Obituaries in the news
Victoria Gray Adams
PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Victoria Gray Adams, who helped open Freedom Schools that pushed for civil rights in Mississippi in 1964 and became a founding member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, died Saturday at her home in Petersburg, Va., friends said. She was 73.
Adams was a Hattiesburg, Miss. native. Along with Fannie Lou Hamer and others, she attempted to unseat the all-white Mississippi Democratic Party delegation during the 1964 Democratic National Convention at Atlantic City, N.J.
While they did not replace the all-white group, the Freedom Democrats brought national attention to Mississippi's racial and political divisions.
In 2004, Adams and others who formed the party were recognized at the Democratic convention in Boston for their trailblazing role.
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Johnny Duncan
STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Country music singer Johnny Duncan, known for songs like "She Can Put Her Shoes Under My Bed Anytime" and "It Couldn't Have Been Any Better," died Monday of a heart attack, the director of Harrell Funeral Home in Dublin said. He was 67.
Duncan, who lived near Stephenville, had moved back to the West Texas area where he grew up after a career in Nashville, Tenn., Harrell said.
"He grew up here in a small country town and loved music," Harrell said. "His mother played herself and a lot of his cousins played with him."
His cousins became famous as well -- Eddie Seals, Jimmy Seals of Seals & Croft and country singer Dan Seals.
After moving to Nashville he began writing songs and country singers like Charley Pride and Conway Twitty recorded his music. He eventually signed his first record contract and began his singing career, according to his Web site.
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Bruno Kirby
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Bruno Kirby, a veteran character actor who costarred in "When Harry Met Sally," "City Slickers" and many other films, has died at age 57, his wife said Tuesday.
Kirby died Monday in Los Angeles from complications related to leukemia, according to a statement from his wife, Lynn Sellers. He had recently been diagnosed with the disease.
"We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from Bruno's fans and colleagues who have admired and respected his work over the past 30 years," his wife said. "Bruno's spirit will continue to live on not only in his rich body of film and television work but also through the lives of individuals he has touched throughout his life."
Kirby was perhaps best known for his roles opposite Billy Crystal in 1989's "When Harry Met Sally" and 1991's "City Slickers."
Other film credits included "Good Morning, Vietnam," "The Godfather: Part II" and "Donnie Brasco." More recently, he played Phil Rubenstein on the HBO series "Entourage."
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Monroe J. Romansky
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Monroe J. Romansky, who developed a formulation of penicillin that prolonged the drug's action, died Saturday of complications from Alzheimer's disease, his son said. He was 95.
Working in the Army Medical Corps at Walter Reed General Hospital during World War II, Romansky developed a method for administering penicillin in a mixture of beeswax and peanut oil called the Romansky Formula.
At the time, penicillin was difficult to use because it was excreted from the body so quickly, according to Food and Drug Administration historian John Swann. The Romansky Formula allowed the drug to stay in the body, so it had to be injected only once each day.
Eventually the need for this type of method was eliminated when semi-synthetic penicillin was developed in the 1950s, Swann said.
Romansky became an associate professor at George Washington University's medical school in 1947 and was promoted to professor in 1957. He also served as director of the infectious diseases division and director of the George Washington University medical division at D.C. General Hospital.
He retired from the university in 1991.
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Moacir Santos
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Moacir Santos, a Brazilian pop music composer who influenced scores of musicians in his native country while living his later years in relative obscurity in the U.S., died Aug. 6 of complications from a stroke, said Richard Zirinsky Jr., managing partner of Adventure Music. He was 80.
Santos was raised in rural poverty in the northeast Brazilian state of Pernambuco. After his father left and mother died, a young Santos was taken in by a local family and sent to music lessons.
Santos was able to play several instruments by the age of 14, including clarinet, banjo, mandolin and baritone saxophone. By his 20s, Santos was earning a living as a musician in Rio de Janeiro, composing music for Brazil's Radio Nacional.
In the 1950s and '60s, Santos taught music to several young musicians who became important bossa nova performers, including Nara Leao, Baden Powell, Carlos Lyra and Roberto Menescal.
During this time, Santos also scored a number of Brazilian films and recorded the acclaimed album "Coisas" -- a musical embodiment of Brazil's diverse ethnic heritage. The album was a mix of marches, African rhythms, jazz influences and regional Brazilian idioms.
In 1967, Santos left Brazil with his wife for Southern California, where he recorded several uncredited scores for Hollywood movies and three albums for the Blue Note label. His 1972 album "The Maestro" received a Grammy nomination.
After several years of obscurity, a group of younger and better-known Brazilian musicians, including Milton Nascimento and Gilberto Gil, recorded covers of Santos' best work in a two-CD set called "Ouro Negro." The 2001 album reawakened musicians and fans of Brazilian music to Santos' influence.
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Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the queen of New Zealand's indigenous Maori population, died Tuesday at her home on central North Island, her family announced. She was 75.
Te Ata was the sixth Maori sovereign, a direct descendant of a royal line that began in 1858 when the Maori responded to Britain's colonization of New Zealand by choosing a monarch of their own. The role carries only ceremonial powers but is hugely respected by most Maori.
Te Ata was the longest-serving head of the Kingitanga (King) movement, which largely was a response to continual Maori land losses as European settlers flocked to the British colony and took land from the indigenous people.
Te Ata became Maori queen in May 1966, the day her father, King Koroki Te Rata Mahuta Tawhiao, was buried. She was immediately catapulted into a role that included mixing with some of the world's most influential people.
She raised the profile of Maori overseas, acting as cultural ambassador for Maori and indigenous people and as hostess to most royal and diplomatic visitors to New Zealand, dining with dignitaries including former President Clinton and South African President Nelson Mandela.
She was granted the Order of New Zealand, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 1987 and was identified as New Zealand's wealthiest Maori 12 years later, her worth estimated at $5.7 million.
No successor was immediately announced. The next monarch is to be chosen from among Te Ata's kin in the Kingitanga movement. Maori comprise about 540,000 of the country's 4 million people.
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Doug White
CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) -- Doug White, a news anchor for nearly three decades at WJAR-TV, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer, the station announced. He was 61.
White joined the NBC affiliate in 1978 and served as an anchor of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. In 2001, he began anchoring the 5 p.m. newscast as well.
Gov. Don Carcieri said White had been the "face of news in southern New England" for more than 20 years.
Before taking the WJAR-TV position, White worked for six years as an anchor for WPRI-TV in Providence.
White went on medical leave last year to fight cancer.
