Emmanuel Cooper, British potter and writer, died he was 73.

Emmanuel Cooper OBE is a British studio potter and writer on arts and crafts  died he was 73..

(1938 – 21 January 2012^[1]) 

Cooper studied at the University for the Creative Arts.^[2] He also achieved a PhD degree at Middlesex University.
He is a member of the Crafts Council and is the editor of Ceramic Review. Since 1999, he has been visiting Professor of Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art. He is the author of many books on ceramics including his definitive biography of Bernard Leach that was published in 2003 (Yale University Press)^{[citation needed]} and is also the editor of The Ceramics Book, published in 2006.^{[citation needed]}
As a potter, Emmanuel's work falls into one of two general forms. In the first his vessels are heavily glazed in a volcanic form. The vessels, as a result of this heavy glazing, derive a lot of their appeal from their varied and uneven textures. In their most simple form they are very reminiscent of work by Lucie Rie. In their more extravagant forms though the vessels can be banded or use incredibly vivid colors to great effect including pink, vibrant yellow and deep reds and blues. His other form of work is much simpler in style using plain glazes, often in egg yolk yellow, occasionally spotted with gold flecks.
Emmanuel's work can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal Scottish Museum,^[2] as well as in many private collections. He has been awarded an OBE for services to art. Emmanuel Cooper died peacefully on 21 January 2012.


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Barbara Lea, American jazz singer and actress, died from Alzheimer's disease she was 82.

Barbara Lea  was an American actress and singer  died from Alzheimer's disease she was 82..


(April 10, 1929 – December 26, 2011)

Background

Barbara Ann LeCocq was born into a musical family; her musical heritage is traceable to a great uncle, Alexandre Charles LeCocq — an important nineteenth-century composer of French light opera. Barbara's father changed their surname to Leacock; she shortened it to Lea when she begin working professionally. Barbara grew up in a Detroit suburb and attended the girls-only Kingswood School (which merged in 1984 with the Cranbrook School to become the Cranbrook Kingswood School).
Boston was a hotbed of jazz in the late 40s and early 50s, allowing Lea to sing with major instrumentalists including as Marian McPartland, Bobby Hackett, Vic Dickenson, Frankie Newton, Johnny Windhurst, and George Wein. She worked with small dance bands there before attending Wellesley College on scholarship and majoring in music theory. She also sang in the college choir, worked on the campus radio station and newspaper, and arranged for and conducted the Madrigal Group and brass choir concerts.
Her professional career started upon graduation. Her early recordings for Riverside and Prestige met with immediate critical acclaim and led to her winning the DownBeat International Critics' Poll as the Best New Singer of 1956.^[1] She appeared in small clubs in New York, including the renowned Village Vanguard, and throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada, as well as on radio and TV.
She studied acting to improve her stage presence and, with the near-demise of classic pop in the early 60s, turned to the legitimate theatre, performing an impressive list of leading and feature roles in everything from Shakespeare to Sondheim. She moved to the West Coast and received her M.A. in drama at Cal. State-Northridge, then returned to New York and taught speech at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and acting at Hofstra University.
In the 1970s, with the resurgence of interest in show tunes and popular standards, Lea was literally sought out to appear in the Peabody Award-winning National Public Radio series "American Popular Song with Alec Wilder and Friends". She appeared in two shows—one featuring the songs of Willard Robison (10/03/1976) and one featuring songs performed and recorded by Lee Wiley (11/14/1976).^[2] This led to two lengthy feature articles in The New Yorker magazine, where Whitney Balliett declared "Barbara Lea has no superior among popular singers" (The New Yorker, May 20, 1985, p. 88), and a renewed singing career.
Lea starred in the JVC, Kool, and Newport Jazz Festivals several times, but her increasing devotion to the songs as written led to concerts of the works of Rodgers and Hart, Arthur Schwartz, Cy Coleman, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, and the Gershwins, as well as cabaret appearances devoted to Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, and Yip Harburg.^[3]
At the time of her death, more than a dozen of her CDs were available on the Audiophile label, which has a reputation for featuring the best in singers of classic pop, plus reissues of two early LPs on Fantasy/Original Jazz Classics, three recent releases on the European-based label, Challenge, as well as three recent releases on her private label.^[4][5]
She died in 2011 from complications of Alzheimer's disease.^[6][7][8][9]


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Kiyonori Kikutake, Japanese architect, died he was 83.

