Chicago Sun-Times

Chris Kelly, of rap duo Kris Kross, dies at 34 in Atlanta

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:15:46 -0500

ATLANTA — Chris Kelly, half of the 1990s kid rap duo Kris Kross who made one of the decade’s most memorable songs with the frenetic “Jump,” died at an Atlanta hospital on Wednesday of an apparent drug overdose at his home, authorities said. He was 34. “It appears it may have been a possible drug overdose,” said Cpl. Kay Lester, a spokeswoman for the Fulton County police.

Sandor Racz, 80, leading figure in Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:31:15 -0500

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Sandor Racz, a labor activist and leading figure during Hungary’s anti-Soviet revolution of 1956, died Tuesday at age 80. The World Federation of Hungarians, of which Mr. Racz was honorary president, confirmed that he died while receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness at the National Institute of Oncology in Budapest. The 1956 uprising broke out on Oct. 23 and was crushed by the Soviet army in early November. But as president of the Budapest central workers’ council, Mr. Racz and other labor leaders pressed ahead with the objectives of the movement for several more weeks, negotiating with …

John Fenton Wheeler, last U.S. reporter expelled from Cold War-era Cuba

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:31:25 -0500

COLUMBIA, Mo. — John Fenton Wheeler, an Associated Press foreign correspondent who was the last U.S. reporter expelled from Cold War-era Cuba, has died. He was 88. Mr. Wheeler died on April 21, according to an obituary from Parker Funeral Service in Columbia, Mo. Mr. Wheeler’s 21-year AP career began in 1964 in Columbus, Ohio. He then transferred to the foreign desk in New York before being sent to Havana in 1967. Mr. Wheeler was kicked out of the country in 1969 for coverage deemed unfavorable to Fidel Castro’s government. It would be three decades before the AP returned to …

Jack Shea, 84, three-time president of Directors Guild of America, directed ‘The Jeffersons,’ ‘Silver Spoons’

Wed, 01 May 2013 02:25:48 -0500

LOS ANGELES — Jack Shea, who directed “The Jeffersons” and other TV hits and was a three-time president of the Directors Guild of America, has died at age 84. He died Sunday in Los Angeles from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. During a four-decade career, Mr. Shea directed hundreds of episodes for shows such as “Silver Spoons” and “Sanford & Son,” along with many Bob Hope specials. He was president of the Directors Guild from 1997 to 2002. Current President Taylor Hackford says Mr. Shea worked to bring women and minorities into guild service. In 1999, Mr. Shea and the DGA …

Kenneth Appel, former U. of I. prof used IBM computer to prove ‘Four-Color Conjecture’

Wed, 01 May 2013 02:25:37 -0500

DOVER, N.H. — Kenneth Appel, a mathematician who was the first to use a computer to prove a major mathematical theorem, has died at age 80 in Dover, N.H. The Tasker Funeral Home confirmed that Mr. Appel, who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, died April 19 in hospice care. Mr. Appel was a longtime educator who chaired the University of New Hampshire mathematics department, retiring in 2003. Before that, he was a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1976, he and Wolfgang Haken used 1,200 hours of calculations from an IBM computer to prove that a …

Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, 96, revived Catholic Church in Shanghai

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:55:26 -0500

BEIJING — Shanghai Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, who revived the Catholic church in China’s financial hub after years of Maoist persecution, has died. He was 96. Mr. Jin’s death on Saturday leaves one of China’s largest and wealthiest dioceses in a deeply unsettled state, underscoring continuing tensions generated by the ruling Communist Party’s insistence on tightly controlling all organized religions. Mr. Jin’s first anointed successor as acting bishop, Joseph Xing Wenzhi, resigned last year for reasons still unclear, and his replacement, Thaddeus Ma Daqin, was placed under house arrest at Shanghai’s Sheshan Seminary after enraging party officials by renouncing his …

Barry Fey, 73, promoted U2 Red Rocks concert

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:20:22 -0500

DENVER — Music promoter Barry Fey, who brought some of the biggest names in the business to Colorado, including the Doors, the Rolling Stones and U2, has died. He was 73. The Arapahoe County coroner’s office said he died Sunday at his Cherry Hills Village home. An autopsy was planned Monday to determine the cause of death. Among the tens of thousands of shows he promoted during his 30-plus year career was U2’s legendary performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in 1983, captured in the “Under a Blood Red Sky” video. It increased the outdoor venue’s popularity, and Mr. Fey was …

Jimmy Damon, ‘born to be a singer,’ dies at 75

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:16:04 -0500

Jimmy Damon sang in the shower, at state fairs and aboard cruise ships. He honed his skills any chance he got, especially at clubs and lounges all over the city, becoming one of Chicago’s best-known night-life crooners. He sang largely Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack songs, but others, too. He just loved to sing. His passion for song made him one of Chicago’s preeminent baritone voices for nearly four decades. Mr. Damon died Saturday at Rush University Medical Center after battling a rare blood disease. He was 75.

