Herbert Wilf, American mathematician, died he was 80.

Herbert Saul Wilf was a mathematician, specializing in combinatorics and graph theory died he was 80.. He was the Thomas A. Scott Professor of Mathematics in Combinatorial Analysis and Computing at the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote numerous books and research papers. Together with Neil Calkin he founded The Electronic Journal of Combinatorics in 1994 and was its editor-in-chief until 2001.

(June 13, 1931 – January 7, 2012) 

Biography

Wilf was the author of numerous papers and books, and was adviser and mentor to many students and colleagues. His collaborators include Doron Zeilberger and Donald Knuth. One of Wilf's former students is Richard Garfield, the creator of the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. He also served as a thesis advisor for E. Roy Weintraub in the late 1960s.
Wilf died of a progressive neuromuscular disease in 2012.^[1]

Selected publications

• The Number of Independent Sets in a Grid Graph
  NJ Calkin, HS Wilf – SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, 1998
• An inequality for the chromatic number of a graph
  G Szekeres, HS Wilf – J. Combinatorial Theory, 1968

Books

• A=B (with Doron Zeilberger and Marko Petkovšek)
• Algorithms and Complexity
• generatingfunctionology.^[2]
• Mathematics for the Physical Sciences

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Hideaki Nitani, Japanese actor (Tokyo Drifter), died from pneumonia he was 81.

Hideaki Nitani was a Japanese actor died from pneumonia he was 81..

(二谷英明 Nitani Hidaki^?, 28 January 1930 – 7 January 2012)

Career

Born in Kyoto Prefecture, Nitani attended Doshisha University but quit before graduating.^[1] He first worked as an announcer at Nagasaki Broadcasting Company, but in 1956 made his debut as an actor at Nikkatsu.^[1] Gaining the nickname "Dump Truck Guy" for his handsome, tough guy roles,^[2] he soon became a staple in Nikkatsu Action movies, often playing the second lead, but sometimes starring in his own films. He is probably best known abroad for his role in Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter. Nitani left Nikkatsu in 1971 and moved to television, where he starred in the Tokusō saizensen police detective series, which ran for ten years between 1977 and 1987.^[2]
Nitani married the actress Yumi Shirakawa and their daughter, Yurie Nitani, is also an actress.^[2] He died of pneumonia on 7 January 2012.^[2]

Selected filmography

Film

• I Am Waiting (俺は待ってるぜ Ore wa matteru ze) (1957)
• Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate (幕末太陽伝 Bakumatsu taiyōden) (1957)
• Underworld Beauty (暗黒街の美女 Ankokugai no bijo) (1958)
• Voice Without a Shadow (影なき声 Kagenaki koe) (1958)
• Young Breasts (青い乳房 Aoi chibusa) (1958)
• Man with a Shotgun (散弾銃の男 Shottogan no otoko) (1961)
• Tokyo Drifter (東京流れ者 Tōkyō nagaremono) (1966)
• Retaliation (縄張はもらった Shima wa moratta) (1968)
• Nihon Chinbotsu (日本沈没) (1973)

Television

• Mighty Jack (マイティジャック Maiti Jakku) (1968)
• Tokusō saizensen (特捜最前線) (1977–1987)

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George Livingston, American politician, first elected black mayor of Richmond, California (1985–1993), died from diabetes he was 78.

George Livingstonwas an American politician who served as the first elected African American Mayor of Richmond, California, from 1985 to 1993 died from diabetes he was 78..^[1] Livingston was appointed Mayor in 1985 by the city council. He won election as Richmond's first elected African American mayor in 1989 for a full term.^[1][2]

^{(c. 1933 – January 7, 2012)} 

Early life

Livingston was born and raised in rural Oklahoma.^[1][2] In 1952, he moved with his family to Richmond, California, where members of his family found employment in the East Bay shipyards.^[1][2]
Livingston graduated from Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California.^[2] He received his bachelor's degree in political science from Antioch University, which had a now defunct satellite campus in neighboring San Francisco.^[2] Livingston said that his interest in politics began in the early 1960s, when he met Martin Luther King Jr. at a speech at Contra Costa College.^[2][3]
Livingston earliest jobs included positions at a paper factory in Richmond and the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.^[2] He later worked in the regulatory department of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the majority of his nonpolitical career.^[2]