Kiyonori Kikutake  was a prominent Japanese architect known as one of the founders of the Japanese Metabolist group  died he was 83..^[1] He was also the tutor and employer of several important Japanese architects, such as Toyo Ito and Itsuko Hasegawa.

(菊竹 清訓 Kikutake Kiyonori^?) (April 1, 1928 – December 26, 2011)

Background

Kikutake was born in 1928 in Kurume, Japan and graduated from Waseda University in 1950.^[2]

Career

Kikutake is best known for his "Marine City" project of 1958, which formed part of the Metabolist Manifesto launched at the World Design Conference in Tokyo in 1960 under the leadership of Kenzo Tange. He, along with fellow member Kisho Kurokawa was invited to exhibit work at the "Visionary Architecture" exhibition in New York of 1961, through which the Metabolists gained international recognition. Kikutake continued his practice until his death in 2011, producing several key public buildings throughout Japan, as well as lecturing internationally. He was also the President and then Honorary President of the Japan Institute of Architects.

Awards

Kikutake was the recipient of numerous awards both in his native Japan and internationally. These include the Japan Academy of Architecture Prize (1970) and the UIA (Union Internationale des Architectes) Auguste Perret Prize (1978).

List of works

• Sky House, Tokyo, 1958
• Marine City, 1958
• Tatebayashi Civic Centre, 1963
• Administrative building of Izumo Shrine, 1963
• Pacific Hotel, Chigasaki, 1966
• Miyakonojo Civic Hall, 1966
• Matsumi Tower, 1976
• Tanabe Art Museum, 1979
• Hotel Seiyo, Ginza, Tokyo, 1987
• Edo-Tokyo Museum, 1993
• Hotel Sofitel, Tokyo, 1994
• Shimane Art Museum, 1999
• National Showa Memorial Museum, 1999
• Kyushu National Museum, 2005

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Fred Fono, Solomon Islander politician, Deputy Prime Minister (2006) and MP for Central Kwara'ae (1997–2010), died he was 49.

Fred Iro Fono  was a Solomon Islands politician, serving as the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Rural Development and Indigenous Affairs from December 2007 to August 2010 died he was 49..^[1] He was a member of the People's Alliance Party^[2] and represented Central Kwara'ae Constituency in the National Parliament for thirteen years from 1997 to 2010, when he was defeated for re-election by MP Jackson Fiulaua.^[3][4]

 

^{(10 October 1962 – 26 December 2011)}

Fono served as Chief Commercial Officer of the Corporate Division of the Ministry of Commerce & Primary Industries and as Provincial Secretary for Malaita Province before being elected to the National Parliament for the first time in the August 1997 parliamentary election. He then served as Minister for Development and Planning from 29 September 1997 to 5 June 2000.^[1] He was a candidate for the position of Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament later that year, but withdrew his candidacy on 1 December 2000, leaving Jackson Sunaone to win the post without opposition.^[5] He was re-elected to his seat in the December 2001 parliamentary election and subsequently served as Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament from 20 December 2001 to 3 January 2005. He was then Minister for National Planning and Aid Coordination from 4 February 2005 to 4 April 2006. Re-elected to his seat in April 2006, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Planning and Aid Coordination in the short-lived government of Snyder Rini from 21 April 2006 to 4 May 2006.^[1] Fono was the government's candidate to replace Rini as Prime Minister,^[6] but he was defeated by Manasseh Sogavare in the parliamentary vote on 4 May, receiving 22 votes against 28 for Sogavare.^[7] He was then elected as Leader of the Opposition on 5 May, receiving unanimous support from the members of the opposition.^[8]
Criticizing Sogavare's worsening of relations with Australia through his refusal to extradite Attorney-General Julian Moti, Fono introduced a motion of no-confidence against Sogavare that was defeated on 11 October 2006; the motion was supported by 17 members of parliament, while 28 voted against it.^[9] After Sogavare was defeated in another no-confidence vote in December 2007, Fono became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Rural Development and Indigenous Affairs under Prime Minister Derek Sikua on 21 December 2007.^[10]
In December 2011, Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo mentioned Fono as a possible High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, but he never took up the post.^[3]
Fred Fono died at National Referral Hospital (NRH) in Honiara at approximately 11 p.m. on December 26, 2011, at the age of 49.^[3] It is believed that Fono contracted a brief illness after returning from a trip to Auki, Malaita Province, on December 23rd.^[3] Fono was survived by his wife, Abby, his two daughters, Joy and Rachel, and his son Fred Junior.^[3][4]


