Obituaries

• Lauren Webster, University of Virginia student and volunteer paramedic, dies at 25
  

  Lauren Webster joined the Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad at 18, and even after entering the University of Virginia, she returned every Friday to pull a 12-hour night shift as a paramedic with the group.

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• Chuck Brown dies: The ‘Godfather of Go-Go’ was 75
  

  Chuck Brown, the gravelly voiced bandleader who capitalized on funk’s percussive pulse to create go-go, the genre of music that has soundtracked life in black Washington for more than three decades, died May 16 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He was 75.

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• Peter David, Washington bureau chief of the Economist, dies
  

  In his prescient survey of the Arab world in 2009, journalist Peter David catalogued a “fever under the surface” that could spark into revolution at any moment.

  Erudite, supple and understated, his analysis was the reverse of hysterical pontificating, even as it noted combustible elements: “energy-hungry powers” such as the United States, China and India buzzing about the oil-rich Middle East and the political and social discontent seething under repressive Arab governments.

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• Obits: Stacy Robinson, Gunnar Soensteby; Carl Beane
  

  Stacy Robinson, a wide receiver who was on two Super Bowl-winning teams with the New York Giants before working with the players union, died after a battle with cancer. He was 50. Giants co-owner John Mara announced the death May 8, but the Giants did not release the date, cause or place of death.

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• Robert J. Hoage, spokesman for National Zoo, dies at 66
  

  Robert J. Hoage, 66, the former chief spokesman of the National Zoo, who announced to the public such events as the births of giant pandas, elephants and giraffes and the deaths of lions, orangutans and gorillas, died April 7 at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville.

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• Horst Faas, prizewinning war photographer, dies at 79
  

  Horst Faas, a German-born combat photographer whose calm under fire helped him capture searing portraits of life and death in Vietnam and other war zones in Asia, earning him two Pulitzer Prizes, died May 10 at a hospital in Munich. He was 79.

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• Mort Lindsey dies at 89; bandleader helped revitalize Judy Garland’s career
  

  Mort Lindsey, a conductor and bandleader who helped revitalize the sputtering career of singer Judy Garland through a series of popular concerts and later served as the musical director for “The Merv Griffin Show,” died May 4 at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 89.

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• Daniel Rapoport, journalist, author and publisher, dies at 79
  

  Daniel Rapoport, a Washington journalist, author and publisher who in 1983 founded Farragut Publishing to produce non-blockbuster and out-of-the-ordinary books ranging from pasta salad and cold soup cookbooks to a history of U.S. presidents’ connections with baseball, died April 11 at his home in East Chatham, N.Y. He was 79.

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• Margie Stewart, U.S. military’s official pinup in World War II, dies at 92
  

  Margie Stewart, the mahogany-haired ingenue who graced millions of morale-boosting posters during World War II as the U.S. military’s official pinup, died of pneumonia April 26 at a hospital in Burbank, Calif. She was 92.

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• Jayne Rager, whose husband was kidnapped in Mexico, dies at 45
  

  Jayne Rager, whose seven-month ordeal negotiating with Mexican thugs for the freedom of her kidnapped husband attracted national attention, died May 3 at her home in Potomac. She was 45.

  She had complications from breast cancer, said her mother, Jane Rager.

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• George Lindsey, Mayberry’s ‘Goober Pyle,’ dies at 83
  

  George Lindsey, who spent nearly 30 years as the grinning Goober on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Hee Haw,” died May 6 in Nashville. He was 83.

  No cause of death was reported.

  Mr. Lindsey was the beanie-wearing Goober on “The Andy Griffith Show” from 1964 to 1968 and its successor, “Mayberry RFD,” from 1968 to 1971. He played the same jovial character — a service station attendant — and other roles on “Hee Haw” from 1971 until it went out of production in 1992.

