Neil Henderson obit

Bay City Rollers star Neil Henderson dies aged 73 after long-term illness

Neil Henderson's former bandmates have paid tribute to the guitarist following his death

 

He was not on the list.

Guitarist Neil Henderson has died aged 73.

The Bay City Rollers musician's death was announced by his ex-bandmates in a statement, confirming that he had been ill for some time following a stroke.

Neil's ex-bandmates in Middle of the Road said in a statement: "We are sorry to have to announce the death of Neil Henderson, our original lead guitarist, songwriter and friend.

"Neil had been ill for some time and was fighting to recover from a stroke a few years ago.

"We wish to send our sincere condolences to Heather and Shona, his two daughters, and all his family and friends.

"His memory will live on with all who had the pleasure of sharing the stage with him as will his music."

Neil played in the Scottish pop rock band from 1970 for two years, and is heard on their debut chart single Keep on Dancing. However, he left the band prior to them being catapulted to worldwide fame through Rollermania.

He saw success with another Scottish band, Middle of the Road, and was able to land a number one hit with Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.

When he joined the band in 1974, he wrote and co-wrote a number of songs including Everybody Loves A Winner and Rockin Soul.

Devastated fans have paid tribute to Henderson, with one commenting: "This is so sad. During the '73 Middle of the Road, West & East European tour, Neil was introduced as the fifth member of the Middle of the Road group. I was the groups tour driver & had some great chats with him."

While another wrote: "My deepest condolences to the family and the band. Rest in peace, Neal Rock the heavens up there together with my dad and so many others."

A third commented: "I'm so sad to see this. I remember him well even though it was a long time ago, we chatted a lot about the band and how much younger he was. It's strange and sad for me to see the demise of that lovely young guitarist. RIP Neil."

Cuck Varga obit

GWAR Founding Member CHUCK VARGA Dies After Battle With Cancer

 

He was not on the list.

Chuck Varga, a founding member of GWAR and the man behind The Sexecutioner from 1985 to 2022, has died after a battle with cancer.

Varga's death was announced Friday night (September 25) in a social media post shared by Beefcake The Mighty, also known as Casey Orr, the bassist for the heavily costumed theatrical shock/thrash metal band.

Orr wrote: "Chuck Varga has left this earthly realm. He passed peacefully, his beloved wife Bambi holding his hand.

"He was one of a kind. As an artist, as a performer; as a scholar and a gentleman. I'm better for having known him and the world is lesser for his leaving.

"He is most likely being welcomed into Valhalla right now by [Dave] Brockie [who fronted GWAR under the name Oderus Urungus] and Smooty [GWAR guitarist Cory Smoot] and all who went before.

"Raise your glass and tell his tales. Legends never die. Hail Varga! Hail Sexecutioner!"

This past June, GWAR created a fundraiser to help cover the mounting expenses associated with Chuck's care, including cancer treatments, hospice care, specialized medical equipment, and additional nursing support. It was also supposed to help offset the cost of maintaining Chuck's Brooklyn apartment while Bambi had stepped away from work to care for Chuck full-time.

For more than four decades, Chuck had been an integral part of the GWAR family and helped shape the band's legacy from its earliest days. Through his work as a performer, artist, creator, and founding member, he helped build one of the most unique and enduring acts in heavy music history. His creativity, humor, and dedication have left an indelible mark on generations of fans, artists, and misfits around the world.

When the above-mentioned fundraiser was first announced, GWAR's Bob Gorman, a.k.a. Bonesnapper, said: "Chuck Varga's contributions to the GWAR and Slave Pit collective are enormous. The influence of his illustrations, character designs, performances, and artistic vision can still be felt throughout GWAR today. Chuck's over-the-top underground art aesthetic helped define an entire universe and inspired generations of artists and fans around the world. His legacy will remain with us forever."

Brockie was found dead in his home in Richmond, Virginia in March 2014. According to Virginia's State Medical Examiner's Office, he died from acute heroin toxicity by accidental means.

Brockie was last remaining original member of GWAR, which was founded 42 years ago. He was 50 years old.

The satirical metal band earned a following for its macabre, over-the-top costumes, offensive lyrics and graphic, gore-soaked shows, in which the bandmembers performed as the descendants of alien warriors who arrived on Earth to enslave and slaughter the human race.

Bill Giles obit

Bill Giles, longtime Philadelphia Phillies owner and executive, dies at 92

 

He was not on the list.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bill Giles, who rose from a Philadelphia Phillies business executive to become an owner and CEO during more than a half-century with the team, died Friday at his home in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. He was 92.

A son of former National League president Warren Giles, Bill Giles started with the team in 1969 as vice president, business operations, and was promoted to executive vice president three years later.

In 1981, he organized a group that purchased the club from the Carpenter family. He served as president and CEO until 1997, then became chairman. He shifted to chairman emeritus in 2015, a title he held at the time of his death.

