Ron Lyle, American boxer, U.S. Amateur Heavyweight Champion (1970), died from complications from stomach ailment he was 70.

Ron Lyle ^[1] was an American professional boxer in the heavyweight division died from complications from stomach ailment he was 70..^[2] He is considered to have been one of the best contenders of his era and one of the best fighters to never win a world title.^[3] He was a crowd-pleasing power puncher.

(February 12, 1941 – November 26, 2011)

Early life

Lyle was born to William and Nellie Lyle. He grew up in the Northeast side of Denver, a predominantly African American section of the city, in public housing projects. He was one of 19 children, and the only one to get in trouble with the law. When he was in his teens, Lyle was arrested and charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of 21-year-old Douglas Byrd in a gang fight. Lyle was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 15–25 years at the Colorado State Penitentiary. While in prison, Lyle was knifed and underwent a seven-hour operation; twice pronounced dead on the operating table, he needed 36 pints of blood to keep him alive. Lyle credited Lt. Cliff Mattax, the athletic director at the prison, with getting him interested in boxing and changing his life.^{[citation needed]}
While in prison, Lyle excelled in four sports: boxing, baseball, basketball, and football. Lyle fought on his prison's boxing team. In his first match, Lyle was defeated by Texas Johnson. However, Lyle never lost a prison boxing match again. After serving seven-and-a-half years in prison, Lyle was paroled on Sunday, November 22, 1969.^[4]

Amateur career

After prison, Lyle joined the Denver Elks Gym and started boxing for Bill Daniels. Lyle's first amateur victory was a third round knockout over Fred Houpe (who would later be Leon Spinks's final opponent). His amateur career lasted only 14 months, and he compiled a record of 25-4 with 17 knockouts.^[5] He was the 1970 National AAU Heavyweight Champion, the 1970 North American Amateur Heavyweight Champion, and the 1970 International Boxing League Heavyweight Champion. Lyle was a member of the United States Boxing Team. He lost to Russian Ivan Alexi, but knocked out Russian heavyweight Kamo Saroyan in a match broadcast by ABC television's Wide World of Sports.^[6]

Pro career

Lyle had a very late start in professional boxing. He turned professional under Bill Daniels, with trainer Bobby Lewis. His first fight was at the age of 30 in Denver, Colorado, against A.J Staples, which he won by knockout in the second round. Lyle went on to post a 19-0-2 record with 17 knockouts, and became the 5th rated heavyweight contender. He scored impressive knockouts over notables Vicente Rondon, a light heavyweight champion; hulking Buster Mathis; won by unanimous decision over former WBA Heavyweight Champion, Jimmy Ellis.^[7] Lyle's undefeated streak ended on a one-sided decision to veteran Jerry Quarry: the latter gave one of his career best performances using a boxer/puncher style to create openings first, gaining the initiative using his greater experience very well. Lyle then lost to skilled Jimmy Young in 1975. In a later rematch, Young again edged Lyle and went on to outpoint George Foreman in 1977.

Lyle vs. Ali

On May 16, 1975 he was given an opportunity to face heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, during Ali's second title defense in his second reign as champion. Lyle was the more aggressive fighter in the early rounds, with Ali conserving his energy and covering up in the center of the ring allowing Lyle to score. Lyle also showed restraint and did not respond to Ali's attempts at the rope-a-dope ploy. Though in danger of falling too far behind on points, Ali appeared to be in control of the pace of the fight, and picked his moments to score. The fight was close going into the 11th round, with Lyle winning on all three of the judges' score cards. Ali then hit Lyle with a strong right hand and followed flurrying with several punches scoring. The referee stopped the fight, seeing that Lyle had practically stopped defending himself. Lyle's corner was not happy with the referee’s decision. Lyle was interviewed after the fight and had no visible signs of injury.^[8][9]