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• Robin Gibb: Bee Gees singer and songwriter whose work fuelled the disco revolution
  

  Second only to the Beatles in the annals of popular music, the Bee Gees have sold over 200 million records and scored No 1s as performers and writers across five decades, a feat that is likely to remain unmatched in the digital age. The family group made a masterful transition from Sixties pop balladeers to standard bearers of the Seventies disco phenomenon and soundtracked the lives of several generations of club-goers and radio listeners.

  
  
  
  
  
• Khalil Dale: Aid worker who spent his career in the world's trouble spots
  

  Khalil Dale was an English aid worker who for decades devoted himself to humanitarian work in some of the world's most dangerous trouble spots before meeting a brutal death in a Pakistan border town. He was abducted by armed men in January; his body was found on 29 April. His killers coldly explained that they had killed him because their demands for a ransom had not been met.

  
  
  
  
  
• Abdelbaset al-Megrahi: The only man convicted of involvement in the Lockerbie bombing
  

  Acres of newsprint have appeared in recent years, covering various rather separate theories about the release of the so-called Lockerbie bomber.

  
  
  
  
  
• Gunther Kaufmann: Actor who was a favourite of Fassbinder
  

  The German-American actor Günther Kaufmann was brought to the screen by the director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

  
  
  
  
  
• Donna Summer: Singer who led the disco revolution of the Seventies
  

  In the mid-1970s, when disco ruled the airwaves, the biggest acts were the Bee Gees and Donna Summer. As well as being controversial, the combination of Summer's lubricious voice and Giorgio Moroder's infectious rhythms were appreciated by dancers and non-dancers alike and although most '70s disco records now sound dated, her best work has retained its popularity.

  
  
  
  
  
• Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Baritone hailed as the greatest lieder singer of the 20th century
  

  Nobody who was present at Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's British debut will ever forget it. Thomas Beecham, who had a good nose for talent, had sniffed out a young German baritone who was making a name for himself. In England entirely unknown, he appeared on the posters as FISCHER DIESKOW. But he was a superb choice for Delius's A Mass of Life -– in looks somewhere between Tarzan and a Nietzchean übermensch; in voice, ideally sensuous and (as he later confirmed) entirely at home with Delius's idiom. The performance, on 7 June 1951, was a knock-out and next day at the Ritz, Beecham offered his discovery the role of Hans Sachs at Covent Garden. Fischer-Dieskau courteously, and wisely, declined, pointing out that at 27 such an assumption might be premature.

  
  
  
  
  
• Lives remembered: Gordon Axford
  

  My father, Gordon Frederick Axford, who died on 11 April 2012 in Lancaster Royal Infirmary after a stroke, was a quiet but very sociable man whose actions spoke eloquently of his worth. He was 84 years old, having been born in Dukinfield, Cheshire on 23 May 1927, the younger twin to his sister, Jean.

  
  
  
  
  
• Joyce Redman: Actress best known as the lusty servant in 'Tom Jones'
  

  Joyce Redman was a talented and versatile actress who was equally at ease on stage, in films or on the small screen, during a career that lasted more than 60 years. She will probably be best remembered for her role in Tom Jones (1963), Tony Richardson's adaptation of the novel by Henry Fielding. Here she played the servant Mrs Waters, opposite Albert Finney in the title role. In a deliciously sensual three-minute scene of amour gourmand, the pair sit facing one another at a tavern table and devour their way through a foreplay of soup, lobster, chicken, oysters and fruit before scuttling off to bed.

  
  
  
  
  
• Daniel Salem: Publisher who expanded Condé Nast's operations round the world
  

  Daniel Salem was the man who priced the sale of Condé Nast, publishers of Vogue, to the Newhouse family in 1958-59 and, as head of its international operations, helped it expand in Europe and elsewhere in the decades following. The story goes that Sam Newhouse asked his wife, Mitzi, what she wanted as he was going out shopping and she replied, "I've got everything but if you could get me British Vogue when you're out, dear." He returned not with a copy but the company. Apocryphal or not – and it is in the nature of legend become fact – it does give a flavour of a family company that expanded by instinct, combining arigorous attention to financial detail and returns with a broad-minded appreciation of quality and freedom of its editorial. If the eccentric behaviour of its editors has become famous, so has been the tightness with which the family has kept control to itself and to a few close advisers.