The Phillies honored Giles with a moment of silence before Friday’s game against Tampa Bay.

Philadelphia had just four winning seasons during Giles’ time as CEO but went to the World Series in two of them. Giles also played a major role in building the Phillies team that won the World Series in 1980, including convincing former owner Ruly Carpenter to sign free agent Pete Rose.

“Bill helped to reshape our franchise from a traditional baseball club into a highly visible entertainment and business operation,” Phillies managing partner and CEO John Middleton said in a statement. “His profound impact in overseeing one of the greatest eras in franchise history, both on and off the field, will forever be his legacy.”

Giles, whose father headed the NL from 1951-69, became honorary president of the NL in 2001 and was a recipient of the Bud Selig Executive Leadership Award for lifetime achievement in baseball in 2010.

Giles helped push for the opening of Veterans Stadium in 1971 and current home Citizens Bank Park in 2004. He also was inspired to create a mascot for the Phillies that would become the beloved Phillie Phanatic.

In 1999, the Phillies established the Bill Giles Award to honor minor league players who share the same attributes as the namesake: a love and respect for the game of baseball, an outstanding work ethic and pride in being a member of the Phillies organization.

Giles began his baseball career as a teenager working various jobs in the Cincinnati Reds’ public relations department. He went on to advance his career in Houston, serving as traveling secretary, publicity director and promotions director before joining the Phillies following the 1969 season.

Giles gave up his day-to-day responsibilities with the team in 1999 and remained on as chairman.

“It wasn’t: ‘Do it or else.’ I wasn’t forced out,” Giles said. “It was a strong suggestion, but it was my decision. The business part of the game had gotten to me. I wasn’t as effective as I had been. Some of the partners said ’Don’t you think it’s time to let a younger man worry about all those things?’”

Giles authored the book “Pouring Six Beers at a Time: And Other Stories from a Lifetime in Baseball,” and co-authored another on the business of baseball.

“Bill was the heart and soul of the organization for over two decades,” Hall of Famer and former Philles third baseman Mike Schmidt said in a statement. “He was a close personal friend to so many of us. He will always be a big part of Phillies history.”

Sidya Toure obit

Guinea opposition figure, former PM, dies in Paris

 

He was not on the list.

Sidya Toure, former prime minister and a leading opposition figure in Guinea where dissenting voices and political parties have been stifled, has died at age 81, sources close to his family told AFP.

Toure had been leading one of the country's major opposition parties, the Union of Republican Forces (UFR), from exile in Ivory Coast.

UFR was among 40 political parties dissolved in March in a major crackdown on civil liberties under the country's longtime strongman Mamady Doumbouya.

Toure died Friday in Paris after several decades at the forefront of Guinean public life.

He had been hospitalised at the American Hospital of Paris for some two weeks after falling ill in Abidjan, sources close to his family, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety, told AFP.

Toure had lived in Abidjan since leaving Guinea following the September 2021 military coup that brought Doumbouya to power.

Doumbouya was subsequently elected president of the west African nation last December in a vote that did not include the UFR or the country's two other main opposition parties, the UFDG and RPG.

Guinean president Lansana Conte, in power between 1984 and 2008, had appointed Toure as prime minister in July 1996, a role he served in until March 1999.

His tenure as prime minister was marked by administrative and economic reforms, as well as efforts to strengthen Guinea's relations with international financial institutions.

After leaving the government, Toure became head of the UFR in 2000. He gradually became a leading figure opposing Conte and subsequent governments.

Toure ran for president as the UFR candidate in 2010 and 2015, losing both times.

Born in 1945 in Ivory Coast, he also spent part of his career in that country, particularly in its economic and financial administration.

Current Guinean Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah remembered Toure in a post on X as "a prominent figure in Guinea's political life for three decades".

"He distinguished himself above all as a pragmatic reformer. We bow before his memory," Bah said.

Dee Brock obit

Dee Brock, original director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, dies at age 96

“We will forever honor her and her legacy,” the famed troupe said in announcing her death.

 She was not on the list.

Dee Brock, the original director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders who helped mold the prototype for NFL sideline entertainment, died Wednesday, the team said.

She was 96.

Former Cowboys cheerleader Kelli Finglass — now the troupe’s director — called Brock a “visionary who helped create an icon.”

“Dee’s leadership, imagination and unwavering commitment to excellence shaped far more than a team. She created a standard, a spirit and a symbol that have inspired generations and earned recognition around the world,” Finglass said in a statement.

“Her influence lives on in every performance, every dream pursued and every woman who has ever worn the uniform with pride. We are deeply grateful for her vision, her courage and the extraordinary legacy she leaves with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.”

Finglass added: “Rest peacefully, Dee. You will always be remembered and your legacy will continue to shine.”

When the squad was formed in 1961, Brock, according to the team’s history, “utilized high school students with traditional cheers to lead the crowd.”

