James Armstrong, Civil Rights icon, in 2008. (David Gilkey/NPR)

By Mark Memmott

He never let the flag hit the ground.

That's one of the telling lines in stories being told today about James Armstrong, 86, who died yesterday in Birmingham, Ala.

As The Birmingham News writes, it was Armstrong who was carrying the American flag at the head of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march.

When the hundreds of civil rights activists got to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965, police turned on them. The beatings were brutal.

But Shirley Gavin Floyd, business manager for the Civil Rights Activist Committee in Birmingham, tells the News that though Armstrong went to his knees, "he never did let that flag hit the ground."

And each year on the anniversary of the march, Armstrong carried it again.

As Andrew Yeager of NPR station WBHM in Birmingham reports, Armstrong was an Army veteran and ran a barber shop in Birmingham for more than 50 years. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was among his customers:

On Election Day last year, when the nation elected its first African-American president, NPR photographer David Gilkey followed Armstrong to the polls for a photo/audio report. "If you want a voice. ... If you want to go be better, you have to vote," Armstrong said:

Update at noon ET: NPR's Debbie Elliott adds that Armstrong was active in civil rights most of his life. In Birmingham, she says, "he sued to integrate schools and helped coordinate sit-ins and demonstrations."

Dorf will be missed. (John Shearer/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

As The San Diego Union-Tribune says, "Dick Tracy, Charlie Brown and the entire comic strip pantheon lost a friend" this week.

Sheldon Dorf, who founded the hugely successful Comic-Con International comic book convention, died Tuesday at the age of 76. A friend, Greg Koudoulian, tells the Associated Press that Dorf succumbed to kidney failure. The wire service adds that Dorf "had diabetes and had been hospitalized for about a year."

NPR's Ina Jaffe reminds us that Dorf founded the convention in 1970. The four-day event, which pulls in about 125,000 people, is held in San Diego each year. The next is scheduled for July 22-25, 2010.

Dorf ran Comic-Con for 15 years. He told the Union-Tribune that over time, "it's just become an ordeal. ... It's become too much of a success."

Comic-Con's board of directors posted a statement online saying that it was Dorf's "appreciation of this art form and his keen foresight that helped to create what is Comic-Con. It is with a heavy heart that we ... mourn the passing of our dear friend."

Here is Ina's report:

Our friend Linda Holmes follows all-things-cultural over at Monkey See.

By Frank James

French philosopher and anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, one of the leading intellectuals of his time, has died at age 100.

Claude Levi-Strauss. (Pascal Pavani / AFP/Getty Images)

He was most associated with the anthropological school of thought of structuralism. Reuters has one of the clearest explanations I've seen of structuralism and its import on science in its story about Levi-Strauss' death.

In particular, he used tribal customs and myths to show that human behavior is based on logical systems which may vary from society to society, but possess a common sub-structure.

These findings, which challenged the notion that Western European culture was somehow unique or superior, resonated with the ideas of opponents of colonialism and Levi-Strauss gained a following beyond the circle of professional anthropologists.

He argued that linguistics, communications and mathematical logic could be used to reveal fundamental social systems.

On the occasion of Levi-Strauss' 100th birthday last November, NPR's Frank Browning also provided excellent background on the difference the philosopher's work made.

An excerpt:

FRANK BROWNING: Go into a museum or a fashion house or even a lot of hip-hop concerts, and you'll see Claude Levi-Strauss lurking in the mist. Levi-Strauss, arguably more than any other writer or thinker, turned what had been regarded as quaint objects of Stone Age primitives into heritage pieces of art that are sought out by the world's finest curators. It began more or less 70 years ago when he hiked with horses into Brazil's jungle interior and got to know the Bororo people.

Continue reading "Claude Levi-Strauss, Anthropologist, Dead At 100" >

By Mark Memmott

The day begins with word of more deaths and violence in Pakistan. The Associated Press reports that:

A suicide bomber killed seven people near a major air force complex in northwest Pakistan on Friday, while an explosion killed 17 on a bus heading to wedding elsewhere in the region, the latest in a surge of militant attacks this month.

There's also word this morning that the U.S. has formally asked Switzerland to extradite film director Roman Polanski to California, which he fled in 1978 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

As NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates reported on Morning Edition, the 76-year-old director will likely spend considerable time in prison if he is returned to the U.S. (her report includes some graphic details about his crime):

Soupy Sales in 1966. (AP Photo/File)

And it was reported overnight that comedian Soupy Sales has died. He was 83.

As the Los Angeles Times says, sales was "a comic with a gift for slapstick who attained cult-like popularity in the 1960s with a pie-throwing routine that became his signature."

Other stories making headlines include:

-- The New York Times -- "Senate Leader Takes Risk Pushing Public Insurance Plan": "In pushing to include a government-run health insurance plan in the health care bill, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, is taking a calculated gamble that the 60 members of his caucus could support the plan if it included a way for states to opt out."

-- Politico -- "Pelosi Lacks Votes For Most Sweeping Public Option": "Speaker Nancy Pelosi counted votes Thursday night and determined she could not pass a 'robust public option' -- the most aggressive of the three forms of a public option House Democrats have been considering as part of a national overhaul of health care. Pelosi's decision -- coupled with a significant turn of events yesterday during a private White House meeting -- points to an increasingly likely compromise for a trigger option for a government plan."

-- ESPN.com -- American League Series Goes Back To The Bronx After Angels Beat Yankees: Game six of the AL championship series is set for Saturday night in Yankee Stadium after the Angels win 7-6 Thursday night.

-- Morning Edition -- Protesters Storm BBC Over Interview With Fascist Politician. NPR's Rob Gifford reports from London:

By Frank James

One of the nation's leading educational reformers, Theodore Sizer, has died at age 77 from colon cancer.

Theodore Sizer, 1932-2009. (Coalition of Essential Schools website)

Besides founding the Coalition of Essential Schools, a group meant to improve the learning and teaching experience for students and teachers alike, he examined the state of high school education in his book "Horace's Compromise."

An excerpt of a report by NPR's Claudio Sanchez for the network's newscast:

A historian by training, Ted Sizer devoted his life to building what he called "safe havens" for children to learn and explore with as few restrictions as possible. He attended Yale and Harvard where he became dean of the Graduate School of Education.. Sizer was known as "the father of the Essential Schools movement" and was a leader among "progressive" educators who battled against the so-called "standardization" of American public education. He opposed the No Child Left Behind law arguing that it relied too heavily on test scores to gauge students progress.

He wrote:

"... To teach students well, we have to know each one well. Our schools must fit each child; the child must not be fitted to the school...

"A citizen who cannot use his mind well is a citizen at the mercy of manipulative cultures that characterize our time."

