Garret FitzGerald, Irish politician, Taoiseach (1981–1982; 1982–1987) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (1973–1977), died after a short illness he was , 85.

 Garret FitzGerald was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987.^[4] FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He served as Foreign Affairs Minister from 1973 to 1977. FitzGerald was the leader of Fine Gael between 1977 and 1987.
He was the son of Desmond FitzGerald, the first Minister for External Affairs of the nascent Irish state following independence from the United Kingdom in 1922. At the time of his death, FitzGerald was the President of the Institute of International and European Affairs, had a column in The Irish Times and occasionally made appearances on television programmes.

(9 February 1926 – 19 May 2011)

Early life

Garret FitzGerald was born in Dublin in 1926 into a very politically active family; both of his parents were in the GPO during the 1916 Easter Rising.^[5][6] His father was the London-born and raised Desmond FitzGerald, the Minister for External Affairs at the time of his son's birth.^[7] FitzGerald senior, whose father had emigrated as a labourer from Skeheenarinky in County Tipperary, had been active in Sinn Féin during the Irish War of Independence, and had been one of the founders of Cumann na nGaedheal. The party was formed to support the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which created the Irish Free State.^[8]
Although a senior figure on the "pro-treaty" side of Ireland's political divide, Desmond FitzGerald had remained friendly with anti-Treaty republicans such as Belfast man Seán MacEntee, a minister in Éamon de Valera's government, and father-in-law of Conor Cruise O'Brien. The families of Patrick McGilligan and Ernest Blythe were also frequent visitors to the FitzGerald household. FitzGerald's mother, the former Mabel Washington McConnell, was a nationalist and republican of Ulster Protestant descent, although some sources^[which?] indicate that she became a Catholic on her marriage.^{[citation needed]} Her son would later describe his political objective as the creation of a pluralist Ireland where the northern Protestants of his mother's family tradition and the southern Catholics of his father's could feel equally at home.^{[citation needed]}
FitzGerald was educated at the Jesuit Belvedere College and University College Dublin (UCD), from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1946, later returning to complete a Ph.D. which he obtained in 1968. He was deeply interested in the politics of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. A bright student who counted among his contemporaries in UCD his future political rival, Charles Haughey, who also knew Joan O'Farrell (the Liverpool-born daughter of a British army officer, Richard O'Farrell) a fellow student, whom FitzGerald married in 1947.^[1]
Following his university education, in 1947 he started working with Aer Lingus, the state airline of Ireland, and became an authority on the strategic economic planning of transport. During this time he wrote many newspaper articles, was the Irish correspondent for the Economist Magazine,^[9] and was encouraged to write on National Accounts and economics by the Features Editor in The Irish Times. He remained in Aer Lingus until 1959, when after undertaking a study of the economics of Irish Industry in Trinity College, Dublin, he became a lecturer in economics at UCD.^{[citation needed]}
Fitzgerald qualified as a barrister from the King's Inns of Ireland^[10] and spoke French fluently.^[11]

Early political life

Garret FitzGerald was eager to enter politics, and it was suggested by several members of Fianna Fáil, including Charles Haughey and Michael Yeats, that he should join that party.^[12] Ultimately FitzGerald made his entry into party politics under the banner of Fine Gael. He attached himself to the liberal wing of Fine Gael, which rallied around the Just Society programme written by Declan Costello. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and soon built up his political profile. FitzGerald was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1969 general election, for the Dublin South East constituency,^[13] the same year he obtained his PhD for a thesis later published under the title "Planning in Ireland". He became an important figure almost immediately in the parliamentary party and his liberal ideas were seen as a counterweight to the conservative leader, Liam Cosgrave. Difference in political outlook, and FitzGerald's ambitions for the Fine Gael leadership resulted in profound tensions^{[citation needed]} between the two men. In his leadership address to the 1972 Fine Gael ard fheis in Cork,^{[citation needed]} Cosgrave referred to the 'mongrel foxes' who should be rooted out of the party, a reference seen by many as an attack on FitzGerald's efforts to unseat him as leader.

