Bill Mardo, American sportswriter, died from Parkinson's disease he was 88.

Bill Mardo was a writer for the The Daily Worker, the Communist Party of America newspaper. He is known for helping fight Major League Baseball's color barrier died from Parkinson's disease he was 88..^[1] He was the last living sportswriter deeply involved in the battle against segregation.^[2]

^{(October 24, 1923 - January 20, 2012)}

Early life

He was born William Bloom in Manhattan, New York on October 24, 1923, but changed his name when he began his career in journalism.

Journalism career

Mardo joined The Daily Worker in 1942 and remained with them through the early 1950s, when he joined the Soviet news agency Tass.
He died from Parkinson's disease on January 20, 2012 in Manhattan.


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Alessandro Liberati, Italian medical researcher, died from cancer he was 57.

Alessandro Liberati  was an Italian healthcare researcher and clinical epidemiologist, and founder of the Italian Cochrane Centre died from cancer he was 57..

(Genoa, Italy, 27 April 1954 – Bologna, Italy, 1 January 2012)

Biography

Alessandro Liberati graduated from the University of Milan in 1978 with a degree in Medicine, and obtained a postgraduate degree in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine from the same university in 1982. Before his graduation, he started collaborating with the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, where he led the laboratory of clinical epidemiology for a dozen years. He spent postgraduate research periods at the Harvard School of Public Health and at the RAND Corporation. He was an advocate of the evidence-based medicine movement and one of the founders of the Cochrane Collaboration, an international network of researchers established in 1993,^[1] producing a collection of systematic reviews of the medical literature, published in the Cochrane Library. In 1994 he started the Italian Cochrane Centre^[2] as the sixth Centre in the Cochrane Collaboration, which currently lists 31 centres and branches, and was its director for eighteen years.^[3]
In 1998 Liberati moved to academia, becoming associate professor of Medical Statistics at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. The following year he also became director of CeVEAS, a regional evidence-based centre located in Modena aimed at supporting clinicians' and health-care policymakers' decisions. In 2002 he started a Research and Innovation Program at the Emilia-Romagna Regional Health Care Agency, aimed at promoting patient-oriented clinical research bringing together clinicians, researchers, health care institutions, patients and the industry. Later in the same year Liberati was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. In 2003 he underwent two bone marrow transplants. He continued his work in patient-oriented research, as vice-president of Italy's National Committee for Health Research, and as a member of the Research and Development Committee of the Italian Drug Agency.
In late 2011 his clinical condition worsened until his death on 1 January 2012. In a press release, the Italian Minister of Health Renato Balduzzi described Liberati as one of the most insightful Italian researchers and a prominent member of the international scientific community.^[4]

Career and international reputation

Several obituaries describe Liberati's professional experience, highlighting the main features of his work and the ideas he supported.^{[2][5][6][7][8][9][10]} He believed that within a health system, research should be an integral part of its mission, especially where lack of commercial interests prevents the possibility of private investment,^[6] and that researchers should concentrate on what is relevant to patients, not to their careers or to drug companies.^[5][11][12] Moreover, he strongly believed that developing alliances with consumers is necessary for setting research priorities, ^{[1] [13]} and that research results should be easily accessible to people who need to make decisions about their own health.^[2][5]
In keeping with Iain Chalmers, one of the founders of the Cochrane Collaboration, Liberati was one of the pioneers of evidence synthesis,^[1] specifically, analyzing controlled trials of treatments for early breast cancer^[14] and assessing the effects of antibiotic prophylaxis in patients in intensive care.^[15] Chalmers mentions that he was pleased that Liberati and his colleagues' centre created "the first challenge to 'anglophone imperialism' within the evolving Collaboration".^[1]
Liberati was on the editorial board of two international medical journals, the British Medical Journal and Annals of Internal Medicine. He was a member of groups of international researchers developing standards to improve the quality of reporting of medical evidence (such as PRISMA)^[16] and to grade recommendations within clinical guidelines for medical decision-making (such as GRADE).^[17] He was an author of 187 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed medical journals.^[18]
During 2003 and 2008, Liberati leaded with Zadig, a scientific publisher, specialized in EBM communication, a program to disseminate independent and unbiased information to all Italian doctors.^[19] He did so by translating Clinical Evidence, a compendium of the best available evidence on treating a wide range of common conditions, into Italian and distributing it freely, supported by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA). By 2008, six Italian editions were published, freely available to all 248,000 doctors in practice in Italy at that time. Again in collaboration with Zadig, to speed up the diffusion of EBM, Liberati launched a free-access continuous medical education e-learning system, based on Clinical Evidence, called ECCE (the Italian acronym for Continuing Education Clinical Evidence).^[20] At the end of 2008 almost 130,000 health professionals were using ECCE, considered contents relevant and appropriate for educational purposes and expressed their intention to apply the acquired information into clinical practice. This is considered a successful example of knowledge translation, making research findings more accessible and clinically relevant to increase their usefulness for practitioners and, ultimately, improve patient outcomes.
Liberati often used his own experience as a patient as evidence of the need for collaborative strategies in healthcare research, such as in an interview published by the World Health Organization^[21] and in medical journal articles.^[11][12] In his last months, Liberati kept a blog where he discussed and exchanged comments about his disease, health care and other themes.^[22]


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Ed Jenkins, American politician, Representative from Georgia (1977–1993), died he was 78.

