GoogObits:
Obituaries and essays augmented by Google seaches. There is a lot to learn from the dead.

Saturday, May 10, 2003

Passion George Morrow, a Personal Computer Visionary, Dies at 69 By JOHN MARKOFF George Morrow, a mathematician and programmer who was a member of a group of unorthodox hobbyists who were instrumental in creating the personal computer industry, died at his home in San Mateo, Calif., on Wednesday. He was 69 and had suffered from aplastic anemia for the last year, his wife said. Mr. Morrow was born in Detroit. He dropped out of high school, but at the age of 28 decided to return to school and received a bachelor's degree in physics from Stanford University and a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Oklahoma. He entered a Ph.D. program in mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley, but was sidetracked by his passion for computers. He started working as a programmer in the computer laboratory at Berkeley in the early 1970's and began attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club, an informal group of engineers, programmers, experimenters and entrepreneurs that ultimately spun off dozens of companies that formed the core of the personal computer industry in the 1970's. Initially, most personal computers were sold as kits. Mr. Morrow formed Microstuf, a company in Berkeley, Calif., to sell expansion cards and other computer add-on products to the first generation of personal computer enthusiasts. He would later change the name of the company, first to Thinker Toys and later to Morrow Designs. A self-taught computer designer, Mr. Morrow was involved in the efforts to create and standardize the S100 bus, a hardware design that made it possible for early PC makers to share expansion cards. Morrow Designs thrived when the personal computer became an important tool for small businesses. The first machines ran the Digital Research CP/M operating system. Later, Mr. Morrow introduced a portable computer intended to compete head-to-head with the popular Osborne 1 computer. The Morrow machine matched the Osborne's $1,795 price but offered more bundled software. Mr. Morrow was well known for his enthusiasm and his sense of humor within the computer industry. Lee Felsenstein, who was one of the original members of the Homebrew club and the designer of the Osborne 1, recalled that Mr. Morrow was usually dressed in jeans and tennis shoes. When I.B.M. began to dominate the PC market, Mr. Morrow was forced to shift to the industry standard. In 1985, his company introduced a popular portable design known as the Pivot and sold the design to Zenith Data Systems. But with the industry becoming increasingly dominated by large electronics companies, Morrow Designs filed for bankruptcy in 1986. In recent years, Mr. Morrow spent his time maintaining a collection of 70,000 78-r.p.m. recordings, with much of the collection being dance and jazz music of the 1920's and 1930's. He had developed an advanced electronic system for digitizing and remastering the recordings and he was distributing them on compact disc on his own label, the Old Masters. He is survived by his wife, Michiko Jean, of San Mateo; two sons, John, of San Mateo, and William, of New York; and a daughter, Kelly, of San Jose, Calif. Copyright 2003 New York Times (Registration required) 12:42:34 AM    comment []

Friday, May 9, 2003

Mad Death is the great silencer. It's always odd to read the obituary of someone who was, in life, a great noisemaker, whether it is actual noise or just the legal kind. Robert Merkle, Who Tried Big Trafficker, Dies at 58 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TAMPA, Fla., May 8 — Robert W. Merkle Jr., who as United States attorney here successfully prosecuted the Colombian drug baron Carlos Lehder Rivas, died at a hospital in nearby Clearwater on Monday. He was 58. His family declined to disclose the cause of death, but newspaper reports said he had been suffering from cancer. Mr. Merkle was the chief federal prosecutor for the Middle District of Florida from 1982 to 1988, a role in which he won not only a conviction of Mr. Lehder, whom the authorities described as having been responsible for 80 percent of the Colombian cocaine smuggled into the United States, but also an indictment of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, the Panamanian military ruler later captured in the American invasion of his country. Mr. Merkle was born in Washington and became a running back on the football team at the University of Notre Dame, where he later earned his law degree. A flamboyant prosecutor, he acquired the nickname Mad Dog for his aggressive style. Critics acknowledged his legal skills but questioned his methods. Defense lawyers, accusing him of abusive and bullying tactics that they compared to McCarthyism, called for Justice Department investigations, which consistently cleared him of inappropriate conduct. Survivors include his wife, Angela, and nine children. Copyright 2003 New York Times (registration required) 7:44:11 AM    comment []