Minister for Foreign Affairs

After the 1973 general election Fine Gael came to power in a coalition government with the Labour Party with Liam Cosgrave as Taoiseach. FitzGerald hoped^[14] that he would take over as Minister for Finance, particularly after a good performance in a pre-election debate with the actual Minister for Finance, George Colley. However the position went to Richie Ryan, with FitzGerald becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was a case of history repeating itself as FitzGerald's father had held that post in a government led by Liam Cosgrave's father W. T. Cosgrave fifty years earlier. His appointment to Iveagh House (the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs) would have a huge effect on FitzGerald's own career and the future of Fine Gael. Cosgrave was suspicious of FitzGerald's liberal ideas and believed that he had designs on the leadership. During his period in foreign affairs, Fitzgerald, developed a good relationship with Liam Cosgrave and all the tension that had existed between them in opposition disappeared.
The minister's role had changed substantially since his father's day. Ireland was no longer a member of the Commonwealth of Nations but had in 1973 joined the European Economic Community (EEC), now known as the European Union (EU). FitzGerald, firmly ensconced as Foreign Minister, was free from any blame due to other Ministers mishandling of the economy. If anything his tenure at the Department of Foreign Affairs helped him to achieve the leadership of the party. His innovative views, energy and fluency in French won him — and through him, Ireland — a status in European affairs far exceeding the country's size and ensured that the first Irish Presidency of the European Council in 1975 was a noted success.^[15]

Leader of Fine Gael

In 1977 the National Coalition of Fine Gael and Labour suffered a disastrous electoral defeat in the general election. Liam Cosgrave resigned as party leader and FitzGerald was chosen by acclamation to succeed him.^[14] In his new role as Leader of the Opposition and party leader he set about modernising and revitalising Fine Gael. He immediately appointed a General-Secretary to oversee all of this, a tactic copied from Fianna Fáil. Under FitzGerald, Fine Gael experienced a rapid rise in support and popularity. By the November 1982 election, it held only five seats fewer than Fianna Fáil (their closest ever margin until 2011; at times Fianna Fáil was nearly twice as large), with Fine Gael in the Oireachtas bigger than Fianna Fáil, who had been a dominant force in Irish politics for 40 years.^[16]

Taoiseach 1981–82

By the time of the 1981 general election Fine Gael had a party machine that could easily match Fianna Fáil's. The party won 65 seats and formed a minority coalition government with the Labour Party and the support of a number of Independent TDs. FitzGerald was elected Taoiseach on 30 June 1981. To the surprise of many Fitzgerald excluded Richie Ryan, Richard Burke and Tom O'Donnell, former Fine Gael stalwarts, from the cabinet.
Two fundamental problems faced FitzGerald during his first period: Northern Ireland and the worsening economic situation. A protest march in support of the H-Block hunger strikers in July 1981 was dealt with by FitzGerald harshly. On one occasion where he with relatives of the hunger strike, he refused to meet the family of Bobby Sands, the MP and O/C of the Provisional IRA hunger strikers, and the first to die on this strike, along with the sister of Raymond McCreesh, who had died on 21 May. During the meeting two of Thomas McElwee sisters, Mary and Nora, broke down and left the meeting. Mary McElwee stated that "He's doing nothing, he's asking for suggestions". Fitzgerald then ordered Gardai to remove the families from the meeting. Fitzgerald's response was, in the words of Eamonn Sweeney, to "lay all the blame for the hunger strikers on the Republican movement and to suggest an immediate unilateral end to their military campaign".^[17]
The economic crisis was also a lot worse than FitzGerald had feared. Fine Gael had to jettison its plans for tax-cuts in the run-up to the election and a draconian mid-year budget was introduced almost immediately. The July Budget seemed exceptionally austere for a government dependent on Independent TDs support. However, the second budget introduced by John Bruton led to the Government's shock defeat in Dáil Éireann on the evening of 27 January 1982.
Viewing his defeat as a loss of support FitzGerald headed to Áras an Uachtaráin to request an immediate Dáil dissolution from the President, Patrick Hillery. When he got there, he was informed that a series of telephone calls had been made by senior opposition figures (and some independent TDs), including Fianna Fáil leader (and ex-Taoiseach) Charles Haughey, Brian Lenihan and Sylvester Barrett demanding that the President, as he could constitutionally do where a Taoiseach had 'ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann', refuse FitzGerald a parliamentary dissolution, forcing his resignation as Taoiseach and enabling the Dáil to nominate someone else for the post. The President is said to have angrily rejected such pressure, regarding it as gross misconduct, and granted the dissolution.^[18]
In the subsequent general election in February 1982, Fine Gael lost only two seats and were out of power. However, a third general election within eighteen months in November 1982 resulted in FitzGerald being returned as Taoiseach for a second time, heading a Fine Gael-Labour coalition with a working majority.