Lyle vs. Foreman

Lyle is perhaps best known for a brawling fight in 1976 with Hall of Famer George Foreman. Foreman was making a comeback after suffering his first loss to Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle.
The fight is looked upon to this day as one of the most exciting and brutal in heavyweight history. Lyle took the offensive against the former champion and won the opening round. At one point he hit Foreman with a staggering body punch that almost made his trunks fall off. After almost being knocked out in Round Two, Lyle amazed the crowd by flooring Foreman twice in the fourth round. Other than Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Young, Lyle was the only boxer to have ever knocked down George Foreman during a professional boxing match. Foreman later wrote in his autobiography that Lyle was the toughest man he ever fought.^{[citation needed]} The former champion recovered and scored a knockout in the fifth round.
Lyle scored impressive victories over rated Jose Luis Garcia, and big names Oscar Bonavena and Earnie Shavers during his career.^[10] He also won a split decision over Joe Bugner, boring in with a thudding body attack in a fine contest.

Later career

1979 marked a decline in Lyle's abilities. Draws with fringe contenders Stan Ward and Scott LeDoux were followed by a stunning one-punch loss to unheard-of Lynn Ball. Ball went on to match other names but never achieved similar success. Ring magazine quoted Lyle as saying afterwards "No one does that to me."
He would return to the ring, however, but not for long. Ron retired again after a first-round knockout loss to then-rising star and undefeated power-hitting Gerry Cooney. By then, Lyle was 39 years old and his best years had gone.^[11]

Comeback

In 1995, at the age of 54, Lyle decided on a brief comeback. After scoring four quick knockouts over second-rate opponents, Lyle tried to get a rematch with George Foreman. However, the match was never made, and Lyle retired from boxing.^[12]

Retirement

While Lyle was working as a security guard in Las Vegas, Nevada, he was accused of another murder. He shot a man in his apartment who had spent time with him in the Colorado State Penitentiary. The retired boxer claimed self-defense and was found not guilty.^[13] A biography, called Off the Ropes: the Ron Lyle Story, was written by Candace Toft and released by Scratching Shed Publishing in May 2010.^[14]
He ran the boxing gym, Denver Red Shield in Denver, Colorado.^[15] He was the former trainer of light welterweight contender Victor Ortiz, who fought out of Denver, during some his amateur career.^[16]
1992 he trained a young promising talent from Las Vegas Nevada, Arash Hashemi and under his mentor Hashemi won two Golden Gloves championships.

Death

Lyle died at the age of 70, on Saturday November 26, 2011 from complications from a sudden stomach ailment.^[17] "We're gonna miss Ron. He was a friend," Earnie Shavers said.

Lyle in the media and popular culture

Ron Lyle appeared in the film 'Facing Ali', a 2009 documentary, where he discusses his life and career. About his fight against Ali, when referee Fredy Nunez stopped the fight he said "I could not believe it you know, I am ahead on all scorecards. Am I bitter? Forget about it, I never took it personal. If there don't be for Ali, you think you would be sitting here talking to Ron Lyle? About what?"^[18]
During this documentary he revealed that, during his stint in prison, where he received one meal a day consisting of a bowl of spinach, he passed time by doing up to 1,000 push-ups in an hour each day.


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Rashid Karim, Bangladeshi novelist, died he was 86.

Rashid Karim was a modern and popular novelist of Bangladesh Keef Hartley, British musician,.

(Bengali: রশীদ করিম; 14 August 1925^[1] – 26 November 2011)

Biography

Rashid Karim was born in Kolkata, West Bengal in 1925. He did his BA from the Calcutta Islamia College (now Maulana Azad College), an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta. After the partition of the sub-continent in 1947, his family moved to Dhaka.
He began writing during the British period, continued during the Pakistan period but wrote his major novels during the Bangladesh period. It was in independent Bangladesh that his career as a writer reached its zenith. Rashid Karim penned his first story at the age of fourteen. So he began quite early. But his first story was published in 1942 in Mohammed Nasiruddin's Saogat. After that he did not write till 1961, when began the second phase of his writing career. His first novel Uttam Purush was published that year. It made him widely known and brought him the prestigious Adamjee Award. Two years later Prashanna Pashan instantly turned him into a major novelist of the Bengali language. Again he went into hibernation, this time for a decade.^[2] After the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, he published his epic novel, Amar Jato Glani, in 1973. This novel helped his fame reach its peak. Till this period he was known as a gifted writer who wrote less but wrote very well. But from then on he wrote and published regularly. Prem Ekti Lal Golap was published in 1978.
Rashid Karim had battled paralysis for nineteen years before his death. He could not write a single word during that long period and died at Ibrahim Cardiac Centre in Dhaka on November 26, 2011.