Political career

Before entering local politics, Livingston became active in neighborhood and church groups.^[2]
Livingston was first elected to the Richmond City Council in 1965, becoming the second African American ever elected to the council (The first was George Carroll).^[3] Livingston served three consecutive terms beginning in 1965, before leaving office.^[1] In 1973, Livingston was elected again to the city council, where he remained until his appointment to the mayor's office in 1985.^[1]

Mayor

The position of Mayor rotated between city council members until 1981, when it became a popularly elected office.^[2] Thomas Corcoran was elected the first elected mayor.^[2]
Richmond Mayor Tom Corcoran died in office in 1985.^[1] According to city law, the city council needed to choose Corcoran's successor from the sitting members of the council.^[1] The city council appointed Livingston, a member of the council, to serve out the remainder of Cochran's unexpired term.^[1] Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia explained the council's decision to appoint Livingston to the mayor's office, "They thought George would be the best person to unite the council and the communities in Richmond...If you look at his legacy, he really worked hard at trying to find common ground among City Council members."^[1]
In 1989, Livingston announced his candidacy for a full term as mayor. He won the 1989 mayoral election, becoming Richmond's first elected African American mayor.^[1] As mayor, Livingston oversaw the construction of the city's 23rd Street overpass and the early redevelopment of the Port of Richmond.^[1] Livingston was able to attract new offices and businesses to Richmond, including a U.S. Social Security office, a U.S. Postal Service bulk mail facility, and the Hilltop shopping center.^[2]
In 1993, Livingston was defeated for re-election by Rosemary Corbin.^[1]
George Livingston died from complications of diabetes at Doctors Hospital in San Pablo, California, on January 7, 2012, at the age of 78.^[1] He was survived by his wife, Eunice Livington; daughter, Grace Livingston-Nunley; and son, George Jr.^[1] U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-California) called Livingston "...a leader and also a coalition builder," saying, "He was able to work across the entire community. His goal was the development and growth of Richmond."^[1]


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Milburn E. Calhoun, American book publisher, died he was 72.

Milburn Eugene Calhoun was a physician, philanthropist, and book publisher from New Orleans, Louisiana  died he was 72..

(January 15, 1930 - January 7, 2012) 

Background

Calhoun was born in West Monroe in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana to Darrell L. Calhoun and the former Mary Crowell. In 1947, he graduated from Ouachita Parish High School in Monroe. In 1949, he completed the curriculum at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as "Northeast Junior College". In 1951, he completed his pre-medical education at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In 1955, he graduated from medical school at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans. He interned at New Orleans Charity Hospital. Thereafter, for nine years, he maintained a medical practice in Buras in Plaquemines Parish east of New Orleans. Calhoun served for two years in the United States Air Force, having attained the rank of major. He then practiced from 1965 until his retirement in 1997 at the Nicholson, Baehr, Calhoun Family Clinic in Marrero, a census designated place in Jefferson Parish. He was chief of staff at West Jefferson Hospital in New Orleans.^[1]

Publisher

Calhoun founded Bayou Books, an out-of-print dealership specializing in Louisiana and southern subjects. In 1961, he opened a bookstore under that same name in Gretna. In March 1970, he and family members acquired Pelican Publishing Company and relocated the company to Gretna, where they operated the enterprise for more than forty years, having peaked with some 2,500 titles in print. The sales doubled each year during the first decade of Calhoun’s leadership. Pelican books are sold in every state and in nearly all English-speaking countries worldwide. One of its most successful books was See You at the Top, Zig Ziglar's motivational bestseller, still in print but initially rejected by some thirty other publishers. Calhoun also developed the classic "Cajun Night Before Christmas series, which today includes twenty-nine titles.^[1]
Pelican publishes cookbooks, architecture titles, a series on editorial cartoons, and works on the American Civil War, the American South, and African American topics. Calhoun said that he operated the company on the principle of publishing otherwise rejected books for which there is nevertheless a willing market for such titles. The sales doubled each year during the first decade of Calhoun’s leadership. Today, Pelican is the largest independent trade book publisher in the South.^[2]