Mary Thom, 68, former editor of Ms. magazine

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:20:07 -0500

YONKERS, N.Y. — Prominent feminist Mary Thom, a writer and former editor of Ms. magazine who also was an avid motorcyclist, crashed while riding on a highway and was killed, her nephew said Saturday. She was 68. Ms. Thom had a passion for riding motorcycles and died riding her 1996 Honda Magna 750 on Friday evening on the Saw Mill River Parkway in Yonkers, just north of New York City, nephew Thom Loubet said. “The important thing to know about Mary is that she was a major leader of the ’70s feminist movement, but never desired the limelight,” Loubet said …

Alan Wood, 90, provided flag raised on Iwo Jima

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:19:49 -0500

LOS ANGELES — Alan Wood, a World War II veteran credited with providing the flag in the famous flag-raising on Iwo Jima, has died. He was 90. Mr. Wood died April 18 of natural causes at his Sierra Madre home, his son Steven Wood said Saturday. Mr. Wood was a 22-year-old Navy officer in charge of communications on a landing ship on Iwo Jima’s shores Feb. 23, 1945, when a Marine asked him for the biggest flag that he could find. After five days of fighting to capture the Japanese-held island, U.S. forces had managed to scale Mount Suribachi to …

Chicago lounge singer Jimmy Damon dies at 75

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:49:01 -0500

Jimmy Damon, a popular fixture on Chicago’s cabaret and nightlife scene, died Saturday, his 75th birthday, at Rush University Medical Center’s Horizon Hospice Care Unit. According to Mr. Damon’s daughter, Dana Damon-Trentadue, her father had been afflicted by a rare blood disease — something that strikes “one in a million” — that eventually attacked his heart and caused his death. Jimmy Damon had been a very visible presence on the Chicago music scene since moving here from his native Memphis in the mid-1960s. As a youth, the young singer, born James Demopoulos, began singing at church, local venues like the …

Earl Pionke, legend of Chicago music scene who ran the Earl of Old Town, dead at 80

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:16:18 -0500

Earl Pionke’s Chicago nightclub birthed romances, record deals and enchantment. The Earl of Old Town featured top performers during the height of the folkie troubador era, including Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc, John Prine and Jim Post. Pionke, 80, died Friday of pancreatic cancer at his home in Pullman. Visitors to his club included Bob Dylan, Robin Williams, Bette Midler, John Denver and Gordon Lightfoot. And John Belushi perfected his Marlon Brando imitation there in late-night sets.

Leo Branton Jr., 91, defended Angela Davis in 1972

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:16:29 -0500

LOS ANGELES — Leo Branton Jr., a lawyer who helped successfully defend radical Angela Davis in a sensational 1972 murder case, has died. He was 91. Mr. Branton died of natural causes on April 19 in Los Angeles, his son, Tony Nicholas, told the Los Angeles Times. Mr. Branton, the only 1948 black graduate of the Northwestern University law school, already had decades of civil rights law when he became co-lead defense counsel at Davis’ trial. Davis gained national attention in 1969 when the University of California, Los Angeles professor was fired for being a member of the Communist party. …

Dave Gold, 80, founded 99 Cents Only Stores

Wed, 01 May 2013 02:25:57 -0500

LOS ANGELES — Dave Gold, the founder of the 99 Cents Only Stores more than three decades ago who saw it expand into a billion-dollar empire, has died. He was 80. Mr. Gold died Monday of an apparent heart attack at his Los Angeles home, his son, Jeff Gold, told the Los Angeles Times in a story published Saturday. Mr. Gold was 50 when he opened the first store in 1982. He told the Times in 2003 that while working at his father’s liquor store, he discovered that items he discounted to, say, 98 cents or $1.02 never sold out …

Earl Pionke, 80, ran The Earl of Old Town folk club

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:14:06 -0500

Earl Pionke — whose Chicago folk club the Earl of Old Town helped launch the careers of Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc and John Prine — has died, his friend Marina Jason said Friday. Mr. Pionke was 80. The Earl of Old Town operated from 1962 until 1984 at 1615 N. Wells. Located across the street from Second City, it was a regular hangout for John Belushi and comedian Pat Paulsen. Mr. Pionke died of pancreatic cancer. He old the Sun-Times in June that he was “rehabilitating under chemotherapy.” There will be no funeral service, but a memorial tribute is being …