/ Stars that died in 2023

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Brikt Jensen, Norwegian literary critic and publisher, died he was 83.

Brikt Jensen was a Norwegian publisher, writer, journal editor, professor who also hosted a popular TV program about literature  died he was 83..

(15 September 1928 – 14 November 2011[1])

Jensen was born in Bergen, and was made a PhD in 1964 with a thesis on François Mauriac's Ormebolet. He was editor for the literary magazine Vinduet from 1964 to 1969. He was manager for the publishing house Gyldendal Norsk Forlag from 1970 to 1980, and senior consultant from 1980 to 1993. From 1984 to 1990 he also presented the television program Bokstavelig talt for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, and from 1988 to 1992 he was a professor II in media studies at the University of Bergen. He was the chair of the Norwegian Publishers Association from 1972 to 1975.[2]

Selected bibliography

  • Glimt fra det 20. århundres litteratur (1966)
  • Brev fra et steinhus (1976)
  • Hver dag (1980)
  • Loggbok (1981)
  • Det moderne gjennombruddet i nordisk litteratur (1986)
  • Selvangivelse (1993)
  • Min korsikanske landsby (1995)



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Neil Heywood, British businessman, died from poison he was 41.

Neil Heywood was a British businessman who worked in China. He was associated with Bo Xilai, the former Communist Party of China Committee Secretary for Chongqing and a member of the Chinese Politburo  died from poison he was 41..

(20 October 1970 – 14 November 2011) 

Heywood was found dead in his hotel room in Chongqing, and the initial official reports (which have subsequently been challenged) attributed his death to alcohol poisoning. Media reports have suggested that the former chief of police under Bo, Wang Lijun, may have had information about Heywood's death.[2] Wang fled to the US consulate in Chengdu on 6 February 2012 and allegedly told US diplomats that Heywood had been poisoned, and that Bo's family was involved in corruption.[3] The Wang Lijun incident precipitated Bo's high-profile sacking two weeks later.[3] According to a reinvestigation by the Chinese authorities, evidence indicates that Heywood was murdered, with Gu Kailai, Bo Xilai's wife, and Zhang Xiaojun, an orderly at Bo's home, "highly suspected,"[4][5] according to Xinhua News.[6] On 26 July 2012, Gu Kailai was charged with the murder of Neil Heywood [7] and in August convicted of the crime.

Personal life

Born in 1970, Heywood attended the English public school Harrow[3] between 1984 and 1988.[1] He graduated in international relations from the University of Warwick.[8]
He spent more than a decade in China, and was a Chinese speaker. He was married to Wang Lulu, a Chinese national from Dalian, and had two children,[9][10] 11-year-old Olivia and seven-year-old Peter,[11] who both attend the Beijing branch of Dulwich College.[12] They lived in a private, tree-lined compound of expensive villas on the outskirts of Beijing . Mr Heywood drove an S-type Jaguar, with a Union Jack bumper sticker.[13]
Heywood was not a heavy drinker, but was a chain smoker. His father, Peter, died of a heart attack after drinks over dinner at his London home in 2004 at age 63, according to family members.[14]

Career

Heywood served as an intermediary linking western companies to powerful figures in the Chinese political structure.[15] He ran a company named Heywood Boddington Associates, registered at his mother's house in London. It claims to be "a multi-discipline consultancy focusing on serving the interests of UK businesses in the People's Republic of China".[8]
He developed a business relationship with Gu Kailai, a lawyer, businesswoman, and the wife of Bo Xilai. Both Gu and Bo are children of once-prominent members of the Chinese Communist Party. Heywood appears to have played the role of a Bai Shoutao or white glove for the Bo family, doing business on their behalf, since, as a prominent party family, they could not sully their hands with financial dealings.[16]
Businessmen have complained that any foreign company wishing to work in Chongqing had to appoint Gu Kailai's law firm to act on its behalf, failing which it could not get required permissions and licenses. The law firm, Kailai Law (now Beijing Ang-dao Law), is said to have charged exorbitant fees.[15]
Heywood had clients including Beijing Aston Martin dealerships and Rolls-Royce. He was hired occasionally by Hakluyt & Company, a consultancy firm co-founded by a former officer in Britain's MI6 intelligence service.[15][17][18]
Rumours that Heywood might have been employed as an agent by British intelligence have been denied by Foreign Secretary William Hague, an unusual move, as the British government typically refuses to comment on the identity of its agents.[19] The Wall Street Journal later reported that they had confirmed, after interviewing former and current British officials and others, that Heywood had since 2009 been regularly supplying information to the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), although he was not a MI6 employee.[18][20]