Edgar Lanier "Ed" Jenkins was an American politician from Georgia. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993 as a Democrat .

(January 4, 1933 – January 1, 2012) 

Jenkins, who was born in Young Harris, Georgia, served in the Coast Guard from 1952 to 1955, and as administrative assistant to congressman Phillip M. Landrum from 1959 to 1962. He supported protection for the textile industry and capital gains tax cuts. In 1989, he challenged Richard Gephardt for Majority Leader but lost by a margin of 76 to 181 votes.^[1] Jenkins died, just three days before his 79th birthday, in Atlanta, Georgia.



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Frank Horwill, British athletics coach, died he was 84.

Frank J. Horwill MBE was a UK Athletics senior level 4 coach most famous for founding the British Milers' Club (BMC) and for formulating the Five Pace Training Theory which is widely used for coaching middle-distance runners throughout the world died he was 84..

(19 June 1927 – 1 January 2012) 

As a volunteer coach since 1961, Horwill coached over 50 Great Britain and Northern Ireland international athletes from 800 metres to the marathon - from track to the road and to the country.^{[citation needed]} Five of his athletes achieved sub-4 minute miles – the fastest being Tim Hutchings, who ran 3:54.53 for the mile and placed fourth in the 5000m in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
In 1963 Horwill co-founded the British Milers’ Club with the aim of raising "British middle distance running to world supremacy". Seventeen years after the BMC was formed, British male middle-distance runners held all the middle-distance world records. This was attributed to the first ever national scheme of using 'hares' in races. The club has been the nursery and arena for many champions over the years, with the great majority of Britain’s best middle distance runners being members and Horwill was an active member of the club's committee until his death.
In 1970 Horwill invented the 5-pace/multi-tier system of training, used by Sebastian Coe to enormous success under his father and coach Peter Coe. In 1980, Peter Coe said, "we have used Frank Horwill's multi-tier system. It’s all embracing."^[1]
Many other prominent athletes have also adopted the 5-pace system of training including Saïd Aouita who was the only man at the time capable of running 800m in sub 1:44, 1500m in sub 3:30, 3000m in sub 7:30, 5000m in sub 13:00, and 10000m in sub 27:30 and Noah Ngeny, the 2000 Sydney Olympic 1,500m champion.
Horwill was widely respected in athletics circles throughout the world and lectured and coached internationally, including in Canada, Ireland, Poland, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Bahrain, Portugal and South Africa. The latter country held a special affection in his heart and on his frequent visits he was sought out for advice by aspiring South African middle distance athletes and coaches. He helped and influenced countless athletes and coaches worldwide by correspondence and coached a large squad of runners, "Horwill's Harriers", in London.
A prolific writer, Horwill regularly produced articles for the British magazine Athletics Weekly, and other sporting publications. He co-authored The Complete Middle Distance Runner (1972), along with Denis Watts and Harry Wilson. In 1991, Frank Horwill published Obsession for Running, described by The Daily Telegraph as "The athletics book of the year". Owen Anderson in Peak Performance called it "an outstanding book".
Horwill was a man of many quotes including, "We’ve only just begun to work"; "Anyone can run fast repetitions and have a cup of tea and a doughnut after each repetition!";^[2] "Keep going, keep going, keep going, until a little something inside you says, 'keep going'". Track side, at the 200m mark at BMC meetings he was heard to say, "If you can’t go faster than that, get off the track!"
Horwill was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for voluntary service to sport.^[3] Horwill died on 1 January 2012.^[4] He was 84.



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Hermann Guggiari, Paraguayan engineer and sculptor, died he was 87.