Continue reading "Theodore Sizer, Educational Reformer, Dead At 77" >

Nuremberg war crimes trials, 1946. (AP/STF)

By Mark Memmott

A man who saw the horrors of Nazi concentration camps when he helped liberate the prisoners at Dachau and then went on to be the chief American interpreter at the Nuremberg war crimes trials following World War II, has died.

Richard Sonnenfeldt was 86. His wife, Barbara, tells the Associated Press that her husband died Friday at their home in Port Washington on New York's Long Island. She attributed his death to complications of a stroke.

A German-born Jew, Sonnenfeldt served in the U.S. Army as a private during the war.

NPR's Margot Adler reports that:

His command of English and German was noticed and he became first an interpreter and later an interrogator at the trials. In later life, he became an electrical engineer and helped develop color television at RCA. He wrote a memoir, Witness to Nuremberg published in 2006. In his memoir he said that in other circumstances, many of the prisoners might be taken for ordinary men, but as he read their indictments, "I envisioned anew the stacks of pitiful corpses and gagged once again on the smell of assembly line extermination these men and their cohorts had unleashed."

Among the online resources for information about the Nuremberg trials:

-- Library of Congress.

-- PBS-TV's American Experience.

-- Harvard Law School's Nuremberg Trials Project.

-- U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Nuremberg Trials and their Legacy.

Bill Cosby, Virginia Ali and Ben Ali, left-to-right, in 2003. (Dennis Cook/AP)

By Mark Memmott

If you've spent much time in the nation's capital over the past 50 years you've surely heard of Ben's Chili Bowl, which as Post Mortem writes is "a landmark D.C. eatery that has fed presidents, celebrities and the common folks."

The chili joint's founder, Ben Ali, died last night at the age of 82. Post Mortem says congestive heart failure was the cause of death.

The restaurant tells its story here:

On Aug. 22, 1958, Ben's Chili Bowl was born. It was an exciting time on the U Street corridor, which was then known as "Black Broadway." Top performers could be found playing sets in clubs along the corridor, as well as eating and just "hanging out" at Ben's. It was not uncommon to see such luminaries as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Martin Luther King Jr., or Bill Cosby at "The Bowl."

As The Washington Post noted last year, Ben's was one of the few businesses in its neighborhood to remain open "and untouched" during the 1968 riots following the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., "thanks largely to Stokely Carmichael, head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which used the restaurant as a meeting place."

Ali, an immigrant from Trinidad, ran the restaurant with his wife before giving up day-to-day operations to two of his sons in the late 1990s.

In January, then-president-elect Barack Obama stopped by for a half-smoke, giving the already hot spot another boost in business.

Ben's got the presidential OK. (Joshua Roberts / Pool/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

There's word from Iran as the day begins that it has test-fired a long-range missile capable of reaching Israel and U.S. bases elsewhere in the Middle East. NPR's Carl Kasell introduces this report:

Sticking with news about Iran, The New York Times reports that the Obama administration "is scrambling to assemble a package of harsher economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program that could include a cutoff of investments to the country's oil-and-gas industry and restrictions on many more Iranian banks than those currently blacklisted, senior administration officials said Sunday."

Also this morning, the death toll continues to climb in the Philippines, where at least 140 people have died after a tropical storm caused massive flooding.

As for other stories making headlines, they include:

-- The Washington Post -- "U.S., Allies Vow Support For Karzai": "The United States and NATO countries fighting in Afghanistan have told President Hamid Karzai's government that they expect him to remain in office for another five-year term and will work with him on an expanded campaign to turn insurgent fighters against the Taliban and other militant groups."

Related story by CBS News' 60 Minutes -- Gen. Stanley McChrystal lays out his case for more troops.

-- USA TODAY -- "Confidence, Optimism Grow In Pockets Of U.S.": In communities such as Paris, Ill., unemployment remains high but some people are heading back to work. And "there is growing confidence as workers who are getting paychecks spend money, spreading optimism to small-business owners and city leaders."

-- Morning Edition "Honduras Restricts Liberties To Prevent Rebellion". NPR's Jason Beaubien reports from Tegucigalpa that the current government is allowing warrantless arrests and has banned "unauthorized" public meetings as ousted president Manuel Zelaya remains holed up in the Brazilian embassy (ME co-host Renee Montagne introduces his report):

-- The Associated Press -- "Merkel Vows Quick Deal On German Coalition": "Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to press ahead quickly with forming a new center-right German government following her election victory. Sunday's election gave the conservative Merkel a second four-year term. It allows her to dump her 'grand coalition' with the center-left Social Democrats and form a new government with the pro-business Free Democrats."

-- The New York Times Safire Was "Oracle Of Language": "William Safire, a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop's treasury of articles on language, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md., on Sunday. He was 79." He was, among many other things, "an unofficial arbiter of usage."

Related story on Morning Edition -- It Was "Hard Not To Love" Safire. NPR's David Folkenflik reports:

Contributing: Chinita Anderson of Morning Edition.

By Mark Memmott

Sad news to pass along. MSNBC.com reports that:

Timothy Joseph Russert, father of the late Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert, died Thursday night from natural causes at the age of 85. A statement from the family said he passed away peacefully with relatives by his side.

As the Buffalo News writes, the younger Tim's 2004 book Big Russ & Me: Father and Son -- Lessons of Life was a bestseller that "chronicled the life of the man who Tim Russert said steered him through life with his scrappy South Buffalo wisdom and salt-of-the-earth Irish Catholic values."

A heart attack killed NBC's Russert two days before Father's Day in 2008.

By Sonari Glinton

We do a lot of obituaries on All Things Considered. There's no real rhyme or reason behind who we pick and who we don't.

When someone dies usually there is a staff member who feels passionate about marking the death and has to convince everyone else. Today when Robert Siegel walked into ATC's horseshoe he had a lot of convincing to do.

Pianist Art Ferrante had died. He was half of the piano duo Ferrante and Teicher. The group was billed as the "Grand Twins of the Twin Grands." It wasn't until we'd piled into the tiny director's office to watch YouTube videos that we were convinced.

More than 88 million records sold worldwide, in excess of 5,000 concerts...even the youngest most ironic of us were convinced, truly an era has passed. Art Ferrante (1921-2009) and Louis Teicher (1924-2008), rest in peace.

(Sonari Glinton is an All Things Considered producer.)

Kristol in 1998. (Jim Colburn / AFP/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

The Weekly Standard passes along the news that:

Irving Kristol, writer, editor, and social philosopher, has died in Washington at the age of 89. His wisdom, wit, good humor, and generosity of spirit made him a friend and mentor to several generations of thinkers and public servants.

The conservative American Enterprise Institute says of Kristol that he:

Is widely considered to be the founder of American neoconservatism. He was the managing editor of Commentary magazine from 1947 to 1952 and the co-founder of the U.K.-based Encounter. After eight years as the executive vice president of Basic Books, Mr. Kristol became a professor of social thought at the New York University Graduate School of Business. In July 2002, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

He wrote, among many other things, Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea.

