OBITUARIES

[Stanley]

I don't often look at the hatched matched and despatched in the paper but my eye was caught by the fact that one of my weavers, Hilda Elsworth died in December. Hilda was a lovely woman, always a kind word and a smile. I'm sad to see we've lost her.....



Hilda with Ernie Whitaker her tackler in 1976.

[PanBiker]

Hilda was one of my parents friends, she was and active member of the local Royal British Legion along with my mum and dad.

[Stanley]

Lovely woman, I have written an obit for her for the BET.

[Cathy]

Sir John Hurt. Actor age 77

[Stanley]

And the poor bloke thought his treatment was going so well. It's a cruel business is cancer.....

[Tripps]

Sir Ken Morrison has died aged 85.

[Stanley]

Hilda obit will be in this week's BET.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the death of Tara Palmer Tomkinson aged 45. It would appear that no matter how privileged and well connected you are you can still have troubles and die alone. A sad death but on the face of it a sad life.... I wouldn't swap....

[Tizer]

Professor Sir Peter Mansfield who developed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has died aged 83. The `Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre' at The University of Nottingham has this news release:

Tributes have been paid to Nobel laureate Professor Sir Peter Mansfield, who has died at the age of 83.
Sir Peter pioneered the creation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), one of the most important and revolutionary breakthroughs in modern medical science. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2003 for his role in the development of MRI, which is used today in research, diagnosis and the treatment of millions of patients around the world.

The Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre at The University of Nottingham was named in honour of his pioneering work to change the face of modern medical science. Sir Peter’s family said today: “It is with great sadness that Lady Mansfield and family would like to announce the passing away of Sir Peter, on Wednesday evening, 8th February. “As well as being an eminent scientist and pioneer in his field, he was also a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather who will be hugely missed by all the family.”

Sir Peter was born in London in 1933, joining the University of Nottingham as a physics lecturer in 1964. Together with the late Paul Lauterbur, Sir Peter harnessed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to visualise the internal structure of complex objects. In 1976 they produced the first human NMR image, a finger complete with bone, bone-marrow, nerves and arteries. Two years later, Sir Peter became the first person to step inside the very first whole-body scanner, so that it could be tested on a human subject — despite warnings that it could be potentially dangerous. Their research revolutionised the world of diagnostic medicine and in 2003 received world acclaim when they shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. His long career also included many other distinguished awards including a knighthood, an MRC Millennium Medal, Fellowship of the Royal Society and a number of honorary degrees.

Sir Peter stayed at The University of Nottingham for his entire career, retiring in 1994. He was made Emeritus Professor and continued to collaborate with colleagues at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre at The University of Nottingham, remaining passionate about his work. Only last month, he joined with colleagues on University Park to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Centre on campus.

Professor Sir David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor of the University, paid tribute to the pioneer of MRI. Sir David said: “Few people can look back on a career and conclude that they have changed the world. In pioneering MRI, that is exactly what Sir Peter Mansfield has done, he has changed our world for the better. As a scientific leader and a highly prized colleague, he will be greatly missed in our University. But he has left an extraordinary legacy which will continue to inspire others to change the world.”

Professor Peter Morris CBE was a young PhD student when he first worked with Sir Peter, and knew him for more than 40 years. Professor Morris, who still works at the School of Physics and Astronomy, said: “Today, MRI has lost the rock on which it was founded. Sir Peter’s pioneering research has revolutionized diagnostic medicine and all of us have felt its benefits. “He has been the defining influence on my life as supervisor, colleague and friend. We will not see his like again.”

