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Tag: Obituaries

  • Funeral held for first of 2 Poles killed in missile blast

    Funeral held for first of 2 Poles killed in missile blast

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    WARSAW, Poland — A funeral was held Saturday for one of two Polish men who died in a missile explosion near the border with Ukraine, deaths that Western officials said appeared to have been caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile that went astray.

    White roses were placed on the wooden casket of Boguslaw Wos. A family member carried a black-and-white photo of him, while another man carried a crucifix bearing his name. Polish state news agency PAP described Wos as a 62-year-old warehouse manager.

    Wos and another man died Tuesday in Przewodow, a small farming community 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the border with Ukraine as that country was defending itself against a barrage of Russian missiles directed at Ukraine’s power infrastructure.

    Officials from Poland, NATO and the United States say they think Russia is to blame for the deaths no matter what because a Ukrainian missile would not have gone astray in Poland had the country not been forced to defend itself against Russian attacks.

    A Polish investigation to determine the source of the missile and the circumstances of the explosion was launched with support from the U.S. and Ukrainian investigators.

    To assist, the Pentagon sent a small team of forensics and explosive ordnance device experts to the missile impact site in Przewodow, a senior defense official said Friday on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to discuss details.

    Wos’ funeral took place in a village church and he was to be buried in the local cemetery, PAP said. A military honor guard and Polish officials and Ukrainian representatives joined the man’s family and members of the community but the Wos family asked that media not attend.

    Ukraine’s consul general in the nearby city of Lublin placed a wreath in the colors of Ukraine, PAP reported.

    The other victim, a 60-year-old tractor driver, is to be buried on Sunday.

    ———

    Tara Copp in Washington contributed.

    ———

    Follow all AP stories about the impact of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

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  • Pope visits immigrant father’s hometown for birthday party

    Pope visits immigrant father’s hometown for birthday party

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    PORTACOMARO, Itatly — Pope Francis returned to his father’s birthplace in northern Italy on Saturday for the first time since ascending the papacy to celebrate the 90th birthday of a second cousin who long knew him as simply “Giorgio.”

    The two-day visit to Francis’ ancestral homeland to renew family ties touched on keystones of his papacy, including the importance of honoring the elderly and the human toll of migration. Francis’ private visit Saturday will be followed by public one Sunday to celebrate Mass for the local faithful, where he could well reflect on his family’s experience migrating to Argentina.

    The pope’s father, Mario Jose Francisco Bergoglio, and his paternal grandparents arrived in Buenos Aires on Jan. 25, 1929 to reach other relatives at the tail end of a mass decades-long emigration from Italy that the pope has honored with two recent saints: St. Giovanni Batista Scalabrini and St. Artedime Zatti.

    The future pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was born nearly eight years later in Buenos Aires, after the elder Bergoglio met and married Regina Maria Sivori, whose family was also of Italian immigrant stock, hailing from the Liguria region. Francis grew up speaking the Piedmont dialect of his paternal grandmother Rosa, who cared for him most days.

    The elder Bergoglio was born in the town of Portacomaro, 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of Asti, an agricultural town that lost population not only to emigration abroad but also to nearby Turin as it became an industrial center.

    Today, the town has 2,000 residents, but it numbered more than 2,700 a century ago, and dropped as low as 1,680 in the 1980s.

    The pope’s family emigrated after the peak, which saw 14 million Italians leave from 1876 to 1915 — a movement that made Italy the biggest voluntary diaspora in the world, according to Lauren Braun-Strumfels, an associate professor of history at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

    Often citing his own family story, Francis, now 85, has made the welcoming and integration of migrants a hallmark of his papacy, often facing criticism as Europe in general, and Italy in particular, are consumed with the debate over how to manage mass migration.

    The pope has recognized the historic significance of the emigrant experience with the recent canonizations of St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, an Italian bishop who founded an order to help Italian emigrants at the end of the 19th century, and Artemide Zatti, an Italian who emigrated to Argentina in the same period and dedicated his work to helping the sick.

    He used the occasion to again denounce Europe’s indifference toward migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea and what they hope will be better futures.

    Francis began his visit to Portacomaro on Saturday with lunch at the home of a cousin, Carla Rabezzana. Photographs released by the Vatican showed Francis clearly enjoying himself, hugging Rabezzana and sitting at the head of the table.

    “We have known each other forever,’’ Rabezzana told the Corriere della Sera newspaper in the runup to the visit. “When I lived in Turin, Giorgio — I always called him that — came to stay because I had an extra room. That is how we maintained our relationship.

    “We always would joke. When he told me he would come to celebrate my 90th birthday, I said it made my heart race. And in response I was told: ‘Try not to die.’ We burst out laughing.’’

    The pope has many more third and fourth cousins still in the area.

    “It was a large family, and in the area there are still many distant cousins,’’ said Carlo Cerrato a former mayor of Portacomoro. He said it was a “big surprise” for everyone in the town when Francis was elected pope nearly a decade ago.

    “Everyone knew there was a prelate who had become the cardinal of Buenos Aires, but it was something that the relatives knew, not everyone in town,’’ Cerrato said.

    After nearly 10 years as pope, Francis has yet to return to his own birthplace in Argentina . He hasn’t really explained his reasons for staying away. He recently confirmed that if he were to resign as pope, he wouldn’t go back to Buenos Aires to live but would remain in Rome.

    ———

    Barry reported from Milan.

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  • Activist Carol Leigh, who coined term `sex work’, dies at 71

    Activist Carol Leigh, who coined term `sex work’, dies at 71

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    SAN FRANCISCO — Carol Leigh, a San Francisco activist who is credited with coining the term “sex work” and who sought for decades to improve conditions for prostitutes and others in the adult entertainment business, has died. She was 71.

    Kate Marquez, the executor of her estate, said Leigh died Wednesday of cancer, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday.

    A former prostitute, Leigh devoted herself to campaigning on behalf of those in the “sex work industry,” a term she coined as the title for a panel discussion she attended at a feminist anti-pornography conference in 1978, according to an essay she wrote.

    The term has become generally used by public health officials, academic researchers and others.

    “Carol defined sex work as a labor issue, not a crime, not a sin,” Marquez said. “It is a job done by a million people in this country who are stigmatized and criminalized by working to support their families.”

    “Ultimately, Leigh argued that until sex workers are included in the conversations about feminism, sexuality and legality -– conversations from which they have historically been excluded -– sex workers will remain fragmented rather than collective, and stigmatisation will abound,” said a tweet Thursday from SWARM (Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement), which describes itself as a sex worker-led collective founded in the United Kingdom in 2009.

    Leigh co-founded BAYSWAN, also known as Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy Network, which according to its website works with human rights activists to address problems such as human trafficking in the industry as well as labor and civil rights violations.

    Leigh was deeply involved in advocacy for and aid to sex workers both in the United States and overseas and her concerns ranged from decriminalization to poverty, drug use and HIV. She also was a video artist and produced award-winning documentaries on “women’s issues and gay/lesbian issues,” according to her BAYSWAN biography.

    She wrote and frequently performed a one-woman political satire play called “The Adventures of Scarlot Harlot,” and wrote a 2004 book titled “Unrepentant Whore: The Collected Work of Scarlot Harlot.” She also helped produce the San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival.