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Sean Collins, American surfer and surf forecaster (Surfline), died from a heart attack he was 59.

Sean Robb Collins was the founder of Surfline and a noted figure in the areas of surfing and surf forecasting died from a heart attack he was 59..^[1]

Biography

Collins was born in Pasadena, California in 1952.^[2][3][4] His father, Whitney Collins, was a former Navy lieutenant who enjoyed sailboat racing and owned a 45-foot Newporter ketch, "Leprechaun", berthed in the Long Beach marina and biking distance from Collins' Long Beach home. Collins' early experiences sailing with his father instilled a passion for the ocean and meteorology.^[5][3] Much of his knowledge of meteorology was self-taught. While Long Beach has almost no surf because of its breakwater, Collins was part of a vibrant surf culture at Woodrow Wilson high school (class of 1970), where surf film director Bruce Brown graduated earlier, and world-class woman surfer, Jericho Poppler, was a classmate.
In the early years of Collins' surf forecasting he would record weather reports and forecasts from the Southern Hemisphere, which he received via shortwave radio.^[2] He also studied charts and data from the National Weather Service library. By comparing these various data sources with his observations of the surf, he devised formulas for predicting how global weather events would affect near-shore surf conditions; these models were eventually combined into a set of swell-modeling algorithms nicknamed "LOLA".^[2]
In the 1970s, Collins spent extensive time traveling and surfing in Mexico. He converted marine weather forecasting equipment for use in an automobile so that he would have advance knowledge of where swells and offshore weather patterns were developing, and in turn used that information to find the best locations for surfing.^[5]
In 1985, Collins founded a surf report service called Surfline. The company started as a call-in service, which provided verbal condition reports for various surf breaks around Southern California.^[6] In 1995, Surfline moved online, offering live video streams of surf breaks in addition to written surf reports.^[7]
Surfline eventually expanded to offer editorial coverage of surfing, and is now one of the most prominent websites related to the sport.^[8] Tyler Collins assumed Collins position on the Surfline Board of Directors in 2012.^[9]

Recognitions

In 1999, Collins was named one of the "25 Most Influential Surfers of the Century" by Surfer magazine.^[2] In 2006, he was named "one of the 100 most powerful people in Southern California" by The Los Angeles Times' West Magazine, for his influence on the region's surfers.^[10]
In 2008, in honor of his contributions to surf forecasting, Collins was inducted into the Surfers' Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach, California.^{[11] [12]}
In 2012, Collins was inducted into the Surfer's Walk of Fame and received the Surf Culture Award in Huntington Beach, California. ^[13]
In August 2012, Sean Collins was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the SIMA Waterman's Ball in Laguna Niguel, California. ^[14]

Death

He died on December 26, 2011 in Newport Beach, California, aged 59, from a heart attack.^[15][16] His death was memorialized by a paddle out by about 200 surfers in what was described as the "biggest memorial tribute ever held for a surfer in Huntington Beach", with about 2,000 people in attendance.^[17]


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Joe Bodolai, American comedy writer (Saturday Night Live) and producer, died from suicide by poisoning he was 63.