In 2003, Kristol wrote in The Weekly Standard that neconservatism "is hopeful, not lugubrious; forward-looking, not nostalgic; and its general tone is cheerful, not grim or dyspeptic. Its 20th-century heroes tend to be TR, FDR, and Ronald Reagan."

Kristol's son: William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard and Fox News Channel commentator.

By Mark Memmott

It's hard to think of headlines and obituaries that could have more astounding lines than these:

-- "The Nobel winner who fed the world." The Guardian.

-- "Father of green revolution saved millions of lives." The Financial Times.

-- "Credited with saving 1 billion lives from famine." The Dallas Morning News.

Those lines are about scientist Norman Borlaug, who died Saturday night in Dallas. He was 95 and had been battling cancer. It was Borlaug's work in creating high-yield crop varieties and improving agriculture in the Third World that brought him accolades.

On Weekend Edition Sunday, independent radio producer Dan Charles filed this report:

He made The Weather Channel work. (AP photo.)

By Mark Memmott

There's sad news from Norfolk, Va.: Frank Batten Sr., 82, died today.

One of the news outlets he led, The Virginia-Pilot, summarizes what sounds like a well-lived life:

He was a son of privilege, the heir to a family fortune, a man whose life, in other hands, might have been measured in dollars and cents.

Instead, Frank Batten forged a legacy not on what he made but what he created.

From errand boy he rose to publisher of The Virginian-Pilot and its afternoon sister, then parlayed his newspapers into an adventuresome media company with global reach. He helped lead the fight for integrated schools in Norfolk, midwifed Old Dominion University into being, commanded The Associated Press and its far-flung correspondents, and defied a legion of doubters to create The Weather Channel.

According to the AP, Batten died after a "prolonged illness." The wire service also writes that:

In the late 1950s, when Norfolk closed its schools rather than integrate them, Batten (then the Virginian-Pilot's publisher) and other community leaders ran a full-page newspaper advertisement urging city officials to reopen them. Virginian-Pilot editor Lenoir Chambers won a Pulitzer Prize in 1960 for a series of editorials on the situation.

By Frank James

Erich Kunzel, the founder and conductor emeritus of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, has died. He was 74.

Erich Kunzel, 1935 - 2009. (ICHPL Imaginechina via AP Photo)

Kunzel was seen by millions of Americans in recent years conducting patriotic songs on the live July 4 broadcasts from the National Mall. And his Cincinnati Pops Orchestra was truly popular, selling 10 million recordings.

An excerpt from a statement from the orchestra's website:

CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra is deeply saddened to announce that conductor Erich Kunzel died this morning after a four-month battle with cancer of the pancreas, liver and colon. The seventy-four year old conductor of the Cincinnati Pops had been in Maine receiving treatment. He led the orchestra is his final performance in Cincinnati on August 1. Maestro Kunzel is survived by his wife Brunhilde.

"The world has lost a musical giant and we have lost a dear friend," said Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra President Trey Devey. "Erich Kunzel built the Cincinnati Pops into one of the best known orchestras in the world and is not only beloved in Cincinnati, but around the globe. Today we honor his tremendous legacy and offer our deepest sympathies to Brunhilde and their entire family."

Continue reading "Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops Conductor, Dead At 74 From Cancer" >

By David Gura

The funeral for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) will take place on Saturday, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, known as "The Mission Church," in Roxbury, Mass.

The basilica has a 130-year history. According to its website, "in 1869, Boston's Archbishop Williams invited the Redemptorists to the diocese to preach their hallmark parish missions. Within two years, these pioneering men of God erected a frame church dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. In 1874, groundbreaking for a renowned church began that was completed within 4 years. The image of Our Lady was enthroned in the present Shrine in 1878."

On December 8, 1954, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, through the mediation of Boston's Cardinal Cushing, His Holiness Pope Pius XII glorified the Mission Church with the title of Basilica. In order to merit this title, a church requires an imposing architecture, a substantial number of visitors, and an important spiritual treasure.

Michael Paulson, a religion reporter for The Boston Globe, has a wonderful portrait of the place on the newspaper's website.

He says the place had special spiritual significance to Kennedy, who visited it daily when his daughter underwent cancer treatments at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Kennedy returned there last year, after he was diagnosed with brain cancer.

According to Paulson, "the basilica is large - it seats about 1,500 people on wooden pews between pink and gray pillars - and historic."

During its heyday, as many as 15,000 people a day came to pray there. It is in one of the city's most diverse and often overlooked neighborhoods, dominated for years by German and then Irish immigrants but now populated by a mix of immigrants from Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean, low-income residents of several housing projects, and a large number of college students and young adults who work or study at the nearby colleges and hospitals.

By David Gura

NPR's Pam Fessler, who is heading our coverage of the death of, and memorials for, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), sent us some information from Kennedy's staff, about what will happen tonight:

After traveling from Hyannis Port, Mass., through downtown Boston, Kennedy will arrive at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum at 4:45 p.m. ET. According to Kennedy's senate staff, 85 family members traveled in the motorcade.

Father J. Donald Monan, S.J., formerly the president of Boston College, will greet the motorcade when it arrives in Dorchester. He will also lead the family in prayer.

At 6:00 p.m. ET, the public will be allowed to enter the building, to pay their respects to Kennedy and his family. Friends, family, and staff members will sit vigil with Kennedy until he is moved to the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Saturday.

By David Gura

Vanity Fair reports that writer Dominick Dunne died last night, after a bout with bladder cancer. He was 83.

In 1984, Dunne became a Vanity Fair contributing editor; then, in 1993, he became a special correspondent for the magazine. Vanity Fair's editors, in an unsigned obituary, say Dunne "famously covered the trials of O. J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, Michael Skakel, William Kennedy Smith, and Phil Spector, as well as the impeachment of President Bill Clinton."

He wrote memorable profiles on numerous personalities, among them Imelda Marcos, Robert Mapplethorpe, Elizabeth Taylor, Claus von Bulow, Adnan Khashoggi, and Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. His monthly column provided a glimpse inside high society, and captivated readers.

By Frank James

President Harry Truman once famously said that if you want a friend in Washington get a dog. He was joking of course. There are some very strong friendships in the nation's capital.

And one of the strongest was the friendship between Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and fellow Democrat Sen. Edward Kennedy who just died of brain cancer.

Dodd, with his wife Jackie by his side, took a few moments to speak with the media in Connecticut to give his reaction to his friend's death.

"Millions of people counted on this guy everyday to stand up for them," Dodd said.

Then he got personal: "I lost my best friend in the Senate... I'm saddened by it deeply. It's like losing a brother."

He told a story about how passionate Kennedy was about the social-justice issues Congress on which the Senate would be working, sometimes going into the emotional zone he would often go into when he spoke on the Senate floor.