Relationship with Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai

Heywood had business links with Gu Kailai, the wife of Bo Xilai.[21] He reportedly met with the Bo family in Dalian, the northeast metropolis where Bo was mayor from 1994 to 2000. Heywood was then working at a Dalian English-language school and helped Bo's youngest son gain admission to Harrow.[17]
The Daily Mail has suggested that Heywood and Gu may have been involved in an extra-marital affair.[22] The Daily Telegraph, however, reports that the two "shared a long and close personal relationship, but were not romantically involved."[23]
Following a corruption investigation in 2007, Gu is said to have become increasingly paranoid. In 2010, she allegedly asked Heywood and other close associates to divorce their spouses and swear allegiance to her.[24]
Reuters news agency reported (based on a source in Chongqing who had been briefed by government investigators) that Heywood told Gu that he had the power to ruin her and her family, based on his knowledge of overseas funds transfers made by the Bo family. This was the first time that a possible motive for the businessman's murder had been reported.[25] Gu and Heywood are said to have had a financial disagreement in October 2011. Reportedly, Gu was trying to move a large amount of yuan out of China through Heywood, and he demanded a larger commission than usual. When Gu objected, he is said to have made a veiled threat to expose her dealing.[23]

Death

On 14 November, Heywood was summoned to Chongqing by Gu Kailai.[citation needed] She sent Zhang Xiaojun to bring him from Beijing to the Nanshan Lijing Holiday Hotel.[26][27] Zhang Xiaojun is described as an 'orderly' in the Bo household. Aged 32, he used to serve as a bodyguard for Bo Yibo (one of the Founding Fathers of People's Republic of China). He is also listed as the supervisor of the Guagua Technology Company, belonging to Bo Guagua.[27]
The Nanshan Lijing Holiday Hotel is a secluded three-star hilltop retreat, also marketed as the Lucky Holiday Hotel.[26][27] Gu Kailai is known to have hosted a banquet there in the past, but according to two sources quoted by The Daily Telegraph in the UK, was not at the scene at the time of Heywood's murder.[23] The hotel is located in and overlooks Nan'an District.
Heywood was found in his hotel room, 26 hours after his death. The cause of death was given as alcohol poisoning. There was no autopsy and he was cremated days later. Questions were raised later as friends described him as "not a serious drinker"[9] (some reports have his family describing him as "a teetotaler").[28]
An internal Chinese report confirmed that Heywood died from potassium cyanide added to his drink.[26][29] However, further investigations led to new findings suggesting the death of Heywood was a murder committed by Gu Kailai.[30]