Taoiseach 1982–87

Deep economic recession dominated FitzGerald's second term as well as his first. The pursuit of ‘fiscal rectitude’ in order to reduce a high national debt required a firmer control of public spending than Labour found easy to accept. The harmonious relationship the Taoiseach developed with Tánaiste Dick Spring successfully avoided a collapse of the coalition for more than four years, despite tensions between other ministers, and enabled the Government to survive. Fine Gael wanted to revive the economy by controlling public spending and imposing cutbacks in order to reduce the public budget deficit.
The measures proposed by FitzGerald's Minister for Finance, Alan Dukes, were completely unacceptable to the Labour Party which was under enormous pressure from its support base to maintain public services. The two parties in Government found themselves in a stalemate position. They stopped the financial crisis from worsening but could not take the decisive action that would generate economic growth. With negligible economic growth and large scale unemployment, the FitzGerald Government was deeply unpopular with the public. The Fianna Fáil opposition added to the woes of the Government by taking a decidedly opportunistic and populist line in opposing every suggested reform and cutback.

Constitutional reform

As Taoiseach for a second time FitzGerald advocated a liberalisation of Irish society, to create what he called the non-sectarian nation of "Tone and Davis". His attempt to introduce divorce was defeated in a referendum, although he did liberalise Ireland's contraception laws.^[14] A controversial 'Pro-Life Amendment' (anti-abortion clause), which was stated to recognise the 'Right to Life of the Unborn, with due regard to the Equal Right to Life of the Mother' was added to the Irish constitution, against FitzGerald's advice, in a national referendum.^[19]

Northern Ireland

FitzGerald set up The New Ireland Forum in 1983, which brought together representatives of the constitutional political parties in the Republic and the nationalist SDLP from the North. Although the Unionist parties spurned his invitation to join, and the Forum’s conclusions proposing various forms of association between Northern Ireland and the Republic were rejected outright by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Forum provided the impetus for the resumption of serious negotiations between the Irish and British governments, which culminated in the Anglo-Irish Agreement of November 1985. This agreement provided for a mechanism by which the Republic of Ireland could be consulted by the British Government under Margaret Thatcher regarding the governance of Northern Ireland,^[7] and was bitterly opposed by Unionists in Northern Ireland, whose MPs all resigned their seats in the British Parliament in protest. New elections were required to be held in Northern Ireland, in which the unionists lost the seat of (Newry and Armagh) to Seamus Mallon of the SDLP.
While the Agreement was repudiated and condemned by Unionists, it was said to become the basis for developing trust and common action between the governments, which in time would ultimately bring about the Downing Street Declaration of 1993, and the subsequent republican and loyalist cease-fires.^[14]

Infighting and Declining Support

In 1986, FitzGerald attempted to reshuffle his cabinet but certain ministers, including notably Barry Desmond refused to move from his Health and Social Welfare portfolio. The eventual outcome of the cabinet changes further undermined FitzGerald's authority. The new Progressive Democrats party was launched at the same time by Desmond O'Malley out of the divisions within Fianna Fáil. Ironically, it struck an immediate chord with many disenchanted Fine Gael supporters who had tired of the failure to fully address the economic crisis and who yearned for a coherent rightwing policy from FitzGerald. Seeing its support base under attack from the right only strengthened the resolve of FitzGerald's Fine Gael colleagues to break with the Labour Party approach, despite their leader's close empathy with that party.
Stymied by economic crisis, FitzGerald tried to rescue some of his ambitions to reform the State and he proposed, in the summer of 1986, a referendum to change the Constitution to allow for divorce. The proposed amendment was mired in controversy and the many accompanying legal changes needed were not clearly presented. Haughey skillfully opposed the referendum along with the Roman Catholic Church and landed interests worried about property rights. The defeat of the referendum sealed the fate of the Government.^{[citation needed]}
In January 1987, the Labour Party members of the government withdrew from the government over disagreements due to budget proposals. FitzGerald continued as Taoiseach heading a minority Fine Gael government and proposed the stringent budgetary cutbacks that Labour had blocked for some four years. Fianna Fáil returned to power in March 1987, after Fine Gael were heavily defeated in the 1987 general election. The Progressive Democrats won some 14 seats mainly from Fine Gael. Although Haughey did not have an overall majority when it came to a vote the Independent Socialist TD Tony Gregory voted against Fitzgerald but abstained on Haughey, seeing Haughey as the "lesser of two evils" . The reason for this was Gregory's opposition to the Anglo-Irish agreement along with his strong personal dislike for Fitzgerald. Haughey was elected Taoiseach on the casting vote of the Ceann Comhairle.

Post-Taoiseach period

Garret FitzGerald (centre) speaking with Peter Sutherland (left) and Will Hutton (right), at the Institute of European Affairs in Dublin in 2006.