The team added “dance elements” to its game-day routine in 1965, then in 1972 introduced its now-iconic uniforms — boots, short shorts and fringed, midriff-baring tops — which have remained virtually unchanged since.

Brock retired in 1975.

The team honored her in 2022 with a lifetime achievement award, presented as a rhinestone-adorned football.

“I hadn’t realized I had made such a good impression, and I’m so happy about that,” Brock told NBC affiliate KETK during the presentation ceremony at her home in Tyler.

Brock’s advocacy is credited with helping integrate the cheerleading squad.

“The kindness that she showed, the encouragement, the warmth to a 16-year-old high school girl, it’s amazing what encouraging words, what kindness can do,” said Eunice Cicero, a pioneering member of the 1965 squad. “Thanks to Dee, I had the pleasure of being one of the first African American cheerleaders for the Dallas Cowboys.”

Lawrence Tanter obit

Longtime Lakers public-address announcer Lawrence Tanter dies

 

He was not on the list.

Longtime Los Angeles Lakers public-address announcer Lawrence Tanter has died, the team announced Wednesday.

"We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of legendary Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter," the team wrote in a statement shared on its social media accounts. "For 43 years, LT's voice served as the soundtrack to Lakers games at the arena. He will be remembered as a cherished member of the Lakers family."

In June, the 76-year-old Tanter retired from his courtside post where he had manned the microphone in L.A. since the "Showtime" days of the 1980s.

Tanter had suffered a stroke late in the regular season and missed the Lakers' last six home games, plus the playoffs.

Last month, shortly before entering into hospice care, Tanter texted ESPN.

"Quote me," he wrote, "'It's been a blessing.'"

Known by Lakers fans simply by his initials, LT, Tanter was the longest-tenured PA announcer in team history and was recognized for his style as much as for his longevity.

Despite being equipped with a booming baritone voice and an imposing 6-foot-7 frame, Tanter's presentation relied on restraint, using a silky-smooth delivery to share the Lakers' starting lineups, substitutions, fouls and score announcements with an aim to inform rather than distract the audience.

Tanter channeled his parallel career as a disc jockey at various jazz radio stations in L.A. when he reported to the arena, often wearing an eight-panel cap atop his head and sporting a well-manicured white goatee on his chin.

Always part of the tapestry but never stealing the spotlight, Tanter's signature call became announcing "The Laker girlllssss" when the dance team finished a routine and scampered off the court.

Tanter's role was particularly poignant during the Lakers' most recent championship season in 2019-20. When the Lakers played their first game after Kobe Bryant's death in January 2020, Tanter introduced all five Lakers starters with the same line: "6-6, 20th year out of Lower Merion High School, Kob-eeeeee Bryant!" Later that season, when the Lakers competed in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida, and eventually won the championship, Tanter recorded player introductions at a home studio in the Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles that were played before Lakers games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

The Chicago native played forward for his high school basketball team and received a scholarship to attend the University of Dubuque in Iowa.

He went on to be a part of 10 Lakers championships and 16 Western Conference titles.

"Lawrence Tanter has been an integral part of the Lakers gameday experience for more than four decades, setting the tone for countless memorable moments with his professionalism, energy and signature booming voice," Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss said in June when Tanter was shifting to an advisory role. "Since the 1980s, LT has narrated every chapter of Lakers basketball, connecting generations of fans, players, coaches and staff while becoming a trusted and unforgettable part of the Lakers experience. I am incredibly grateful for everything he has given to this franchise."

Jason Barquero, the PA announcer for the Lakers' G League affiliate, finished last season in Tanter's absence. The team has yet to name a successor for Tanter for the upcoming 2026-27 season.

Jackie Jackson obit

Reggae bass legend Jackie Jackson has died

 

He was not on the list.

Veteran Jamaican bass guitarist Clifton 'Jackie' Jackson, whose distinctive playing helped provide the heartbeat for some of the most enduring recordings in Jamaican popular music, died this morning after a lengthy hospitalisation.

He was 79.

Jackson, who was married to celebrated Jamaican songstress Karen Smith, was admitted to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St James, for close to two months.

He leaves behind four daughters.

His passing closes another chapter in Jamaica's extraordinary pioneering generation of musicians, men who worked largely outside the glare of the spotlight but whose musicianship helped turn ska, rocksteady and reggae into music heard around the world.

For more than half a century, Jackson's bass was synonymous with Toots and the Maytals, but his musical fingerprints extended far beyond the legendary group.

He played on recordings by some of Jamaica's biggest names, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, The Melodians and Desmond Dekker, while his international recording credits included American singer-songwriter Paul Simon.

Maureen Jones obit

Vale Maureen Jones, pioneering Australian pianist

Like many gifted musicians of her generation, Jones built her career in Europe, but she will be rememembered as a key figure in the early history of Musica Viva Australia. 

She was not on the list.