    Born in New York City, Leigh had a bachelor’s degree in creative writing when she moved to San Francisco in 1977. She began working as a prostitute to earn money but her focus changed after she was raped by two men at a sex studio in 1979, she told SFGate in a 1996 interview.

    She couldn’t file a crime report because her workplace would have been closed.

    “The fact that I couldn’t go to the police to report the rape meant that I was not going to be able to protect other women from these rapists,” she said. “And I vowed to do something to change that.”

    Leigh’s papers will be archived at Harvard University’s Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Marquez said.

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  • Robert Clary, last of the ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ stars, dies at 96

    Robert Clary, last of the ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ stars, dies at 96

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    LOS ANGELES — Robert Clary, a French-born survivor of Nazi concentration camps during World War II who played a feisty prisoner of war in the improbable 1960s sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes,” has died. He was 96.

    Clary died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in the Los Angeles area, niece Brenda Hancock said Thursday.

    “He never let those horrors defeat him,” Hancock said of Clary’s wartime experience as a youth. “He never let them take the joy out of his life. He tried to spread that joy to others through his singing and his dancing and his painting.”

    When he recounted his life to students, he told them, “Don’t ever hate,” Hancock said. “He didn’t let hate overcome the beauty in this world.”

    “Hogan’s Heroes,” in which Allied soldiers in a POW camp bested their clownish German army captors with espionage schemes, played the war strictly for laughs during its 1965-71 run. The 5-foot-1 Clary sported a beret and a sardonic smile as Cpl. Louis LeBeau.

    Clary was the last surviving original star of the sitcom that included Bob Crane, Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis and Ivan Dixon as the prisoners. Werner Klemperer and John Banner, who played their captors, both were European Jews who fled Nazi persecution before the war.

    Clary began his career as a nightclub singer and appeared on stage in musicals including “Irma La Douce” and “Cabaret.” After “Hogan’s Heroes,” Clary’s TV work included the soap operas “The Young and the Restless,” “Days of Our Lives” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

    He considered musical theater the highlight of his career. “I loved to go to the theater at quarter of 8, put the stage makeup on and entertain,” he said in a 2014 interview.

    He remained publicly silent about his wartime experience until 1980 when, Clary said, he was provoked to speak out by those who denied or diminished the orchestrated effort by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews.

    A documentary about Clary’s childhood and years of horror at Nazi hands, “Robert Clary, A5714: A Memoir of Liberation,” was released in 1985. The forearms of concentration camp prisoners were tattooed with identification numbers, with A5714 to be Clary’s lifelong mark.

    “They write books and articles in magazines denying the Holocaust, making a mockery of the 6 million Jews — including a million and a half children — who died in the gas chambers and ovens,” he told The Associated Press in a 1985 interview.

    Twelve of his immediate family members, his parents and 10 siblings, were killed under the Nazis, Clary wrote in a biography posted on his website.

    In 1997, he was among dozens of Holocaust survivors whose portraits and stories were included in “The Triumphant Spirit,” a book by photographer Nick Del Calzo.

    “I beg the next generation not to do what people have done for centuries — hate others because of their skin, shape of their eyes, or religious preference,” Clary said in an interview at the time.

    Retired from acting, Clary remained busy with his family, friends and his painting. His memoir, “From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary,” was published in 2001.

    “One Of The Lucky Ones,” a biography of one of Clary’s older sisters, Nicole Holland, was written by Hancock, her daughter. Holland, who worked with the French Resistance against Germany, survived the war, as did another sister. Hancock’s second book, “Talent Luck Courage,” recounts Clary and Holland’s lives and their impact.

    Clary was born Robert Widerman in Paris in March 1926, the youngest of 14 children in the Jewish family. He was 16 when he and most of his family were taken by the Nazis.

    In the documentary, Clary recalled a happy childhood until he and his family was forced from their Paris apartment and put into a crowded cattle car that carried them to concentration camps.

    “Nobody knew where we were going,” Clary said. “We were not human beings anymore.”

    After 31 months in captivity in several concentration camps, he was liberated from the Buchenwald death camp by American troops. His youth and ability to work kept him alive, Clary said.

    Returning to Paris and reunited with his two sisters, Clary worked as a singer and recorded songs that became popular in America.

    After coming to the United States in 1949, he moved from club dates and recording to Broadway musicals, including “New Faces of 1952,” and then to movies. He appeared in films including 1952’s “Thief of Damascus,” “A New Kind of Love” in 1963 and “The Hindenburg” in 1975.

    In recent years, Clary recorded jazz versions of songs by Ira Gershwin, Stephen Sondheim and other greats, said his nephew Brian Gari, a songwriter who worked on the CDs with Clary.

    Clary was proud of the results, Gari said, and thrilled by a complimentary letter he received from Sondheim. “He hung that on the kitchen wall,” Gari said.

    Clary didn’t feel uneasy about the comedy on “Hogan’s Heroes” despite the tragedy of his family’s devastating war experience.

    “It was completely different. I know they (POWs) had a terrible life, but compared to concentration camps and gas chambers it was like a holiday.”

    Clary married Natalie Cantor, the daughter of singer-actor Eddie Cantor, in 1965. She died in 1997.

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  • Robert Clary, last of the ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ stars, dies at 96

    Robert Clary, last of the ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ stars, dies at 96

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Clary, a French-born survivor of Nazi concentration camps during World War II who played a feisty prisoner of war in the improbable 1960s sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes,” has died. He was 96.

    Clary died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in the Los Angeles area, niece Brenda Hancock said Thursday.

    “He never let those horrors defeat him,” Hancock said of Clary’s wartime experience as a youth. “He never let them take the joy out of his life. He tried to spread that joy to others through his singing and his dancing and his painting.”

    When he recounted his life to students, he told them, “Don’t ever hate,” Hancock said. “He didn’t let hate overcome the beauty in this world.”

    “Hogan’s Heroes,” in which Allied soldiers in a POW camp bested their clownish German army captors with espionage schemes, played the war strictly for laughs during its 1965-71 run. The 5-foot-1 Clary sported a beret and a sardonic smile as Cpl. Louis LeBeau.

    Clary was the last surviving original star of the sitcom that included Bob Crane, Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis and Ivan Dixon as the prisoners. Werner Klemperer and John Banner, who played their captors, both were European Jews who fled Nazi persecution before the war.

    Clary began his career as a nightclub singer and appeared on stage in musicals including “Irma La Douce” and “Cabaret.” After “Hogan’s Heroes,” Clary’s TV work included the soap operas “The Young and the Restless,” “Days of Our Lives” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

    He considered musical theater the highlight of his career. “I loved to go to the theater at quarter of 8, put the stage makeup on and entertain,” he said in a 2014 interview.

    He remained publicly silent about his wartime experience until 1980 when, Clary said, he was provoked to speak out by those who denied or diminished the orchestrated effort by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews.

    A documentary about Clary’s childhood and years of horror at Nazi hands, “Robert Clary, A5714: A Memoir of Liberation,” was released in 1985. The forearms of concentration camp prisoners were tattooed with identification numbers, with A5714 to be Clary’s lifelong mark.

    “They write books and articles in magazines denying the Holocaust, making a mockery of the 6 million Jews — including a million and a half children — who died in the gas chambers and ovens,” he told The Associated Press in a 1985 interview.

    Twelve of his immediate family members, his parents and 10 siblings, were killed under the Nazis, Clary wrote in a biography posted on his website.

