Apple Announces Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs Has Died. ...
October 5, 2011

CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Apple announced Wednesday that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs has died.

Jobs stepped down as CEO in August, saying he could no longer handle the job.

In January, Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, took his second medical leave of absence in two years, raising serious questions about his health and the leadership of a company.

Jobs, 55, has been instrumental in turning Apple into the dominant producer of portable music players, a leader in the smart phone business and, with the iPad, the inventor of a new category of modern tablet computers.

He is Apple's public face, its master showman and its savior since he returned in 1997 after a 12-year hiatus to rescue the company from financial ruin.

Investors in recent years have pinned much of their faith in the company on Jobs himself, sending shares tumbling on every bit of news or rumor of his ailing health.

"Steve's extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world's most innovative and valuable technology company," said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple's Board.

"Steve has made countless contributions to Apple's success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple's immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration."

Link ...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ktla-apple-steve-jobs-dies,0,7477308.story

Hollywood tough guy and local actor Charles Napier has died.

Friends of the family told 23ABC that Napier collapsed in his home sometime Monday night and was found Tuesday morning and taken to Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif.

Napier was taken off of life support in the intensive care unit just before 1 p.m. Wednesday surrounded by his family, they told 23ABC.

He was 75 years old.

Napier was in the hospital in May 2010 to deal with blood clots in his legs.

A mainstay in Hollywood and TV over the past four decades, Napier has appeared in blockbusters such as "Silence of the Lambs," "Philadelphia" and "Rambo: First Blood Part II."

But he became a household name after his role as Tucker McElroy in "The Blues Brothers" back in 1980.

He most recently appeared in the Jeremy Piven film "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard."

Napier made his home in Bakersfield.

He frequently appeared on 23ABC in a variety of roles including as a guest host on our Academy Awards coverage.

Napier made numerous public appearances with the Bakersfield Condors and various veterans groups and activities.

Wausau native Johnny Schmitz, a former All-Star pitcher who faced Hall of Fame baseball legends such as Ted Williams, has died in Wausau at age 90.

Schmitz, who debuted with the Chicago Cubs, spent eight seasons in Chicago before shuffling around the major leagues. He went on to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles.

Known also as "Bear Tracks," because he had large feet and seemed to shuffle to the mound, Schmitz tallied 93 wins and 114 losses in 235 starts. He finished his career with a 3.55 earned run average, according to the Baseball Almanac. Schmitz, who died Saturday, also pitched 86 complete games.

During his All-Star 1948 season, Schmitz had an 18-13 record with a 2.64 ERA and 18 complete games, according to the Baseball Almanac.

Bob Steif, Schmitz's nephew, lived with the big league player for more than 20 years in Wausau after Schmitz took him, his mother, Ruth (Schmitz's sister), and Steif's sister, Betty, into his home after Steif's father died.

Steif, who said Schmitz died of natural causes, said the former ballplayer always was willing to share a story or two about his time in baseball.

During his career, he pitched against stars such as Williams, Jackie Robinson and Stan Musial.

"He said he didn't have a problem with (St. Louis Cardinals' great) Stan Musial, but he said you could not fool Ted Williams. I'd ask him that a lot. He said no matter what, you couldn't fool that guy," Steif said.

Schmitz missed three seasons -- 1943 to 1945 -- to serve in the Navy during World War II. After baseball, Schmitz worked as greenskeeper at the American Legion Golf Course in Wausau.

"He was a very introverted person, you know, and he lived a simple life, but he sure took care of our family," Steif said. "That's why we think the world of him. That's a heck of a thing to do."

For almost 50 years, Schmitz would walk across the street from his home on East Union Avenue to Mark's Barber Shop every couple weeks to get his hair cut and talk with his longtime friend, barber Mark Resch.

Inside the barber shop, Resch, 78, adorned the walls with Schmitz memorabilia, including a 1942 photo of Schmitz with the Cubs. The topic of conversation rarely strayed from baseball, and it remained Schmitz's favorite subject through his final years as he rooted for the Cubs, Resch said.

Though he always would sign a baseball, he never liked to speak publicly and turned down paid events on a regular basis, Resch said. Instead, he would share his tales with folks such as Resch.

Schmitz loved to talk about one contract negotiation with Phil Wrigley, then the Cubs' owner. He was able to land a contract for about $6,500 a year, Resch said.

"But I got Wrigley,'' Schmitz would tell Resch. "He had a big bowl of Wrigley's gum and I reached right in with both hands and got a big handful of gum."

Schmitz never made it to the World Series, but he witnessed one of the most famous moments in playoff history. Sitting in the Brooklyn Dodgers bullpen Oct. 3, 1951, he watched Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca serve up a fastball to New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson.

Thomson hit the game-ending home run -- known as the "Shot Heard 'round the World" -- to lead the Giants to the National League pennant.

Steif said Schmitz said he wanted to warn Branca not to throw fastballs but decided not to say anything.

"If (the Dodgers) would have won that game, (Schmitz) could have been opening-day pitcher in the World Series," Steif said. "But he never got there."

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20111005/WDH0101/110050513/Johnny-Schmitz-Wausau-s-All-Star-dies-90?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Cimg%7CFRONTPAGE

Folk musician Bert Jansch dies aged 67
Bert Jansch in 2007 Jansch's last solo album, The Black Swan, was released in 2007

Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, a founding member of the band Pentangle and a well-known guitarist in his own right, has died at the age of 67.

Jansch, who had cancer, passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning at a hospice in Hampstead, north London.

Born in Glasgow in 1943, the musician recorded his first album in 1965 and his last, The Black Swan, in 2006.

Between 1967 and 1973 he was part of acoustic group Pentangle, best known for their 1970 hit single Light Flight.

John Renbourn, Jacqui McShee, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox were the other original members of the band, whose albums included Basket of Light and Solomon's Seal.

The group reformed in 2008 after receiving a lifetime achievement honour the previous year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

As a solo artist, Jansch received his own lifetime achievement accolade at the same event in 2001.

He last performed, with Pentangle, at the Royal Festival Hall on 1 August.