Joe Bodolai was an American film and television producer and writer  died from suicide by poisoning he was 63..^[2]

^{(May 11, 1948 – December 26, 2011)} 

Born and raised in the United States, Bodolai was opposed to the Vietnam War and moved to Canada in order to avoid being drafted.^[3] He moved back to the United States in 1981 to write for twenty episodes of Saturday Night Live before returning to Canada.
He is best known for producing such television shows as It's Only Rock & Roll, Comics!, and The Kids in the Hall and helping to launch the careers of the young talent featured on those shows. He also co-wrote the first draft of the film Wayne's World with Mike Myers.
Bodolai was a founder of The Comedy Network, helping the new channel secure its licence from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 1996, and expected to be named the new channel's head by its owners. He was disappointed when he was not hired and decided to return permanently to the United States.^[4]
Bodolai was found dead on December 26, 2011 in a Hollywood hotel room of an apparent suicide; he was 63.^[5][6][7] No suicide note was found, though on December 23 a long post was added to his blog,^[8] entitled "If this were your last day alive what would you do?"^[9]


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Sarekoppa Bangarappa, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Karnataka (1990–1992), died he was 79.

Sarekoppa Bangarappa  was an Indian politician who was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1990 to 1992  died he was 79..

(26 October 1932 – 26 December 2011)

He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Karnataka between 1967 and 1996, before contesting a series of six elections for the Lok Sabha from 1996 to 2009, of which he lost two. He founded both the Karnataka Vikas Party and the Karnataka Congress Party during a 44 year career in which his supporters called him Solillada Saradara (a leader who cannot be defeated). As well as these two parties, Bangarappa was at various times a member of the Indian National Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal (Secular), and his critics described him as a party-hopper because of this.^[1]

Early life

Bangarappa was born on 26 October 1932 in Kubatur village,Soraba Taluk, Shimoga district, Karnataka. He married Shakuntala in 1958^[2] and the couple had five children, including the actor Kumar Bangarappa and film maker Madhu Bangarappa, both of whom have also been politicians.^[3] He belonged to Namadhari-Idiga community.^[4]
He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, a similar degree in Law and a Diploma in Social Science.^[2]

Political career

Bangarappa began his career in politics as a socialist.^[3] He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1967 from the Soraba constituency of Shimoga district. He became known as a champion of the backward classes,^[5] of which his Deevaru origins made him a member.^[6] Subsequently, he joined the Indian National Congress (INC) and became a minister in the government of Devaraj Urs,^[1] with his first appointment being as Minister of State in the Home department in 1977. This post was followed by that of Cabinet Minister for the Public Works Department in 1978 and then Revenue and Agriculture Minister between 1980 and 1981. In 1979, he served for a year as President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.^[5][7]
In 1983, he left the INC and became involved with the Karnataka Kranti Ranga (Karnataka Revolutionary Front, also known as the Kannada Kranti Ranga) that had been established a few years earlier by the now-deceased Urs. A brief alliance between the KKR and the Janata Party (JP) resulted in the 1983 election of the first non-INC government in the state.^[8][9] Although there had been speculation that he would be appointed Chief Minister in that government, this post went instead to Ramakrishna Hegde of the JP. Bangarappa gradually realigned himself with the INC after spending some time supporting the government of Hegde.^[8]
Bangarappa was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1985 and held that post until 1987.^[2] Following the Congress victory in 1989, he became Agriculture Minister in the Veerendra Patil cabinet. He was appointed as Chief Minister of the state in 1990 after Patil was removed on the orders of Rajiv Gandhi, allegedly on health grounds. Subsequently, in 1992, Bangarappa was replaced as Chief Minister by Veerappa Moily.^[5] During his tenure, he promoted three popular programmes: Aradhana, Ashraya and Vishwa. Ashraya was a programme to build houses for the poor people. Aradhana was a programme to revive and rebuild 36,000 religious shrines belonging to all communities and Vishwa a programme to give direct financial help for rural artisans and tiny and cottage industries.^[10] His term had been marred by several allegations of his involvement in scandals, such as that involving Classik Computers, although he was cleared of any impropriety in that case. His removal followed his government's failure in handling the Cauvery riots.^[5][8][11]
Bangarappa left the INC after his removal and formed the Karnataka Congress Party (KCP). His election successes after leaving the chief ministership demonstrated the extent of his personal support with the electorate, which seemed not to be reliant upon the political party to which he belonged, although his popularity declined over time. He came to be seen as a "turncoat politician" who lacked ideology and principle and who moved from one party to another according to whichever he considered to be the most likely to gain power at the time.^[5]
Having won the Soraba assembly seat on seven occasions, Bangarappa left it and the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1996. In the same year, he contested the Shimoga constituency, a mostly agricultural area in which the Idiga caste dominated, and was elected a member of the Lok Sabha as a KCP candidate.^[11][12] He then, went on to form the Karnataka Vikas Party (KVP) and lost in 1998 as a representative of the KVP. However, he was re-elected in 1999 as an INC candidate.^[13][14] In 2004, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)^[15] and was re-elected to the Lok Sabha as a BJP candidate with a large majority.^[16] In 2005 he resigned from the BJP and joined the Samajwadi Party,^[17] sparking a by-election to the Lok Sabha that he won.^[18][19] In 2008, he contested against the BJP Chief Ministerial candidate, Yeddyurappa, in the Shikaripura assembly seat^[20] and lost heavily.^[21] In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he lost to Yeddyurappa's son, B. Y. Raghavendra, of the BJP.^[22] In that last election, Bangarappa had represented the INC.^[23] Later, in December 2010 and with his political career in decline, Bangarappa joined the Janata Dal (Secular).^[24]