Hermann Guggiari was a Paraguayan engineer and sculptor died he was 87..^[1]

 

^{(20 March 1924 – 1 January 2012)} 

Childhood and youth

Guggiari was born in Asunción, Paraguay the son of Pedro Bruno Guggiari, who served as mayor of Asunción, and of Ana Brun. He did his elementary and high school in the San Jose School, in Asunción and his engineering studies as well as his sculpture studies in Buenos Aires, in the Escuela Superior de Bellas Arte “ Ernesto de la Carcova”, an institution in which, in contact with Libero Baadi, Alicia Peñalba, Lucio Fontana and Curatella Manes, he learned to value the advanced art of the time.
His liberal and democratic ideas gained him the exile after the bloody civil war of 1947 to 1954 - and the cultural marginal as well as the imprisonment in several occasions during the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. Due to the lack of a National Plastic Art Place in Paraguay, he annually from 1970 to 1995 fairs and expositions in Christmas time, in the “Bosque de los artistas”, in his own property. The fair of “EL BOSQUE” was with the time, an obligatory gathering of the artistic production, reaching a number of 250 participants in the last ones.

History and works

Guggiari's body of work is large and has won prizes. Some have freedom as the central theme: ”Hungria o Libertad“, which received a special mention in the V Bienal of San Paulo (1959); ”Kennedy”, which obtained the first prize in sculpture in the Salon Esso of Young Artist of Latin America, organized by the OEA (1965): ”Rejas”, inspired in the prisons of the Stronist dictatorship; ”NNUU”, a seven meters structure, which is located at the entrance of the Dachau concentration camp (Germany) and symbolizes the United Nations in a form near the building of the NNUU,with perforations as wounds in two fronts-United Nations as a name, because the violence of the world continues-and as a sign of hope in each hole of the violence, a nest of real pigeons as a murmur of peace (199).
Another theme is the vital, between to be and stop being. In this line there is ”Parto”, with a message of transcendence despite the pain, ”Inmanencia”, and “Del polvo eres y polvo seras”.
As a homage to the dreams that did not come true, what could not be, he carved “Ara rupi a” about which Livio Abramo said once at the presentation: ”Because of the capacity of adapting is deep artistic sensibility to the spirit of this time, Hermann B. Guggiari has a special place in the plastic art of Paraguay and the continent. His art is complex, absorbing all technical possibilities of our culture and civilization and he fuses them as his instrument in order to express the fundamental values of men.”
“Brote”, an homage to his father, mayor of the city of Asunción who planted trees and created the green spaces of the city, is a sculpture inscribed within his optimistic themes. ”Historia”, presented at the Expo 92 in Sevilla, was selected by the organizers of the world event to be exposed at the entrance of the “Pabellon de las Americas”. His moral theme appeared in his “Cristo“, whose original is at the entrance of the church La Crucecita, in the Sajonia neighborhood, in Asunción. A copy of this work was presented at the X Bienal of São Paulo (1971) and obtained the Golden Medal; regarding this successful participation the critic Arnold Kohler, from Switzerland, said in the newspaper Tribune de Geneve: ” There are two artist in the Bienal of Sao Paulo, both sculptors, who having followed different steps, one figurative and the other abstract, have reached a high perfection and spirituality. The first one, Hermann Guggiari, Paraguayan-created a form of an angel emerging from the wall, a dramatic and sublime work.“
He is also the author of other “Cristos“, associated to the ecological area, such as the one in the temple of Maria Auxiliadora, of Asunción, and the “Cristo clavado por los troncos quemados”, of the few remaining woods in Paraguay. Within this subject, he made in the streets, in the second Bienal of Medellin (Colombia), the “Cross” of Medellin, as an homage to the Colombian Christian martyrs. Another “Cruz ametrallada” made as an homage to the Christian country men of the agro leagues, murdered during the dictatorship of Stroessner. “Proceso” deserves special mention atemporal multispacial, with an integration of films, photos, sound, made with machine guns and used several times as “Cruz”.
On sustained development he presented in the university city of Fort Hays, Kansas, United States, a sculpture symbolizing the development of this state as the world granary. (1980)
“Gaviota” (1982) is a sculpture presented in Punta del Este (Uruguay) in a mixed exposition of sculptors of Latin America, in the Playa Brava; it's a protest against the death of the coast birds due to the black ties produced by the petrol pollution.
He also made a monument to “Periodista martir Santiago Leguizamon“ (1991), located on the street with the name of the press man, victim of murder bullets. In 1994 he made a “Homenaje a Miro” in an international congress in Panama.
Other sculptures of his are monument to “A los heroes del CHACO” in the harbour of Asuncion, the image of “Maria Auxiliadora”, of 8,5 meters, made in stainless steel, and the monument of “Exalumnos del Colegio San Jose muertos en la Guerra del Chaco”, made in quebracho wood.
He was a member of various international juries, co-founder of Centro de Arte Moderno de Asuncion, founder and first president of the Centro de Escultores del Paraguay, founder of the Movimiento Ecologico Paraguayo (1990). In 1995 he was condecorated by the Paraguayan government with “the national merit order “, as a Commendatore. He was married to Deidamia Banks, was the father of eight children, four of whom keep the family spark of love to beauty in the center “Guggiari Arte”.