Saturday, April 19, 2003

John Strejan, Wizard of the Pop-Up Book, Dies at 70 April 17, 2003 By EDEN ROSS LIPSON John Strejan, who earned the nickname Silverblade for his mastery of paper engineering in designing complicated and fanciful pop-up books for children and adults, died in Los Angeles on March 26. He was 70. The cause was cancer, said his daughter Stephanie Strejan-Schwartz. Mr. Strejan (the name is pronounced STREE-jen) was an artist from childhood, who discovered that he could figure out how things worked and then draw them with a knife. His nickname referred to his dazzling speed and skill with an X-Acto blade. There are only a few dozen paper engineers in the world, all self-taught. It is hard not to marvel when a flat book opens and out comes a fully rigged galleon, a half-dozen dinosaurs or a breathing coral reef with eels swimming through the lacy boughs; pulling tabs can make shells open or tentacles wave. But the exacting mechanics of how it is done are hard to explain. "I took paper, smashed it in a book and saw how it folded," he once said of his early experiments. Complex constructions like Mr. Strejan's, which must be assembled, slotted in, and glued by hand, contain hundreds of individual pieces of paper, each precisely cut to fit and fold exactly, and hundreds of glue points. Books with moveable parts can be traced to the 1300's, but the 19th-century Germans Ernest Nister and Lothar Meggendorfer are credited with the modern form, which then languished until the 1960's. Robert Sabuda, an author and illustrator of recent pop-up titles like "The 12 Days of Christmas: A Pop-Up Celebration," called Mr. Strejan "a grand master of the generation when pop-up books entered their second golden age." Mr. Sabuda said Mr. Strejan's work "is so good that today I still can't figure out how to do some of it." Mr. Strejan was born in Detroit and grew up in Portland, Ore. He moved to Los Angeles, where he worked for advertising agencies and was also art director for Teen magazine and Bullocks department store. His first three-dimensional projects were done for the Elgin Davis Art Studio. Mr. Davis was a founder of Graphics International, designers and producers of a new line of pop-books in the late 1960's, which required hand assembly. It later became Intervisual Books, one of the leaders in the field today. Among the titles that established Mr. Strejan's international reputation were the large-format collection "The Sailing Ships" (1984) and "The Facts of Life" (also 1984), by Dr. Jonathan Miller, an educational book for adults and children that was memorable for its inclusion of anatomically complete human genitalia; both were published by Viking. From 1987 to 1989 Mr. Strejan engineered a National Geographic series on animals, including "Strange Animals of the Sea." Mr. Strejan was married four times, most recently two days before he died to his companion of 17 years, Patricia Kroon. He is survived by four daughters from previous marriages, Ms. Strejan-Schwartz, Sabrina Sciacca, Heather Romano and Shannon Praytchl; two stepdaughters, Diane Umberger and Stacey Palmisano; a brother, Gene; and five grandchildren. In addition to creating more than 50 books, Mr. Strejan, who reveled in the freelance life, continued to do paper engineering for advertising displays like a pop-up version of the Magic Castle for Disney, a pop-up of the Getty Museum and posters for the movie "Toy Story." Mr. Strejan's last project for Intervisual Books, which sold about 500,000 copies in 13 countries, was "Choo-Choo Charlie: The Littletown Train" (1998; distributed in the United States by PiggyToes Press), a cardboard book and play set with a pop-up village and a wind-up train. And, it whistles. Copyright 2003 New York Times (Registration required) 8:33:19 AM    comment []