Published works

Novels

• উত্তম পুরুষ; Uttam Purush (The Best Man, 1961)
• প্রসন্ন পাষাণ; Prasanno Pashan (The Happy Stone, 1963)
• আমার যত গ্লানি; Amar Jato Glani (All My Fatigue, 1973)
• প্রেম একটি লাল গোলাপ; Prem Ekti Lal Golap (Love is a Red Rose, 1978)
• সাধারণ লোকের কাহিনী; Sadharan Loker Kahini (A Tale of an Ordinary Man, 1982)
• একালের রূপকথা; Ekaler Rupkatha (A Fairy Tale of This Day, 1980)
• সোনার পাথরবাটি; Sonar Pathar Bati (Gold Plated Cup of Stone)
• মায়ের কাছে যাচ্ছি; Mayer Kachhe Jachchi (A Journey to Mother)
• চিনি না; Chini Na (Unrecognized)
• বড়ই নিঃসঙ্গ; Boroi Nissongo(So Lonely)
• পদতলে রক্ত; Podotolay Rokto (Blood Underneath the Feet)
• লাঞ্চবক্স; Lunch-box (Lunchbox)

Short stories

• প্রথম প্রেম; Prothom Prem (First Love): a single collection of scintillating short stories

Essays

Three books of essays:

• আর এক দৃষ্টিকোণ
• অতীত হয় নূতন পুনরায়
• মনের গহনে তোমার মুরতিখানি

Autobiography

• জীবনমরণ; Jibon-moron (Life & Death, 1999)

Critique on his novels

Uttam Purush (উত্তম পুরুষ)

Through the character of Shaker of Uttam Purush, the Muslim mind of the then Kolkata has been exposed. The Pakistan movement, which was nourished wholeheartedly by all Muslim people for their identity, takes an upper hand in the novel. Shaker is the embodiment of all characteristics available in the Muslim society – not even the political and cultural attitude go beyond. He supports the Muslim League and is a great fan of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and eventually relinquishes a sort of detest against Mahatma Gandhi and other Hindu leaders, though he is in the belief that Pakistan would be a country irrespective of Hindus and Muslims. Possibly, for that very reason, the narrator ‘I’ of the novel speaks about himself at the outset: I am not an ideal man…. Not only for lack of power of character but the diversion of my mental attitude. The novel ends with Shaker’s migration from Kolkata to Dhaka. In the novel Rashid Karim has delineated the subconscious mind of the humans more acutely than the picture of the society and the compactness of the story.^[3]

Prasanno Pashan (প্রসন্ন পাষাণ)

The second novel of Rashid Karim, Prasanno Pashan received similar appraisal from the readers of Bangladesh. The story of this novel is also set in the city of Kolkata. The protagonist of this novel is Tishna who is the narrator of the novel herself. The whole novel is related in the first person narrative as her personal accounts. Like his first novel, this second one of Rashid Karim lacks the perfection to be a true picture of the then society. A very thin thread of the Kolkata's Muslim society may be observed in the novel. Rather the incidents of Tishna’s early life are the main focus of the novel. The novelist has tried to portray the like-sketch of Tishna and the influence of the episode of her Chhotofufu (younger aunt) and Chotochacha (younger uncle) on her life. The other characters like Alim and Karim also play importance roles in the plot of the novel. On the eve of her youth Tishna not only sympathised Kamil, rather she loved him: the proof of it is present in the end of the novel. We now understand that Tishna loved Kamil but the social prejudices prevented her to reach her love. Though Tishna is presented as the main character, her exposition comes through narration, rather than action – she rarely participates in them; rather she only watches. As a result she fails to create any permanent impression on the reader’s mind. On the other hand Chhotofufu, Tishna’s distant aunt Mayna, spans less in the novel but touches more deeply. The character of Kamil is also no better creation.