FitzGerald retired as leader of Fine Gael immediately after the election by the Dáil of Charles Haughey as Taoiseach,^[20] to be replaced by Alan Dukes. His autobiography All in a Life appeared in 1991, immediately becoming a best-seller. He retired completely from politics at the 1992 general election. His wife, Joan, predeceased him, dying in 1999^[1] after a long illness.
After that FitzGerald wrote a weekly column every Saturday in The Irish Times, and lectured widely at home and abroad on public affairs.
In a leading article on his death the Irish Times said that
He was an extraordinary Irishman who fashioned our future in so many ways.
and that he was the papers longest-serving contributor and columnist, for over 57 years.^[21] He came out of retirement to campaign for a "yes" vote in the second Irish referendum on the EU's Treaty of Nice, held in 2002. He held the post of Chancellor of the National University of Ireland from 1997 to 2009. In March 2000, Fitzgerald was on the Board of Directors of Election.com, when it conducted the world's first public election ever held over the Internet, which was the Arizona Democratic Primary, which was won by Al Gore; in that primary, voter turnout increased more than 500% over the 1996 primary.^[22]
FitzGerald took a leading part in the campaign for the second referendum on the EU's Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. He argued for Ireland to continue with European integration. FitzGerald has been scathing of the record of the Fianna Fáil led Government since 1997 on the economy and the national finances. He was a frequent, critic in his column in The Irish Times, of the loss of competitiveness that occurred and the inflation caused by the tax cuts and excessive public spending increases of the Celtic Tiger era. In 2009, FitzGerald received a new ministerial car, the first and only one to be purchased by the state since an economic recession hit the country in 2008.^[23] In 2010, FitzGerald appeared on RTÉ's "Top 40 Irishmen" list.

Finances

In early 1999 it was revealed that some six years earlier, AIB and Ansbacher Banks wrote off debts of almost IR£200,000 owed by FitzGerald following the collapse of the aircraft leasing company, Guinness Peat Aviation, in which he was a shareholder.^[24] Chairman of AIB at the time, Peter Sutherland, was also a former director of GPA and had served as Attorney General under FitzGerald, prior to FitzGerald appointing him as Ireland's member of the European Commission. The Moriarty Tribunal investigated this matter, and compared the treatment by AIB of FitzGerald with their treatment of Charles Haughey. They found no evidence of any wrongdoing, indeed the Tribunal heard evidence as to the considerable hardship that FitzGerald went to - to the extent of selling of his family home - to repay the debt to the best of his ability.
The Tribunal concluded in their report:
In summary it would appear that in compromising his indebtedness with the Bank, Dr. Fitzgerald disposed of his only substantial asset, namely, his family home at Palmerston Road, a property which would now be worth a considerable sum of money. As in Mr. Haughey's case, there was a substantial discounting or forbearance shown in Dr. Fitzgerald's case. However in contrast with Mr. Haughey's case, Dr. Fitzgerald's case involved the effective exhaustion of his assets in order to achieve a settlement whereas Mr. Haughey's assets were retained virtually intact.^{[citation needed]}

Death

On 5 May 2011, it was reported that FitzGerald was seriously ill in a Dublin hospital. The Taoiseach Enda Kenny sent his regards and called him an "institution".^[25][26] He was put on a ventilator.^[27] On 19 May, he died, aged 85, in the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin.^[28][29][30]
President Mary McAleese described him as a man steeped in the history of the State who constantly strove to make Ireland a better place for all its people.
His thoughtful writing, distinctive voice and probing intellect all combined to make him one of our national treasures. Above all, Garret Fitzgerald was a true public servant," she said. Long after he departed active politics, Garret continued to contribute to public life through his voluminous writing and scholarship. His weekly columns in The Irish Times were essential reading for those who sought enlightenment on the issues and debates of the day.^[31]
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Dr FitzGerald was;
a truly remarkable man who made a truly remarkable contribution to Ireland
Former Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader John Bruton said FitzGerald would;
stand out as a man who changed Ireland and that he had changed attitudes to in the Republic to Northern Ireland and to Europe and that he saw that Ireland could do best in Europe if it contributed creatively to goals and ambitions of other members.^[32]
Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger described FitzGerald as an intelligent and amusing man who was dedicated to his country.^[33]
His death occurred during the third day of the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland, an event designed to mark the completion of the peace process that, FitzGerald began with the Anglo-Irish Agreement.^[34] In response to his death, the Queen said of FitzGerald,
I was saddened to hear this morning's news of the death of Garret FitzGerald, a true statesman. He made a lasting contribution to peace and will be greatly missed.^[35]
On his visit to Dublin, US President Barack Obama offered condolences on the former Taoiseachs death, describing Dr FitzGerald as;
someone who believed in the power of education, someone who believe in the potential of youth, someone who believed in the potential of peace and who lived to see that peace realised


There has been a call for Dublin Airport's Terminal 2 to be renamed the "Garrett FitzGerald Terminal" after the former Taoiseach in light of his early career and life long interest in aviation.^[38]

 

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David H. Kelley, American-born Canadian archaeologist died he was , 87.