Thursday, March 27, 2003

Work Today we see how the gift of life was not squandered. Larry Rosenbaum was given the stereotypical "two years to live". He took much more than he was given. And he gave a large company a set of intellectual property relating to the use of plastics. We are all work for hire. LARRY A. ROSENBAUM, 56 Published March 27, 2003 Larry A. Rosenbaum, 56, a longtime Gurnee resident and a plastics engineer who helped develop hundreds of patented products during a 20-year career at Baxter Healthcare in Round Lake, died Saturday, March 22, of complications from meningitis in Milwaukee's Froedtert Hospital. Born in Akron, Mr. Rosenbaum graduated from Akron's Kenmore High School in 1964. He later attended the University of Akron but withdrew when diagnosed with a hereditary kidney disease. At the time, doctors gave him two years to live. Mr. Rosenbaum outlasted the disease and in 1989, after 18 months on dialysis, received a kidney transplant. Mr. Rosenbaum's experiences with dialysis and the transplant were key to his work at Baxter. As a plastics engineer and machine designer, he helped develop new ways to produce medical storage bags and delivery systems for various intravenous drugs, including those for patients with kidney diseases. According to colleague Steve Giovanetto, Mr. Rosenbaum's team of plastics researchers was responsible for 300 to 400 patents in the last two decades. Mr. Rosenbaum personally held more than 25 plastics-related patents and was recognized at Baxter as an expert in "container technology," according to Giovanetto. Mr. Rosenbaum began his career as a tool-and-die maker in Ohio. He later helped develop a plastic irrigation tile for farm fields. In 1982, he went to work as a manager in Baxter's plastics engineering division, and he most recently headed a team of engineers and new-product developers for the company. Survivors include his wife, Susan, and a brother, Joel. Services will be held at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 31 Park Ave., Grayslake. Copyright 2003 Chicago Tribune (Registration required) 7:57:05 AM    comment []

Thursday, March 20, 2003

Things LENORE BRESLAUER, 80 Organized mothers into anti-war group Los Angeles Times March 20, 2003 LOS ANGELES -- Lenore Breslauer, a founding member of the anti-war citizen group Another Mother for Peace during the Vietnam War, has died. She was 80. Ms. Breslauer died of lung cancer Friday at her home in West Hollywood. Another Mother for Peace, a grass-roots organization launched by a group of women in Los Angeles in 1967, grew to have more than 450,000 people on its mailing list, and its logo became an internationally recognized symbol for peace: a sunflower bearing the message, "War is not healthy for children and other living things." Another Mother for Peace ceased operation as a non-profit group in the mid-1980s. Ms. Breslauer, a mother of two, served on its steering committee and worked on its newsletter. She also made lobbying trips to Washington with other group leaders. "My mother had such grave concern for the world and for this horrendous war," said her daughter Nancy Chuda. "She also was the mother of a son and she wanted so desperately for my brother not to have to serve in a war that was so terribly unjust and so inhumane--as did all these other mothers. Ironically, in my mother's life, she did lose her son," Chuda added. That son, Jon Gould, died of complications from AIDS in 1993. He was a co-founder of Project Angel Food, which provides meals for patients with HIV and AIDS. Gould also had been the chef at Pasta Etc., the former Beverly Hills restaurant that he and his mother opened in the 1980s. The restaurant, Chuda said, was the first to volunteer its kitchen to Project Angel Food. Born in New York's Bronx borough, Ms. Breslauer graduated from Hunter College in her hometown in 1942 and went to work as secretary for talent agent William Morris. After marrying David Gould, who managed Perry Como, Helen Hayes and other entertainment notables, she moved to Los Angeles. Gould died in 1959, and Ms. Breslauer later married and divorced Gerald Breslauer, an entertainment business manager. Copyright 2003 Chicago Tribune (registration required) 8:05:30 AM    comment []