Aftermath

Two days after Heywood's death, according to internet reports related by the Daily Mail, Gu Kailai met with Heywood's wife and urged her to permit immediate cremation without an autopsy. Kailai was accompanied by two armed guards in this exchange.[22] British Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne met Bo Xilai in China a few days later, but didn't raise the question of Heywood's death.[22]
Wang Lijun, who was the head of Chongqing police department as well as the vice mayor of Chongqing, was in charge of the investigation. According to a CPC internal report,[31][32] Wang Lijun and his lieutenants were said to be under political pressure during the investigations. Soon Wang Lijun found the murder was related to Bo Xilai, who had been his superior for more than 10 years. After submitting the investigation report to Bo Xilai, Wang Lijun was suspended by Bo. Some of the police officers who participated in the investigation were arrested.[citation needed]
In February 2012, Wang Lijun fled to the US consulate in Chengdu, precipitating the so-called Wang Lijun incident. On 14 March 2012, the Dalian based billionaire Xu Ming, a close associate of Bo, disappeared. It was speculated that he was under arrest. Reports suggest Heywood's wife was employed by Xu.[33][34] On 15 March 2012, Bo Xilai was removed from his post of party chief for Chongqing.[34]
On 10 April 2012, Bo Xilai was suspended from the Politburo and suspected of being involved in "serious disciplinary violations".[4][5] The same day, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said that, according to the reinvestigation, the evidence indicated Heywood was a victim of homicide, of which Bo Xilai's wife, Gu Kailai, and Zhang Xiaojun, her bodyguard, were "strongly suspected".[4][5][35] Bo was placed under house arrest in Beijing. Gu and Zhang were both arrested.[5]
The Communist Party chief in Nan'an, Xia Zeliang, was detained for questioning in April 2012; the official was a staunch ally of Bo.[36] He was arrested and allegedly confessed that he prepared the poison and handed it to an employee of Bo.[22]
On 13 April 2012, Heywood's widow, Wang Lulu, visited the British Embassy in Beijing, and asked for a visa to travel to the UK with her two young children, reportedly concerned that the people who had killed her husband might come after her and her family. The entrance to the family's gated compound in Beijing was manned by troops from the People's Liberation Army, and police ordered her not to communicate with international journalists.[37]
According to The Daily Telegraph of 17 April 2012, UK Prime Minister David Cameron would meet Chinese publicity department head Li Changchun to discuss the Heywood case.[25] The Boxun website reported that Bo's most influential supporter, the 9th ranking Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang, was forced to make "tearful self-confessions" to Hu Jintao.[33]

Legal process

On 26 July 2012, Gu Kailai was charged with the murder of Neil Heywood.[7] On 9 August 2012, the trial of Gu Kalai was held and lasted only one day, as the defendant did not contest the charges.[38] The same day, four policemen, all senior officers from Chongqing, where the UK businessman was killed, were formally accused of covering up the murder of Heywood and indicted to go on trial.[38]
On 20 August 2012, the verdict was announced. Gu Kailai was sentenced to death but the sentence was suspended, which means that Gu is likely to face from 14 years to life in jail,[39] if she does not commit offences in the next two years.[40] Zhang Xiaojun, a Bo family aide, was sentenced to nine years in jail for his involvement in the murder,[39] which he admitted to.[41]
Following the verdict, Britain's embassy in China stated, in an e-mailed press release, that it had welcomed the investigation, adding "[we] consistently made clear to the Chinese authorities that we wanted to see the trials in this case conform to international human rights standards and for the death penalty not to be applied."[39][40] BBC News commented that "informed observers see the fingerprints of the Communist Party of China all over this outcome", stating that the trial's conclusion was "all too neat and uncannily suited to one particular agenda", that of limiting the scandal's damage.[42]
Both Zhang Xiaojun and Gu Kailai declined to exercise their right to an appeal.[40]


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Alf Fields, English footballer (Arsenal F.C.), died he was 92.

Alf Fields BEM was an English professional footballer who played as a centre half died he was 92.

 (15 November 1918 – 14 November 2011)

Career

Fields signed with Arsenal in 1936, turned professional in 1937, and made his debut in 1939.[1] Between then and 1952, Fields made a total of 19 appearances in the Football League.[2] After retiring as a player, Fields spent time as a coach at Arsenal, before eventually retiring in November 1983.[1]
Fields played himself in the 1939 film The Arsenal Stadium Mystery.[3]
During World War II, Fields served in North Africa and Italy, earning the British Empire Medal.[4]
As the time of his death, Fields was Arsenal's oldest surviving player.[5] He died on 14 November 2011, one day before his 93rd birthday.[6]


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Richard Douthwaite, British economist and ecologist, died he was 69.

Richard Douthwaite was a British economist, ecologist, campaigner and writer living in Ireland. He died of cancer at his home near Westport, Co. Mayo  died he was 69..