Amar Jato Glani (আমার যত গ্লানি)

The plot of this novel spans from the partition of 1947 to the 26th March 1971. The story is narrated, appropriate to say ‘told’, by Erphan Chowdhury. The other characters inserted are Ayesha, Ayesha’s husband Samad Saheb, Abid, Kohinur, Akkas, Nabi and others. We observe intermingle of Erphan’s personal experience in the socio-political milieu of the novel. In this novel, unlike the earlier two, Rashid Karim has been successful in the juxtaposition of psychoanalysis and external society. The successful use of stream of conscious in the frame of socio-political arena is really praiseworthy in Amar Jato Glani.

Prem Ekti Lal Golap (প্রেম একটি লাল গোলাপ)

The novel for which Rashid Karim earned more reputation is Prem Ekti Lal Golap. This is the most successful novel of him, or of the contemporary Bengali novels, for its meticulous psychoanalytic element. The novelist has placed the outer behaviour and the subconscious thoughts juxtapositionally are a well proportionate way. Rashid Karim’s expression in this regard is more spontaneous in Prem Ekti Lal Golap. Commenting on this novel Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, an eminent poet and critic of the country said: He can visualize the great in the silly, the tiny movement of the soul can take a true picture in his pen and thus Rashid Karim has again proved that he is one of the greatest creative fiction writers of the country.
In general
It is profound that autobiographical elements are present in Rashid Karim's novels, since his novels sketch the middle-class people and their socio-political environment, which is his own.^[3] If we look into his swangsong Jibon Moron we will find the presence of some similar incidents that the novelist himself experienced in his own life. He himself also went through an adolescent love affair with a girl whose name is not even exposed in the swangsong. The marriage of the girl imprinted a great shock on his mind and resultantly he gave up any sort of writing. Though the novelist has confessed that if this girl would not appear in his life, he would never be able to be a writer. Once upon a time he had relation with two girls, which is also a common subject in his novels. The shadows of this girl or their marriage are not very faint in Karim’s novels also. The shifting of Rashid Karim’s family to Dhaka from Kolkata is another significant autobiographical element that has taken a large space in his novels.

Literary style

The novels of Rashid Karim have that capacity to give his readers a sort of cathartic feeling – and everyone will agree with the point that before his novels we did not meet such modern individuals in Bengali fiction. He is the pioneer Bengali novelist to expose the modern man – the flexibility and fickleness that every modern human being goes across regarding his love, sex and everything. No other contemporary Bengali novelist could expose the inner soul so tremendously.^[3] Publisher and writer Mofidul Haque said: he was very confident about his writing. He wrote what he believed in. He taught us about the ecstasy of obtaining knowledge and passion.^[4]

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Keef Hartley, British musician, died from complications from surgery he was 67.

Keith "Keef" Hartley ^[1] was an English drummer and bandleader  died from complications from surgery he was 67.. He fronted his own eponymous band, known as the Keef Hartley Band or the Keef Hartley Big Band, and played at Woodstock.^[2] He was later a member of Dog Soldier, and variously worked with Rory Storm, The Artwoods and John Mayall.<sup>[1]

(8 April 1944 – 26 November 2011)</sup>

Biography

Keith Hartley was born in Preston, Lancashire. His career began as the replacement for Ringo Starr as drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a Liverpool-based band. Subsequently he played and recorded with The Artwoods, then achieved some notability as John Mayall's drummer (including his role as the only musician, other than Mayall, to play on Mayall's 1967 "solo" record The Blues Alone.^[3] He then formed The Keef Hartley (Big) Band, mixing elements of jazz, blues, and rock and roll; the group played at Woodstock in 1969.
They released five albums, including Halfbreed and The Battle of North West Six (characterised by a reviewer for the Vancouver Sun as "an amazing display of virtuosity").^[4] After that Hartley released a 'solo' album (Lancashire Hustler, 1973) and then he formed Dog Soldier with Miller Anderson (guitar), Paul Bliss (bass), Derek Griffiths (guitar) and Mel Simpson (keyboards). They released an eponymous album in 1975, which had a remastered release in early 2011 on CD on the Esoteric label.
In 2007, Hartley released a ghostwritten autobiography, Halfbreed (A Rock and Roll Journey That Happened Against All the Odds).^[5] Hartley wrote about his life growing up in Preston, and his career as a drummer and bandleader, including the Keef Hartley Band's appearance at Woodstock.
Hartley died on 26 November 2011, aged 67, at Royal Preston Hospital in Preston.^[1][2]