    In 1997, he was among dozens of Holocaust survivors whose portraits and stories were included in “The Triumphant Spirit,” a book by photographer Nick Del Calzo.

    “I beg the next generation not to do what people have done for centuries — hate others because of their skin, shape of their eyes, or religious preference,” Clary said in an interview at the time.

    Retired from acting, Clary remained busy with his family, friends and his painting. His memoir, “From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary,” was published in 2001.

    “One Of The Lucky Ones,” a biography of one of Clary’s older sisters, Nicole Holland, was written by Hancock, her daughter. Holland, who worked with the French Resistance against Germany, survived the war, as did another sister. Hancock’s second book, “Talent Luck Courage,” recounts Clary and Holland’s lives and their impact.

    Clary was born Robert Widerman in Paris in March 1926, the youngest of 14 children in the Jewish family. He was 16 when he and most of his family were taken by the Nazis.

    In the documentary, Clary recalled a happy childhood until he and his family was forced from their Paris apartment and put into a crowded cattle car that carried them to concentration camps.

    “Nobody knew where we were going,” Clary said. “We were not human beings anymore.”

    After 31 months in captivity in several concentration camps, he was liberated from the Buchenwald death camp by American troops. His youth and ability to work kept him alive, Clary said.

    Returning to Paris and reunited with his two sisters, Clary worked as a singer and recorded songs that became popular in America.

    After coming to the United States in 1949, he moved from club dates and recording to Broadway musicals, including “New Faces of 1952,” and then to movies. He appeared in films including 1952’s “Thief of Damascus,” “A New Kind of Love” in 1963 and “The Hindenburg” in 1975.

    In recent years, Clary recorded jazz versions of songs by Ira Gershwin, Stephen Sondheim and other greats, said his nephew Brian Gari, a songwriter who worked on the CDs with Clary.

    Clary was proud of the results, Gari said, and thrilled by a complimentary letter he received from Sondheim. “He hung that on the kitchen wall,” Gari said.

    Clary didn’t feel uneasy about the comedy on “Hogan’s Heroes” despite the tragedy of his family’s devastating war experience.

    “It was completely different. I know they (POWs) had a terrible life, but compared to concentration camps and gas chambers it was like a holiday.”

    Clary married Natalie Cantor, the daughter of singer-actor Eddie Cantor, in 1965. She died in 1997.

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  • Virginia McLaurin, who danced with the Obamas, dies at 113

    Virginia McLaurin, who danced with the Obamas, dies at 113

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    OLNEY, Md. — Virginia McLaurin, the centenarian who danced with excitement during a 2016 visit with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House, has died. She was 113.

    McLaurin’s son, Felipe Cardoso Jr., said Tuesday that she died early Monday at her home in Olney, Maryland.

    “Rest in peace, Virginia,” the Obamas wrote Tuesday on Twitter. “We know you’re up there dancing.”

    A viral video accompanied the post showing McLaurin’s White House visit during a Black History Month reception in February 2016 when she was 106.

    “Hi!” McLaurin squealed as she was introduced to the president.

    “You want to say hi to Michelle?” Obama asked.

    “Yes!” McLaurin said, moving quickly to give Michelle Obama a hug.

    “Slow down now!” the president said. “Don’t go too quick.”

    The women then held hands as they went into an impromptu dance, the president holding McLaurin’s arm.

    “I thought I would never live to get in the White House,” she said. “And I tell you, I am so happy.

    “A Black president. A Black wife! And I’m here to celebrate Black history. Yeah, that’s what I’m here for.”

    Video of the encounter quickly spread online, garnering international news coverage. After the brief meeting, McLaurin told reporters: “I could just die happy.”

    Donations poured in to a fundraising page set up for those who asked about helping with expenses for one of the Internet’s newest stars. Later that year she made an appearance at a Washington Nationals baseball game where she was presented with a team jersey on the field.

    “She was just so carefree,” Cardoso said in a telephone interview. “She said her secret to life was not to worry, so she never let things worry her. She just didn’t pay it no mind.”

    Born March 12, 1909 in South Carolina, the sharecropper’s daughter spent decades upon retirement doing volunteer work at schools. According to the Obama White House archives, she served as a foster grandparent and mentor to special-needs students, helping children with reading and social skills.

    Cardoso said McLaurin adopted him when he was 3.

    “She loved and cared for everybody,” he said. “She definitely had a big heart for the kids. She loved kids.”

    Cardoso said funeral arrangements were incomplete.

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  • Retired Las Vegas AP correspondent Robert Macy dies at 85

    Retired Las Vegas AP correspondent Robert Macy dies at 85

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    LAS VEGAS — Retired Las Vegas correspondent Robert Macy, who wrote thousands of stories about entertainment, crime and sports in Sin City over the course of two decades for The Associated Press, has died. He was 85.

    Macy died early Friday in hospice in Las Vegas following a brief illness, his family said.

    After graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in journalism in 1959, Macy spent the next decade working in television, in public relations and for newspapers.

    He began his almost 30-year career with the AP in 1971 when he was hired by the news cooperative as a writer in Kansas City, Missouri. Macy gained attention there early on for his coverage of a hotel pedestrian walkway collapse that killed more than 100 people.

    A decade later Macy was in Las Vegas, where throughout the ’80s and ’90s he wrote about a virtual who’s who of entertainers, then staples of The Strip.

    In 1988 he reported on the fatal police shooting of a man who took a 74-year-old employee hostage while trying to steal $1 million in jewelry from the Liberace Museum. Macy was there when singer Wayne Newton, known as “Mr. Las Vegas,” performed his 25,000th show in 1996.

    He interviewed more than 200 celebrities, including comedians George Burns and Red Skelton and singers from Phyllis McGuire to Paul Anka to the Osmond Brothers. He also developed friendships with more than a few.

    Macy knew entertainers Siegfried & Roy so well that when trainer and performer Roy Horn was attacked in 2003 by one of their white tigers, the AP story carried his byline even though he was already retired.

    Macy retired from the AP in 2000 and the following year was inducted into the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame.

    He is survived by his wife, Melinda, of Las Vegas: son Brent and daughter-in-law Martha, of Las Vegas; and son Scott, granddaughters Kara and Savannah and great-granddaughter Azlynn, all of Leesburg, Florida.

    Funeral services are pending.

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  • King Charles leads Remembrance Sunday service for first time

    King Charles leads Remembrance Sunday service for first time

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    LONDON — Britain will pause for a two-minute silence Sunday to remember the nation’s war dead as King Charles III leads a Remembrance Day service for the first time as monarch.

    Charles and other royals and senior politicians will lay wreaths at the Cenotaph, the national war memorial in central London, to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by fallen servicemen and women. Remembrance Sunday is marked every year in the U.K. on the closest Sunday to Armistice Day on Nov. 11 with the wearing of poppies and a national two-minute silence observed at 11 a.m.

    Big Ben, which has undergone five years of repairs, will be struck 11 times to mark the start of the silence.

    Around 10,000 veterans — including 100-year-old World War II veterans and those who served in recent conflicts including in Afghanistan — will take part in a solemn march, and thousands of people are expected to line the streets to watch the service.

    This year’s ceremony is especially poignant for Britain’s royal family because it marks the first Remembrance Day since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who considered the day one of the most important engagements in her royal calendar.

