AP News, December 15th, 2007
Hank Kaplan
MIAMI (AP) — Hall of Fame boxing historian Hank Kaplan died Friday, leaving behind archives that dated to the 1800s. He was 88.
Kaplan died after battling cancer for nearly a year, his daughter, Barbara Haar-Kaplan, said. His archives include books, letters and newspaper clippings.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Kaplan moved to Miami in the early 1950s. He worked as quarantine officer with the Centers of Disease Control for 30 years while maintaining ties to boxing.
Kaplan wrote books on boxing and was founder and editor of World Wide Boxing Digest Magazine. He helped maintain the legacy of once-revered champions and accompanied former world champions Beau Jack and Kid Gavilan to functions decades after their careers.
Kaplan was on the screening committee that helped approved members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y. Kaplan was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.
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Floyd Red Crow Westerman
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Floyd Red Crow Westerman, an American Indian activist, actor and folk singer who appeared in "Dances with Wolves" and performed with Willie Nelson and other musicians, has died. He was 71.
Westerman died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of complications from leukemia, said his son, Richard Tall Bear Westerman.
The entertainer appeared in dozens of movies and television shows, including in recurring roles as Uncle Ray Firewalker on "Walker, Texas Ranger" and George Littlefox on "Dharma & Greg."
His most memorable movie role was in Kevin Costner's 1990 Oscar-winning Western epic, "Dances with Wolves." He played the Sioux leader Ten Bears, who befriends Costner's character.
A respected musician, Westerman worked with Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Harry Belafonte, Jackson Browne and others. His debut album, released in 1970, was titled "Custer Died For Your Sins."
Last year he released "A Tribute to Johnny Cash" to positive reviews.
Westerman completed work in September on the upcoming Costner film "Swing Vote."
He was an activist for environmental causes, and for the rights of American Indians and other indigenous people. In the 1990s, Westerman toured the world with Sting to raise money to preserve rain forests.
Westerman, who was born on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Sioux reservation in South Dakota, made his movie debut in 1989's "Renegades," playing the father of Lou Diamond Phillips' character. He was a shaman in Oliver Stone's 1991 movie "The Doors."