References

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Kiro Gligorov, Macedonian politician, first democratically elected President (1991–1999), died he was 94.

Kiro Gligorov was the first President of the Republic of Macedonia, serving from 1991 to 1999 died he was 94.. He held various high positions in the political establishment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including as Secretary of State for Finance in the Federal Executive Council, a member of the Yugoslav Presidency, as well as President of the Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from May 15, 1974 to May 15, 1978.

(Macedonian: Киро Глигоров, pronounced [ˈkirɔ ˈɡliɡɔrɔf] ( listen)), May 3, 1917 – January 1, 2012^[1]) 

Early life

Born in Štip, Kingdom of Serbia (then under Bulgarian control),^[2] Gligorov later graduated from the University of Belgrade's Law School and was a participant in the National Liberation War of the ethnic Macedonians from 1941 as a secretary of the Initiative committee^[3] for the organization of the Antifascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) and a finance commissioner in the Presidium of ASNOM.
After the promotion of parliamentary democracy in the country in 1990, he became the first democratically elected president of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia on January 27, 1991. On April 16, 1991, the parliament adopted the constitutional amendment for removing the "Socialist" adjective from the official name of the country, and on June 7 the same year, the new name Republic of Macedonia was officially established, hence Gligorov continued his presidency as the President of the Republic of Macedonia.^[4]
He served for two terms, from January 27, 1991, to November 19, 1999. He was re-elected for his second term in office on November 19, 1994. He led his country to independence proclaimed after the referendum held on September 8, 1991, and tried to keep it out of the Yugoslav wars, a task made difficult by disputes with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria and Greece who all faced separate issues with the country.^{[citation needed]}

Assassination attempt

On October 3, 1995, Gligorov was the target of a car bomb assassination attempt in Skopje. While en route from his residence to his office, the vehicle carrying Gligorov was blown up by an explosion from a parked vehicle, killing his driver and injuring several passers-by. Gligorov was seriously injured above his right eye and was immediately conveyed to the hospital.^[5]
Since the incident there have been no suspects brought to book and no progress has been made in the investigation of the case. However, there have been short-lived speculations as to who could be the culprits. Shortly after bombing, the Minister of Internal Affairs Ljubomir Frčkovski publicly claimed that "a powerful multinational company from a neighbouring country" was behind the assassination attempt,^[6] with the Macedonian media pointing at the Bulgarian Multigroup and the Yugoslav KOS as possible suspects.^[6] During a meeting between Multigroup head Iliya Pavlov and Gligorov in Ohrid, Pavlov assured Gligorov that his organisation was not involved.^[6] All investigations were futile.^[6]
Gligorov was incapacitated until November 17, 1995. He was permanently blind in one eye as a result. Stojan Andov was acting president during Gligorov's recuperation.^{[citation needed]}
The election for Gligorov's successor took place only a few days before the end of his term.

Death

Gligorov died in the early hours of January 1, 2012, in his sleep. It is known that his request was that the funeral be private with only his closest family in attendance. He was buried in Butel Municipality, Skopje.^[7]
Kiro was the father of Vladimir Gligorov, a refounder of the Serbian Democratic Party.


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Anders Frandsen, Danish singer and television presenter, died he was 51.

Anders Frandsen was a Danish musician, singer, actor and TV presenter. He was born in Copenhagen died he was 51..^[1]

^{(8 December 1960 – c. 1 January 2012)}

Frandsen was not a trained actor, but he appeared in theatre performances during the 1980s. He later became a TV presenter on Danish Kanal 2, alongside Camilla Miehe-Renard.
In 1991 he came to fame when he won the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (the Danish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest) with the song Lige der hvor hjertet slår, composed by Michael Elo. The song didn't do well at the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, and placed 19th with only 8 points. That didn't hurt his popularity however, and the following year at the Danish national final, he was the host.
He then became a TV host on TV3 for the next few years. He appeared on lots of shows like "Knald eller Fald" (a dating programme), "Stjerneskud" (a talent competition for look-alikes), and also presented the network's morning TV. In 1997, he slowly disappeared from TV again.
He later resurfaced at the Danish Melodi Grand Prix final in 2001, presenting one of the songs, and also guest-starred in an episode of Ørnen (a Danish TV series) in 2004. In 2005 he guest-starred in an episode of the Danish TV show Twist & Shout, on TV2 Charlie.
On the evening of 1 January 2012, Frandsen was found lifeless in his Hellerup apartment by friends, who called emergency services, who pronounced him dead on site.^[1] Frandsen had brought a garden barbecue into his bedroom and lit it, causing death by carbon monoxide poisoning. A suicide note was also discovered, but the exact time of death it not known. Frandsen was 51. ^[2][3]


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