Transitions / passings|
June 18, 2006
CHARLES HAUGHEY, 80: The charismatic but perpetually embattled Irish prime minister, who survived numerous scandals to emerge as the dominant political figure in Ireland in the second half of the 20th century, died Tuesday at his north Dublin home after a long bout with prostate cancer. Adored and despised, Mr. Haughey oversaw four scandal-marred governments as leader of Ireland's most popular party, Fianna Fail. He was “the great survivor,” bouncing back after being put on trial for allegedly running guns to Northern Ireland, and again after a series of scandals in 1982, which included a murder suspect being found at his attorney general's home. During his political career, Mr. Haughey struggled to keep secret the mysterious sources of his wealth. He solicited more than $10 million from Ireland's top businessmen, a practice exposed by taxpayer-funded investigations into his implausibly lavish lifestyle, which included horses, helicopters, an art collection, a yacht and his own island. Despite personal failings, he helped modernize Ireland, which went from being one of Europe's poorest countries to one of its richest.
HIROYUKI IWAKI, 73: The Japanese conductor who led the Melbourne Symphony for more than three decades died Tuesday of heart failure. Just a month before his final hospitalization, Mr. Iwaki conducted – from a wheelchair – an anniversary concert for the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus. He made his conducting debut in 1956 with the NHK Symphony after graduating from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts. He studied under Japanese maestro Hideo Saito, together with influential conductor Seiji Ozawa. After making a European debut with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in 1962, Mr. Iwaki conducted other major orchestras in Europe and the United States. He also conducted the soundtrack for Akiro Kurosawa's 1985 movie “Ran.” Mr. Iwaki was bestowed the title of permanent conductor for the NHK orchestra in 1969. He became the conductor of the Melbourne Symphony in Australia in 1973. In 1987, he was named the orchestra's first conductor laureate. Mr. Iwaki founded Japan's only permanent professional chamber orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, in 1988. On New Year's Eve in 2004, he conducted performances of all nine Beethoven symphonies – a nine-hour feat.
JOHNNY GRANDE, 76: An original member of Bill Haley and His Comets who played piano on their hit “Rock Around The Clock,” Mr. Grande died June 3 at his home in Clarksville, Tenn. Born in Philadelphia, he had recorded more than 40 songs, including four that went gold. He played piano on hits such as “See You Later, Alligator” and “Rockin' Through the Rye.” He helped arrange albums such as “Rockin' Around the World.” “Rock Around the Clock” was recorded in 1954 and was a No. 1 hit for eight weeks before going on to sell 22 million copies worldwide, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It gained new popularity when it was chosen for the soundtracks of the movies “The Blackboard Jungle” in 1955, a film named for the song in 1956 and “American Graffiti” in 1974. Mr. Grande was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1997. Haley is the only group member inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
MARGARET KARCHER, 91: On July 17, 1941, she and her husband, Carl N. Karcher, bought a hot-dog cart in Los Angeles with $311 they borrowed on their Plymouth car and $15 from her purse. They added four stands in the city within the next few years before opening their first full-service restaurant in Anaheim in 1945. Over the years, their venture grew into CKE Restaurants Inc., which operates the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's chains. CKE now has more than 1,000 Carl's Jr. restaurants, mostly in the West. Mrs. Karcher died June 6 in Scottsdale, Ariz., her son Carl Leo Karcher said. The cause was liver cancer, according to a news release posted on the Web site of Carpinteria-based CKE.
KENNETH THOMSON, 82: The understated billionaire, who was Canada's richest person, died Monday. Mr. Thomson owned about 70 percent of Thomson Corp. and had become chairman of the global information company after his father, Roy, died in 1976. He turned the chairmanship over to his son, David, in 2002. Mr. Thomson was ranked ninth on the Forbes magazine list of the world's wealthiest individuals, with an estimated fortune of $19.6 billion. Under Mr. Thomson, the Thomson Corp. and its corps of nonfamily managers sold most of the company's newspapers and other holdings to concentrate on providing specialist information to legal, investment, medical and other professionals, largely in electronic formats. Thomson Corp. businesses include Thomson Financial, an electronic provider of financial information, and the legal information company Westlaw.