, was part of the anthology series Laurence Olivier Presents.

 

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Margaret Olley, Australian painter died he was , 88.

Margaret Hannah Olley AC was an Australian painter , 88. She was the subject of more than 90 solo exhibitions.

(24 June 1923 – 26 July 2011)

Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She attended Somerville House in Brisbane during her high school years. She was so focused on art that she dropped one French class in order to take another art lesson.
Her work concentrated on still life. In 1997 a major retrospective of her work was organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. She received the inaugural Mosman Art Prize in 1947.
On 13 July 2006 she donated more works to the Art Gallery of New South Wales; her donations included more than 130 works worth $7 million.^[1]
Olley died at her home in Paddington in July 2011, aged 88.^[2] She never married and had no children.

Tributes and Honours

Olley was twice the subject of an Archibald Prize winning painting; the first by William Dobell in 1948 and the other by Ben Quilty in 2011.^[3] She was also the subject of paintings by many of her artist friends, including Russell Drysdale.^[4]
On 10 June 1991, in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, Olley was made a Member of the Order of Australia 'for service as an artist and to the promotion of art'. On 12 June 2006, she was awarded Australia's highest civilian honour, the Companion of the Order, 'for service as one of Australia's most distinguished artists, for support and philanthropy to the visual and performing arts, and for encouragement of young and emerging artists'.

 

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John Read, British documentary producer died he was , 88.

John Read was a documentary film maker for the BBC from 1951 to 1983 died he was , 88..

(1923 – 26 July 2011)

Biography

John Read was born in Purley, Surrey, in 1923, the son of the art critic Herbert Read and Evelyn Roff. ^[1]The family moved to Scotland in 1931 when Herbert took up the position of Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art at the University of Edinburgh. The marriage of John's parents had been on shaky ground for several years, and they finally split in acrimonious and somewhat scandalous circumstances in 1933. Herbert Read moved to London while Evelyn and John remained in Edinburgh. As his mother became increasingly ill with a debilitating form of paranoia, John spent much of his youth in the city's cinemas, and his desire to become a film maker himself was apparent by the time he was 18.^[2]
When he was called up for military service in 1941 his father tried unsuccessfully to get him a position in the RAF Film Unit. But he did persuade the Hungarian film maker, George Hollering, to let John work as a camera assistant on his film Message of Canterbury, made for the British Council in 1942.^[3]
In 1948 John began working for the Scottish documentary maker John Grierson, who had been placed in charge of the Film Unit at the government's Central Office of Information. He then moved into the BBC, and in 1951 he directed the BBC's first ever film about a living artist, Henry Moore. This half hour film followed the creation of Moore's sculpture Reclining Figure as it was made for the Festival of Britain. It was followed by 12 more films on contemporary artists for the BBC over the next six years, and in 1960 John began a pioneering series of films on artists called The Artists Speaks. This series was the first to allow artists to talk about their work directly on camera.^[4]
John remained a producer at the BBC until retirement in 1983. As fellow film maker Philip Bonham Carter has said of him: 'His films were truly about the artists and not about himself.' The motivation for this approach, John said at his retirement, was simple: 'you’ve got to stand up for the imaginative world.'^[5]
He died in London in 2011.

 

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Howard Stein, American financier, died from complications from a stroke he was , 84.

Howard Mathew Stein was an American financier who is widely considered one of the fathers of the mutual fund industry died from complications from a stroke he was , 84.. He was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine on August 24, 1970 Stein invented the first "no load" money market fund and created the first tax-free municipal bond fund.

(October 6, 1926 – July 26, 2011)

Early life

Howard Mathew Stein was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 6, 1926. His parents were immigrants from Poland and also had another son and daughter, in addition to Stein. Stein initially planned to become a musician, beginning to learn the violin when he was 5. Stein attended the Straubenmuller Textile High School and the Juilliard School. However, Stein gave up on his music career and went into business. At the age of 23, he loaded steel on to trucks. He then became a trainee at Bache & Co.. in 1955, Stein left Bache and joined Dreyfus.^[4]