He and Kennedy would go sailing on Kennedy's boat and his friend would slam his fist into the side of the boat to punctuate his points about health-care or unemployment.

" 'I'd say I'm your only audience. You don't have to scream at me, ' " Dodd remembered.

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., gestures as he talks with constituents Friday, Nov. 2, 2001, after addressing the New England Council luncheon in Boston. (Michael Mergen / AP Photo)

By Frank James

The tributes are pouring in from the powerful and influential following the death overnight of Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts from brain cancer.

But they're also coming in from regular Americans. One good place to see them is Legacy.com whose Kennedy guest book is is 439 pages and growing quickly. Another is the WBUR.org web site of NPR's Boston affiliate.

A sampling from Legacy.com:

From Maggie Vaughn of San Francisco:

Hearing the sad, sad news this morning, I was struck with a feeling of complete irrelevance as if my generation had lost its voice. We shall 'keep the dream alive', but we will be called upon to work doubly-hard to sustain the level of Teddy's legislative strengths which I'm sure we all took too much for granted.

Thank you with all my heart, Edward!

June Jacobs of Jersey City, New Jersey wrote:

I am grieving today as if he were a member of my own family.

I lived in Boston for 11 years, and I was so proud to have him as MY Senator.

Marc Antony in "Julius Caesar" said "The evil men do live after them, the good is oft interred with their bones." That won't be true of Sen. Ted Kennedy, though. His legacy of fairness to all and righting the wrongs done to the disenfranchised will live on as long as there is a United States of America.

My deepest sympathy to his beloved family.

From Bob and Mary C of West Haven. Conn:

TO THE KENNEDY FAMILY: Our very deepest sympathy to each and everyone of you. May you find peace & comfort knowing he did a remarkable job, left a great legacy, and now he's with God. He was so down to earth. Always helped the needy and less fortunate. May the Dear Lord Bless and Comfort each of you during this truly very difficult time.

He will be sadly missed.

Continue reading "Kennedy Tributes Pour In From Everyday Americans " >

Sen. Edward Kennedy with relatives at his brother President John F. Kennedy's grave in 2003. (J. ScottApplewhite / AP Photo)

By Frank James

Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts who died Tuesday evening after a year-long struggle with brain cancer will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near the graves of his slain brothers John, the 35th president of the U.S. and Robert, also a senator who represented New York.

NPR's Pam Fessler reports the following:

A source familiar with the arrangements has confirmed to NPR that the senator will be buried at the cemetery just outside of Washington D.C.

He is expected to be buried near the hillside site where his brother, former President John F. Kennedy and his brother's family -- former first lady Jacqueline, a baby son and stillborn infant are buried. Senator Kennedy's other brother, former Senator Robert F. Kennedy, is also buried nearby.

Dave Foster, a spokesman for Arlington Cemetary, said that the senator is eligible to be buried at Arlington because of his service in Congress and in the U.S. Army during the 1950s. A date for the senator's funeral has yet to be announced, as well as whether the senator's body will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.

Robert, Edward and John Kennedy, Aug. 1963. (Cecil Stoughton / AP Photo/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, White House)

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, 1932-2009. (Gerald Herbert / AP Photo)

By Frank James

Many of us woke up this morning to the news of the Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, at 77, lost his year long battle with brain cancer overnight.

Kennedy, long Massachusetts' senior senator in the U.S. Senate, will be remembered in his own right as one of the most powerful and accomplished senators the nation has ever known, whose stamp is on much of the social legislation passed over almost five decades.

But he will also be remembered as the youngest child of one of America's most storied and tragedy ridden families, the ninth child and fourth son of the wealthy patriarch Joseph Kennedy Jr. and matriarch Rose Kennedy.

Known as Teddy, he was the last surviving brother of two assassinated siblings, President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy.

And while his older brothers were bigger political stars, Kennedy was arguably the most productive in terms of more lasting legislative accomplishments since joining the Senate in 1962. He became so powerful and passionate a voice for his issues and so effective a legislator, he became known as the Lion of the Senate. He became loved and respected on both sides of the aisle.

And lion seemed very apropos. When speaking up for the liberal causes he championed, either on the Senate floor or in speeches, it felt like his stentorian voice could tear the bark off trees. No one ever had any doubt about where he stood on an issue, that's safe to say.

He was also a very flawed man whose personal weaknesses were summed up by one iconic word: Chappaquidick. It was the place name of his 1969 car accident in which he drove a car into the tidal waters off Martha's Vineyard, Mass. an accident which killed a young Kennedy aide, Mary Jo Kopechne.

Many Americans never forgave Kennedy for the young woman's drowning and for not reporting the accident to police immediately. That accident, amid Kennedy's other well-publicized failings of drinking and womanizing, helped prevent Kennedy from becoming president in 1980, the only time he ever ran for the office his brother once held.

Continue reading "Sen. Edward M. Kennedy Dies Of Brain Cancer At 77" >

By David Gura

Stanley H. Kaplan, whose test prep. business began in his Brooklyn basement, passed away on Sunday. He was 90 years old.

NPR's Robert Smith, who went to Kaplan's funeral today, sent us this remembrance.

In his obituary, Keith J. Winstein, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, wrote that "Mr. Kaplan used to pay his grammar-school classmates a dime to let him tutor them for coming tests, but his own history with testing and admissions was troubled."

He adopted the middle name Henry after a teacher confused him with another student with the same name and gave Mr. Kaplan the wrong grade. In the mid-1930s, he took the New York Board of Regents college-entrance examination, and received a terrible score -- it turned out to be another grading error.

According to Karen W. Arenson, who used to cover higher education for The New York Times, on college campuses, Kaplan met resistance from students and administrators who thought that his method and programs were intellectually bankrupt:

Despite his growing success, Mr. Kaplan faced resistance from the College Board, which continued to assert that gains from test-preparation courses were minimal. Opposition was so strong, Mr. Kaplan recalled, that some students felt a need to register under false names, like Jane Doe and Albert Einstein.

In Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania student newspaper refused to run his advertisements, and the university denied his requests to hang posters and rent rooms for his courses. He called the opposition "elitist" and distributed T-shirts on campus. Students flocked to his classes.

In 1984, The Washington Post Co., The Post's parent company, bought Kaplan's business. Winstein, writing for The Journal, emphasized the shrewdness of that investment: "Kaplan Inc. contributed $206 million to the Post's operating income last year, offsetting operating losses of $193 million at the company's newspapers."

1931-2009. (Lauren Shay / AP file/2003)

By Mark Memmott

Robert Novak, the conservative columnist who viewed the nickname "Prince of Darkness" with some pride, has died after a long battle with brain cancer. He was 78.

The Chicago Sun-Times, which syndicated Novak's column for much of his career, quotes his wife Geraldine as saying "he was someone who loved being a journalist, loved journalism, loved his country and loved his family."