Australian pianist Maureen Jones, a key figure in the early history of Musica Viva Australia and an acclaimed chamber musician whose career took her from Sydney to Europe’s major concert stages, has died in Lugano, Switzerland, aged 99.

Musica Viva Australia CEO Anne Frankenberg described Jones as “fundamental to Musica Viva Australia’s history”, noting that she was invited to join the organisation’s original ensemble in her early twenties, before embarking on a distinguished European career.

“She returned several times to perform and to teach,” Frankenberg said. “Her incredible musicianship and natural glamour significantly built the audience for chamber music in this country.”

Jones was born in Sydney and spent her formative years on the city’s upper North Shore. At the age of 10 she was invited by Edgar Bainton, then director of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, to study there with pianist Alexander Hmelnitsky. While still a student, she had her professional debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

After graduating, Jones was invited by Richard Goldner to join the fledgling Musica Viva ensemble. Her musicianship, charisma and striking stage presence contributed to the establishment of the organisation and its audience for chamber music in Australia.

Like many gifted Australian musicians of her generation, Jones subsequently travelled to London to pursue her career. She soon found the city uncongenial, however, and moved to Switzerland, where she formed a close musical partnership with Australian violinist Brenton Langbein.

The pair formed a duo in 1952 and performed widely throughout Switzerland and Italy, including for the Società dei Concerti Trieste. Their collaborations extended to the acclaimed horn trio formed with fellow Australian Barry Tuckwell. The trio was the subject of a commission from the Edinburgh Festival to Australian composer Don Banks, whose 1962 Horn Trio became a cornerstone of the repertoire. Jones, Langbein and Tuckwell also recorded the work alongside Brahms’s Horn Trio.

Jones’s European life was further shaped by her marriages to two distinguished Italian musicians. Her first husband was pianist Dario De Rosa, of the celebrated Trio di Trieste, with whom she had a daughter, Nicoletta. She later married cellist Amadeo Baldovino, also of the Trio di Trieste.

Her career encompassed solo, chamber and orchestral performance. She appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich and Berlin Philharmonic, and performed at the Edinburgh Festival and for the BBC, RAI and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Her chamber music partners and collaborators included members of the Amadeus Quartet and the Quintetto Fauré di Roma, while her four-hand piano repertoire with De Rosa formed another important strand of her musical life.

Despite establishing her life and career in Europe, Jones maintained strong connections with Australia. She returned regularly as a performer, teacher and adjudicator, and remained closely associated with Musica Viva. One of her later major appearances for the organisation came in 1997, when she performed as part of its Schubertiade celebrations. At 69, Jones delivered a performance still remembered for its precision, authority and sheer presence – qualities that had marked her career from its earliest days.

In a 2017 interview with Miriam Cosic, published to mark her 90th birthday, Jones revealed that she was still performing and practising every day.

Remembered for her talent, musical authority, elegance and glamour, Jones’s death has been reported in Swiss and Italian media, where she was remembered as “the lady of the piano”.

Jigger Sirois obit

Jigger Sirois Dies At 91 

He was not on the list.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. —  Leon Duray “Jigger” Sirois was part of Indianapolis 500 racing lore not because of a celebrated victory or a near-miss at grabbing winning honors at the famed speedway, but for simply not winning the pole position and, eventually, not making the race at all.

Battling a number of health issues in recent years, Sirois passed away Sept. 23 at the age of 91.

The year was 1969 and Sirois was a 34-year-old “rookie” at Indianapolis. Hailing from Hammond, Ind., at the time, Sirois was among over 80 entries for the annual May racing classic.

A native of Shelby, Ind., Sirois grew up in racing as his dad, Earl “Frenchy” Sirois, was a longtime crewman at Indy, serving on several race-winning teams when not tending to the family hardware store. Young Sirois was named after a somewhat famous racer of the 1920s – Leon Duray and the nickname “Jigger” came from a racing mechanic – “Jigger” Johnson.

With rain showers pretty much in area during the first day of qualifying, Sirois was the only driver to attempt a qualifying run late in the afternoon. Sirois completed three laps, but his fourth and final lap was waved off by his car owner as he felt Sirois’ laps were not fast enough to qualify for the race.

As it turned out, Sirois’ time would have been fast enough to make the race and grab the pole position. Additional qualifying attempts were fruitless with his last effort failing because of engine problems and Sirois did not make the rest that year or any other time during his career.

Sirois’ racing exploits started with stock cars on the dirt at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind. Stockers were not for Sirois, who would go the open-wheel route and end up racing midgets. Joining the ranks of the United Auto Racing Association which held most of its races at Joliet Memorial Stadium, Sirois was the association’s driving champion in 1961 as he wheeled Larry White’s yellow No. 82 midget to eight feature victories.

Later, Sirois took on the best in the midget ranks of the United States Auto Club. He was badly injured in a midget crash at Springfield, Illinois, in 1962 and underwent six months of rehab.