    Elizabeth, who died on Sept. 8 at 96 years old, lived through World War II and only missed seven Cenotaph services during her long reign. Beginning in 2017, Charles began laying a wreath on his mother’s behalf as she watched from a nearby balcony, in a subtle shift of head-of-state duties as Elizabeth entered her twilight years.

    Officials said this year’s service is dedicated both to fallen soldiers in wars past and to Ukrainians fighting against Russia’s invasion.

    “We must never forget those who gave their lives in defence of our values and our great nation,” said Defense Secretary Ben Wallace. “All of us will also be thinking of those brave Ukrainians who are fighting for their very own survival to defend freedom and democracy for all, just as the U.K. and Commonwealth soldiers did in both world wars.”

    Charles will lay a newly designed poppy wreath incorporating a ribbon of his racing colours. Wreath designers say it also pays tribute to the racing colors used by both Elizabeth and his grandfather King George VI.

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  • Kevin Conroy, a defining voice of Batman, dies at 66

    Kevin Conroy, a defining voice of Batman, dies at 66

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    NEW YORK — Kevin Conroy, the prolific voice actor whose gravely delivery on “Batman: The Animated Series” was for many Batman fans the definitive sound of the Caped Crusader, has died at 66.

    Conroy died Thursday after a battle with cancer, series producer Warner Bros. announced Friday.

    Conroy was the voice of Batman on the acclaimed animated series that ran from 1992-1996, often acting opposite Mark Hamill’s Joker. Conroy continued on as the almost exclusive animated voice of Batman, including some 15 films, 400 episodes of television and two dozen video games, including the “Batman: Arkham” and “Injustice” franchises.

    In the eight-decade history of Batman, no one played the Dark Knight more.

    “For several generations, he has been the definitive Batman,” Hamill in a statement. “It was one of those perfect scenarios where they got the exact right guy for the right part, and the world was better for it.”

    “He will always be my Batman,” Hamill said.

    Conroy’s popularity with fans made him a sought-after personality on the convention circuit. In the often tumultuous world of DC Comics, Conroy was a mainstay and widely beloved. In a statement, Warner Bros. Animation said Conroy’s performance “will forever stand among the greatest portrayals of the Dark Knight in any medium.”

    “Kevin brought a light with him everywhere, whether in the recording booth giving it his all or feeding first-responders during 9/11 or making sure every fan who ever waited for him had a moment with their Batman,” said Paul Dini, producer of the animated show. ”A hero in every sense of the word.”

    Born in in Westbury, New York, and raised in Westport, Connecticut, Conroy started out as well-trained theater actor. He attended Juilliard and roomed with Robin Williams. After graduating, he toured with John Houseman’s acting group, the Acting Company. He performed in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Public Theater and in “Eastern Standard” on Broadway. At the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, he performed in “Hamlet.”

    The 1980s production of “Eastern Standard,” in which Conroy played a TV producer secretly living with AIDS, had particular meaning to him. Conroy, who was gay, said at the time he was regularly attending funerals for friends who died of AIDS. He poured out his anguish nightly on stage.

    In 1980, Conroy moved to Los Angeles, began acting in soap operas and booked appearances on TV series including “Cheers,” “Tour of Duty” and “Murphy Brown.” In 1991, when casting director Andrea Romano was scouting her lead actor for “Batman: The Animated Series,” she went through hundreds of auditions before Conroy came in. He was there on a friend’s recommendation — and cast immediately.

    Conroy began the role without any background in comics and as a novice in voice acting. His Batman was husky, brooding and dark. His Bruce Wayne was light and dashing. His inspiration for the contrasting voices, he said, came from the 1930s film, “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” about an English aristocrat who leads a double life.

    “It’s so much fun as an actor to sink your teeth into,” Conroy told The New York Times in 2016. “Calling it animation doesn’t do it justice. It’s more like mythology.”

    As Conroy’s performance evolved over the years, it sometimes connected to his own life. Conroy described his own father as an alcoholic and said his family disintegrated while he was in high school. He channeled those emotions into the 1993 animated film “Mask of the Phantasm,” which revolved around Bruce Wayne’s unsettled issues with his parents.

    “Andrea came in after the recording and grabbed me in a hug,” Conroy told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. “Andrea said, ‘I don’t know where you went, but it was a beautiful performance.’ She knew I was drawing on something.”

    Conroy is survived by his husband, Vaughn C. Williams, sister Trisha Conroy and brother Tom Conroy.

    In “Finding Batman,” released earlier this year, Conroy penned a comic about his unlikely journey with the character and as a gay man in Hollywood.

    “I’ve often marveled as how appropriate it was that I should land this role,” he wrote. “As a gay boy growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s in a devoutly Catholic family, I’d grown adept at concealing parts of myself.”

    The voice that emerged from Conroy for Batman, he said, was one he didn’t recognize — a voice that “seemed to roar from 30 years of frustration, confusion, denial, love, yearning.”

    “I felt Batman rising from deep within.”

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  • Gallagher, watermelon smashing comedian, dies at 76

    Gallagher, watermelon smashing comedian, dies at 76

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    NEW YORK — Gallagher, the long-haired, smash-’em-up comedian who left a trail of laughter, anger and shattered watermelons over a decadeslong career, has died at age 76.

    Craig Marquardo, in a statement identifying himself as Gallagher’s “longtime former manager,” said that he died Friday at his home in Palm Springs, California, after a brief illness. Gallagher had numerous heart attacks over the years, including one right before a scheduled show in Texas in 2012.

    With a beret on his head and a few simple props, from a can of oil to a bull whip, the man born Leo Anthony Gallagher Jr. built a nationwide following in the 1970s and ’80s, appearing on the “Tonight” show with Johnny Carson and starring in numerous Showtime specials. His act included observational humor (“What about Easter? Whose idea was it to give eggs to an animal that hops”), political commentary (“They don’t call a tax a tax. They call it a revenue enhancer”), invented sports (synchronized Ping-Pong) and his trademark Sledge-O-Matic destruction.

    “Ladies and gentlemen! I did not come here tonight just to make you laugh. I came here to sell you something, and I want you to pay particular attention!” he would call out in his best rapid-fire impersonation of a late-night television pitchman. “The amazing Master Tool Corporation, a subsidiary of Fly-By-Night Industries, has entrusted who? Me! To show you! The handiest and the dandiest kitchen tool you’ve ever seen.”

    Sledgehammer in hand, he would then apply his full muscle to apples, grapes, lettuce and other produce, most famously the inevitable watermelon, with audience members in front showered in food bits.

    Gallagher was a Fort Bragg, North Carolina, native who started out in 1960 as road manager for the comedian/musician Jim Stafford and soon began performing himself, honing his act at the Comedy Store and other clubs. He was not the only funnyman in the family: His younger brother Ron became a comedian, received Leo’s initial blessing and looked and acted enough like his better-known sibling that some audiences were unsure who they had come to see. Leo Gallagher eventually secured a court injunction barring his brother from using his routines.

    The elder Gallagher became increasingly controversial in recent years, chastised for racist and homophobic remarks. Gallagher even cut short an interview in 2011 with Marc Maron after the WTF podcast host confronted him about his statements.

    “I’m the problem?!” Gallagher said at one point. “Do you think when I’m dead, gays will finally have an opportunity in America? Have I really been holding them down?”