Personal life

Calhoun was a longtime member and deacon of Oak Park Baptist Church in the Algiers section of New Orleans. In 1998, he established the Mary and Darrell Calhoun Recreational Center at the Louisiana Baptist Children's Home orphanage in Monroe. In 1999, he endowed the million-dollar Mary E. and Darrell L. Calhoun Chair in Pharmacology at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, an institution with a pharmacy college. In 2009, he and his wife, the former Nancy Harris, established the Milburn and Nancy Calhoun Foundation to support religious and educational activities.^[1]
Following a lengthy illness, Calhoun died at West Jefferson Hospital. Services were held on January 9, 2012, at Oak Park Baptist Church^[2] and then on January 12, at a funeral home in his native West Monroe. He is interred at Sibley Cemetery in Choudrant in Lincoln Parish west of West Monroe.^[1]
In addition to his wife, Calhoun was survived by his daughter, Kathleen Calhoun Nettleton and her husband, Carl Joseph Nettleton, of New Orleans, a son, David Harris Calhoun and his wife, Sharon Crosland Calhoun of Spokane, Washington, a sister Gloria Calhoun Lee of Calhoun, Louisiana, a brother James L. Calhoun of Baton Rouge, and four granddaughters from Spokane.^[1]


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Tony Blankley, British-born American commentator, newspaper editor and child actor, died from stomach cancer he was 63.

Anthony David "Tony" Blankley  was an English-American political analyst who gained fame as the press secretary for Newt Gingrich, the first Republican Speaker of the House in forty years, and as a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group died from stomach cancer he was 63.. He later became an Executive Vice President with Edelman public relations in Washington, D.C.^[6] He was a Visiting Senior Fellow in National-Security Communications at the Heritage Foundation,^[7] a weekly contributor to the nationally syndicated public radio program Left, Right & Center,^[8] the author of The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? and American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century.^[9]

^{(January 21, 1948 – January 7, 2012)}

He was a regular commentator for radio shows including The Diane Rehm Show,^[10] Left, Right & Center^[11] and The Steve Gill Show with a segment titled Fill In the Blanks.^[12] Earlier in his career, he was an editorial page editor for The Washington Times,^[13] a contributing editor and monthly columnist for George Magazine,^[14] and a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group.
Blankley's political opinions were generally considered to fall within traditional conservatism, although he was labeled as a neo-conservative by some critics. He denied this label, claiming that his views are more comparable to a classic conservative, such as former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.^[15] His political career spanned several decades, and his most prominent position was a seven-year stint as House Speaker Newt Gingrich's press secretary.^[16]
Prior to his career on Capitol Hill, Blankley served President Reagan as a policy analyst and speechwriter,^[17] and was a staff writer for Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler.^[18] Before coming to Washington, D.C., he spent 10 years as a prosecutor with the California Attorney General's office.^[19]
He was briefly a child actor, appearing, most notably, as Rod Steiger's son in The Harder They Fall (1955).^[20] The movie was, as Blankley liked to joke, both his and his co-star Humphrey Bogart's last movie.^[21][22] He graduated from UCLA^[19] and Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), earning a J.D.^[17] He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1972.^[23]
Blankley continued to write for The Washington Times. He lectured at many universities and institutes. On November 19, 2009, he presented his lecture A Year out from the 2010 Congressional Elections – National Politics, Policy and their Communication at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics of Saint Anselm College.^[24]

Death

Blankley died in Washington, D.C. of stomach cancer on January 7, 2012 at Sibley Memorial Hospital, aged 63.^[2][21][25]


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Ibrahim Aslan, Egyptian novelist and short story writer, died from heart failure he was 77.

