The News Headlines

Saturday, June 4, 2011 12:23 AM

Julian, Adrian Riester, Buffalo-Born Twin Friars, Die On Same Day At Age 92

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Identical twins Julian and Adrian Riester were born seconds apart 92 years ago. They died hours apart this week. The Buffalo-born brothers were also brothers in the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor. Professed friars for 65 years, they spent much of that time working together at St. Bonaventure University, doing carpentry work, gardening and driving visitors to and from the airport and around town.
"It was fun to see them, just quiet, gentle souls," Yvonne Peace, who worked at the St. Bonaventure Friary for nearly 21 years, said Friday.
They died Wednesday at St. Anthony Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., Brother Julian in the morning and Brother Adrian in the evening.
Both died of heart failure, said Father James Toal, guardian of St. Anthony Friary in St. Petersburg, where the inseparable twins lived since moving from western New York in 2008.
"It really is almost a poetic ending to the remarkable story of their lives," St. Bonaventure spokesman Tom Missel said. "Stunning when you hear it, but hardly surprising given that they did almost everything together."
Julian and Adrian Riester were born Jerome and Irving on March 27, 1919, to a couple who already had five daughters. They took the names of saints upon their ordination in the Catholic church.
"Dad was a doctor and he said a prayer for a boy," Adrian once said, according to St. Bonaventure. "The Lord fooled him and sent two."
After attending St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, the brothers were turned away by the military because of their eyesight, the university said. One had a bad left eye, the other a bad right eye.
Eventually they joined the friars of Holy Name Province in New York City. They received separate assignments before reuniting at the seminary at St. Bonaventure from 1951 to 1956. After serving parishes in Buffalo for 17 years, they returned to St. Bonaventure in 1973 and spent the next 35 years there.

They had separate rooms in the friary but one telephone extension that rang into both, Peace recalled. It was usually the more talkative Adrian who answered, though Julian possessed a quiet authority. They never said who was born first.
"Brother Julian was like the big brother. Brother Adrian would defer to him," Peace said. "They picked up one of our friars at the airport one time and the friar said, `Can I take you to dinner?'
"Brother Adrian looked at Brother Julian and said, `We aren't going to dinner?' `No, we'll go home,'" Peace said. "So that was it. No discussion, no contradicting. `No, we aren't going today.'"
Funeral services are scheduled for Monday at St. Mary Our Lady of Grace Church in St. Petersburg. Afterward, the brothers' bodies will be flown to Buffalo and buried Wednesday at St. Bonaventure Cemetery, across the street from the university.
Julian, Adrian Riester, Buffalo-Born Twin Friars, Die On Same Day At Age 92

Saturday, May 21, 2011 9:12 AM

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » RIP: Wrestler Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage Dies in Fla. Car Wreck

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) – The professional wrestler known as Randy “Macho Man” Savage has died in a car crash in Florida.

The Florida Highway Patrol says in a crash report that the 58-year-old former wrestler—whose legal name is Randy Mario Poffo—was driving a Jeep Wrangler when he lost control in Pinellas County around 9:25 a.m. The Jeep veered over the raised concrete median divider, crossed over the eastbound lanes and collided head-on with a tree.
Police say he may have suffered a “medical event” before the accident, but the report did not elaborate, and it said officials would need to perform an autopsy to know for sure.
The report confirms that the driver was the pro wrestler known as Randy Savage. A woman in the vehicle suffered minor injuries.

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » RIP: Wrestler Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage Dies in Fla. Car Wreck

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 12:29 AM

James Truslow Adams

James Truslow Adams, a businessman turned scholar, wrote largely interpretative histories notable for their style and scope. His career spanned the world wars, and he produced scores of volumes and articles, most notably the studies he wrote during the 1920s about early New England.
Adams, a Brooklyn-born member of a business-oriented family, endured an unexceptional childhood during which his training and education better suited him to the world of commerce and investments than to scholarship. His mother, Elizabeth Truslow Adams, was an invalid, and his father, William Newton Adams, was a dour man dissatisfied with his lot in life as a moderately successful employee of a Wall Street brokerage firm. A bookish youth, Adams seldom participated in the games, sports, or other endeavors normally associated with American boys. Aside from an addiction to reading and his success in school, little in his educational background suggested that he would leave a lasting impression on the historical and literary worlds.