    In 2003, Gallagher was among more than 100 candidates running in the recall election for California governor, won by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Over the past decade, Gallagher appeared in a Geico commercial and in the movie “The Book Of Daniel.”

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  • Today in History: November 9, East Germany opens its borders

    Today in History: November 9, East Germany opens its borders

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    Today in History

    Today is Wednesday, Nov. 9, the 313th day of 2022. There are 52 days left in the year.

    Today’s Highlight in History:

    On Nov. 9, 1989, communist East Germany threw open its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the West; joyous Germans danced atop the Berlin Wall.

    On this date:

    In 1620, the passengers and crew of the Mayflower sighted Cape Cod.

    In 1872, fire destroyed nearly 800 buildings in Boston.

    In 1918, it was announced that Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II would abdicate; he then fled to the Netherlands.

    In 1935, United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Committee for Industrial Organization (later renamed the Congress of Industrial Organizations).

    In 1938, Nazis looted and burned synagogues as well as Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria in a pogrom or deliberate persecution that became known as “Kristallnacht.”

    In 1965, the great Northeast blackout began as a series of power failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours, leaving 30 million people in seven states and part of Canada without electricity.

    In 1970, former French President Charles de Gaulle died at age 79.

    In 1976, the U.N. General Assembly approved resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa, including one characterizing the white-ruled government as “illegitimate.”

    In 2007, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf (pur-VEHZ’ moo-SHAH’-ruhv) of Pakistan placed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto (BEN’-uh-zeer BOO’-toh) under house arrest for a day, and rounded up thousands of her supporters to block a mass rally against his emergency rule.

    In 2011, after 46 seasons as Penn State’s head football coach and a record 409 victories, Joe Paterno was fired along with the university president, Graham Spanier, over their handling of child sex abuse allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

    In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton conceded the presidential election to Republican Donald Trump, telling supporters in New York that her defeat was “painful, and it will be for a long time.” But Clinton told her faithful to accept Trump and the election results, urging them to give him “an open mind and a chance to lead.”

    In 2020, President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, injecting more uncertainty to a rocky transition period as Joe Biden prepared to assume the presidency; Trump said Christopher Miller, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, would serve as acting secretary.

    Ten years ago: Retired four-star Army Gen. David Petraeus abruptly resigned as CIA director after an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, was revealed by an FBI investigation. Thousands of union bakers went on strike against Hostess Brands, Inc., to protest cuts to wages and benefits under a new contract offer. (Hostess responded by shutting down its operations and selling its assets to new owners who revived the Hostess brand.)

    Five years ago: During a visit to Beijing, President Donald Trump criticized what he called a “very one-sided and unfair” trade relationship between the U.S. and China, but said he didn’t blame China for having taken advantage of the U.S. Actor John Hillerman, best known for his supporting role on the TV series “Magnum, P.I.,” died at the age of 84 at his home in Houston.

    One year ago: A federal judge rejected former President Donald Trump’s request to block the release of documents to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned a $465 million opioid ruling against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service struck down a Trump-era rule that would have opened millions of acres of forest in Oregon, Washington and California to potential logging. Max Cleland, who lost three limbs to a hand grenade in Vietnam and later became a groundbreaking Veterans Administration chief and U.S. senator from, died at his Atlanta home at 79. Brian Williams, who anchored NBC’s “Nightly News” before losing that job in 2015 for making false claims about his wartime experiences, announced that he was leaving the network after 28 years.

    Today’s Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog is 91. Movie director Bille August is 74. Actor Robert David Hall is 74. Actor Lou Ferrigno is 71. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is 70. Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin is 63. Rock musician Dee Plakas (L7) is 62. Actor Ion Overman is 53. Rapper Pepa (Salt-N-Pepa) is 58. Rapper Scarface (Geto Boys) is 52. Blues singer Susan Tedeschi (teh-DEHS’-kee) is 52. Actor Jason Antoon is 51. Actor Eric Dane is 50. Singer Nick Lachey (98 Degrees) is 49. Country musician Barry Knox (Parmalee) is 45. R&B singer Sisqo (Dru Hill) is 44. Country singer Corey Smith is 43. Country singer Chris Lane is 38. Actor Emily Tyra is 35. Actor Nikki Blonsky is 34. Actor-model Analeigh (AH’-nuh-lee) Tipton is 34.

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  • Jeff Cook, co-founder of country band Alabama, dies at 73

    Jeff Cook, co-founder of country band Alabama, dies at 73

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    NEW YORK — Guitarist Jeff Cook, who co-founded the country group Alabama and steered them up the charts with such hits as “Song of the South” and “Dixieland Delight,” has died. He was 73.

    Cook had Parkinson’s disease and disclosed his diagnosis in 2017. He died Tuesday at his home in Destin, Florida, said Don Murry Grubbs, a representative for the band.

    Tributes poured in from country stars, including Travis Tritt who called Cook “a great guy and one heckuva bass fisherman,” and Jason Aldean, who tweeted: “ I got a chance to perform with him multiple times over the years and I will never forget it.” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, added: “Everything he did was rooted in his deep love of music, a love he shared with millions.”

    As a guitarist, fiddle player and vocalist, Cook — alongside cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry — landed eight No. 1 songs on the country charts between spring 1980 and summer 1982, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame. That run included the pop crossover hits “Love In The First Degree” and “Feels So Right,” as well as “Tennessee River” and “Mountain Music.”

    “Jeff Cook, and all of the guys in Alabama, were so generous with wisdom and fun when I got to tour with them as a young artist,” Kenny Chesney said in a statement. “They showed a kid in a T-shirt that country music could be rock, could be real, could be someone who looked like me. Growing up in East Tennessee, that gave me the heart to chase this dream.”

    The band had a three-year run as CMA Entertainer of the Year from 1982-1985 and earned five ACM Award Entertainer of the Year trophies from 1981-1985. He stopped touring with Alabama in 2018.

    Cook released a handful of solo projects and toured with his Allstar Goodtime Band. He also released collaborations with Charlie Daniels and “Star Trek” star William Shatner. He entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of Alabama.

    A song he co-wrote in 2015, “No Bad Days,” took on new meaning after his diagnosis. “After I got the Parkinson’s diagnosis, people would quote the song to me and say, ‘No bad days,’” Cook told The Tennessean in 2019. “They write me letters, notes and emails and they sign ‘No Bad Days.’ I know the support is there.”

    Survivors include his wife, Lisa.

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  • Oscar, Tony-nominated writer-director Douglas McGrath dies

    Oscar, Tony-nominated writer-director Douglas McGrath dies

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    Stage, TV and film writer-director Douglas McGrath, who earned a Tony nomination for “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” and an Oscar nod for the “Bullets Over Broadway” screenplay he co-wrote with Woody Allen, has died

    NEW YORK — Stage, TV and film writer-director Douglas McGrath, who earned a Tony nomination for “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” and an Oscar nod for the “Bullets Over Broadway” screenplay he co-wrote with Woody Allen, died Thursday. He was 64.

    The death was announced by the producers of McGrath’s solo off-Broadway show, “Everything’s Fine,” which opened last month. A show representative said the cause was a heart attack. McGrath had written and was starring in “Everything’s Fine,” and was directed by John Lithgow.