Novak, a TV pundit for such shows as CNN's Crossfire, was at the center of controversy during the George W. Bush administration after he "outed" CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson in a column. The report led to a special prosecutor's investigation of the Bush administration, and eventually to the conviction of former top White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby for lying to investigators.

Update at 2:45 p.m. ET. NPR's Jack Zahora has filed this audio obit for us:

Update at 12:55 p.m. ET. NPR's David Folkenflik reports that:

Novak started in journalism as a high schooler by writing for his hometown paper in Joliet Ill. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he joined the Associated Press, moved to Washington, and jumped to The Wall Street Journal. In 1963, he and Rowland Evans joined forces on a column that blended reporting, analysis and commentary. It lasted nearly 40 years. Novak was also an early voice of conservatism on cable news as a co-host of CNN's Crossfire.

Novak was so informed and influential that he was often part of the mix during political intrigue -- and he embraced his tough reputation that led to his nickname as "the Prince of Darkness." He withdrew from public view last year after falling ill

Update at 12:45 p.m. ET:

The Sun-Times has now posted an editorial that says "his contributions to the great debates of the day demonstrated that Bob was someone who thought deeply about his country, its system of government and the challenges both faced."

The Swamp looks at Novak's career here.

The Shriver family, including Anthony Shriver, left, his sister Maria, front center, her husband California Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger, rear center, and Tim Shriver, right of his sister Maria, bear the casket of Eunice Kennedy Shriver into Saint Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Barnstable, Mass., Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. (Elise Amendola / AP Photo)

By Frank James

Eunice Kennedy Shriver's funeral mass took place today at Saint Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Barnstable, Mass.

The founder of the Special Olympics, who helped raise the rest of society's appreciation for the capabilities of the mentally disabled, was remembered as a humanitarian with an earthy toughness who was known in earlier days to smoke a Cuban cigar or play tackle football.

The funeral service for Shriver, a sister of President John F. Kennedy, was attended by Vice President Joe Biden and television icon Oprah Winfrey. Missing, however, was her brother Sen. Edward Kennedy who is battling brain cancer. Shriver died earlier this week at age 88.

Les Paul in 2007. (Colin Archer / AP)

By Mark Memmott

Les Paul, the jazz guitarist who became a rock 'n' roll legend for the electric guitar he designed, has died. He was 94.

The Associated Press reports that Gibson Guitar Co., which manufactures the Les Paul model that has been used by rockers including Pete Townshend of The Who, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Duane Allman, says he died today of complications from pneumonia at White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital.

The AP writes that:

As an inventor, Paul helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll and multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the "tracks" in the finished recording.

With Mary Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records and 11 No. 1 pop hits, including Vaya Con Dios, How High the Moon, Nola and Lover. Many of their songs used overdubbing techniques that Paul the inventor had helped develop.

Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. It says that:

The guitar that bears his name -- the Gibson Les Paul -- is his crowning achievement. It grew out of his desire, as a musician and inventor, to create a stringed instrument that could make electronic sound without distorting. What he came up with, after almost a decade of work, was a solid bodied instrument -- that is, one that didn't have the deep, resonant chamber of an acoustic guitar.

As he told writer Jim O'Donnell, "What I wanted to do is not have two things vibrating. I wanted the string to vibrate and nothing else. I wanted the guitar to sustain longer than an acoustical box and have different sounds than an acoustical box." The fact that the guitar's body was solid allowed for the sound of a plucked string to sustain, as its vibrating energy was not dissipated in a reverberant acoustic chamber.

Here's a little sample of Paul's playing:

I had the chance to hear Paul speak at the Smithsonian a decade or so ago. His stories of the old days in radio and his inventions were fascinating. Each week for years, I would see in The New Yorker's Night Life listings that at the club Iridium in Manhattan, "Mondays belong to the electric-guitar innovator Les Paul." And I would think about how good it would be to see his show there sometime. Now, there are only his recordings to fall back on.

Update at 12:42 p.m. ET. Gibson has now posted online a lengthy statement/obituary. It says that:

The Gibson Les Paul model -- the most powerful and respected electric guitar in history -- began with the 1952 release of the Les Paul Goldtop. After introducing the original Les Paul Goldtop in 1952, Gibson issued the Black Beauty, the mahogany-topped Les Paul Custom, in 1954. The Les Paul Junior (1954) and Special (1955) were also introduced before the canonical Les Paul Standard hit the market in 1958. With revolutionary humbucker pickups, this sunburst classic has remained unchanged for the half-century since it hit the market.

And here's some more of the Les Paul sound:

Weekend Edition profiled Paul in 2005:

Shriver and her son Robert at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai. (Mark Ralston / AP)

By Mark Memmott

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 88, has died.

The younger sister of president John F. Kennedy, she became best known as the founder of the Special Olympics.

As NPR's Joseph Shapiro reports, like her brothers John, Bobby and Ted:

Eunice, too, was smart, politically savvy and fascinated by public policy. History professor Edward Shorter says the only thing that kept her from running for political office was the era she grew up in.

"Because in the 1950s, she couldn't go there," says Shorter, the author of The Kennedy Family and the Story of Mental Retardation. "She couldn't get on that political stage. Women weren't tolerated there."

The Boston Globe calls Shriver a "champion for the developmentally disabled."

Shriver's husband, Sargent, was the 1972 Democratic vice presidential nominee. Her daughter, Maria, is the wife of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Sen. Edward Kennedy -- Teddy -- is battling brain cancer.

Update at 8:10 a.m. ET. The White House just released this statement from President Barack Obama:

Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Eunice was many things to many people: a mother who inspired her children to serve others; a wife who supported her husband Sargent in the Peace Corps and in politics; and a sister to her siblings, including brothers John, Robert, and Edward. But above all, she will be remembered as the founder of the Special Olympics, as a champion for people with intellectual disabilities, and as an extraordinary woman who, as much as anyone, taught our nation -- and our world -- that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit.

Her leadership greatly enriched the lives of Special Olympians throughout the world, who have experienced the pride and joy of competition and achievement thanks to her vision. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sargent; their children Robert, Maria, Timothy, Mark, and Anthony; and the entire Kennedy family.

The local Cape Cod Times reports that Shriver "died early this morning at Cape Cod Hospital, according to a statement from the family." It adds that:

Shriver's death leaves only two surviving Kennedy siblings of her generation. The youngest, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., 77, who has served in the Senate since 1962, was diagnosed with brain cancer last year. Jean Kennedy Smith, 89, served as ambassador to Ireland under President Bill Clinton.

The newspaper has posted the family's statement here. It begins:

It's hard for us to believe: the amazing Eunice Kennedy Shriver went home to God this morning at 2 a.m.

Sen. Kennedy also issued a statement, saying in part that:

Eunice is now with God in heaven. My sister Jean and I, and our entire family, will miss her with all our hearts. I know that our parents and brothers and sisters who have gone before are filled with joy to have her by their side again.