Discography

Keef Hartley Band

• Halfbreed (1969)
• The Battle of North West Six (1969)
• The Time Is Near (1970) - UK #41^[6]
• Overdog (1971)
• Seventy-Second Brave (1972)
• Not Foolish, Not Wise (2003)

Solo

• Lancashire Hustler (1973)

Little Big Band

• Little Big Band (live at Marquee Club) (1971)

Dog Soldier

• Dog Soldier (1975) UAS 29769, recorded at Island Basing Street Studios, London, 18 November - 15 December 1974

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Ed Harrington, American-born Canadian football player (Toronto Argonauts), died from cancer he was 70.

Ed Harrington was a star defensive lineman in the Canadian Football League died from cancer he was 70..^[1]

^{(February 8, 1941 – November 26, 2011)}

 

Harrington played college football at Langston University and later with the Toronto Rifles of the Continental Football League. He had a 10 year career in the Canadian Football League from 1963 to 1974 for the Toronto Argonauts. He was a CFL All-Star three times. His name was put in the All-time Argos on September 19, 2010.^[2]

Personal

During his career, Harrington worked with various community organization in Toronto including Physical Director of the Toronto YMCA.^[3] After football he worked at the Ontario Ombudsman Office (1974–1986), patient advocate at psychiatric hospitals in Whitby and North Bay.^[4]
Harrington died in Field, Ontario of cancer and survived by wife Terryl.


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Manon Cleary, American realist painter, died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease she was 69.

Manon Cleary was an American realist painter who worked and lived in the District of Columbia died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease she was 69..

(November 14, 1942^[1] – November 26, 2011^[2]) 

Cleary was born in St. Louis, Missouri; she had an identical twin sister, Shirley Cleary-Cooper, who is also an artist. After studying in Rome where she developed an interest in Caravaggio, Cleary studied at Washington University in St. Louis and Temple University. She settled in Washington, D.C., in 1974 and taught at the University of the District of Columbia for thirty years. In 2001, she married F. Steven Kijek.
Cleary's works have been exhibited worldwide including in a solo ten-year retrospective at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1985 and in 2006 in a career retrospective at the Washington Arts Museum at Edison Place.^[3] In 1997, one of her paintings at an erotic art auction was featured on an episode of HBO's Real Sex.^[1]
Cleary had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and died at her home in Washington, D.C.^[1] She was 69.


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Lee "Shot" Williams, American blues singer, died he was 73.

Henry Lee "Shot" Williams was an American blues singer. He got the nickname "Shot" from his mother at a young age, owing to his fondness for wearing suits and dressing up as a "big shot died he was 73.."

(May 21, 1938 – November 25, 2011)