  
  
  
  
  
• Professor Carlos Fuentes: Author whose work fuelled the rise of South American writing
  

  It is an abiding mystery why the Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes was never awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. A major 20th century literary figure, he launched "el boom" in Latin American fiction with his first novel, Where The Air is Clear (1958), while his magnum opus, Terra Nostra (1975), is one of the great novels of the 20th century. Some critics rate The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962) and his later novel The Years of Laura Diaz (1999) as Terra Nostra's equal.

  
  
  
  
  
• Canon Eric James: Influential clergyman and theologian
  

  Eric James was one of the most influential Church of England clergy of his generation. Possessing a strong understanding of the inter-connectedness which lies at the heart of Anglican spirituality combined with a prodigious gift for friendship and a phenomenal memory, James made an outstanding contribution to the life of the church in the world.

  
  
  
  
  
• Digby Wolfe: Writer and actor best known for 'Laugh-In'
  

  Although the humour in the 1960s TV series Rowan And Martin's Laugh-In seemed particularly American, much of its content depended on the British actor and scriptwriter, Digby Wolfe, who had also named the show. That was his defining moment, as Wolfe was a journeyman in the broadcasting arts, being able to turn his hand to most things, but usually with limited success.

  
  
  
  
  

NYT > Obituaries

• Carlos Fuentes, Mexican Novelist, Dies at 83
  Mr. Fuentes was Mexico’s elegant public intellectual and grand man of letters whose panoramic novels captured the complicated essence of his country’s history.
  
  
  
• Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, Dies at 63
  Ms. Summer was a five-time Grammy winner who became a superstar in the 1970s with hits like “Last Dance.”
  
  
  
• Walter Wink, Theologian Who Challenged Orthodoxy, Dies at 76
  A liberal scholar, Dr. Wink’s views on homosexuality, nonviolence and the nature of Jesus caused many theologians to bridle.
  
  
  
• Archie Peck, Competitive Croquet Star, Dies at 76
  A six-time national champion, commonly called Silky Legs, Mr. Peck was known for his rugged good looks, effortless athleticism and aggressive style of play.
  
  
  
• Frederick J. Brown, Painter of Musicians, Dies at 67
  Mr. Brown explored the relationship between music and painting in portraits of hundreds of jazz and blues artists.
  
  
  
• Bob Boozer, Former N.B.A. and Olympic Player, Dies at 75
  A member of the gold-medal-winning United States basketball team and a two-time all-American at Kansas State, Boozer went on to play 11 seasons in the N.B.A.
  
  
  
• Michael Rosenbaum, CBS Producer, Dies at 64
  The former Tel Aviv bureau chief for CBS News produced shows for “60 Minutes,” including the first television interview with the family of the Unabomber, Theodore J. Kaczynski.
  
  
  
• Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, Lockerbie Bomber, Dies at 60
  Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was the only person convicted in the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.
  
  
  
• Ed Ray, Bus Driver Who Helped Save Kidnapped Children, Dies at 91
  Mr. Ray was hailed as a hero in 1976 for leading 26 children to safety after they were all kidnapped and buried below ground in a truck trailer.
  
  
  
• Robin Gibb, Member of the Bee Gees, Dies at 62
  Mr. Gibb was the second member of this brother act, whose sound helped define the disco era, to die.
  
  
  
• Barbara D’Arcy White, Interior Design Guru, Dies at 84
  Ms. D’Arcy was an interior decorator whose eclectic sense of style helped change Americans’ taste in home furnishings in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, when she worked at Bloomingdale’s.
  
  
  
• Louis Pollak, Judge and Civil Rights Advocate, Dies at 89
  Judge Pollak, who was recruited to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, worked on Brown v. Board of Education and later argued successfully on behalf of convicted Freedom Riders before the Supreme Court.