Thursday, March 13, 2003

FRIEND OF THE FAMILY This GoogObit was written by my brother Kevin, in tribute to a woman he and his family knew from their old parish. His daughter Moira, who shares the name of the deceased, was very good friends with her son Tim when they went to school together at Northside Catholic Academy, St. Gertrude Campus. MOIRA TOBIN WICKES, 46 Children's Memorial specialist created orthotics department By Barbara Sherlock Tribune Staff Writer March 12, 2003 There is a vivid image of Moira Tobin Wickes shared by her friends, family and colleagues. It is of a dynamic, petite woman moving through life with a child often resting on her hip and a smile on her face Mrs. Tobin Wickes, 46, died of cancer Monday, March 10, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago The Chicago mother of five tied her love of children and her passion for healing into a 25-year career at Children's Memorial Hospital. Among her accomplishments was creating the hospital's department of orthotics, a branch of science that deals with supporting and bracing weak or ineffective joints or muscles. She served as the department's supervisor for many years before becoming its director in 1998 "I have never known anyone else who was so energetic and hardworking and at the same time friendly, cheerful and lighthearted," said Mary Weck, her colleague and friend for more than 20 years. "Her enthusiasm and spark touched everybody in this hospital. Whether it was one of her five sons, any of the dozens of nieces and nephews or the thousands of pediatric patients she saw at the hospital, children always found a place in her arms and an eager listener to their tales. "She just had this great love for children and always wanted to be a healer, and deep down felt she could be the most effective as anntist," said her husband, John. The two met in 1982 at a dessert party hosted by a mutual friend in Chicago. "I remember walking in the room and seeing her," her husband said. "She was beautiful and so filled with life with this wonderful, hardy, infectious laugh." They married in 1983. While studying at Mundelein College in Chicago for a degree in biology, Mrs. Tobin Wickes began volunteering at Children's Memorial in its child psychology department. A short while later, she moved to the physical therapy department and, after her graduation in 1978, became an aide who helped the therapists apply splints to the young patients, Weck said. "She saw a need for orthotics, so she went to Northwestern University Medical School, became certified as an orthotist, and in 1982 began building this department," said Weck, a physical therapy pediatric specialist at the hospital. In 1992, Weck and Mrs. Tobin Wickes started the hospital's serial casting program, which was featured last year in a PBS television documentary. The program, an alternative to surgical intervention, incorporates gait training, muscular strengthening and orthotics with the common therapy technique of fitting patients with plaster and plastic casts that are revised on a weekly basis over several months. The casts gradually train the patient's foot, ankle and leg into proper alignment. The other components Weck and Mrs. Tobin Wickes added to the program reinforced the work done by the casts. "The casting got some notoriety, but it isn't half as impressive as the work she did building our whole pediatric orthotics department," Weck said. "She started here as an orthotist all by herself within the physical therapy department and grew it into this huge, busy department." The pediatric orthotics department became a separate unit in 1986 and is now staffed by five orthotists, a resident, seven physical therapists, eight technicians and an in-house laboratory. Mrs. Tobin Wickes was the seventh of 17 children born to Noreen and Frank Tobin. "Somehow my parents were able to instill this unique quality where we all felt very close," said Virginia Payne, one of Mrs. Tobin Wickes' younger sisters. "They did it with unconditional love, and Moira really embodied what we learned from our parents. Her greatest gifts were her strong ability to love, family values and family closeness." Other survivors include her sons, John Jr., Stephen, Timothy, Edward and Robert; 10 brothers, Terry, Frank, Michael, Robert, Daniel, Timothy, Patrick, David, John and Edward Tobin; five other sisters, Noreen O'Neill, Kathleen Tobin, Rose Bradshaw, Margaret Heneghan and Ann Tobin; and 51 nieces and nephews. Mass will be said at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Holy Name Cathedral, 730 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago. Copyright © 2003 Chicago Tribune (Registration required) 8:13:27 AM    comment []

Tuesday, March 11, 2003

Nadines Here's one for the "On The Same Day" files: The obituaries of Nadine Conner, Lyric Soprano With the Met, and just plain Nadine, Opera Soprano and Countess of Shrewsbury, were published on the same day. What were the chances of that? From the "On The Same Day" archives: Balthus and Earnhardt Federico Fellini and River Phoenix 7:45:17 AM    comment []