He won one USAC midget feature in his career but his best effort in USAC was probably his run at Illinois’ DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in a USAC Silver Crown car on September 4, 1972 when he led the opening four laps one the one-mile dirt in the only turbine-powered entry in the race. A.J. Foyt passed him with rain causing the race to be called after 52 laps with Foyt getting the win and Sirois finishing third.

Sirois, who called Williamsburg, Va., home for many years, is survived by his wife, Juanita.

Richard S. Reisberg obit

Richard S. Reisberg Dies: TV Executive At Viacom, MGM/UA & Lionsgate Was 86

 

He was not on the list.

Richard S. Reisberg, who held senior roles at Viacom Productions, UA TV, MGM/UA TV Productions and Lionsgate TV, died September 23. He was 85.

His family confirmed the news to Deadline but did not provide a cause of death.

After earning his law degree, Reisberg worked early on in business affairs at ABC, CBS and NBC and then Viacom International, where he rose to become Senior Vice President. In 1972, he was made President of Viacom Productions.

After Viacom, Reisberg held a string of senior roles: President of United Artists Television, President of MGM/UA Television Productions and President and Chief Operating Officer of Reeves Entertainment. His final industry position was President of Lionsgate Television.

He later became a mediator at JAMS and taught mediation at Pepperdine School of Law in Malibu.

Reisberg is survived by his wife of almost 56 years, Judy; his daughters, Jennifer Benson and Stephanie Silvera; his son-in-law, Justin Silvera; and his grandchildren, Oliver and Tyler Benson and Ella and Layla Silvera. His son-inlaw, David Benson, predeceased him.

Donations in his memory may be made to Alzheimer’s Los Angeles.

Bob Pettit - # 364

Bob Pettit, imposing Hawks great and first NBA MVP, dies at 93

The NBA champion and 11-time All-Star was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971. 

He was number 364 on the list.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bob Pettit, an imposing scorer and rebounder for the St. Louis Hawks and winner of the NBA’s first Most Valuable Player in 1956, has died. He was 93.

Pettit’s alma mater, LSU, announced Thursday that he died a day earlier. The university did not provide a cause of death.

The NBA issued the following statement:

“The NBA family mourns the passing of Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Pettit, a two-time NBA MVP and a member of all four NBA Anniversary Teams. He raised the bar for excellence as the league’s first MVP, first 20,000-point scorer and first four-time All-Star Game MVP. His iconic 50-point performance in Game 6 of the 1958 NBA Finals clinched the championship for the St. Louis Hawks. Beyond those accomplishments, Bob helped transform the power forward position.

“Our thoughts are with Bob’s family and friends and the entire Hawks organization.”

Pettit was an All-American at LSU before going on to the NBA, where he was an All-Star for each of his 11 seasons, all with the Hawks. He led them to the 1958 championship over the mighty Boston Celtics, the Hawks’ lone title.

He was also the NBA MVP in 1959 and was the MVP of the All-Star Game four times, an achievement matched only by Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant.

Pettit was a force at a time when the NBA featured the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor. But it was also before a time when the NBA was widely seen on television, and Pettit – playing in a smaller market – was denied a larger audience.

At 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds and with a deeply receding hairline, Pettit was a physical presence at power forward, before such a position became part of basketball’s vocabulary. He rarely missed a game. He also played center and was one of the first big men who did not play solely with his back to the basket.

Pettit was the Rookie of the Year in 1955, the last year the Hawks played in Milwaukee before moving to St. Louis.

He captured the MVP the next season, leading the league in scoring at 25.7 points a game. He also was the NBA’s scoring leader in 1959 at 29.2 points.

He retired after the 1964-65 season with career averages of 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds. At that time, he was the NBA’s career leader in points (20,880) and second in rebounds (12,849).

He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971.

“Lean, graceful, and always well-conditioned, Bob Pettit’s physical build made him one of the first big men to play facing the basket,” reads Pettit’s biographical profile at the Hall of Fame. “But Pettit’s resolve set him apart from his peers; he simply would not be outworked.”

Robert Lee Pettit Jr. was born on Dec. 12, 1932, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His father worked in law enforcement and served as East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff. Pettit was a late bloomer in basketball, not making the Baton Rouge High School varsity until his junior season.

As a senior, he led Baton Rouge to a state championship and wound up with more than a dozen college offers. He chose to stay home and starred at LSU as a sophomore, an era when players could not join the varsity until then.

He led the Southeastern Conference in scoring all three of his seasons, with averages of 25.5 points as a sophomore, 24.9 as a junior and 31.4 as a senior.

Pettit is one of only three LSU players – Pete Maravich and Shaquille O’Neal the others – to earn a place in the Hall of Fame. Bronze statues of Pettit and O’Neal stand outside LSU’s home arena, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. His No. 50 is retired by LSU, his No. 9 by the Atlanta Hawks.

Pettit’s misfortune was that most of his career coincided with a run of Celtics championships that remains one of the most dominant runs in American pro sports history.