    “The company of ‘Everything’s Fine’ was honored to have presented his solo autobiographical show,” the producers said in a statement. “Everyone who worked with him over the last three months of production was struck by his grace, charm, and droll sense of humor, and sends deepest condolences to his family.”

    McGrath began his writing career on the staff of “Saturday Night Live” and went on to pen the plays “Checkers,” “The Age of Innocence” and the musical “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” which ran on Broadway from 2013-2019.

    “Doug was smart, funny, talented, kind, a great friend, and a wonderful storyteller who leaves a legacy of love and laughter,” King wrote in tribute on Instagram.

    McGrath was nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay of 1994’s “Bullets Over Broadway,” which he co-wrote with Allen. The screenplay was used as a basis for Allen’s 2014 Broadway stage adaptation.

    McGrath’s other films included “Emma” starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and “Nicholas Nickleby” starring Charlie Hunnam, both of which he wrote and directed. He also wrote and directed the 2006 Truman Capote biopic “Infamous,” starring Toby Jones.

    He earned two Emmy Awards nominations for directing two documentaries for HBO: “His Way,” about legendary music promoter and movie producer Jerry Weintraub, and “Becoming Mike Nichols.”

    He is survived by wife, Jane Read Martin, and son Henry McGrath.

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  • Insider Q&A: Kind Founder Lubetzky on entrepreneurship

    Insider Q&A: Kind Founder Lubetzky on entrepreneurship

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    To entrepreneur Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of Kind snacks, kindness means more than just being nice.

    “If somebody is nice, they’re not going to bully. But if they’re kind, they’re going to stand up to the bully,” he said. “Kindness requires the strength of action.”

    It’s a lesson Lubetzky learned from his father, a Latvian Jew who survived the Holocaust. Lubetzky’s father was deeply touched by small acts of kindness, like the German soldier who snuck him a potato or the care shown by the Japanese-American soldiers who liberated him.

    Lubetzky, who was born in Mexico and is fluent in Spanish, French, Hebrew and English, also has a passion for bridging cultures. One of his first ventures, PeaceWorks, sold products made jointly by Israelis and Palestinians; this year, he helped fund scholarships for Ukrainian students to study in the U.S.

    Lubetzky launched Kind in 2004, honoring his father with the name. The health-conscious brand helped transform the snack category; Lubetzky sold it to Mars in 2020 for an estimated $5 billion.

    Lubetzky has invested that into new food brands like Somos Foods, which aims to bring authentic Mexican products to U.S. groceries. He’s also launched charitable foundations and nonprofits like Starts with Us, which tries to overcome political and cultural division.

    Lubetzky discussed his career, and what motivates him, with The Associated Press. His comments have been edited for length.

    Q. How do you describe yourself?

    A. I think of myself as a serial social entrepreneur, meaning someone that loves noticing opportunities for how to create stuff in society that doesn’t already exist that will be both economically sustainable and socially impactful. I think that tends to be one common thread in a lot of the ventures that I do: ventures that use business as a force for having a social impact and doing it in a way that the products can defend themselves and win on the merits of that. First and foremost, this is a business. But there’s an added reason for being. It’s not just to make money. It’s also to try to have a positive impact in society, however small that may be.

    Q. What makes a successful entrepreneur? Is it a certain personality type?

    A. You have to have the creative vision to identify a problem that has not been solved and come up with a creative idea for how to solve it. That’s No. 1. And then the execution, wherewithal, guts and chutzpah to just go out and do it. And that’s a very hard combination. If you have the first but not the second, you can be an inventor. Inventors are great at coming up with ideas, but they don’t execute on them as well. If you have the second, to execute but not the creativity to invent, you could be a good business manager. If you have both, you can be an entrepreneur.

    Q. You tend to tackle really intractable issues, like the U.S. culture wars or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Why?

    A. The way we’re educated, we’re taught to process and to become factory line workers and to become professionals. But we’re not encouraged to dream about what’s possible and to recognize our power to do things that people thought were not possible. We’re not taught enough about Gandhi, about bring the change you want to see in the world. We’re not smart enough about all these approaches that are essential in society. What’s happening in our country today affects every single person, and it’s going to require every single one of us to be part of the solution.

    Q. You’ve worked with a lot of entrepreneurs through your incubator, Equilibra, and elsewhere. What is your advice to them?

    A. I do recommend they think about how they see the world from their vantage point, what’s missing, whether it’s a social element that they want to fix if they’re social entrepreneurs or whether there’s a business opportunity or product or service. What doesn’t satisfy them? What’s missing? What’s not being done well enough? And that’s only the beginning of the journey. If you identify what’s not working, then you need to look at the underlying reason why that’s not working. And then you need to target that and say, “Can I do it better?” It’s an incredible ride, but it’s a roller coaster ride. The highs are higher, the lows are lower, and you need to be comfortable with that. You need to have a temperament where you’re not going to easily give up.

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  • Singer-rapper Aaron Carter dies in California at age 34

    Singer-rapper Aaron Carter dies in California at age 34

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    LOS ANGELES — Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead Saturday at his home in Southern California. He was 34.

    Representatives for Carter’s family confirmed the singer’s death. His fiance, Melanie Martin, asked for privacy as the family grieves.

    “We are still in the process of accepting this unfortunate reality,” Martin said in a statement Saturday. “Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.”

    Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brother’s boy band, and recorded several hits including “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)” and “I Want Candy.”

    Deputies responded around 11 a.m. following reports of a medical emergency at the home in Lancaster, a desert city about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of downtown Los Angeles, said Deputy Alejandra Parra with the LA County Sheriff’s Department.

    Parra said the deputies found a deceased person at the residence, but she could not immediately confirm it was Carter. Authorities later said a house sitter found a man in the bathtub in the home and resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

    Carter opened for the Backstreet Boys tour in 1997 — the same year his gold-selling debut self-titled album released. He reached triple-platinum status with his sophomore album, 2000’s “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It),” which produced hit singles including the title song and “I Want Candy.” His videos received regular airplay on Disney and Nickelodeon.

    The singer earned acting credits through his appearance on television shows including “Lizzie McGuire.” He starred alongside his brother, Nick, and their siblings B.J., Leslie and Angel Carter on the E! unscripted series “House of Carters” in 2006.

    Carter made his Broadway debut in 2001 as JoJo in the musical “Seussical.” In 2009, he appeared on the ABC competition show “Dancing with the Stars,” finishing in fifth place with partner Karina Smirnoff. He was featured on the Food Network cooking show “Rachel vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off” in 2012.

    In 2017, Carter opened up about his substance abuse on an episode of “The Doctors.” He was in rehab that same year after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and marijuana charges. He checked himself in for treatment on a few occasions in an effort to regain custody of his son Prince.

    Carter’s fifth and final studio album, “LOVE,” was released in 2018.

    ———

    Rancilio reported from Detroit. Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.

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  • Family, fans bid adieu to music icon Jerry Lee Lewis

    Family, fans bid adieu to music icon Jerry Lee Lewis

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    FERRIDAY, La. (AP) — Family, friends and fans gathered Saturday to bid farewell to rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis at memorial services held in his north Louisiana home town.

    Lewis, known for hits such as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” died Oct. 28 at his Mississippi home, south of Memphis, Tennessee. He was 87.

    TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, Lewis’ cousin, told the more than 100 people inside Young’s Funeral Home in Ferriday, the town where Lewis was born, that when Lewis died he “lost the brother I never had.”

