AP News, August 2nd, 2007
Walter Dawson
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ Walter Dawson, a former music critic and editor for The Commercial Appeal, died Monday. He was 59.
Dawson died of a heart attack, according to the newspaper.
He began his journalism career at the Memphis newspaper in 1968, eventually becoming the newspaper's music critic and an editor in the business and metro departments.
Dawson covered the death of Elvis Presley in 1977, major local shows by The Rolling Stones and the region's rock 'n' roll, blues, punk, soul and gospel scenes.
He left in 1994 to become managing editor of California's Monterey County Herald. He and his family returned to Memphis in 1999, and he began working in public relations for First Tennessee Bank in 2000. He worked there until his death.
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Norma Gabler
LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) _ Norma Gabler, who spent much of the past 46 years fighting for accuracy in textbooks, has died in Phoenix at the age of 84.
Gabler and her husband, Mel, founded Educational Research Analysts, a nonprofit that describes itself as a conservation Christian organization.
They began their crusade against textbook errors in 1961 after finding mistakes in their son's textbooks. Mel Gabler died in 2004.
Jim Gabler, of Phoenix, said his father checked facts and his mother spoke before state officers reviewing textbooks.
He said his parents' work led to changes in the way textbooks were adopted. He said some publishers would submit their books to his parents before the approval process began so they could learn of any objections the Gablers might have.
Norma Gabler, who died Sunday, had moved to Phoenix earlier this year to be near her son. She had been diagnosed with vascular Parkinson's disease about a year and a half ago, he said.
Neal Frey, president of Educational Research Analysts, said the organization would continue.
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Norman A. Wiggins
BUIES CREEK, N.C. (AP) _ Norman A. Wiggins, the chancellor and retired president of Campbell University, died Wednesday. He was 83.
Wiggins died from complications of lymphoma.
He was president of the private, Baptist-affiliated university for 36 years before he retired in 2003, because of health problems related to the cancer. He was later named chancellor.
The university said Wiggins was being treated at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem when he died.
Wiggins was a native of Burlington and served in the Marines in World War II.
He earned an associate degree at Campbell Junior College, the predecessor of Campbell University. He went on to earn bachelor and law degrees at Wake Forest University, then earned a masters degree and a doctorate in law at Columbia University School of Law.
Wiggins taught law and was general counsel at Wake Forest until he was named Campbell's president in 1967. During his tenure, the university grew to include schools of law, business, education, divinity and pharmacy.
Campbell also established satellite programs at North Carolina's military bases under Wiggins' leadership, as well as a partnership with Tunku Abdul Rahman College in Kuala Lumpu, Malaysia.
As a legal scholar, Wiggins wrote three books on wills, trusts and estates. He also is a former president of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention.