Career

Stein joined the Dreyfus Corporation as an analyst in 1955. He was appointed President in 1965, and Chairman and CEO in 1970. Stein served as Chairman and CEO of Dreyfus for more than 30 years. When Stein started at Dreyfus in 1955 it had approximately 2 million dollars in assets. Before the sale in 1994 this had grown to 90 billion dollars. Dreyfus was sold to Mellon Bank Corporation in 1994 for $1.8 billion. Stein retired in 1996.^[5]
Dreyfus Third Century Fund was one of the first funds to combine socially conscious objectives with financial criteria. Created by Stein in 1972 and named for the coming national bicentennial, the fund has been influential in shaping similar philosophically-oriented investments. In addition, in 1974, Dreyfus introduced the first direct marketed, no-load money market fund. Stein became even more focused on money-market and bond funds and succeeded in creating the first tax-free municipal funds, which Dreyfus launched in 1976.
Stein's progressive politics made him a target of Richard Nixon, and Stein was one of the people on Nixon's enemies list.
In 1988 Stein served on The Brady Commission, also known as the Presidential Task Force on Market Mechanisms, created by President Ronald Reagan to investigate the stock market crash of October 19, 1987, or Black Monday.^[6]
In 1999 Stein started Joy of Giving Something, Inc. (JGS, Inc.), a not-for-profit philanthropic corporation dedicated to the photographic arts.

Death

Stein died on Tuesday July 26, 2011, at his home in Southampton, N.Y at the age of 84. The cause was complications of a stroke, his son-in-law Jamie Stokien said.

 

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Luis Ruiz Suarez, Spanish-born Macanese Jesuit priest died he was , 97

Luis Ruiz Suarez, S.J., was a Spanish-born Macanese Jesuit priest and missionary died he was , 97. Father Suarez, who founded the Caritas Macau charity, and focused much of his work in Macau and southern China. His work earned him several nicknames - "Luk Ngai" in Cantonese, "Father of the Poor" and "Angel of Macau."

(September 21, 1913 - July 26, 2011)

Luis Ruiz Suarez was born in Gijón, Asturias, Spain, on September 21, 1913.^[4] Ruiz joined the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, in 1930.^[1] The Jesuits sent him from Spain to China in 1941 as a missionary.^[3] He arrived in Beijing, where he studied Mandarin Chinese, and was then sent to Shanghai, where he studied philosophy.^[3] He was forced to cease his work due to the escalation of World War II and the Japanese occupation of China.^[1] Father Suarez resumed his work in 1945.^[1] His superiors stationed him in Xian County in Hebei province.^[3] He was arrested, briefly imprisoned and expelled from the newly formed People's Republic of China in 1949 following the Chinese Communist Revolution.^[1] While in prison, Suarez contracted typhoid before his expulsion from China.^[1] Father Suarez left China for Hong Kong, before settling in Macau in 1951.^[3]
In 1951, Father Ruiz's Jesuit provincial sent him to Macau, a Portuguese colony along the southern Chinese coast, to recover from his typhoid.^[1][3] He resided in Macau for the rest of his life. Suarez soon began working with refugees fleeing from the People's Republic of China after just a few months in Macau.^[1][5] He used the official Jesuit residence in Macau, which was called Casa Ricci, as a temporary shelter for the mainland Chinese refugees.^[3] This led to the establishment of Father Ruiz's first charity in Macau, the Ricci Centre for Social Services.^[2][3] The center furnished refugees with housing, educational opportunities, documentation, child care and employment.^[3]
Father Ruiz soon began work with other groups in Macau as the refugees were able to leave the Portuguese territory. He founded the first housing in Macau specifically established to house the elderly.^[3] The Ricci Centre for Social Services later evolved into the Caritas Macau charitable organization during the 1970s.^[2][3] Under Caritas, Suarez opened five centers throughout Macau which provided services for the mentally disabled.^[2][3]
During the 1980s, Ruiz began working with lepers in Guangdong province, with the help of an order of Catholic nuns, the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne.^[2] Father Ruiz was invited by a Chinese priest and former prisoner, Father Lino Wong, to visit an island in China where 200 lepers had been exiled in 1986.^[4] The visit began Ruiz's ministry for lepers in the country. It is estimated that Father Ruiz worked with more than 8,000 leprosy patients living in 140 leper colonies located throughout China.^[2] His work with lepers proved so time consuming that he voluntarily handed over control of Caritas Macau to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau in 1994.^[2]
In 1995, the government of Hunan invited Father Ruiz to establish a center for HIV and AIDS patients in the Chinese province.^[2] He would found other centers for AIDS patients in mainland China.^[3]
On a personal level, Father Ruiz was said to be an ardent fan of Formula One, Real Madrid and Rafael Nadal.^[3]
Father Luis Ruiz Suarez died in Macau on July 26, 2011, at the age of 97.^[2] His funeral was attended by dignitaries, including Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U.^[5] He was buried at San Miguel cemetery on August 3, 2011.^[5]

 

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