David Humiston Kelley was a Canadian American archaeologist and epigrapher, most noted for his work on the phonetic analysis and major contributions toward the decipherment of the writing system used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, the Maya script died he was , 87..

(April 1, 1924, Albany, New York – May 19, 2011)

From the late 1950s, he was one of the first Mayanist scholars to give credence to the theories of the Russian linguist and ethnographer Yuri Knorozov concerning the phonetic and syllabic nature of the Maya script, which would later lead to breakthroughs in the script's decipherment. Kelley's landmark 1962 paper, Phoneticism in the Maya Script, would provide important corroborating data of the phonetic interpretation of Maya glyphs, which ran counter to the then-prevailing view that the script lacked phonetic elements.
In addition to his work on scripts and linguistics, he worked on calendrics and archaeoastronomy, particularly on application of archaeoastronomical data to the Maya calendar correlation problem.^[2][3] Kelley and Eugene Milone co-authored Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy (Springer, 2005).
He was also interested in long-range cultural contacts, including trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic voyages ("Diffusionism").
He tried to establish various mediaeval and ancient genealogies. An early example is "A New Consideration of the Carolingians," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 101 (1947), and a recent example is "The Political Role of Solomon, the Exilarch, c. 715–759 CE", Foundations (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy), vol. 2 (2006), nos. 1 and 2. Still other examples are "The Nibelungs" and "The Claimed Irish Origin of the Clan Munro".
Kelley was a professor emeritus in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Calgary. Before teaching at the University of Calgary, he taught during the 1960s at the University of Nebraska, and before that at Texas Tech. Studying under Alfred M. Tozzer,^[2] his doctoral dissertation (1957) at Harvard was entitled "Our Elder Brother Coyote".
He was a descendant of the U.S. Civil War soldier Amos Humiston.^[4]

Published works

Academic papers and books published by Kelley include:

• Kelley, David H. (1960). "Calendar Animals and Deities". Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 16 (3): 317–337.
• Kelley, David H. (1962). "A History of the Decipherment of Maya Script". Anthropological Linguistics 4: 1–48.
• Kelley, David H. (January 1962). "Glyphic Evidence for a Dynastic Sequence at Quirigua, Guatemala". American Antiquity (American Antiquity, Vol. 27, No. 3) 27 (3): 323–335. doi:10.2307/277799. JSTOR 277799.
• Kelley, David H. (1965). "The Birth of the Gods at Palenque". Estudios de Cultura Maya 27 (3): 93–134.
• Kelley, David H. (July 1966). "A Cylinder Seal from Tlatilco". American Antiquity (American Antiquity, Vol. 31, No. 5) 31 (5:1): 744–746. doi:10.2307/2694503. JSTOR 2694503.
• Kelley, David H. (1972). "The Nine Lords of the Night". Studies of the Archaeology of Mexico and Guatemala, University of California Archaeological Research 16: 58–68.
• Kelley, David H. : Maya Astronomical Tables and Inscriptions, Native American Astronomy. Edited versions of papers presented at a Symposium, held at Colgate University, September 23–26, 1975, Edited by Anthony F. Aveni. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1977., p. 57
• Kelley, David H. : Deciphering the Maya Script, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976
• Kelley, David H. (1980). "Astronomical Identities of Mesoamerican Gods". Journal for the History of Astronomy 11 (Archaeoastronomy Supplement(2)): S1–S54.
• Kelley, David H. : "The Maya Calendar Correlation Problem". In :- R. M. Leventhal & A. L. Kolata (eds.) : Civilization in the Ancient Americas : Essays in Honor of Gordon R. Willey. Santa Fe : University of New Mexico Press; and Cambridge (MA) : Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 1983. pp. 157–208
• Kelley, David H. : "The Lords of Palenque and the Lords of Heaven". In :- M. G. Robertson & Virginia M. Fields (eds.) : Fifth Palenque Round Table, 1983. San Francisco : Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, 1985. pp. 235–240
• Kelley, David H. : "Mesoamerican Astronomy and the Maya Calendar Correlation Problem". In :- Memorias de Segundo Coloquio Internacional de Mayanistas. Universidad National Autónoma de México, 1989. pp. 65–96
• Kelley, David H. : "Tane and Sina : a Uto-Aztecan Astronomical Cult in Polynesia". In :- Bruno Illius & Matthias Laubscher : Circumpacifica : Festschrift für Thomas S. Barthel. Frankfort am Main : Verlag Peter Lang, 1990. vol. II, pp. 137–155
• Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy by David H. Kelley (Author), Eugene F. Milone (Author), Springer, 2005

Bibliography

Coe, Michael D. (1987). The Maya (4th edition (revised) ed.). London; New York: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27455-X. OCLC 15895415.

