Joel T. Broyhill
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP)–Former congressman Joel T. Broyhill, who represented northern Virginia for more than two decades and who escaped from a German prison camp in World War II, died Sunday. He was 86.
Broyhill died of congestive heart failure and pneumonia at his Arlington home, his son-in-law said.
Broyhill, a Republican first elected to Congress in 1952 to represent the new 10th Congressional District, developed a reputation for constituent service that became legendary.
He was also known for his opposition to the establishment of home rule in the District of Columbia, and he frequently clashed with Walter Washington, who would become the city’s first mayor, and Marion Barry, who was a community activist during Broyhill’s time in Congress.
Broyhill lost his seat in 1974 to Democrat Joseph L. Fisher. His defeat was considered one of the biggest upsets nationally that year.
Broyhill attended Fork Union Military Academy and George Washington University. He joined the Army in 1942 and was taken prisoner in the Battle of the Bulge. After six months in Nazi prison camps, Broyhill escaped and rejoined advancing American forces.
In civilian life, Broyhill worked in the family real estate business, M.T. Broyhill and Sons.
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Iva Toguri D’Aquino
CHICAGO (AP)–Iva Toguri D’Aquino, who was convicted and later pardoned of being World War II propagandist “Tokyo Rose,” died Tuesday of natural causes, said her nephew, William Toguri. She was 90.
Tokyo Rose was the name given by soldiers to a female radio broadcaster responsible for anti-American transmissions intended to demoralize soldiers fighting in the Pacific theater. D’Aquino was the only U.S. citizen identified among the potential suspects.
In 1949, she became the seventh person to be convicted of treason in American history and served six years in prison. But doubts about her possible role as Tokyo Rose later surfaced and she was pardoned by President Gerald Ford in 1977.
D’Aquino had recently graduated from UCLA and was visiting relatives in Japan when she became trapped in the country at the beginning of World War II, according to a statement Tuesday from a Toguri family spokeswoman, Barbara Trembley.
D’Aquino began working odd jobs to support herself while trying to find a way out of the country. That led to her work on a Japanese propaganda radio show manned by Allied prisoners called “Zero Hour,” the statement said.
D’Aquino spent the years following her release from prison living a quiet life on Chicago’s North Side.
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Norman Lewis
LOS ANGELES (AP)–Norman Lewis, who wrote or edited more than 60 books on language and grammar, including the best-selling “30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary” and “Word Power Made Easy” died Sept. 8. He was 93.
The former faculty member at Rio Hondo College died of age-related causes at an assisted-living home in Whittier, said Ted Snyder, the college’s former director of public relations.
Born in New York City in 1912, Lewis published his first article, a book report that appeared in the now-defunct New York Telegram, at age 11.
In 1939, he sold his first nonfiction work–a quiz on the varieties of manias–to Leisure magazine for $1.
As a student at Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree, Lewis wrote his first book, a sixth-grade textbook called “Journeys Through Wordland,” in 1941.
Lewis was highly regarded as a leading authority in English-language skills. The book, which Lewis co-wrote with publisher Wilfred Funk, is considered one of the most widely used and popular how-to books of its kind. It was first published in 1942, and the latest edition came out in 2003.
Lewis, who taught English at Rio Hondo from 1964 to 1995, also edited the well-known “Roget’s New Pocket Thesaurus in Dictionary Form.”
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Byron Nelson
IRVING, Texas (AP)–Byron Nelson, who had the greatest year in the history of professional golf when he won 18 tournaments in 1945, including a record 11 in a row, died Tuesday. He was 94.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office said he died of natural causes.
Known as Lord Byron for his elegant swing and gentle manner, Nelson won 31 of 54 tournaments in 1944-45. Then, at age 34, he retired after the 1946 season to spend more time on his Texas ranch.
Nelson was born Feb. 4, 1912, on the family farm and started in golf in 1922 as a caddie at Glen Garden Country Club in Fort Worth. One year, he won the caddies’ championship, defeating Ben Hogan in a playoff.
As a hemophiliac, Nelson was excused from military service during World War II. But despite the weak fields, his accomplishments in the war years were astounding.
Nelson finished second seven times in 1945, was never out of the top 10 and at one point played 19 consecutive rounds under 70. His stroke average of 68.33 for the season is still the record.