    “We learned to play piano together,” Swaggart recalled. “I had to make myself realize that he was no longer here.”

    Swaggart and Lewis released “The Boys From Ferriday,” a gospel album, earlier this year and Swaggart said he wasn’t sure if Lewis was going to be able to get through the recording session.

    “He was very weak,” Swaggart said. “I remember saying, ‘Lord, I don’t know if he can do it or not.’ But when Jerry Lee sat at that piano, you know he was limited to what he could play because of the stroke, but when the engineer said the red light is on and when he opened his mouth, he said, ‘Jesus, hold my hand, I need thee every hour. Hear my feeble plea, oh Lord, look down on me.’”

    The session resulted in the album, and two of its songs played during the service: “In the Garden” and “The Old Rugged Cross.” Audience members were seen wiping tears from their eyes and singing along with Lewis as the recordings played.

    “He was one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived,” Swaggart said.

    Lewis, who called himself “The Killer,” was the last survivor of a generation of artists that rewrote music history, a group that included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

    Lewis’ body was at the front of the funeral home’s main parlor, inside a closed, red casket with a spray of red roses on top. Several funeral wreaths, including one in the form of a musical note, dotted the walls behind and around the casket as did photos of the singer, one of which showed him in a red suit hunched over and singing into a microphone.

    Swaggart’s son, Donnie Swaggart, recalled a meeting in Memphis between Lewis and members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a country rock band, that highlighted Lewis’ humorous side.

    He said his father and Lewis were walking toward an arena’s exit as the band members were coming in. “As they neared Lewis, one asked, ‘Is that who I think it is? Is that Jerry Lee Lewis?’ As Jerry Lee passed, one of the men asked, ‘Are you Jerry Lee Lewis?’ Jerry Lee stopped and looked each of them up and down and said, ‘Boys, Killer’s my name and music’s my thing.’ And then he walked out.”

    Donnie Swaggart said the guys stood there, with their jaws dropped in amazement. “What a sense of humor he had,” he said as the audience laughed.

    After his personal life blew up in the late 1950s following news of his marriage to his cousin, 13-year-old — possibly even 12-year-old — Myra Gale Brown, while still married to his previous wife, the piano player and rock rebel was blacklisted from radio and his earnings dropped to virtually nothing. Over the following decades, Lewis struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, legal disputes and physical illness.

    “He always had a heart for God, even at his lowest times,” Jimmy Swaggart said. “I will miss him very much but we know where he is now and thank God for that.”

    Xavier Ellis, 28, a Ferriday native now teaching in Opelousas, Louisiana, said Lewis’ life is an inspiration.

    “He was a poor kid from Ferriday who made it to the heights he made it to. I’m very impressed with his life story. I’m saddened by him leaving, but his legacy will live on,” Ellis said.

    In the 1960s, Lewis reinvented himself as a country performer and the music industry eventually forgave him. He had a run of top 10 country hits from 1967 to 1970, including “She Still Comes Around” and “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me).”

    In 1986, along with Elvis, Berry and others, Lewis was in the inaugural class of inductees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and joined the Country Hall of Fame this year. His life and music were reintroduced to younger fans in the 1989 biopic “Great Balls of Fire,” starring Dennis Quaid, and Ethan Coen’s 2022 documentary “Trouble in Mind.”

    A 2010 Broadway musical, “Million Dollar Quartet,” was inspired by a recording session that featured Lewis, Elvis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.

    Lewis won a Grammy in 1987 as part of an interview album that was cited for best spoken word recording, and he received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2005.

    The following year, “Whole Lotta Shakin’” was selected for the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, whose board praised the “propulsive boogie piano that was perfectly complemented by the drive of J.M. Van Eaton’s energetic drumming. The listeners to the recording, like Lewis himself, had a hard time remaining seated during the performance.”

    Tom Tomschin and his wife, Sandra, of Cicero, Illinois, traveled to Ferriday to give homage to Lewis for all he’s done for the music industry.

    “We felt the need to pay our respect to the pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll who had a major part in the creation of and shaping of the genre,” Tomschin said. “I’ve been a fan my entire life.”

    Tomschin, 45, a government administrator, said “Crazy Arms” and “You Win Again” are two of his favorite songs by Lewis, who he described as one of a kind.

    “He never lived a life behind a curtain,” Tomschin said of Lewis. “In his ups and downs, the good and bad, he did what he was going to do. Jerry Lee Lewis laid it all out on the table. There’s never going to be another person like Jerry Lee Lewis.”

    Sandra Tomschin, 44, a library director, said she grew up on Lewis’ music and it’s left an indelible print on her life.

    “We love it,” she said of his music. “We’ve been to several of his concerts and even though he’s gone, he will still live on in our hearts.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Chevel Johnson contributed to this report from New Orleans; Associated Press writer Hillel Italie contributed from New York.

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  • Singer-rapper Aaron Carter dies in California at age 34

    Singer-rapper Aaron Carter dies in California at age 34

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead Saturday at his home in Southern California. He was 34.

    Representatives for Carter’s family confirmed the singer’s death. His fiance, Melanie Martin, asked for privacy as the family grieves.

    “We are still in the process of accepting this unfortunate reality,” Martin said in a statement Saturday. “Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.”

    Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brother’s boy band, and recorded several hits including “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)” and “I Want Candy.”

    Deputies responded around 11 a.m. following reports of a medical emergency at the home in Lancaster, a desert city about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of downtown Los Angeles, said Deputy Alejandra Parra with the LA County Sheriff’s Department.

    Parra said the deputies found a deceased person at the residence, but she could not immediately confirm it was Carter. Authorities later said a house sitter found a man in the bathtub in the home and resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

    Carter opened for the Backstreet Boys tour in 1997 — the same year his gold-selling debut self-titled album released. He reached triple-platinum status with his sophomore album, 2000′s “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It),” which produced hit singles including the title song and “I Want Candy.” His videos received regular airplay on Disney and Nickelodeon.

    The singer earned acting credits through his appearance on television shows including “Lizzie McGuire.” He starred alongside his brother, Nick, and their siblings B.J., Leslie and Angel Carter on the E! unscripted series “House of Carters” in 2006.

    Carter made his Broadway debut in 2001 as JoJo in the musical “Seussical.” In 2009, he appeared on the ABC competition show “Dancing with the Stars,” finishing in fifth place with partner Karina Smirnoff. He was featured on the Food Network cooking show “Rachel vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off” in 2012.

    In 2017, Carter opened up about his substance abuse on an episode of “The Doctors.” He was in rehab that same year after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and marijuana charges. He checked himself in for treatment on a few occasions in an effort to regain custody of his son Prince.

    Carter’s fifth and final studio album, “LOVE,” was released in 2018.

    ___

    Rancilio reported from Detroit. Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.

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  • Nick Carter remembers his ‘baby brother’ Aaron Carter

    Nick Carter remembers his ‘baby brother’ Aaron Carter

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The day after 34-year-old singer Aaron Carter was found dead at his home in Southern California, Nick Carter, the Backstreet Boys member, remembered his younger brother, saying that despite “a complicated relationship,” his love for him “never ever faded.”

    In a posting Sunday on Instagram with photos of the two through the years, Nick Carter said his heart was broken after the death of the youngest of five Carter siblings, whom he called his “baby brother.”