Coe, Michael D. (1992). Breaking the Maya Code. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05061-9. OCLC 26605966.

Harris, John F.; and Stephen K. Stearns (1997). Understanding Maya Inscriptions: A Hieroglyph Handbook (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: University Museum Publications, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. ISBN 0-924171-41-3. OCLC 34077021.

Hennick, Calvin (2007-06-21). "Upton seeks to preserve mysterious chamber: Origin of cave a case for archeologists". The Boston Globe (The New York Times Company). Retrieved 2007-11-09.

Houston, Stephen D. (1989). Reading the Past: Maya Glyphs. London: British Museum Publications. ISBN 0-7141-8069-6. OCLC 18814390.

Martin, Simon; and Nikolai Grube (2000). Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London; New York: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05103-8. OCLC 47358325.

Schele, Linda (1992). "A New Look at the Dynastic History of Palenque". In Victoria R. Bricker (Volume ed.), with Patricia A. Andrews. Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Epigraphy. Victoria Reifler Bricker (General Editor). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 82–109. ISBN 0-292-77650-0. OCLC 23693597.

Schele, Linda; and David Freidel (1990). A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya (Reprint ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-688-11204-8. OCLC 145324300.

Stengel, Marc K. (January 2000). "The Diffusionists Have Landed". The Atlantic Monthly (Boston, MA: The Atlantic Monthly Co) 285 (1): 35–39, 42–44, 46–48. ISSN 1072-7825. OCLC 92689345.

 

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Kathy Kirby, British singer, died after a short illnesss he was , 72.

 Kathy Kirby (born Kathleen O'Rourke; was an English singer who was reportedly the highest-paid female singer of her generation died after a short illnesss he was , 72. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's "Secret Love" and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, where she came in second place.^[4] Her physical appearance often drew comparisons with Marilyn Monroe. She peaked in popularity in the 1960s.

20 October 1938 – 19 May 2011)

Early life

Kirby was born in Ilford, Essex.^[2] She was the eldest of three children of Irish parents.^[5] Her mother Eileen brought them up alone after their father left early in their childhood.^[5] Kirby grew up in Tomswood Hill, Barkingside, near Ilford and attended the Ursuline Convent School in Ilford where she sang in the choir.^[6]

Career

Kirby's voice became apparent early in life, and she took singing lessons with a view to becoming an opera singer^[7] She became a professional singer after meeting bandleader Bert Ambrose at the Ilford Palais in 1956. She remained with Ambrose's band for three years and he remained her manager, mentor and lover until his death on stage in Leeds in 1971.^[3]

She adopted the look of a "blonde bombshell", and was compared to Marilyn Monroe. She had five Top 40 hits between 1963 and 1965, the best known of which is her cover version of "Secret Love". In 1963 she won Top British Female Singer in the New Musical Express poll.
Kirby became one of the biggest stars of the early to mid 1960s, appearing in the Royal Command Variety Performance and three television series for BBC TV. She represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965, and came second with the song "I Belong". Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor describes Kirby's "I Belong" as being far more representative of current musical tastes than other songs from the contest,^[8] but she was beaten by France Gall from Luxembourg, singing an even more contemporary song written by Serge Gainsbourg. She also sang the theme tune of the BBC television series Adam Adamant Lives!.
After the chart success of "I Belong", Kirby recorded more than a dozen more singles between 1965 and 1967, but they all failed to chart.^[9] She continued to make television appearances, and her 1974 appearance on The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club TV variety show is available to watch on YouTube.^[10]
During the 1970s Kirby's singing career was eclipsed by a turbulent personal life, but she made occasional television appearances and performed a few live concerts on the "nostalgia circuit". On 31 December 1976, she performed her hit song "Secret Love" on BBC1's A Jubilee Of Music, celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth II's impending Silver Jubilee.
In December 1983 she gave one last concert in Blackpool, then retired from show business altogether.^[11]

Post-retirement

She did not perform in public after her retirement, but an amateur recording of Kirby singing the song "He", made about 2005, is available online^[12].
Interest in Kirby and her work continued long after she stopped performing^[13] particularly among gay men, for whom she was something of an icon.^[14] In her last decade, she recorded short greetings for her official website,^[15] and a 2005 biography was adapted into a 2008 stage show about her life, called Secret Love.
The Daily Express reported in 2008 that plans for a new filmed interview had been abandoned,^[16] but later reports confirmed that the interview had been filmed, and it was subsequently included on a DVD compilation released the following year. She also gave an interview to the Express in 2009, billed as her first in 26 years, although a previous one had been published in 2006^{[citation needed]} , which included recent photographs.^[17]
Following the 2009 interview, the Sunday Express reported that some previously unreleased recordings would be made available on CD in 2010, and that Kirby had been approached to appear on Desert Island Discs.,^[18] although neither the programme nor the CD has appeared.

