AP Features, November 22nd, 2007
R. Hendrix Chandler
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — R. Hendrix Chandler, who reported on state government in Florida for The Associated Press and then served two decades as a key official for the state university system, has died. He was 94.
Culley's Funeral Home confirmed Chandler died Friday after a brief illness.
Chandler had a long career covering politics with the AP, including helping with coverage of several presidential campaigns, from Harry S. Truman's in 1948 to John F. Kennedy's in 1960, according to his family.
In 1954 he was posted to Tallahassee to head up the news organization's bureau here, and covered Florida government and politics through the 1950s. Before joining the AP, he had worked at newspapers in Little Rock, Ark., and Mobile, Ala.
In 1962, Chandler was appointed corporate secretary for the Florida Board of Regents, which ran the state university system. He authored a history of Florida's state university system.
___
Fernando Fernan Gomez
MADRID, Spain (AP) — Fernando Fernan Gomez, a prolific actor, director and writer who was one of Spain's most beloved and respected entertainers, has died. He was 86.
Fernan Gomez died Wednesday of cardio-respiratory failure at La Paz Hospital, the hospital said in a statement.
Known for his booming voice, stern and imposing physical presence and sometimes irascible temper, Fernan Gomez appeared in more than 200 films, directed another 20 and wrote novels, plays and poetry.
He was also a member of the Spanish Royal Academy, the official watchdog of the Spanish language.
Born in Lima, Peru on Aug. 28, 1921 during a tour by his actress mother Carola Fernan Gomez, theater was his life from day one. His birth was registered in Buenos Aires and Fernan Gomez kept Argentine nationality until the 1980s although he spent most of his life in Spain.
His early career was stalled by the outbreak of the three-year Spanish Civil War in 1936. He later became one of the most recognizable faces of Spanish cinema during the ensuing 36-year-long dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco.
He debuted on the big screen in the 1943 production "Cristina Guzman" by Gonzalo Delgras and then proceeded to specialize in a string of fast-paced comedies though he also starred in dramatic works such as Carlos Saura's "Ana y los Lobos" (Anna and the Wolves) in 1972 and Victor Erice's 1973 "El Espiritu de la Colmena" (The Spirit of the Beehive).
____
James W. Haviland
SEATTLE (AP) — Dr. James W. Haviland, co-founder of an early, out-of-hospital kidney dialysis center and a leader in the development of the University of Washington School of Medicine, died Nov. 14 of natural causes. He was 96.
Born in Glen Falls, N.Y., on July 18, 1911, Haviland died in his home in Bremerton, Wash. The university confirmed his death.
He completed medical school and his residency training at Johns Hopkins University. He worked in state government at what was then the departments of Social Security and Health before serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve and then going into private practice in Seattle.
In the late 1940s, at the inception of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Haviland served as a liaison between the school and the Washington State Medical Association.
He went on to serve as assistant dean from 1949 to 1953, working to bring community doctors and the new school together. Then in 1953, he became acting dean, playing a role in the design, construction and financing of University Hospital, which is now know as the UW Medical Center.
Haviland returned to the university in the 1970s, as a professor and also in several administrative jobs, while maintaining his private practice.
In 1962, Haviland and Dr. Belding Scribner co-founded the Seattle Artificial Kidney Center, which is known today as the Northwest Kidney Centers.
___
Patrick Kelly
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Retired federal Judge Patrick Kelly, whose notable cases included barring abortion protesters from blocking clinic entrances and pushing Playtex to stop selling tampons linked to toxic shock syndrome, has died. died Friday. He was 78.
Kelly died Friday, according to Lakeview Funeral Home. U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown said Kelly had cancer.
Kelly's 16-year tenure on the federal bench ended in 1996. He is perhaps most well known for his role during the 1991 "Summer of Mercy" abortion protests in Wichita. Thousands of demonstrators were arrested during the 45-day event, which was organized by the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.
The group's founder, Randall Terry, dubbed Kelly a "Nazi judge" when Kelly ordered protesters to stop blocking the entrance of the clinic of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few physicians in the country to perform late-term abortions. Kelly also ordered U.S. marshals to provide security.
The Court of Appeals struck down Kelly's ruling on abortion protesters. But Congress affirmed Kelly's intent by passing a law making it a federal crime to block clinic entrances.
In 1985, a jury in Wichita ordered Playtex to pay $11.2 million in damages to the widower of a woman who died from toxic shock syndrome. Afterward, Kelly said he would lower part of the payment if the company removed the tampons from the market.
Playtex took the tampons off the market, even though Kelly's ruling to lower the award was reversed.
___
Paul Soloway
MILL CREEK, Wash. (AP) — Paul Soloway, a renowned bridge player with nearly 30 national titles and five Bermuda Bowl world team titles, has died. He was 66.
Soloway died Nov. 5 at a hospital in Seattle after years of diabetes, heart problems and related health difficulties. His death was confirmed by Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home in suburban Bothell.
Since 1991, Soloway had been the American Contract Bridge League's top-ranked player in North America.
At the time of his death he had 65,511.92 master points, more than 6,000 ahead of the second-ranked player. At 300 points, a player is considered a "life master."
A native of Beverly Hills, Calif., Soloway learned bridge from his parents and frequently cut classes to play while studying business at San Fernando Valley State College. He joined the bridge league in 1962.
After six months of regular work he quit and traveled the country playing bridge, hustling in bowling alleys and betting on sports games, said Pam Pruitt, his wife of 30 years and former mayor of this suburb north of Seattle.
They married shortly after meeting at a bridge tournament in Eugene, Ore.
Soloway was cremated with a deck of world championship bridge cards in his right hand, and Pruitt said his ashes will rest in two of his Vanderbilt bridge trophies.