Sir Peter’s invention of an extremely fast scanning MRI technique, known as echo-planar imaging (EPI), underpins the most sophisticated MRI applications in clinical use today. EPI is the key to functional MRI (fMRI), which is used to study dynamic processes in living organisms. Before EPI, fMRI was slow and hard to use clinically. EPI speeded up image acquisition and therefore underpins all modern fMRI applications. MRI and fMRI have transformed neuroscience and physiology research by opening windows on the working brain and body. MRI provides detailed images of anatomical structure and can detect cancer and signs of damage in the body’s bones, tissues and organs. fMRI allows doctors to study brain activity during development, following injury and in brain disorders. It has also been used to investigate how the brain’s neural networks develop during infancy, and to look for subtle abnormalities in brain activity in patients with disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.

[Stanley]

I heard a report on R4 about him. What a wonderful legacy......

[Big Kev]

RIP Al Jarreau, the theme from the 80's TV show Moonlighting will always be a favourite.

[Stanley]

Gerald Kaufman has died. An uncomfortable bedfellow at times but always to the point and honest.

[Tizer]

A quote on the radio this morning from someone who recalls Kaufman saying `The first rule of politics is never kick a man until he's down'.

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

I note a report this morning that Lord David Waddington has died aged 87 and is described in the paper as 'A giant of Politics'. I'm not too sure about that actually. I remember him as a 'hang 'em and flog 'em' Home secretary but most of all for the memorable occasion when he announced he was leaving his marriage. Unfortunately he had forgotten to tell his wife. (This is from memory and I can find no note of it but I am certain it happened!)

[Tizer]

This obit was in The Times in February. I can't get at any more than the following because the newspaper doesn't give full access for free. I couldn't find any other obit for her on the Web.

`Marjorie Clark: One of the last of the wartime Dakota air-ambulance ‘Flying Nightingales’'
"In the bumping, lurching Dakota air ambulance in which she served as a nursing orderly, Marjorie Clark would walk up and down, tending patients arrayed in tiers of bunks on either side of a central passage. Sometimes, if one of them had difficulty breathing in the unpressurised hold, she would ask the pilot to drop to a lower altitude. Conditions were rough and ready on the flight out; but coming back they were under orders to stay with the wounded, and the parachutes were locked away. As one of the “Flying Nightingales” of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), Clark was paid a shilling a day, allowed an egg for breakfast and given flying boots and gloves."

I read the obit when it appeared in the `real' newspaper and was impressed by the stories. The Dakotas would fly back and forth continuously ferrying wounded troops. At one point they were prevented from taking off from their home base when the weather turned bad. She and the crew went into the tower for a cup of tea and as they watched a B-17 made an emergency landing with a full bomb alongside her Dakota. It crashed, exploded and destroyed the Dakota. She must have had a strong stomach, to survive the flying and also the sight of the terrible wounds suffered by the troops. She was 18 when she joined in 1941.

There's lots more detail about the `Flying Nightingales' in these two web pages:
Lydia Allford
Edna Morris

[Stanley]

Part of the vast legion of forgotten heroes Tiz.

[Stanley]

John Surtees. The only man to have held both Motor cycle and F1 world championships in the 1950s and 60s. (LINK)

[PanBiker]

RIP Chuck Berry aged 90.

[Tripps]

Looks like he was a bit of a rascal - but then we knew that already didn't we. . . .

Berry himself had a simple explanation for his success.

"It amazes me when I hear people say, 'I want to go out and find out who I am.' I always knew who I was. I was going to be famous if it killed me."

[Stanley]

It took a while and he did good......

[Nolic]

He did "Jonny B Goode" RIP Chuck. Nolic

[Tripps]

I've had more time to look at his history. Having done so I think I don't think I'll be joining in the adulation. It would be unpleasant to catalogue all his activities.

As Sam Goldwyn said "Include me out"

[Stanley]

David, I heard a commentator say yesterday that if you look at the history of almost every black person of note from that era you'll almost always find they did spells in prison. It was almost an occupational hazard if you gained any status at all. It was the era (And I quote the song Rednecks by Randy Newman) of 'keeping the nigger down'.

[Stanley]

Breaking news that James Martin Pacelli McGuinness died during the night in hospital.