    “My heart has been broken today,” wrote Carter. “Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded. I have always held onto the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed.”

    Deputies responded around 11 a.m. Saturday following reports of a medical emergency at Carter’s home in Lancaster, California. Authorities said a house sitter found a man in the bathtub in the home and resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

    Carter had struggled with substance abuse and mental health. In 2017, he attended rehab and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and marijuana charges. In 2019, Carter said on an episode of the talk show “The Doctors” that he was taking medication for acute anxiety, manic depression and multiple personality disorder. That same year, Nick and Angel, Aaron’s twin sister, said they filed a restraining order against Aaron.

    In September, Carter said he went into rehab for the fifth time in the hopes of regaining custody of his young son, Prince, with his fiancé Melanie Martin. At the time, Prince was under the court-ordered care of Martin’s mother.

    “Sometimes we want to blame someone or something for a loss. But the truth is that addiction and mental illness is the real villain here,” Nick Carter wrote in the post. “I will miss my brother more than anyone will ever know. I love you Chizz, now you get a chance to finally have some peace you could never find here on earth. God, Please take care of my baby brother.”

    In 2012, their sister, Leslie Carter, died after falling in the shower in 2012 at the age of 25. Authorities said she had suffered an overdose from prescription medication. Carter once said he felt his family partly blamed him for her death.

    Carter, a singer, rapper and actor, opened for the Backstreet Boys tour in 1997, the same year his gold-selling debut self-titled album was released. He reached triple-platinum status with his sophomore album, 2000′s “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It),” which produced hit singles including the title song and “I Want Candy.”

    Carter’s acting credits included the television show “Lizzie McGuire” and an appearance on “Dancing With the Stars.” He starred alongside his brother, Nick, and their siblings B.J., Leslie and Angel Carter on the E! unscripted series “House of Carters” in 2006.

    Hilary Duff, who starred in “Lizzie McGuire,” recalled Carter as having an “effervescent” charm, and said her “teenage self” loved him deeply. “I’m deeply sorry that life was so hard for you and that you had to struggle in-front of the whole world,” she wrote on Instagram.

    Angel Carter, his twin sister, also responded on social media. “My funny, sweet Aaron, I have so many memories of you and I, and I promise to cherish them,” she wrote on Instagram. “I know you’re at peace now. I will carry you with me until the day I die and get to see you again.”

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  • JGR co-owner Coy Gibbs, 49, dies hours after son wins title

    JGR co-owner Coy Gibbs, 49, dies hours after son wins title

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    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Coy Gibbs, the vice chairman of Joe Gibbs Racing for his NFL and NASCAR Hall of Fame father, died Sunday morning just hours after his son won the Xfinity Series championship. He was 49.

    “It is with great sorrow that Joe Gibbs Racing confirms that Coy Gibbs (co-owner) went to be with the Lord in his sleep last night. The family appreciates all the thoughts and prayers and asks for privacy at this time,” the team said in a statement released shortly before the start of the NASCAR season finale.

    Joe Gibbs has lost both of his sons. J.D. Gibbs died in 2019 of degenerative neurological disease, and was also 49 at the time of his death. Coy Gibbs succeeded his older brother as vice chairman of the family-run NASCAR organization.

    “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Coy Gibbs. On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I extend my deepest condolences to Joe, Pat, Heather, the Gibbs family and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on the loss of Coy, a true friend and racer,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France.

    NASCAR held a moment of silence for Coy Gibbs before the start of the Cup championship Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, where JGR’s Christopher Bell was racing for the title. Kyle Busch, in his final race after 15 years with the team, was crying on pit road before the start of the race.

    “Today we will do what we don’t want to do, but we will unite as a family and race for the name on our chest,” JGR driver Denny Hamlin tweeted.

    Ty Gibbs had been scheduled to drive the No. 23 for 23XI Racing but was replaced by Daniel Hemric for what 23XI called “a family emergency.” Jackson Gibbs, son of the late J.D. Gibbs, was on Bell’s pit crew Sunday and worked the race.

    Coy Gibbs had just closed a tumultuous week with his 20-year-old son, who won the Xfinity title on Saturday and is soon expected to be named Kyle Busch’s replacement at JGR.

    But Ty Gibbs has been criticized this year for aggressive driving and last week wrecked teammate Brandon Jones out of the lead at Martinsville Speedway on the final lap. Jones needed to win the race to make the Xfinity championship and JGR and Toyota would have had two cars in the finale had Gibbs just stayed in second.

    “Racing is a family and the relationships within the entire garage go so much deeper than on-track competition. Today, we lost a dear part of our family. The loss of Coy Gibbs is devastating to everyone at Toyota and TRD,” said David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development.

    On Saturday, shortly before Ty Gibbs won his title, Hamlin said it had been a difficult week at JGR. He had tweeted after Ty Gibbs crashed Jones “I miss J.D.” and explained he was referring to the atmosphere at JGR established by J.D. Gibbs, which he called a “tight family unit.”

    “We really have to treat (teammates) like they’re our brother and our family, and I think at times at JGR, we probably work with each other the least amount of any other team, and that’s just the facts,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s anyone’s fault currently, but J.D. was just different because he really wrapped his arms around everyone. I told Coy, ‘J.D. was my dad.’ He was really my dad as soon as I came into the series, so when you lose that, it changes the culture a little bit, and we just have to get it back.”

    Joe Gibbs and Coy Gibbs spent the days after Martinsville defending their young driver, who was resoundingly booed at both Martinsville and Phoenix after his back-to-back victories. Ty Gibbs made his own humbling apology tour before holding off Noah Gragson for the championship.

    “Prayers to the Gibbs family,” tweeted Gragson, who had open animosity toward Ty Gibbs most of the Xfinity season before congratulating him following Saturday’s title.

    Coy Gibbs played linebacker at Stanford from 1991-94 and served as an offensive quality control assistant during his father’s second stint as the Washington NFL coach. Gibbs had a short racing career, including two years in the then-NASCAR Busch Series and three in NASCAR’s Trucks Series before helping his father launch Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross in 2007.

    Coy Gibbs was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and lived in Cornelius, North Carolina, with his wife Heather and four children.

    ———

    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Singer-rapper Aaron Carter dies in California at age 34

    Singer-rapper Aaron Carter dies in California at age 34

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    Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead at his home in Southern California

    LANCASTER, Calif. — Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead Saturday at his home in Southern California. He was 34.

    Representatives for Carter’s family confirmed the singer’s death. They did not provide any immediate further comment.

    Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brother’s boy band, and appeared on the family’s reality series “House of Carters” that aired on E! Entertainment Television.

    Deputies responded around 11 a.m. following reports of a medical emergency at the home in Lancaster, said Deputy Alejandra Parra with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

    Parra said the deputies found a deceased person at the residence, but she could not immediately confirm it was Carter.

    Carter’s fiancé, Melanie Martin, asked for privacy as the family grieves.

    “We are still in the process of accepting this unfortunate reality,” Martin said in a statement Saturday. “Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.”

    Carter’s 2000 album, “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It),” sold three million copies and produced hit singles including the title song and “I Want Candy. His videos received regular airplay on Disney and Nickelodeon.

    In 2009, Carter appeared on the ABC competition show “Dancing with the Stars,” finishing in fifth place with partner Karina Smirnoff.

    Carter’s fifth and final studio album, “LOVE,” was released in 2018.

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