Chicago Sun-Times

Wayne F. Miller, 94, photographer chronicled South Side in 1940s

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:24:12 -0500

ORINDA, Calif. — Photographer Wayne F. Miller, who created a ground-breaking series of portraits chronicling the lives of black Americans in Chicago after serving with an elite Navy unit that produced some of the most indelible combat images of World War II, died Wednesday. He was 94. Mr. Miller was also known for his work as a curator on an international photojournalism exhibition called “The Family of Man” and for contributing the photos to Dr. Benjamin Spock’s “A Baby’s First Year.” He had lived in Orinda for six decades and become ill only in the last weeks of his life, …

Zach Sobiech, 18, teen Youtube sensation

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:23:51 -0500

LAKELAND, Minn. — A Minnesota teenager whose farewell song “Clouds” became an Internet sensation with nearly 3 million views on YouTube died Monday after battling a rare form of bone cancer, his family announced. Zach Sobiech, of Lakeland, died at his home, surrounded by family and his girlfriend, according to a CaringBridge post by his mother, Laura Sobiech. He was 18. Zach Sobiech’s family released a statement announcing his passing. “It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our son Zachary David Sobiech. Our family has been blessed not only by his amazing presence in our lives, …

Bernard Waber, 91, prolific children’s author with ‘The House on East 88th Street’

Thu, 23 May 2013 02:28:13 -0500

NEW YORK — Bernard Waber, the author of such children’s favorites as “The House on East 88th Street” and “Lyle, Lyle Crocodile,” has died. Mr. Waber died May 16 at his Long Island home after a long illness, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced Monday. He was 91. Mr. Waber’s “warmth, energy, artfulness, elegance, and abiding respect for children were epitomized in his books,” Houghton’s senior vice president and publisher of books for young readers, Betsy Groban, said in a statement. His 33 books have sold 1.75 million copies, the publishing company said. Mr. Waber debuted as an author in 1962 …

Neil Chrisley, 82, played for Tigers, Braves, Senators

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:54:00 -0500

CONWAY, S.C. — Neil Chrisley, a South Carolinian who played major league baseball player in the late 1950s, has died. He was 82. Bobby Sellers of Goldfinch Funeral Home said Mr. Chrisley died on Saturday at his home in Conway. Mr. Chrisley was born in Calhoun Falls. He played with the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Braves between 1957 and 1961. Appearing mostly as a pinch-hitter, Mr. Chrisley’s most productive season was with the Tigers in 1960, when he hit .255 with 5 home runs and 24 runs batted in. He finished his major league career with a .210 …

Boruch Spiegel, 93, Warsaw ghetto insurgent survived 1943 uprising

Wed, 22 May 2013 02:28:55 -0500

WARSAW, Poland — Boruch Spiegel, one of the last remaining survivors of the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising by poorly armed Jewish insurgents against the powerful Nazi German force that occupied Poland, has died. He was 93. Mr. Spiegel died May 9 in Montreal, where he had spent the past four years in a nursing home, his son Julius Spiegel said Tuesday. With Mr. Spiegel’s death, the tiny group of survivors of the legendary World War II revolt that was crushed 70 years ago this month grows even smaller. Mr. Spiegel was one of about 750 Jewish fighters who on April …

Mack Emerman, 89, founded Criteria studio where ‘Layla,’ ‘Eat A Peach’ produced

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:09:40 -0500

MIAMI — Mack Emerman, the founder of Criteria Recording Studios where acts including Eric Clapton, James Brown and the Bee Gees made some of their most famous records, has died after a long illness. He was 89. His daughter Bebe Emerman said Tuesday that her father died of complications from pneumonia at the Miami Jewish Home for the Aged, where he had lived since his health began failing in 2004. The Criteria studio, which he opened in 1959 in North Miami, has been operated by the Hit Factory since 1999. Some 250 gold or platinum singles and albums were recorded …

School of the Art Institue professor helped others see art as being essential

Wed, 22 May 2013 02:28:45 -0500

Angela Paterakis, who taught for almost 50 years at Chicago’s School of the Art Institute and was an ardent suporter of arts in education, died Sunday at Villa Scalabrini in Northlake. She was 80 and a longtime resident of River Forest.