Pettit was two victories short of being a three-time NBA champion. Pettit’s Hawks advanced to The Finals four times, all against Boston, twice losing in seven games.

The first meeting, won by Boston in 1957, came down to double overtime of Game 7. The second ended with a championship for the Hawks, interrupting Boston’s run of nine titles in 10 seasons. The Hawks also dropped NBA Finals matchups with the Celtics in 1960 (in seven games) and 1961 (in five).

Pettit retired to his native Baton Rouge after leaving basketball and worked in banking and financial consulting. He was a regular at LSU and New Orleans Pelicans games in recent years.

After high school, Pettit had scholarship offers from 14 universities and accepted a scholarship to play at nearby Louisiana State University (LSU). He was a three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection and a two-time All-American as a member of the LSU men's basketball team. (Freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball at the time.) During those three years, Pettit averaged 27.8 points per game. He was also a member of the Zeta Zeta chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon at LSU.

Pettit made his varsity debut at LSU in 1952. He led the SEC in scoring for his first of three consecutive seasons, averaging 25.5 points per game. He ranked third in the nation in scoring and also averaged 13.1 rebounds per game, helping his team to a 17–7 win–loss record for a second-place finish in the league, and was selected to the All-SEC team.

During his junior year, Pettit helped the Tigers sail through a 23-game regular-season schedule with only one loss (to Tulsa). A clean sweep of SEC opponents became LSU's second SEC Title (their first came in 1935) and the school's first NCAA Final Four. He averaged 24.9 points and 13.9 rebounds per game for the 1953 season. He was honored with selections to both the All-SEC and All-American teams.

Pettit averaged 31.4 points and 17.3 rebounds per game during his senior year and once again led LSU to an SEC Championship and garnered All-SEC and All-American honors. He set a then-SEC scoring record of 60 points against Louisiana College in his second game, and also the SEC record for scoring average, with both records later being broken by Pete Maravich. Pettit also was the second player in major-college basketball history to average more than 30 points a game.

In 1954, the Milwaukee Hawks selected Pettit second in the first round of the NBA draft after the Baltimore Bullets' selection of Frank Selvy. Pettit was initially reluctant to sign with the team before his third cousin, fellow NBA player Frank Brian, convinced him to do so. With $100 in the bank, he signed a contract with Hawks owner Ben Kerner for $11,000 – an all-time high for an NBA rookie then. Pettit's awkward ballhandling and a lack of strength to battle NBA bruisers weighing 200 pounds that early in his career, had Hawks coach Red Holzman move him from center, his position at LSU, to forward in his first training camp. "In college I played the standing pivot", he said in an April 1957 SPORT magazine interview. "My back was to the basket. In the pros, I'm always outside. Everything I do is facing the basket now. That was my chief difficulty in adjusting, the fact that I had never played forward before." Though many were skeptical about Pettit making the transition from college to the rough-and-tumble NBA, in 1955 he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after averaging 20.4 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. He became the second rookie to win all-NBA honors but the team finished last in the Western Division. After the season, the Hawks moved to St. Louis.

Pettit helped the Hawks improve during their first year in St. Louis in their winning of 33 games during 1955–56. In his second season, Pettit adjusted his game so that he would get to the free-throw line for easy points for his team and foul trouble for his opponents. Being a phenomenal offensive rebounder and an instinctive scorer, he told basketball historian Terry Pluto that "Offensive rebounds were worth eight to 12 points a night to me. Then I'd get another eight to 10 at the free-throw line. All I had to do was make a few jump shots and I was on my way to a good night."[8] Pettit won his first scoring title with a 25.7 average, and led the league in rebounding (1164 for a 16.2 average). He was also named MVP of the 1956 NBA All-Star Game after scoring 20 points with 24 rebounds and 7 assists; he would win subsequent MVP All-Star Game honors in 1958, 1959, and 1962. He also won his first of two NBA regular season MVP awards (the other was in 1959).

Retooling before the 1956–57 season, the Hawks acquired Ed Macauley and rookie Cliff Hagan from the Boston Celtics for the draft rights to Bill Russell. The team added guard Slater Martin in an early-season deal with the New York Knicks while Alex Hannum arrived a few weeks later after being released by the Fort Wayne Pistons. Hannum became the team's third coach that season by taking over as player-coach with 31 games left on the schedule. Though they posted a 34–38 record in 1956–57, a series of tie-breaking playoff games against the Pistons and a three-game sweep of the Minneapolis Lakers had them in the NBA Finals. In Game 1 of the 1957 NBA Finals at the Boston Garden, Pettit scored 37 points as the Hawks shocked the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics in double overtime. Pettit won his team the third game in the series with a late basket in St. Louis. His two free throws with six seconds left in Game 7 forced overtime, but Pettit's 39 points and 19 rebounds in 56 minutes weren't enough to win a double-overtime game. Pettit averaged 29.8 points and 16.8 rebounds per game during their 1957 playoff run.