Nelson’s 52 PGA Tour victories–a mark tied by Tiger Woods this year–was fifth on the career list behind Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Hogan and Arnold Palmer. He was elected to the PGA Hall of Fame in 1953 and to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
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Timothy Hayes Rooney
LOS ANGELES (AP)–Timothy Hayes Rooney, a son of Mickey Rooney who had a minor career as an actor, has died. He was 59.
Rooney died Saturday at his Hemet ranch after a five-year battle with a muscle disease called dermatomyositis, his stepbrother, Dan Kessel, said Tuesday.
Born Jan. 4, 1947, in Birmingham, Ala., he was the second son of his famous father. His mother was a former Miss Alabama and singer, Betty Jane Rase, who performed as B.J. Baker.
Rooney suffered from childhood polio that left him paralyzed for two years but he recovered. He was chosen to be one of the original 1955 Mouseketeers for “The Mickey Mouse Club” but never appeared on the show because he was fired for getting into mischief in the Disney paint shop.
His later career included parts in movies such as “Riot on Sunset Strip.” He also appeared on TV shows ranging from “Dragnet” to “Bewitched,” and commercials and did voice-over work for cartoons.
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Fred N. Spiess
LA JOLLA, Calif. (AP)–Research scientist Fred N. Spiess, who briefly headed the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, died Sept. 8 of cancer, the school said. He was 86.
Spiess was acting director of Scripps from 1962-63 and director from 1964-65. From 1980-88, he served as director of UC’s Institute of Marine Resources.
He designed and built instruments, took them to sea for deployment and led numerous expeditions to investigate the deepest parts of the world’s oceans.
A co-inventor of FLIP, a 355-foot-long floating instrument platform, Spiess helped further ocean research by creating a stable base for scientific exploration on the rough seas.
Born in Oakland, Spiess earned his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree from Harvard University. He returned to Berkeley for a doctorate in physics.
Spiess served in the Navy during World War II and was stationed on a submarine in the Pacific.
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Thomas Stewart
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP)–Thomas Stewart, an American baritone known for his portrayals of Norse god Wotan and other Wagnerian roles, died Sunday. He was 78.
Stewart died while playing golf near his home in Rockville, according to Evelyn Lear, his wife.
Stewart was known as a commanding singer who took an imaginative approach to his diverse roles, which included Aeneas in Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas,” Jochaanan in Strauss’s “Salome,” and the title role in “Don Giovanni.”
Stewart nurtured young singers as part of the Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program, in company with the Wagner Society of Washington D.C.
Stewart was born Aug. 29, 1928, in San Saba, Texas. He studied with Mack Harrell at the Juilliard School and later sang with the New York City Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
He married Lear in 1955. They moved to Berlin, where they sang at the State Opera and then throughout Europe, before returning to the United States for long careers with the Metropolitan Opera.
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Ralph Story
LOS ANGELES (AP)–Ralph Story, a television and radio broadcaster for three decades and host of the hugely popular quiz show “The $64,000 Challenge” in the 1950s, has died. He was 86.
Story died Tuesday at his home in Santa Ynez, north of Santa Barbara, after a long battle with emphysema, said his longtime colleague and friend, Dan Gingold.
Born Ralph Bernard Snyder, he got his big break in broadcasting 1948 when he was hired to host and direct an early morning show on KNX radio in Los Angeles. At the suggestion of the station’s managers, he changed his name to Ralph Story.
Story’s casual style and witty observations about life in Los Angeles made him a popular host and won him national recognition.
Story later moved into network television, where in 1956 he began hosting the hugely popular quiz show “The $64,000 Challenge.” The CBS show was canceled in 1958 while several networks were embroiled in allegations that popular contestants were supplied with answers in advance.
Story, who was not implicated in the scandal, returned to local broadcasting in 1960. He anchored a radio news show on KNX and later joined “The Big News,” one of the nation’s first hour-long local TV newscasts. His regular feature, “Human Predicament,” about people caught in unusual events and situations, became a popular segment. It developed into a local newsmagazine show about the people and places of Los Angeles called “Ralph Story’s Los Angeles,” which aired for six years.
Story joined KABC-TV in the 1970s and co-hosted a morning news show that became the precursor to “Good Morning America,” Gingold said. When it moved to New York City, Story stayed in Los Angeles where he continued working as a writer, producer and reporter for several TV stations.
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