(6 August 1942 – 14 November 2011) 

Douthwaite studied engineering at Leeds and later economics at Essex universities. He built concrete boats at a cooperative in Port Antonio, Jamaica in the early 1970s and was then government statistician in the British Caribbean colony of Montserrat for two years before moving to Ireland (near Westport) to write and campaign about climate and energy issues and local economic development. He also set up and ran a leather crafts factory.
He was co-founder of Feasta (the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability) an Irish based economic, social and environmental think tank. He had also been a council member of Comhar, the Irish government's national sustainability council and a Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute.
In the 1994 European Parliament election he stood unsuccessfully as the Green Party candidate for the Connacht–Ulster constituency.
He was a visiting lecturer at the University of Plymouth and contributed the economic content of the Master’s course in Theology and the Environment at Dalgan Park, Navan. He contributed lectures to courses at four parts of the National University of Ireland (Dublin, Maynooth, Cork and Galway) and at the universities of London (Goldsmiths and LSE), University of Edinburgh, University of Strathclyde, University of Leicester, University of Newcastle, University of Manchester, University of Uppsala, Malardalen, Stockholm (KTH) and University of Budapest.
Douthwaite's first book, The Growth Illusion: How Economic Growth Enriched the Few, Impoverished the Many and Endangered the Planet was published in 1992 and was re-issued in an extended and up-dated second edition in 1999. It explores why the present economic system is dependent on economic growth and the effects that the resulting pursuit of growth has had on the environment and society. His other major book, Short Circuit (1996) gives dozens of examples of currency, banking, energy and food production systems which communities can use to make themselves less dependent on an increasingly unstable world economy.
In The Ecology of Money, published in 1999, he calls for different currencies for different purposes and for changes in the way money is put into circulation so that a stable, sustainable economy can be achieved. In 2003 he edited Before the Wells Run Dry, a study of the transition to renewable energy in the light of climate change and oil and gas depletion and in 2004 To Catch the Wind, a report on how communities can invest in wind energy.
He acted as economic adviser to the Global Commons Institute (London) from 1993 to 2005 during which time GCI developed the "contraction and convergence" approach to dealing with greenhouse gas emissions which has now been backed by many countries. He then helped Feasta devise the "cap and share" framework for emissions reduction which may be adopted by the Irish government.


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Guy Dejouany, French businessman, died he was 90.

Guy Dejouany was the CEO of Compagnie Générale des Eaux, (currently known as Vivendi, a French company part of the CAC 40) from 1976 to 1995  died he was 90..[1]
Guy Dejouany worked as Chief Executive Officer of Vinci PLC from 1990 to 1996. He was Honorary Chairman of Vivendi Universal. He played an important role in Vinci PLC's Supervisory Board as Chairman from 1988 to 1990. He is the Director of Vivendi Universal Publishing. He serves as member of the Supervisory Boards of Dalkia and Compagnie des Eaux et de l'Ozone. He is a permanent representative of Vivendi Universal on the Board of Directors of UGC. He is part-owner and the Director of Alcatel-Lucent. He is also member of the councils D E monitoring of Dalkia and of the Ozone and Water-company. He is a graduate of École Polytechnique and École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées.[2]
Guy Dejouany was a French businessman, former President of the French group Générale des Eaux from 1976 to 1996 and one of the most emblematic leaders in the period 1970-2000 France.

(1920 – 14 November 2011)

Biography

Dejouany was born in Paris on 15 December 1920. Only child of André and Jean (née Imbart) Dejouany. His father was a French civil servant, working for the French Administration including the French colonial administration, his mother was a homemaker. Algeria, Madagascar, Senegal were major career assignments of his father.
He followed his schooling in Paris at Fénelon and Condorcet. A graduate of the École Polytechnique and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées.
After having been the Chief Executive Officer during the previous twenty years, he took George Huvelin succession at the head of the Compagnie Générale des Eaux in 1976 there will be the Managing Director until 1996.

The Presidency of C.G.E.