Update at 7:20 a.m. ET. Here's an audio obituary from NPR's Allison Keyes:

And on Morning Edition just a short time ago, NPR's Steve Inskeep and Linda Wertheimer discussed Shriver's life and legacy:

Rev. Ike in his prime. (File photo. / AP © 1977)

By Mark Memmott

He was "luxury-loving Rev. Ike," says the Daily News.

The San Jose Mercury News says in its headline that he "didn't see money as evil."

And the Los Angeles Times says he "preached gospel of prosperity."

As the Associated Press says:

The minister known as Reverend Ike, who preached the gospel of material prosperity to millions nationwide, died Tuesday. He was 74. ... In the 1970s, Reverend Ike was one of the first evangelists to reach an audience of millions through television.

His given name: Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II.

Peter, left, and Gordon in June 1964. Ricahrd Chowen/Evening Standard/Getty Images

 

By Mark Memmott

One half of Peter and Gordon, best known for their version of Paul McCartney's A World Without Love, has died.

Gordon Waller was 64. He suffered a heart attack Thursday and died Friday in Norwich, Conn.

For those who remember and want to hear it again -- and for those who are too young to have heard it the first time, when it hit No. 1 in 1964 -- you can listen to World Without Love at the duo's MySpace page.

Peter Asher, who went on to be a producer of albums by James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and others, says in a statement that "the idea that I shall never get to sing those songs with him again, that I shall never again be able to get annoyed when he interrupts me on stage or to laugh at his unpredictable sense of humor or even to admire his newest model train or his latest gardening effort is an unthinkable change in my life with which I have not even begun to come to terms."

Cronkite in the '60s. Hulton Archives/Getty Images

 

By Mark Memmott

Legendary CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite, who for many of us was a trusted voice who brought the news into our homes each evening with a calm assurance and grace, has died.

He was 92.

At CBSNews.com, the lead on the story is simple:

The "most trusted man in America" is gone.

According to the network, he passed away this evening at his home in New York.

Cronkite will be remembered for many moments:

-- The catch in his throat and the removal of his glasses as he told the nation about the death of President John Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963:

Watch CBS Videos Online

-- The night in February 1968 when he said of the war in Vietnam that "the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could."

President Lyndon Johnson said that evening that if he'd lost Cronkite, he'd lost the support of the nation. Soon after, Johnson decided not to seek re-election.

-- His obvious excitement 40 years ago this Monday as he watched the Apollo 11 astronauts land on the moon.

-- That perfect sign-off at the end of each night's broadcast: "And that's the way it is ... "

He wasn't popular with everyone -- no good reporter should be. But there's no debate about this: Cronkite was a giant in the news business. There has not been anyone like him since he retired in 1981 and in this age of the Internet and 24/7 cable news networks there may never be any single figure in the American news media with as much influence.

If you wish, share your memories of Cronkite and thoughts about him in the comments thread.

Update at 10 p.m. ET. CBSNews.com has posted this report about Cronkite's life and career:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Update at 9:45 p.m. ET. The White House just released this statement from President Barack Obama:

For decades, Walter Cronkite was the most trusted voice in America. His rich baritone reached millions of living rooms every night, and in an industry of icons, Walter set the standard by which all others have been judged.

He was there through wars and riots, marches and milestones, calmly telling us what we needed to know. And through it all, he never lost the integrity he gained growing up in the heartland.

But Walter was always more than just an anchor. He was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important issues of the day; a voice of certainty in an uncertain world. He was family. He invited us to believe in him, and he never let us down. This country has lost an icon and a dear friend, and he will be truly missed.

At The Daily Eagle in 1971. From left to right: Sports Editor Lawrence "Poody" Walsh, reporter John Merwin, city hall reporter Georgia Croft, Women's Page Editor (this was before the term "lifestyles" took hold) Gayle Goddard, and Managing Editor Arthur "Archie" Mountain. Art Silverman/Daily Eagle reporter-photographer

 

By Art Silverman

A newspaper died today after a long illness -- the same one afflicting newspapers everywhere. But some self-inflicted wounds certainly hastened its demise.

The National Eagle was born in Claremont, N.H., in 1834. It later became the more modest and more realistic Daily Eagle. Since the 1970s it had been known as the Eagle-Times.

On its deathbed, the paper was attended by some 8,000 readers who depended on it to report on city council meetings, fires, club meetings, police reports.

It was not a great newspaper, but it was at one time pretty good. And to the community it served on both sides of the Connecticut River that separates Vermont from New Hampshire, it was a necessity.

To the people, such as myself, who worked there, it was a calling and a training ground. The current staff found out about the end in a short, terse e-mail yesterday afternoon. "We're filing for Chapter Seven Bankruptcy protection. Turn in your keys. Don't come back."

Like most eulogies, this one will, of course, be as much about myself as the deceased:

Continue reading "In N.H., A 'Pretty Good' Little Newspaper Closes Down" >

McNamara at a news conference in 1966. Getty Images

By Mark Memmott

Robert McNamara, who led the Pentagon through many of the turbulent years of the Vietnam War and was blamed by many critics for the way that war was fought, has died, according to The Washington Post.

In later years, McNamara came to agree with those who said it was a misguided war.

"We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of our country. But we were wrong. We were terribly wrong," he told The Associated Press in 1995.

Update at 9:11 a.m. ET. NPR's Jack Zahora prepared this audio obituary of McNamara:

Update at 8:59 a.m. ET: The Associated Press now reports it has confirmed the news with McNamara's wife. The wire service adds that he died this morning around 5:30 a.m. ET.

Update at 8:46 a.m. ET. According to the Defense Department's biography of McNamara:

-- He was born June 9, 1916, which would make him 93 years old.

-- His time as secretary of Defense began with the arrival of the Kennedy administration on Jan. 21, 1961, and ended on Feb. 29, 1968.

-- "His book, In Retrospect, published in 1995, presented an account and analysis of the Vietnam War that dwelt heavily on the mistakes to which he was a prime party and conveyed his strong sense of guilt and regret."

A 2003 documentary by Errol Morris, The Fog of War, gave McNamara another chance to explain his actions.

McNair in 2003. Associated Press

 

Kazemi in an undated booking photo from the Davidson County (Tenn.) Sheriff's office. Associated Press

By Mark Memmott

While the Associated Press is only going so far as to say that police are not looking for any suspects, the local newspaper in Nashville is reporting that former NFL star Steve McNair was killed Saturday in an "apparent murder-suicide."

The Tennessean says McNair, 36, was found at a condominium he rented with "several gunshot wounds, including one to the head." A 20-year-old woman, Sahel Kazemi, "was found on the floor near him with a single gunshot wound to her head," the newspaper adds. "A pistol was found near her body."