A franchise-record 41 wins and a division crown allowed the Hawks to get back at the Celtics in the 1958 NBA Finals. Pettit led the Hawks to an NBA Championship with a then-playoff record 50 points in the Hawks' 110–109 series-clinching victory in game 6. Pettit's 50 points stood alone as the most in a Finals close-out victory until it was matched by Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021. Both teams would later meet in the 1960 and 1961 Finals, with Boston winning each time. For the season, Pettit scored 24.6 ppg and pulled down 17.4 rpg, and earned All-Star Game MVP honors with a performance that included 28 points and 26 rebounds. St. Louis finished at the top of the |Westetn Division in each of the next three seasons. Pettit's league-leading scoring average of 29.2 points per game in the 1958–59 season was an NBA record at the time, and he was named the Sporting News NBA MVP.

In the 1960–61 season, Pettit averaged 27.9 points per game[9] and pulled down 20.3 rebounds per game, making him one of only five players to ever break the 20 rpg barrier. He, along with Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry Lucas, are the only three people who averaged more than twenty points and twenty rebounds in an NBA season. On February 18, 1961, Pettit scored a career-high 57 points and grabbed 28 rebounds in a 141–138 win over the Detroit Pistons.

 

Personal information

Born    December 12, 1932

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.

Died    September 23, 2026 (aged 93)

Metairie, Louisiana, U.S.

Listed height   6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)

Listed weight  205 lb (93 kg)

Career information

High school     Baton Rouge

(Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

College            LSU (1951–1954)

NBA draft        1954: 1st round, 2nd overall pick

Drafted by       Milwaukee Hawks

Playing career 1954–1965

Position           Power forward / center

Number           9

Career history

1954–1965      Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks

Career highlights

NBA champion (1958)

2× NBA Most Valuable Player (1956, 1959)

11× NBA All-Star (1955–1965)

4× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1956, 1958, 1959[a], 1962)

10× All-NBA First Team (1955–1964)

All-NBA Second Team (1965)

NBA Rookie of the Year (1955)

2× NBA scoring champion (1956, 1959)

NBA rebounding leader (1956)

NBA anniversary team (25th, 35th, 50th, 75th)

No. 9 retired by Atlanta Hawks

Consensus first-team All-American (1954)

Consensus second-team All-American (1953)

No. 50 retired by LSU Tigers

Career NBA statistics

Points[1]          20,880 (26.4 ppg)

Rebounds        12,849 (16.2 rpg)

Assists 2,369 (3.0 apg)

James Becket obit

James Becket, Filmmaker, Journalist and Human Rights Lawyer, Dies at 89

 He was not on the list.

James Becket, the American filmmaker, journalist and human rights lawyer whose career took him from documenting torture under Greece’s military dictatorship to making films about refugees, health and the environment, has died. He was 89. Becket died on Sept. 22, 2026.

Born in New York City on Oct. 5, 1936, Becket studied at Williams College before graduating from Harvard Law School in 1962. He also studied at the University of Chile as a Fulbright Scholar and at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.

His career rarely stayed in one lane. During the 1960s, Becket worked as a foreign correspondent across Europe, Latin America and Africa, contributing to publications including The New Republic, The Nation, The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor. He also wrote about land reform, economic development and international human rights law.

His human rights work became especially significant after Greece’s military junta seized power in 1967. Becket and his Greek wife, Maria, became active in the movement opposing the dictatorship. Amnesty International sent Becket and British barrister Anthony Marreco to Athens to investigate allegations of human rights abuses, producing a report based on firsthand testimony about the regime’s use of torture. Becket later wrote ‘Barbarism in Greece’, appeared on television to discuss the regime and helped organize the escapes of torture victims who travelled to Strasbourg to testify before the European Commission of Human Rights. The Greek regime declared him persona non grata.

From 1974 until 1981, Becket served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Director of Public Information. As a spokesperson and filmmaker for the organization, he covered major refugee crises involving Vietnamese boat people, Cambodians fleeing genocide and people escaping wars and apartheid in Africa.

Film eventually became the central thread connecting many of Becket’s interests. His early political film ‘Que Hacer?’ was made in Chile during Salvador Allende’s rise and screened at film festivals including Cannes. After moving to Los Angeles in 1981, Becket wrote, directed and produced films internationally, drawing on the political and humanitarian experiences that had shaped his earlier career.

He also worked in American television, directing after-school specials and writing episodes of ‘Miami Vice’ and ‘Crime Story’. His feature-film credits included ‘Ulterior Motives’, ‘Natural Causes’, ‘The Best Revenge’, ‘Plato’s Run’, ‘Southern Cross’ and ‘Junior Pilot’. Across his career, he wrote 30 screenplays, 10 of which were produced.