During his presidency of C.G.E, Dejouany transformed of the company from a national company focused in the water business, into an international conglomerate.
Guy Dejouany prevented the nationalization of the Générale des Eaux in 1983. At that time, Jacques Delors was Minister of industry, and decided to buy back in hand and via Saint-Gobain - company actions to achieve the blocking minority and thus influence the future of the group. François Mitterrand, President of the Republic in exercise, intervened in favour of the C.G.E.. To follow two groups cross-participation thus participating in the creation of the famous hard cores in French Defence organised to withstand hostile Takeovers abroad.
The end of this episode marks the beginning of a phase of expansion and creation of new trades. Successively, the company puts one foot in the audio-visual sector with Havas creating chain television Canal + in 1984, and then creates SFR, first French private telephony operator. Civil engineering and construction industry develops through particular companies Campenon Bernard SGE (Société Générale d'Entreprises).
At the same time, new trades are explored and conquered: collection and treatment of waste, passenger transport. Complementary trades are reinforced: heating, electricity and heat production. New develop related services (babysitting, green spaces, disinfection, parking lots). Other trades are born as the company General health, has become quickly first l France private hospital. In the middle of the 1990s, the company is one of the largest companies in the world with over 2300 integrated companies consolidations. Expansion in volume and ambition is then equivalent to the United States, with General Electric. Restructuring American less.
Guy Dejouany strongly marked its footprint the history of this group and its business, based on discretion, work culture and spirit of conquest.
Era Dejouany and through modernization by his successor, Jean Marie Messier, there are now several world leaders in their respective fields: VINCI, Veolia Environnement, Vivendi.

Family

Guy Dejouany has three children, Capucine, Melchior, and Gonzague, born of his union with Véronique Honoré, who died in 1985.

Decorations

  • Commandeur de l'Ordre de la Légion d'honneur "' nicknames"' the Sphinx. The Duke of Anjou. The little man.


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Franz Josef Degenhardt, German poet, satirist, novelist and folk singer, died he was 79.


Franz Josef Degenhardt  was a German poet, satirist, novelist, and – first and foremost – a folksinger/songwriter (Liedermacher) with decidedly left-wing politics died he was 79.. He was also a lawyer, bearing the academic degree of Doctor of Law.[1]

(3 December 1931 – 14 November 2011)


Degenhardt was born in Schwelm, Westphalia. After studying law from 1952 to 1956 in Cologne and Freiburg, he passed the first German state bar examination in 1956 and the second in 1960. From 1961 he worked for the Europa-Institut of the University at Saarbrücken, where he obtained his doctorate in 1966. Degenhardt joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1961, but was forced out in 1971 because of his support for the German Communist Party (DKP), which he joined in 1978.
From the early 1960s onward, in addition to practicing law, Degenhardt was also performing and releasing recordings. He is perhaps most famous for his song (and the album of the same name) Spiel nicht mit den Schmuddelkindern (de) ("Don't Play With the Grubby Children," 1965), but has released close to 50 albums, starting with Zwischen Null Uhr Null und Mitternacht ("Between 00:00 and Midnight," 1963), renamed Rumpelstilzchen (original title: Zwischen Null Uhr Null und Mitternacht)); his most recent albums Krieg gegen den Krieg ("War against the War") and Dämmerung ("twilight") came out in 2003 and 2006. In 1968 Degenhardt was involved in trials of members of the German student movement, principally defending social democrats and communists. At the same time, he was – in his capacity as a singer-songwriter – one of the major voices of the 1968 student movement. On his 1977 album Wildledermantelmann (de) he criticized many of his former comrades from that era for what he saw as their betrayal of socialist ideals and shift towards a social-liberal orientation. The album's title (roughly, "man with velour coat") mocks the style of clothing they had supposedly adopted.
Notably, the songs on Degenhardt's 1986 album Junge Paare Auf Den Bänken ("Young Couples on the Benches"), along with the song Vorsicht Gorilla! ("Beware of Gorilla") on the 1985 album of the same name, are his translations into German of chansons by the French singer-songwriter Georges Brassens, spiritually perhaps one of his closest musical allies.
Degenhardt has also written several novels, most in a rather autobiographical vein, among others: Zündschnüre (de) ("Slow Matches", 1972), Brandstellen ("Scenes of Fires", 1974), Der Liedermacher (1982) and Für ewig und drei Tage ("For Ever and Three Days", 1999).
He was a cousin of the Catholic Archbishop of Paderborn, Johannes Joachim Degenhardt, who died in 2002. He is also the brother-in-law of the American-born illustrator Gertrude Degenhardt, who has designed many of his album covers for him. Degenhardt lived, till his death in 2011, in Quickborn, Kreis Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein.


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Jamie Pierre, American professional skier, died from a avalanche at 38.