The Tennessean also writes that McNair, who is married, and Kazemi had been "dating ... for months" and that:

Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said investigators were not actively looking for suspects Saturday night but had not ruled out any scenarios. He stopped short of calling the deaths a murder-suicide, but said the police should be able to classify the deaths today after autopsies and forensic work.

At Nashville Public Radio, correspondent Blake Farmer also reports that "Metro Police are investigating what appears to be a murder-suicide involving former NFL quarterback Steve McNair."

McNair and Kazemi had been together Thursday when she was arrested on a DUI charge, the AP says. She was reportedly driving a Cadillac Escalade registered to her and McNair, the Tennessean reports. McNair was a passenger in the vehicle at that time.

Update at 4 p.m. ET. Police rule McNair's death a homicide. The AP now reports that:

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair's shooting death was a homicide, police said Sunday, but authorities stopped short of saying it was a murder-suicide committed by the 20-year-old girlfriend found dead by his side.

McNair, 36, was shot four times, twice in the head, by a semiautomatic pistol, Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said. The woman, Sahel Kazemi, was killed by a single gunshot wound and the pistol was found under her body, Aaron said.

Police said they need to do more interviews with friends of Kazemi and McNair before they rule on whether her death was a suicide, Aaron said.

The Tennessean reports that Aaron also also said that police "can't be close-minded. ... All scenarios are on the table."

And, the newspaper quotes Kazemi's niece -- who says they were raised as sisters -- as saying Kazemi "would never kill anyone, ever."

From our original post: The AP recaps the highlights of McNair's NFL career this way:

Continue reading "Nashville Media Call Death Of NFL's McNair Part Of Apparent 'Murder-Suicide'" >

Malden at a rehearsal of the 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 2004. Vince Bucci/Getty Images

By Mark Memmott

Karl Malden, who starred with Michael Douglas on TV's The Streets of San Francisco and won an Oscar for his film portrayal of Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, has died, the Los Angeles Times reports. It cites his daughter, Mila Doerner, as its source.

The Associated Press says it also has confirmed the news with Malden's family.

He was 97.

He'll also be fondly remembered by many for his "don't leave home without it" American Express commercials.

Update at 4:35 p.m. ET. There's now a NPR.org news story about Malden here. As it says, "Malden's craggy face and twice-broken nose showed up in more than 50 movies."

And here's a photo of him as Lt. Mike Stone in The Streets of San Francisco:

CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

 

Update at 4:15 p.m. ET. Some more biographical details, courtesy of the AP:

He was born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago on March 22, 1912. Malden regretted that in order to become an actor he had to change his name. He insisted that Fred Gwynne's character in On the Waterfront be named Sekulovich to honor his heritage.

Malden and his wife, Mona, a fellow acting student at the Goodman, had one of Hollywood's longest marriages, having celebrated their 70th anniversary in December.

Update at 3:38 p.m. ET. The AP adds that Malden made his screen debut in the 1940 movie They Knew What They Wanted.

By Mark Memmott

Before we move on to the day's other stories, here's a quick look at some of the latest words about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who died Thursday:

-- Los Angeles Times: "Michael Jackson's Life Was Infused With Fantasy And Tragedy."

-- Rolling Stone: Jackson was "one of the most talented and eccentric performers in pop history."

-- Time magazine: "Top 10 Michael Jackson Moments." (Remember the marriage to Lisa-Marie Presley?)

-- The New York Times: "Tricky Steps From Boy To Superstar."

-- KNBC: "An autopsy is scheduled for Friday morning. ... But it could take weeks to learn the exact cause of death while examiners wait for the results of a toxicology report."

-- Morning Edition: Jackson fans converged on the hospital:

And, critic Margo Jefferson discussed Jackson's rise from child singer to King of Pop:

For much more about Jackson and his life, click here for NPR.org's complete coverage.

Michael Jackson at a March 5, 2009 press conference in London, announcing plans to appear at the London O2 Arena in July. AP Photo/Joel Ryan, file

 

By Frank James

10:10 PM In the last hour, Michael Jackson's body was removed from the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and brought to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. A photo which is being billed of the last one of the entertainer was shown on CNN. It appears to have been shot through the ambulance's window and shows a paramedic using a respirator on Jackson whose eyes appear closed.

Jermaine Jackson, the superstar's brother, read a brief statement to the press.

Here's the statement:

My brother, the legendary king of pop Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 2:26 p.m. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are done.

His personal physician, who was with him at the time, attempted to resuscitate my brother. As did the paramedics who transmitted him to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Upon arriving at the hospital at approximately 1:14 p.m., a team of doctors including emergency physicians and cardiologists, attempted to resuscitate him for a period of more than one hour and they were unsuccessful.

Our family requests that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time.

May Allah be with you, Michael, always. Love you.

Update 9:07 PM Still no hospital press conference. I need to sign off for a bit. Check NPR.org for further updates until I can get back online, probably in about an hour.

Update 8:53 PM Greg Strank, a detective with Los Angeles Police Department's robbery and homicide unit, told journalists gathered outside Michael Jackson's house that the media shouldn't read anything significant into officers from his unit being on the scene. "We investigate deaths every day," he said, adding that the high profile nature of the case led the the LAPD chief to have his unit secure the scene and conduct an investigation. He wouldn't answer questions beyond the time the police were notified, at about 1:00 PM Los Angeles time, and the time the cultural icon was pronounced dead, 2:30 PM Los Angeles time.

Update at 8:45 PM CNN's Roland Martin reports on the network that he talked with Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson's brother. Marlon said he learned of his brother's death at his home in Georgia when his daughter saw the news on TV and said "Dad, they're saying Uncle Mike died." Martin reports that Marlon called his brother's agent who confirmed the news, saying "We lost him."

Martin then said that Marlon told him that the agent told the Jackson brother that the superstar complained of feeling ill last night. He didn't go to the hospital. He then collapsed today. Paramedics were called and arrived at the house at 12:20 PM Los Angeles time and was pronounced dead at 2:30 PM.

Update at 8:35 PM NPR's Neda Ulaby has this Michael Jackson obituary on the NPR Music site.

Update at 8:24 PM People are dancing outside the Apollo Theater to Michael Jackson tunes. And the Apollo has changed its marquee to read "In Memory of Michael Jackson, A True Apollo Legend. 1958-2009." Meanwhile, still no press conference at the hospital.

Update at 8:09 PM TMZ.com has a live stream up of the scene in front of the UCLA Medical Center. They're waiting for a hospital press conference to begin.

Update 8:04 PM Tributes.com has set up a page for fans to leave their condolences, thoughts and memories: http://www.tributes.com/Michael-Jackson

Updated 7:45 PM Jeffrey Toobin, CNN's legal analyst, was part of an interesting discussion in which he said it shouldn't be forgotten that Jackson had very disturbing relationships with young boys. Don't think there was really any danger of that happening.

Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone had a great line. Paraphrasing, it was something like Jackson was an adult as a child and a child as an adult.

7:40 PM Well, that didn't take long. CNN has video of Rev. Al Sharpton standing outside of the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Sharpton showed a 1980 picture of himself with Jackson and James Brown, who Sharpton once worked for. Sharpton also said that it was Jackson who made "culture" accept black people, that Jackson was a trailblazer before Tiger Woods, Oprah and President Barack Obama. "Michael did in music what they later did in sports, politics and television," Sharpton said.

Updated 7:35 PM CNN just confirmed that Michael Jackson is dead, more than two hours after TMZ.com first reported it. They got it from the Los Angeles coroner. Better safe than sorry, CNN clearly decided.

They also had a reporter from an entertainment website who read a note from Michael Levine, Jackson's publicist from the first molestation trial with Levine saying he wasn't surprised since Jackson was "self-destructive."

Levine's statement:

Continue reading "Michael Jackson Dead At 50" >

The smile -- and hair -- that brightened the late '70s. Studio portrait; 1975. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

By Mark Memmott

Actress Farrah Fawcett has died after a long battle with anal cancer, CNN and People magazine are reporting. She was 62.

Update at 12:50 p.m. ET. People writes that

Fawcett died at 9:28 a.m. PST at St. John's Heath Center in Santa Monica, Calif. She had recently returned to St. John's for treatment of complications from anal cancer, first diagnosed three years ago. Her longtime partner Ryan O'Neal was at her side throughout her final days

Update at 1 p.m. ET: While Fawcett will always be remembered for the iconic poster that helped make her a sex symbol in the '70s, and for her role in the original Charlie's Angels, she also turned in a critically acclaimed dramatic performance in The Burning Bed -- a 1984 TV movie about an abused wife who sets her husband on fire.

And in recent years, she bravely documented her illness

Update at 1:15 p.m. ET: AOL has video of the Charlie's Angel pilot episode here.

Update at 1:30 p.m. ET. NPR's Jesse Baker writes that:

Before the poster, the aspiring actress' career had mainly consisted of a few TV cameos and commercials for beauty products. But the pinup-girl poster, which sold 12 million copies, changed all that.

By the fall of 1976, Fawcett was appearing weekly on television with Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson as one of Charlie's Angels, three stunning women who used their feminine prowess to fight crime in a man's world.

By Mark Memmott

It was nearly 10 years ago that the dramatic story of Dr. Jerri Nielsen caught worldwide attention. At the bottom of the world -- the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station -- she had to perform a biopsy on herself to confirm a diagnosis of breast cancer. Then she battled the disease while waiting for a rescue that had to be put off for months.

There's word today that Nielsen, 57, has died. Her husband says cancer finally caught up with her. She passed away Tuesday at their home in Southwick, Mass.

In 2006, Nielsen had this to say to Psychology Today about her experience at the South Pole:

"The things that make you strong, and make you feel as though you've accomplished something, are not the easy ones; it's the things you had to work and struggle through. Those are what give us our depth--that make us not just gray and plain and nothing, but give us depth and texture and longing."

Nielsen at the South Pole on Oct. 7, 1999. National Science Foundation/AP

 

McMahon, left, and Carson on May 22, 1992, during their final Tonight Show. Carson died in 2005. Douglas C. Pizac/AP

 

By Mark Memmott

Ed McMahon, the ultimate sidekick as Johnny Carson's announcer on The Tonight Show, has died, according to reports by his old TV network. He was 86.

MSNBC says the news of McMahon's death has been confirmed by his agent.

NBC4 in Los Angeles says McMahon died overnight at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

Update at 8:50 a.m. ET. The Associated Press now writes that:

Ed McMahon, the loyal Tonight Show sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" for 30 years, has died at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 86.

Publicist Howard Bragman says McMahon died early Tuesday at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his family.

Bragman didn't give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a "multitude of health problems the last few months."

By Mark Memmott

Sad news.

Thembi Ngubane, 24, has died.

As NPR reported in April 2006:

Ngubane was 19 when she first met radio producer Joe Richman in Khayelitsha, outside Cape Town. She was among a group of South African teenagers he interviewed about AIDS in 2004. He gave her a tape recorder, and for a year, she recorded an intimate audio diary that brings listeners into her home, among her family, to witness her daily struggles and triumphs.

Ngubane introduces listeners to her boyfriend, Melikhaya -- and recalls when she told him she was HIV-positive: "I thought, 'What if I've also infected him? Now I've ruined my life, and I've ruined everybody's life.'"

She chronicles how difficult it is to tell her father about her illness: "I've felt like I have disappointed you. ... I thought that it was going to break you into pieces," she tells him.

And occasionally, Ngubane's frustrations overcome her: "My mother, she clothed me, fed me, raised me, and now, at the end of the day, she must also bury me. I was supposed to be the one who was going to look after her.... That is not right."

But throughout the diary, Ngubane expresses the desire she has to stop hiding her disease -- and to help others stop hiding, too.

Here's a sample of her audio diary:

Ngubane recording her diary in 2006. Melikhaya Mpumelo

 

All Things Considered is preparing a report about Ngubane for today's broadcast. Click here to find an NPR station near you.

There are more stories about Ngubane here.

Carradine in April this year. Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images

By Mark Memmott

David Carradine has been found dead in Bangkok, the Associated Press reports, citing the U.S. Embassy as its source.

It reports that embassy spokesman Michael Turner "says Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but that he could not provide further details out of consideration for his family."

The wire service's first "alert" identified the actor as star of the film Kill Bill.

For many of us, though, he'll always be best remembered as Kwai Chang Caine of Kung Fu.

IMDb says Carradine is 72.

Update at 10:45 a.m. ET: WABC-TV in New York says it has confirmed the news with Carradine's agent. It notes, as Two-Way reader "Muckle John" also points out in the comment thread below, that Carradine is part of an acting dynasty of sorts.

He was, WABC writes, "the eldest son of a revered Hollywood family that included his father, John Carradine; and his brothers, Bruce, Keith and Robert are also actors."

If you're looking for video clips from the Kung Fu series, there are many here.

By Mark Memmott

The passing of 91-year-old Edwin Schneidman is being noted today because he was, as the Los Angeles Times puts it, "a pioneer in the field of suicide prevention and a prolific thinker and writer who believed that life is enriched by contemplation of death and dying."

In 1958, Schneidman co-founded the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center. He believed, the Times writes, "that two simple questions -- 'Where do you hurt?' and 'How may I help you?' -- could begin to unlock the suicidal impulse."

His work began at a time when "research into suicide -- and suicide itself -- was largely shunned and stigmatized," the Times adds.

There's a compelling audio slide show at the Times' site here. Schneidman talks about how he was hoping for "a perfect time to die" when his time came. He died Friday after a long illness.

Watch for more about Schneidman on All Things Considered.