Ibrahim Aslan  was an Egyptian novelist and short story writer died from heart failure he was 77..^[1]

^{(1935 – 7 January 2012)}

Life and work

Aslan was born in Tanta in the Nile delta in 1935, shortly before his family moved south to Cairo.^[2] His father was a Post Office employee, and Aslan too went on to work for the Cairo Post Office.^[3] The Cairene neighbourhoods of Imbaba and Kit Kat, where he lived and worked, are closely associated with his oeuvre.
Aslan emerged on the Arab literary scene in the mid-1960s, and is considered to be part of the movement known as the Sixties Generation which also included such authors as Gamal Ghitany, Sonallah Ibrahim, and Abdel Hakim Qasem.^[3] The avant-garde literary magazine Gallery 68 published eight of his stories during its short life.^[4]
Aslan published two volumes of short stories, three novels, and two volumes of non-fiction during a literary career spanning more than four decades.^[3] His first collection of short stories, called Buhayrat al-Masah (The Evening Lake), was released in 1971-72. A second collection called Youssef wal-Rida (Joseph and the Clothes) was published in 1987.
Aslan is best known for his first novel Malek al-Hazin (1983), translated by Elliott Colla under the English title The Heron; and its sequel 16 years later called As-safir al-Nil (1999), translated as Nile Sparrows by Mona El-Ghobashy. The Heron was selected as one of the top 100 Arabic novels by the Arab Writers Union and is his most famous work.^[3] The Heron was turned into an award-winning film (The Kit Kat, 1991) by leading Egyptian director Daoud Abdel Sayed. More recently, Magdi Ahmed Ali directed a film version under the title Birds of the Nile (2009).^[5]
Aslan won a number of literary prizes, including the Taha Hussein Award from the University of Minya in 1989 and the Egyptian State Incentive Prize in 2003-2004. Most recently, he won the 2006 Sawiris Prize for his book Hikayat min Fadlallah Uthman (Stories from Fadlallah Uthman).
Since 1992, Aslan had been culture editor at the Cairo bureau of the London-based al-Hayat newspaper.

Haydar Haydar controversy

In the summer of 2000, Aslan and fellow writer Hamdi Abu Golail were subjected to a lawsuit by a maverick Islamist lawyer following a campaign of agitation by the newspaper Al-Shaab.^[6] In their capacity as editors of Afaq al-Kitaba (Horizons of Literature),^[7] a series of modern Arabic classics published under the aegis of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Aslan and Abu Golail had decided to reprint A Banquet for Seaweed, a controversial novel by the Syrian writer Haydar Haydar.

Works

• Buhayrat al-Misa’ (Evening Lake) (short stories, 1971-2)
• Yusuf wa al-Rida’ (Yusuf and the Dress) (short stories, 1986-7)
• Malek al-Hazin (The Heron) (novel, 1983, English translation by Elliott Colla, AUC Press)
• Wardiyat Layl (Night Shift) (novella, 1991)
• As-safir al-Nil (Nile Sparrows) (novel, 1999, English translation by Mona El-Ghobashy, AUC Press)
• Hikayat min Fadlallah Uthman (Stories from Fadlallah Uthman) (short stories, 2003)
• Khulwat al-Ghalban (Poor Man's Hermitage) (non-fiction, 2003)
• Shay’un Min Hadha al-Qabil (Something Like That) (non-fiction, 2007)
• Hugratan wa Salah: Mutataliya Manziliyya (Two Rooms and a Hall: A Household Sequence) (2010)

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Clive Shell, Welsh international rugby player. [108] (death announced on this date), died he was 64.

Clive Shell was a Welsh international rugby union player died he was 64.. Shell made his debut for the Wales national rugby union team on 10 November 1973 against Australia where he kissed the ball on his first touch while putting the ball into a scrum. A scrum-half, he played club rugby for Aberavon RFC.^[2]

^{(9 September 1947 – 6 January 2012)}

Shell was one of several scrum halves of that era who were in competition with Gareth Edwards for a place in the Welsh side. Although the Australia encounter was his one and only cap, Shell played for Wales against Tonga (1974). In 1977, during a Welsh Cup semi-final, Shell received a broken jaw playing against Edwards and Cardiff RFC.
Shell formed a club half back partnership with John Bevan who was also capped by Wales. He captained Aberavon RFC in the seasons of 1977–78, 1978–79 and 1979–80 before retiring.
A school teacher by profession, Shell went on to coach Aberavon during the early 1980s. In 2007, he "narrowly avoided jail" on a drink-driving offence.^[3]
Shell's death was announced 6 January 2012.^[4]



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