Matthew Jamison "Jamie" Pierre was a professional free skier died from a avalanche at 38.. Pierre set a world-record cliff jump of 255 feet (78 m) at the Grand Targhee Resort in Wyoming.[1] He skied away with a bleeding cut lip from being hit by a shovel when his partners dug him out of his 12 foot bomb hole. Google's Sergey Brin had estimated that Pierre was almost at terminal velocity when he hit the ground. Pierre died in November 2011 in an avalanche.[2]


(February 22, 1973 – November 13, 2011)


Life

Matthew Jamison Pierre was born February 22, 1973. According to the London Daily Telegraph, out of eight children, Jamie was third; he was born a son of Pam and Gerard Pierre.[3] Jamie started skiing at age ten at Buck Hill, Minnesota, and quickly picked up the craving for more.[4] He graduated high school and decided to live life as a “skibum”.[3] Jamie worked menial jobs to pay for his expensive passion at various resorts with his brother, Chris Pierre.[4] In 1995, he was able to enter an extreme skiing competition, the beginning to many adventures.[3] Jamie Pierre spent the next ten years progressing his skiing and the size of cliffs he jumped.[2] However, at age 32 in 2005 he got married and had a daughter. Pierre decided, ”The plan is to ski more, fall out of the sky less”.[3]

Film career

By being one of the few skiers known for going the biggest, Pierre played a key role in some of the major ski films of his time. This work included parts for four different film companies, Warren Miller,[2] Teton Gravity Research, Matchstick Productions[4] and Rage Films.[5] While working for Warren Miller, Pierre took parts in five movies: Cold Fusion in 2001, Journey in 2003, Off the Grid in 2006, Playground in 2007 and Children of Winter in 2008.[6][7]

World Record Huck

Jamie Pierre was known for pushing the limits of skiing off cliffs. He began to be followed by the media in 1999 when a black and white photo appeared in Powder Magazine of Pierre leaping off a forty foot cliff.[2] The size of the cliffs he was jumping were increasing quickly, starting at 50 feet,[3] and soon were up to 90 feet.[2] His first 100 footers were off of crags in Utah.[2] “Pierre began to question how high he could go. What were the limits?” Soon Jamie Pierre was jumping a cliff 165 feet in Wolverine Cirque Utah; he cleared this monster cliff in 2003. In Engelberg, Switzerland he cleared a 185 foot cliff around March 2004.[2] Before settling down, Pierre wanted to go big, bigger than anyone else had before. The record at the time was jumped at 225 feet and Jamie Pierre wanted to beat it.[8] After scoping out many cliffs, he finally decided on one, a 255 footer in the backcountry of Grand Targhee resort.[8] “Hail Mary” are the words Jamie yelled before hucking his body off this world record cliff.[8] Around a dozen people were watching, including photographers, family, friends, and spectators. Plunging headfirst into the snow, Jamie Pierre got that three seconds of the feeling he had always craved. Finally, he held the world record for landing the tallest cliff on skis on Jan 25, 2006.[2] In 2008 Fred Syversen beat his record by jumping a 351 feet cliff, it was unintentional of Syversen but still counts.

Problems with Drugs and Religion

Born into a Lutheran family, Jamie Pierre went to church with his family every Sunday as a kid. As he grew up, however, he fell out of religion; he still believed in God, but he did not follow his religion devoutly.[4] At age fourteen, he began to do drugs, a habit that followed him for the next fifteen years. He also drank excessive amounts, to the point he would just blackout and not wake up until the next morning. This continued for many years as he lived his life as a skier and through his pro career. After repeated concussions, he fell back into religion, and remained indoctrinated for the rest of his life.

Death

On November 13, 2011 [3] Jamie Pierre hiked up Snowbird Resort in Utah, unaware it would be his last steps, to ski some early season snow. The area was closed as the resort was not open and no avalanche control had been done. Pierre and his friend, Jack Pilot, were planning to ski the area the South Chute. The avalanche triggered and rolled him over rocks for 800 feet. According to The New York Times, “He came to a stop partly buried and died of trauma”.[7] He is survived by his wife, and two daughters.[3]

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Dickey Betts died he was 80

Early Career Forrest Richard Betts was also known as Dickey Betts Betts collaborated with  Duane Allman , introducing melodic twin guitar ha...