Personal life

Kirby met Ambrose in her teens and, despite the 42-year age gap and him having an estranged wife at the time,^[5] began a relationship with him which lasted until his death in 1971.^[19] In the 2009 interview, she said she had had an affair with Bruce Forsyth during this time.^[19]
Kirby was married briefly to writer and former London policeman Frederick Pye in the 1970s.^[2][3] Following her bankruptcy in 1975, and a court case following an arrest over an unpaid hotel bill, she was referred to St Luke's psychiatric hospital in London in 1979.^[11] Following her discharge, she had a live-in^[11] lesbian relationship with a fan, Laraine McKay, and said that they intended to marry. McKay was imprisoned for fraud and forgery.^[19][20] In the early 1980s, Kirby had relationships with musician David Cross^[21] and lawyer Alan Porter.^[22][23].
Kirby was diagnosed with schizophrenia^[19] and was in poor physical and mental health for much of her life. Following her retirement, she lived in a series of apartments and hotels in West London, settling in an apartment in Emperor's Gate, South Kensington, surviving on state benefits and some royalties, many of which went missing,^[16][24] and maintaining what has been called a "Garbo-esque" seclusion. Very shortly before her death, Kirby moved to Brinsworth House in Twickenham.
One of Kirby's nieces, Sarah, is married to Mark Thatcher and another, Claudia, became Lady Rothermere after marrying Viscount Rothermere.^[25]

Death

Kirby moved to Brinsworth House, a retirement home for entertainers, in May 2011, and died there a few days later on 19 May 2011. According to a message from a relative posted on a fan webiste, Kirby suffered a heart attack^[26], but this has not been officially confirmed.
She is survived by her sister, Pat, and her brother, Douglas.^[5]

Hits

Year	Title	Chart positions
		UK Singles Chart
1963	"Dance On"	11
	"Secret Love"	4
1964	"Let Me Go, Lover!"	10
	"You're The One"	17
1965	"I Belong"	36

^[27]
Note: Kirby had one charted single on the US Billboard Hot 100. "The Way Of Love" peaked at #88 in 1965; Cher also recorded the track.^[28]

 

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William Kloefkorn, American poet died he was , 78.

 William Charles "Bill" Kloefkorn was a Nebraska poet and educator based in Lincoln, Nebraska died he was , 78. . He was the author of twelve collections of poetry, two short story collections, a collection of children's Christmas stories, and four memoirs. Additionally Kloefkorn is professor emeritus of English at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

(August 12, 1932 – May 19, 2011)

Kloefkorn, who was born in Attica, Kansas, obtained Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, and did additional graduate work at the University of Kansas and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Prior to teaching at Nebraska Wesleyan, Kloefkorn taught at Wichita State University and at Ellinwood High School in Ellinwood, Kansas.
In 1982, Kloefkorn was appointed State Poet of Nebraska, a position roughly equivalent to Poet Laureate. (In 1921, the Nebraska Legislature permanently bestowed the title of Poet Laureate of Nebraska on John Neihardt, who died in 1973. A successor to this title has not been named.) Kloefkorn died in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In addition to his literary honors, Kloefkorn boasted that he won first place in the 1978 Nebraska Hog-Calling Championship.^[1]
An elementary school in Lincoln is named after Kloefkorn.^[2]

Selected publications

Poetry

• Alvin Turner As Farmer (Windflower Press, 1972) - reissued by Logan House Press in 2005
• Uncertain the Final Run to Winter (Windflower Press, 1974)
• Loony (Issued as: APPLE: NO. 10/11, 1975)
• Platte Valley Homestead, (Platte Valley Press, 1981)
• Drinking the Tin Cup Dry (White Pine Press, 1989)
• Going Out, Coming Back (White Pine Press, 1995)
• Welcome to Carlos (Spoon River Poetry Press, 2000)
• Loup River Psalter (Spoon River Poetry Press, 2001)
• Sergeant Patrick Gass, Chief Carpenter (Spoon River Poetry Press, 2002) Verse written by Kloefkorn in the voice of Sergeant Patrick Gass, chief carpenter on the Lewis and Clark Expedition based on research into the expedition and the journal kept by Sergeant Gass himself
• Out of Attica (The Backwaters Press, 2008)
• Swallowing the Soap: New and Selected Poems (Bison Books: University of Nebraska Press, 2010)

Memoirs

• This Death by Drowning (University of Nebraska Press, 1997)
• Restoring the Burnt Child: A Primer (University of Nebraska Press, 2003)
• At Home on This Moveable Earth (University of Nebraska Press, 2006)
• Breathing in the Fullness of Time (University of Nebraska Press, 2009)

Fiction

• A Time to Sink Her Pretty Little Ship (Logan House Press, 1999)
• Shadowboxing and Other Stories (Logan House Press, 2003)

 

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Edward H. Harte, American newspaper executive (Harte-Hanks) died he was , 88.

