AP News
(2009-01-13 23:47:09)
Pedro "Cuban Pete" Aguilar
MIAMI (AP) — Pedro "Cuban Pete" Aguilar, one of the leading mambo dancers of the 1950s, has died. He was 81.
Aguilar died Tuesday at the Sinai Plaza Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Miami, said Barbara Craddock, his longtime dance partner. Craddock described his cause of death as heart failure but said it could be related to his diabetes.
Aguilar was born in Puerto Rico in 1927 and grew up in New York City, where he picked up the nickname "Cuban Pete" in 1949 at the Palladium Ballroom. The nickname referenced a Desi Arnaz song, and Arnaz himself later endorsed Aguilar's use of it.
Aguilar won many prizes for Latin dancing between 1950 and 1956 with his partner Millie Donay. He continued to dance professionally for nearly his entire life. Craddock said Aguilar came out of retirement and began dancing with her in 1998.
He performed for presidents and foreign leaders and was hailed as one of the greatest mambo dancers by LIFE Magazine and mambo percussionist Tito Puente, according to his Web site.
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Clyde Charles
HOUMA, La. (AP) — Clyde Charles, the first inmate to use a federal civil rights law to sue for DNA testing that not only cleared him of a Louisiana rape conviction but also sent his brother to prison for the same crime, has died. He was 55.
Charles died Jan. 7 of natural causes at his home on Shrimper's Row, relatives told The Courier newspaper in Houma. They said his health problems included diabetes that required dialysis.
Charles was the first inmate to sue under the federal Civil Rights Act to get his DNA compared to DNA samples held as evidence, said Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, a legal center specializing in wrongful-conviction cases.
After Charles was sentenced to life in prison for the 1981 rape of a nurse who identified him as her attacker, he pleaded with authorities to conduct DNA testing against evidence collected in the case. Although investigators had semen samples from the victim as evidence, the technology to compare DNA samples didn't exist during Charles' trial.
Terrebonne Parish authorities agreed to have Charles' DNA tested after Scheck, a former O.J. Simpson defense attorney, filed the civil rights lawsuit in 1999. When the DNA samples didn't match, Charles was soon exonerated and released from prison just before Christmas that year.
The investigation then focused on his brother, Marlo, who was convicted of the nurse's rape in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.
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Albino Friaca Cardoso
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — Albino Friaca Cardoso, a soccer player who scored the lone goal for Brazil in its 2-1 loss to Uruguay in the final game of the 1950 World Cup, has died. He was 84.
Friaca died Monday of multiple organ failure after being hospitalized with pneumonia for six weeks in Itaperuna, Brazil's soccer federation said on its Web site.
The all-South American final in 1950 was played at newly built Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro before a crowd of just under 200,000. Brazil was a big favorite and Friaca opened the scoring in the 47th minute, but Uruguay jolted Brazil by coming back with goals in the 66th and 79th minutes.
Known for his speed and ability to play any attacking position, Friaca began his career in 1943 with the Rio club Vasco. Six years later he switched to Sao Paulo, then moved on to Ponte Preta. He ended his career in 1958.
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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Preston Gomez, who managed the expansion San Diego Padres and later guided the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs during a six-decade career in baseball, has died. He was 85.
Gomez died Tuesday in Fullerton, according to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, where he had worked for more than 25 years. Angels spokesman Tim Mead said the team did not know the exact cause of death but that Gomez had been in a coma.
He was on his way back from the team's spring training camp in Tempe, Ariz., when he was hit by a pickup truck last March. He never fully recovered from his head injuries.
At age 21, Gomez played in eight games for the Washington Senators, going 2-for-7 with a double and two RBIs.
He spent a decade after that playing in the minor leagues, then spent another decade as a minor league manager, working in the systems of the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Gomez took over the expansion Padres in 1969 and later managed the Astros and Cubs.
He managed seven years in the majors, going 346-529 in a span from 1969 to 1980. He never had a winning season, coming the closest at 81-81 in 1974 in the first of his two seasons with the Astros.
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Stanley M. Heng
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Retired Lt. Gen. Stanley M. Heng, a former commander of the Nebraska National Guard, has died. He was 71.
Heng died Monday at a hospice in Lincoln following a lengthy illness, according to a news release from Nebraska National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Bob Vrana.
Heng enlisted in the Army in January 1956, and began his career with the Nebraska National Guard in June 1960. He was selected as adjutant general in 1987 by then-Gov. Kay Orr and retired in December 2000.
Besides leading the Nebraska Army and Air National Guard, Heng also served as the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency director.
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Bill Holden
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Bill Holden, a journalist and retired University of North Dakota professor, has died. He was 72.
The Grand Forks Herald, where Holden worked as night editor from May 1997 to August 2002, said Holden died Monday in the Valley Elder Care center. The newspaper did not give a cause of death.
During his long career in journalism, Holden was managing editor of the International Herald Tribune in Paris and an editor for the European edition of The New York Times in Paris. He also worked for the Minneapolis Tribune, the Chicago Tribune and the Des Moines Register.