Williams grew up in the country close to his cousin and fellow blues man, Little Smokey Smothers. "Shot" moved to Detroit in 1954 and to Chicago in 1958. He joined Smothers there and began singing with Smokey's band in 1960 and a few years later joined Magic Sam's band as a vocalist. In 1962, Williams recorded his first singles for Chicago's Foxy label, "Hello Baby" and "I'm Trying." He recorded a series of singles for other labels, including King/Federal, Palos, Gamma, Shama and Tchula. His 1964 recording "Welcome to the Club" was a hit in Chicago, and was later covered by guitarist/singer Little Milton for Checker Records in 1965. Another regional hit, "I Like Your Style," came out in 1969 and was later covered by Junior Parker. Several more singles followed including the very popular "Drop Your Laundry Baby". His first album under his own name, "Country Disco", was released on the Roots label in 1977. In the 1980s, Williams released a slew of singles on labels like Tchula, 4-Way, True & Dis-Muke. He released an album on cassette with many of these cuts called "I Like Your Style". In 1994 the Japanese label Vivid Sound released an album called "A Shot of Rhythm and Blues" containing tracks Williams recorded in Memphis apparently for (but not released by) Quinton Claunch's SoulTrax imprint. The Black Magic label decided to give Lee a "Shot" behind his own band. The result, "Cold Shot" was released in 1995 and was voted the Best Blues Album of 1995 (New Recording - Soul/Blues) by the Living Blues readers' poll.^{[citation needed]}
His debut for the Memphis-based Ecko Records, "Hot Shot", brought Williams home to the "Southern Soul Blues" world with the hit "I'll Take The Risk". In 2000 Williams scored another hit with "She Made A Freak Out Of Me", followed by "Somebody's After My Freak". Williams left the label again and recorded one disc for Charles Wilson's label called "Let The Good Times Roll" before returning to Ecko for four more successful albums, establishing him as one of the icons of the genre.^{[citation needed]}
In 2008 Williams signed with CDS Records. His first CD for the label was released in 2008 and produced the hits "It's Friday (Time To Get Paid)" and "Wrong Bed". Two more albums were released by CDS Records, "I'm The Man For The Job" & "The First Rule Of Cheating" in 2010.

Death

Williams died on November 25, 2011, aged 73, from undisclosed causes.^[1]

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Tom Wicker, American journalist, heart attack, died he was 85.

Thomas Grey "Tom" Wicker was an American journalist  died he was 85.. He was best known as a political reporter and columnist for The New York Times.

(June 18, 1926 – November 25, 2011)

Background and education

Wicker was born in Hamlet, North Carolina. He was a graduate of the University of North Carolina. He won a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 1957. In 1993, he returned to Harvard, where he was a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. He died from an apparent heart attack, on November 25, 2011.^[1]

Career

The New York Times

Wicker began working in professional journalism in 1949, as editor of the small-town Sandhill Citizen in Aberdeen, North Carolina. By the early 1960s, he had joined The New York Times.^[2] At the Times, he became well known as a political reporter. He was one of the lead journalists for the paper's coverage of the assassination of President Kennedy, and he had ridden in a press bus in that Dallas motorcade. Wicker was a shrewd observer of the Washington, D.C. scene. In that capacity, his influential "In The Nation" column ran in the Times from 1966 through 1992. In an exit-interview Q & A with fellow Times reporter R.W. Apple, he reflected on one primary lesson of his years in the capitol. Apple asked whether Wicker had "any heroes" in political life.

I think it tends to work the other way. Which doesn't mean that I look at all those people with contempt—quite the opposite. But the journalist's perspective makes you see the feet of clay and the warts, and that's a good thing. I found them in many cases to be truly engaging human beings and admirable persons but not really, in the long run, impeccable heroes, or even just heroes without the "impeccable." We should try to see people as clearly as we can. Then if a hero does come into view, why, we can give him his due.^[2]

Books

Wicker's 1975 book A Time to Die: The Attica Prison Revolt, which recounted the events at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, during September 1971, received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Fact Crime book. He is also the author of several books about U.S. presidents, including Kennedy Without Tears: The Man Beneath the Myth (1964), JFK & LBJ: The Influence of Personality Upon Politics (1966), and One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream (1991). Other volumes Wicker penned include Facing the Lions (1973), a novel about a presidential campaign involving a candidate modeled on Sen. Estes Kefauver; Unto This Hour (1984), a novel of the Civil War, during the Battle of Second Bull Run, Tragic Failure: Racial Integration in America (1996) and Shooting Star : The Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy (2006).

Politics

Wicker's work earned him a place on the master list of Nixon political opponents. He wrote the essay on Richard Nixon for the book Character Above All: Ten Presidents from FDR to George Bush (1995). Wicker was mentioned in a 60 Minutes report from the 1970s which detailed how, along with other journalists and members of Congress who supported desegregation busing, Wicker and the others nevertheless sent their children to DC private schools.^[3]


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