Name:	James Truslow Adams
Birth Date:	October 18, 1878
Death Date:	May 18, 1949
Nationality:	American
Gender:

Quotes

The greatest discovery of my generation is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind.
James Truslow Adams

There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.
James Truslow Adams

There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behaves any of us to find fault with the rest of us.
James Truslow Adams

Sunday, May 15, 2011 10:25 PM

Samuel Wanjiru Dead: Olympic Gold Medalist Dies At 24

(Reuters) - Kenyan Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru was killed when he jumped off the balcony of his home late on Sunday, police said on Monday.
Police said they were trying to ascertain whether the 24-year-old -- the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon at Beijing in 2008 -- had deliberately killed himself by jumping off the balcony at his home in Nyahururu, a town in the Rift Valley, some 150 km (94 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi.
Jaspher Ombati, the regional police chief for the area, said Wanjiru appeared to have suffered internal injuries after the fall and was confirmed dead by doctors at a nearby hospital.
"I can confirm that Wanjiru is dead. It is not yet clear whether it was a suicide or if he jumped out of rage, or what caused him to fall to the ground," Ombati told Reuters.
"He jumped from his first floor balcony to the ground. He was bleeding from the nose and the mouth, and may have suffered internal injuries," the police chief said.
Ombati said police were investigating a possible love triangle that could have been behind the death of Wanjiru, a former winner of the Chicago and London marathons.

Ombati said the athlete's wife Triza Njeri had come home to find Wanjiru in bed with another woman, had locked the couple in the bedroom and ran outside.
Wanjiru then leapt from the balcony, he said.
Ombati said Njeri and Wanjiru's female companion are assisting police in investigating the death.
Last December, Wanjiru was charged in court with threatening to kill Njeri and illegal possession of an AK-47 assault rifle.
Njeri later withdrew her accusation of attempted murder against him in court, saying the couple had reconciled.
He also suffered minor injuries from a car crash in January when he swerved to avoid an oncoming truck, hit a pot hole and rolled his car.
Wanjiru defied the heat of Beijing in 2008 to triumph in an Olympic record time at the games held in China.
As a young man, Wanjiru moved to Japan in 2002 to attend high school after winning a cross country selection trial in Kenya.
(Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.
Samuel Wanjiru Dead: Olympic Gold Medalist Dies At 24

Sunday, April 24, 2011 12:45 AM

Sathya Sai Baba dies - Live updates - Yahoo! News

12.40 pm: "I am deeply grieved to learn about the passing away of Sri Sathya Sai. Baba's message of love should be our guiding light in this trying hour. Baba's words and actions have lit the lamp of love in the hearts of devotees," said Vice President Ansari. More on Yahoo! India News

12.30 pm: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan expressing deep shock over the demise of prominent religious leader Sri Sathya Sai Baba said that he was a living god and the strength of people in and around the world. Read more

12.20 pm: Karnataka State Transport Corporation said it would run special buses to Puttaparthi to enable devotees from the state to pay their last respects to Sai Baba who passed away this morning.

12.10 pm: Iconic Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was a sad man on his 38th birthday today as his spiritual guru Satya Sai Baba passed away this morning. So no celebrations

12.05 pm: No godmen could match Satya Sai Baba's name and fame. Read more

11.41 am: Last rites is scheduled for Tuesday.

11.38 am: On Times now, one of Baba's doctor says medically everything was done to save Baba.
11.27 am: Here is BBC's obituary of Sathya Sai Baba's death.

11.23 am: Devotees can pay their final respects after 6pm today.

11.10 am: BJP leader LK advani offers his condolences. Says Baba had shown him the way several times.

Photos from Puttaparthi

10.45 am: Security has been heightened in Puttaparthi as many VVIPs are expected to arrive in the next two days.
10.21 am: Devotees from around the world have been pouring in over the past week. Special arrangements are being made to accommodate thousands more devotees in the town.

10.15am: The AP chief minister is on his way to Puttaparthi.

10.00 am:Spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba dies this morning around 7:40am. His body will be shifted to his ashram. Sai Baba's body will lie in state for two days.

A complete shut down has been called for at Puttaparthi.

Sai Baba was hospitalised on March 28. He died of cardiac and respiratory failure. He was 85.
Sathya Sai Baba dies - Live updates - Yahoo! News

Thursday, March 31, 2011 7:56 AM

Elizabeth Taylor's Distichiasis: Actress' Double Eyelash Genetic Mutation Revealed

One of the more interesting parts of the late Elizabeth Taylor's beauty life is that she was born with distichiasis -- double rows of eyelashes, Slate writes:

Double rows of eyelashes are usually the result of a mutation at FOXC2, a gene that influences all kinds of tissue development in embryos. FOXC2 mutations are thought to be

Wednesday, December 8, 2010 8:30 AM

John Lennon's Final Interview Published On 30th Anniversary Of His Death - Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV

Rolling Stone releases full-length interview conducted three days before Lennon's death in its year-end issue.

It was 30 years ago today that former Beatle John Lennon was murdered by a crazed fan outside his home in New York. To mark that tragic event, fans around the world are planning commemorations of the singer's life and legacy on Wednesday (December 8), remembering his message of peace and love and paying tribute to one of the premier songwriters of the modern era.