Ray Manzarek, 74, Chicago-born keyboardist co-founded The Doors with Jim Morrison

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:24:12 -0500

Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist and founding member of The Doors who had a dramatic impact on rock ’n’ roll, has died. He was 74. Mr. Manzarek, who was born in Chicago, died Monday at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family, said publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald. Robinson-Fitzgerald said his manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed Mr. Manzarek died around 2:30 p.m. Chicago time, after being stricken by bile duct cancer. Mr. Manzarek grew up on the South Side, attending Everett Elementary School and St. Rita High School before enrolling at DePaul, where he graduated with an economics degree. Mr. Manzarek …

Monroe Hopper, 86, Hopper Brothers gospel singer sang for Reagan in 1981

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:15:22 -0500

MADISON, N.C. — One of the founding members of the North Carolina gospel group the Hopper Brothers has died. Group publicist Aaron Crisler said that 86-year-old Monroe Hopper died Friday in Madison. No cause of death was given. Claude Hopper founded the group in 1957, bringing in Monroe Hopper and three more of their brothers. The group sang for President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Monroe Hopper made his last appearance with the group in 2012 as it was inducted into the Gospel Music Association’s Hall of Fame. The group is now known as The Hoppers, as various family members have …

Cynthia Brown, 60, guiding force of Human Rights Watch

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:15:33 -0500

NEW YORK — Activist Cynthia Brown, one of the guiding forces at the international advocacy group Human Rights Watch, has died at age 60 after fighting cancer. Ms. Brown started with Human Rights Watch as a researcher in 1982, focusing on the Americas. In 1990, she went to Chile for two years for the organization. In 1993, she became its first program director, overseeing every report it published. Human Rights Watch, which said Ms. Brown died Sunday in Manhattan, describes its mission as striving to protect human rights worldwide by focusing attention where those rights are violated and giving voice …

Frances B. Monson, 85, wife of Mormon church president

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:15:46 -0500

SALT LAKE CITY — The wife of the president of the Mormon church has died. Frances B. Monson, 85, died early Friday morning at a hospital in Salt Lake City, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced. Church President Thomas S. Monson said his wife was the family’s beacon of love, compassion and encouragement. The couple’s three children say their mother had a knack for budgeting, bookkeeping and finding deals. She excelled at math and science and was the one in the house who fixed electrical switches or plumbing leaks. She once left a note reading, “Dear …

Jorge Rafael Videla, 87, Argentina dictator took power in 1976 coup

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:43:21 -0500

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, who took power over Argentina in a 1976 coup and led a military junta that killed thousands of his fellow citizens in a dirty war to eliminate so-called “subversives,” died quietly in his sleep Friday while serving life in prison for crimes against humanity. He was 87. Federal Prison Service Director Victor Hortel said Videla died in his prison cell. He was found lifeless in his bed and declared dead at 8:25 a.m., according to an official medical report cited by the state news agency Telam. Videla ran one of the …

William R. Bonner, 87, police officer, loved jazz, helping straighten out young lives

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:43:46 -0500

Returning to Chicago after World War II, Bill Bonner was one of many African-American men determined to better himself after seeing the world but serving in a segregated military. Many of them enrolled at Roosevelt University, one of the few city schools whose doors were wide open to African-Americans, among them historian Timuel Black, real-estate magnate Dempsey Travis and the president of the 1949 senior class: Harold Washington, who would become the city’s first black mayor. Mr. Bonner studied physical education there, then joined the Chicago Police Department, where his work ethic, knack for dealing with people and integrity helped …

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John La Montaine dies at 93

Wed, 15 May 2013 02:32:51 -0500

Chicago-born composer John La Montaine, who won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1959, died April 29 at his home in Hollywood, Calif. He was 93. Mr. La Montaine received the Pulitzer Prize for his First Piano Concerto, Op. 9, subtitled “In Time of War.” It had its premiere by acclaimed pianist Jorge Bolet with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Howard Mitchell, in 1958. Bolet also played and recorded the work for the Voice of America with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra the next year. The recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships, Mr. La Montaine also wrote “From …

Winifred Hope Smith dies; helped raise Bushman, famed gorilla

Thu, 16 May 2013 02:28:53 -0500

Winifred Hope Smith came to Chicago in March to visit the taxidermied remains of Bushman, the magnificent silverback gorilla she knew as her childhood playmate in Africa and the world later knew as the undisputed star of the Lincoln Park Zoo and of movie newsreels. Two and a half weeks after seeing Bushman one final time, at the Field Museum, Mrs. Smith died on April 4 at age 92.