Death

Bangarappa sufered from diabetes and died on 26 December 2011 in hospital at Bangalore due to multiple causes.^[25] His funeral was attended by a large number of supporters and was held with state honours at his native village.^[26]
Police had to intervene during the funeral ceremonies due to disputes between factions, much of which appeared to revolve around family differences involving Kumar and Madhu Bangarappa.^[27] Comments made by Bangarappa at the time of the 2004 assembly elections caused problems for his son, Kumar, who was at that time a minister in the INC government of S. M. Krishna. Kumar represented his father's old constituency, Soraba, and differences of opinion between the two men had already surfaced, which Bangarappa appeared to delight in publicising but Kumar attempted to play down. Kumar reacted to his father's decision to join the BJP in order to contest the Lok Sabha elections by himself resigning from the INC and his ministerial role. Kumar then discovered that his politically inexperienced younger brother, Madhu Bangarappa, had been selected by the BJP to fight the constituency, apparently at the instigation of his father. Kumar returned to the INC and agreed to stand for election against his brother, determined to make a point to his father and to support Krishna's desire to see Bangarappa humilitated on what was his "home turf". Bangarappa campaigned for Madhu and attempted to mobilise his own support to that end. However, although Bangarappa himself won handsomely from the Shimoga Lok Sabha seat, he was unable to secure the victory of Madhu in Soraba.^[6]

Positions held

• 1967-96 Member, Karnataka Legislative Assembly (7 terms)
• 1977-78 Minister of State, Home, Government of Karnataka
• 1978-79 Cabinet Minister, P.W.D., Government of Karnataka
• 1979-80 President, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee [K.P.C.C. (I)]
• 1980-81 Minister, Revenue and Agriculture, Government of Karnataka
• 1985-87 Leader of Opposition, Karnataka Legislative Assembly
• 1989-90 Minister, Agriculture and Horticulture, Government of Karnataka
• 1990-92 Chief Minister, Karnataka
• 1996 Elected to 11th Lok Sabha as a KCP candidate
• 1999 Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (2nd term) as an INC candidate
• 2004 Re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha( 3rd term) as a BJP candidate
• 2005 Re-elected to Lok Sabha in a by-election from Samajwadi party .
• 2008 Lost in State Assembly elections
• 2009 Lost in 2009 General Elections of Lok Sabha
• December 2010 Joined the JD (S)

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