In 1999, Becket created Becket Films and increasingly turned his attention toward documentaries about health and ecology. He made films about childhood epilepsy, inspired in part by his daughter’s experience with the condition, and stroke recovery. He also documented a series of environmental symposia bringing religious leaders and scientists together aboard ships travelling through ecologically threatened regions including the Amazon, Arctic and Adriatic. His later projects included 2014’s ‘Sons of Africa’ and 2020’s ‘The Seeds of Vandana Shiva’.

Becket leaves behind a body of work that crossed journalism, law, diplomacy and filmmaking while repeatedly returning to the same subjects: human rights, people displaced by conflict, political power and the environment. Whether he was reporting from abroad, documenting abuses in Greece or putting those concerns on film, his career was built around using storytelling to bring difficult issues before a wider audience.

 

Filmography

Feature films

Que Hacer? (1972) Co-filmmaker, Lobo Films (Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival, Critics’ Award, Mannheim).

Ulterior Motives (1991), Writer/Director, (Thomas Ian Griffith, Ken Howard, Mary Page Keller), Den Pictures,

Natural Causes (1994), Director, (Linda Purl, Will Patton, Ali MacGraw), (Pacific Rim .Best Foreign Film, Houston Film Festival)

The Best Revenge (1995) Writer/Director, (Carlos Riccelli, Robert Pine), Becket Films. (Winner Best Feature, Breckenridge Film Festival)

Plato's Run (1996), Writer/Director, (Roy Scheider, Gary Busey), NuImage Films.

Southern Cross (1999), Writer/Director/Producer, (Malcolm McDowell, Esai Morales, Michael Ironside), Bon Films.

Junior Pilot (2006), Writer/Director, (Mark Dacascos, Eric Roberts, Larry Miller), Green Communications.

Television

Je Suis un Refugie (1979) Writer/Director, UNHCR, First Prize Cork Film Festival

Sanctuary,(1982) Writer/Director, PBS, Cindy Awards, Best in Festival awards

Crime Story (1988) Writer, Going Home 27 February 1988

Miami Vice (1988) Writer, Heart of Night 31 August 1988

Big Boys Don't Cry (1992) Director, CBS Schoolbreak Special, Churchill Films, Humanitas Award

Fast Forward (1994) Director, ABC Afterschool Special, Wild Films, Humanitas Award

Guns in School (1993) Director, PSA, George Foster Peabody Award.

Screenplays

Becket wrote 30 screenplays of which ten have been produced.

 

Documentaries

The Aegean: The Apocalypse, (1995) Producer/Director, RSE.

The Adriatic: A Sea at Risk, A Unity of Purpose (1998), Producer/Director, RSE.

El Misterio del Capital de los Indigenas Amazonicas, (2002), ILD,

The Baltic: A Sea in Peril, (2003) Producer/Director, RSE.

The Amazon: The End of Infinity (2004), Producer/Director, RSE.

Childhood Epilepsy ‘What you need to know’. (2005)

Diagnosis Epilepsy: Now what? (2006) Winner 2007 Telly Award

The Arctic: The Consequences of Human Folly, (2006), Producer/Director, RSE.

The Green Patriarch, (2008) Producer/Director, RSE, 2008

Stroke Recovery: Taking Back Our Lives, (2010) Producer/Director, Becket Films.

The Mississippi: At The Tipping Point (2011) Producer/Director, RSE, 2011

Sons of Africa,(2014) Producer/Director, Journeyman Pictures. Winner Best Doc, Seattle Independent Film Festival, Borrego Springs Festival

The Seeds of Vandana Shiva (2020), Producer/Director with Camilla Denton, Becket Films

Books

(1969) Barbarism in Greece Walker and Company LCCN 7310918 7-310918(also translated and published in Swedish, Italian, Greek, and Turkish)

(1973) (with Elise Smith) First Amnesty International Report on Torture, Duckworth's,

(1998) Inca Gold Bantam ISBN 978-1-933390-20-8

(1992) Murder on the Tour de France Bantam ISBN 0-553-29443-1

Selected articles

(14 May 1962) "Report from a Troubled Colony” The New Republic

(16 May 1964) "Autogestion: Algeria's Socialist Experiment" The Economic Weekly,

(23 May 1964) “Algeria's War Orphans” Christian Science Monitor

(19 July 1966) “Suez, dix ans apres, Les consequences de la nationalisation" Journal de Genève

(29 December 1967) “Chile's Mini-Revolution” Commonweal

(27 May 1968) “Torture in Democracy's Homeland” Christianity and Crisis

(March 1968) “The Real Latin America (photographic essay)” Renewal

( March, 1968) “How I Became National Champion: Letter from Bolivia” Skiing

(6 January 1969) “Greek Junta on Trial” The Nation

April 1970 pp 44–49) “Inquisition Greek style” Ramparts Magazine

(4 August 1972) "Torture as an Institution" New York Times

(March 1978) "The Subjective Camera as Leading Character" American Cinematographer