 Edward Holmead Harte  was an American newspaper executive, journalist, philanthropist, and conservationist  died he was , 88.. The son of Houston Harte, co-founder of the Harte-Hanks newspaper conglomerate, he had a decades long relationship with that organization. For Harte-Hanks he was an executive and journalist with various newspapers, including The Snyder Daily News, The San Angelo Standard-Times, and The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He also served as vice chairman of Harte-Hanks from 1962–1987. As a philanthropist he donated tens of millions of dollars to a variety of charities and institutions. He was also a pioneer in environmental conservationism in Texas, notably spearheading successful land conservation campaigns on Padre Island and Mustang Island. In 2002 the National Audubon Society (NAS) awarded him the Audubon Medal.

(December 5, 1922 – May 18, 2011)

Early life and education

Born in Pilot Grove, Missouri, Edward H. Harte came from a newspaper family. His great grandfather was a Washington correspondent for the New York Tribune and his father, Houston Harte, co-founded the Harte-Hanks newspaper conglomerate.^[2] He grew up in Depression-era San Angelo, Texas where his father was publisher of The San Angelo Standard-Times.^[3]
During World War II Harte served in the United States Army. After the war he entered Dartmouth College from which he earned a bachelors degree. After graduating, he became a reporter for the The Claremont Eagle in New Hampshire. He left that position to become a reporter for The Kansas City Star. He then partnered with his brother, Houston H. Harte, and Bernard Hanks’s son-in-law, Stormy Shelton, in buying the weekly Snyder, Texas newspaper The Snyder Daily News. That publication became part of the Harte-Hanks newspaper chain.^[1]

[edit] Work for Harte-Hanks

Harte worked for the Harte-Hanks corporation in a variety of capacities throughout his career. As a teenager he had his first job working as a switchboard operator at The San Angelo Standard-Times, one of the many newspapers owned by the Harte-Hanks corporation.^[2] He later served as president of The San Angelo Standard-Times from 1952 to 1956. From 1962 until his retirement in 1987 he was vice chairman of Harte-Hanks and publisher of The Corpus Christi Caller-Times.^[1] In addition to serving as The Caller-Times' publisher he also wrote a longstanding Sunday column for the paper that covered Mexican politics and current events. His collumn was known for providing coverage in this area which was not available elsewhere in the mainstream press. He continued to write thate column even after his retirement as publisher in 1987.^[4]

Conservationist and philanthropist

While running The Caller-Times, Harte further developed a passion for nature which ultimately led to his becoming an activist for environmental conservation. He regularly visited the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where he met and befriended several members of the board of the NAS. In 1964 he joined the NAS board himself on which he served for a total of 13 years.^[5] He was notably President of the NAS board from 1974 to 1979. Under his leadership The Caller-Times became an important advocate for land preservation and environmental protection in what The New York Times described as "an unusual stance for a Texas newspaper at the time". In 1962 Harte successfully spearheaded a campaign to designate 67 miles (108 km) of Padre Island as a national seashore; a feat which resulted in the protection of the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world. In the early 1970s he led another successful campaign to designate 3,954-acres of Mustang Island as a state park. In 1985 he and his brother donated their 66,000-acre ranch bordering the Big Bend National Park to The Nature Conservancy, which in turn donated the land to the Big Bend National Park in 1989.^[1]
In addition to his work as a conservationist, Harte was also a philanthropist. He donated a known 70 million dollars to local Corpus Christi organizations and institutions like universities, colleges, research labs, and environmental groups. It is likely that his philanthropy extended considerably beyond this amount as he often gave anonymous donations to charities and organizations for decades. Some of contributions included a 3.5 million dollar donation towards a new performing arts center at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC), $1.8 million for a library in Flour Bluff, and a $1 million challenge grant to Corpus Christi Metro Ministries which helped save two homeless shelters from closing. In 2000 he established the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at TAMU–CC, with a $46 million dollar endowment.^[6] The Institute has since played a major role in helping cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.^[6]

Personal life

In 1947 Harte married Janet Frey with whom he had two sons, Christopher and William Harte, and 2 daughters, Elizabeth Owens and Julia Widdowson. His 52 year marriage ended upon his wife's death in 1999. He died 12 years later in 2011 at his retirement home in Scarborough, Maine at the age of 88.^[1]

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