He came to Grand Forks in 1984 to teach journalism at UND and left the school in 1995.
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Stanley Moravitz
FOX CHAPEL, Pa. (AP) — Stanley Moravitz, who helped found the Giant Eagle supermarket chain, has died. He was 86.
Moravitz died Sunday of cancer at his home in Fox Chapel, his family said. He still had an office at Giant Eagle's corporate headquarters in nearby O'Hara Township.
Moravitz's father began the OK Grocery in Turtle Creek that merged with Eagle Grocery and grew into western Pennsylvania's largest supermarket chain. Giant Eagle has more than 220 supermarkets and more than 130 fuel and convenience stores in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland.
Moravitz worked in the chain's meat department before becoming vice president, treasurer and board member.
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Arne Naess
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Arne Naess, a Norwegian philosopher, writer and mountaineer best known for launching the concept of "deep ecology," has died. He was 96.
Naess died Monday in his sleep, said his publisher, Erling Kagge.
Naess is credited with creating the deep ecology concept, promoting the idea that Earth as a planet has as much right as its inhabitants, such as humans, to survive and flourish. He cited the 1962 book "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson as a key inspiration.
Truls Gulowsen, leader of Greenpeace's Norwegian division, said Naess was the first chairman of Greenpeace Norway when it was founded in 1988.
Naess earned a doctorate from the University of Oslo and, at age 27, became its youngest professor. He wrote numerous books and articles, including what the University of Oslo called his key work, "Interpretation and Preciseness."
Naess was also a driven mountaineer and led the first expedition to conquer the 25,289-foot mountain Tirich Mir in Pakistan in 1954. He led a second Norwegian expedition up the mountain in 1964.
After stepping down from his university post in 1970, Naess became active in protecting the environment, writing extensively on the subject and joining protests.
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James T. Newman
NEW YORK (AP) — James T. Newman, a Vietnam War helicopter pilot whose rescues of downed airmen earned him the Distinguished Service Cross and other honors, has died. He was 73.
Newman died Sunday at the University of North Carolina medical center in Chapel Hill of complications associated with lung cancer, said his son, Jay.
Newman was twice nominated for the Medal of Honor, the highest military award for valor. While he did not receive that medal, he did get a Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest award for combat valor, the Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and 23 Air Medals, among others.
He first served in Vietnam in 1966, suffering a leg wound that nearly led to an amputation. Regaining flight status, he returned in 1970 as commander of C Troop, 2/17 Air Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division.
In 2000, Newman was inducted into the 101st Airborne Division's Hall of Fame at Fort Campbell, Ky.
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Mansour Rahbani
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Mansour Rahbani, a prominent Arab composer and lyricist who together with his late brother wrote music and plays for one of Lebanon's top divas, has died. He was 83.
Rahbani died Tuesday, two weeks ago after being admitted to the hospital with severe flu, Lebanon's state-run news agency said.
The Rahbani Brothers, as Mansour Rahbani and his late brother Assi were known, started out by helping arrange a local church choir in their hometown of Antelias. Then Assi Rahbani got a job at Beirut Radio, where the brothers composed their first song.
In 1955, Assi married singer Nuhad Haddad, who later became famous by the name Fairouz and performed with the brothers.
The Rahbani Brothers and Fairouz went on to become Lebanon's most famous trio, performing in Lebanon and around the world.
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Eric Scoggins
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Eric Scoggins, an outside linebacker who helped the University of Southern California beat Alabama in their big 1978 matchup, has died. He was 49.
Scoggins died Friday in Tracy, Calif., of Lou Gehrig's disease, the school said.
Scoggins was a four-year letterman at USC. He recorded 164 career tackles, including 11 as a sophomore in the 24-14 win at Alabama. That performance earned him the Pac-10 defensive player of the week award.
Scoggins played three games for the San Francisco 49ers in 1982, then spent time in the United States Football League with the Los Angeles Express and Houston Gamblers.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Coosje van Bruggen, a critic, art historian and sculptor who collaborated with her artist-husband, Claes Oldenburg, on his giant sculptures of mundane objects, has died. She was 66.
Van Bruggen died Saturday in her Los Angeles home after fighting breast cancer, said Andrea Glimcher, a spokeswoman for PaceWildenstein, which represented van Bruggen.
Van Bruggen gained a reputation as an inquisitive critic with her scholarly books and essays on the works of John Baldessari, Bruce Nauman, Gerhard Richter and other contemporary artists.
She was best known for her work with the Swedish-born, American pop artist Claes Oldenburg. Their collaborations included a 38-foot-tall replica of an upended flashlight on the campus of the University of Las Vegas and a mammoth bicycle that appears to be half-buried at Parc de la Villette in Paris.
Her first work with Oldenburg came in 1976, when she helped him install his 41-foot "Trowel I" on the grounds of the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, the Netherlands. The pair married a year later.
She was credited with using a matter-of-fact approach to persuade mayors and other city officials to embrace the sometimes controversial public artworks she and her husband sought to install.
Copyright 2009  AP Features
