Andy de Groat, American choreographer, Died at 72

Andy Degroat was born in 1947 and died on January 10, 2019.

He was an American choreographer.

He began his career in 1972, where he choreographed the plays Ouverture at that year's Shiraz Arts Festival. 

Degroat also helped to choreograph Le Regard du Deaf and Einstein on the Beach at the 1976 Festival d'Avignon.

Degroat was the creator the Red Notes dancing company in New York City in 1973.

 

Degroat created two ballets titled Red Notes and Fan Dance.

 

He relocated his dance company to France, in 1982.

 

Degroat resided in Paris, Tarbes, and Montauban.

 

His area subject was in spinning and applied it to works such as The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, and Giselle.

Andy Degroat passed away at 72 years old.

Batton Lash, Comic book writer & artist, Died at 65

Batton Lash was born on October 29, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York, and died on January 12, 2019.

 

He was an American comics creator.

 

He came to prominence as part of the 1990s self-publishing boom.

 

Lash was best known for the series Wolff and Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre (aka Supernatural 

Law), a comedic series about law partners specializing in cases dealing with archetypes from the horror genre, which ran as a strip in The National Law Journal, and as a stand-alone series of comic books and graphic novels. 

He was a student of cartooning and graphic arts at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts.

 

Batton Lash gained several awards for his work, including an Inkpot Award, an Independent Book Publishers Association's Benjamin Franklin Award, an Eisner Award, and nominations for two Harvey Awards. 

Batton Lash passed away at 65 years old from brain cancer.

Wiet Van Broeckhoven, Belgian radio presenter and writer, Died at 69

Wiet Van Broeckhoven was born on September 1949 and died on January 4, 2019.

 

He was a Belgian radio presenter and writer.

 

He was best known as the host of the radio music shows Njam Njam and Hitbox.

 

Van Broeckhoven was known for his Beatle haircut and knack for humorous one-liners.

At the start, he served as a was a civil servant. 

Van Broeckhoven presented the music shows Njam Njam and Hitbox on Radio 2, where Etienne Smet made the musical selections. 

He was known for his playful style, coming up with humorous one-liners and puns in between musical segments. 

Most of the quotes and one-liners were later compiled in various books. During the last years of his life, Van Broeckhoven was very ill, bedridden, and he no longer appeared in public. 

Wiet Van Broeckhoven passed away at 69 years old.

Aline Kiner, French journalist & writer Died at 59

Aline Kiner was born on 18 June 1959 and died on  January 7, 2019.

She was a French journalist and novelist.

She started as a journalist for Sciences et Avenir in 1995 and was then named editor-in-chief of special issues in 2008.

Kiner also worked with the French documentary series Thalassa and for the French newspaper Libération.

Kiner authored four books and novels, including La nuit des béguines, which won the Prix Culture et Bibliothèques pour tous in 2018. 

Aline Kiner passed away at 59 years old.

Sanger D. Shafer, American country & songwriter, Died at 84

Sanger D. "Whitey" Shafer was born on October 24, 1934, in Whitney, Texas and died on January 12, 2019.

He was an American country songwriter and musician. 

In his time, Sanger D. Shafer wrote many hits for stars such as George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, and George Strait. 

His musical career started out in his hometown of Whitney where he played in a school band.

$Then for the next following years Shafer toured the U.S., performing with, among others, the then-unknown Willie Nelson. 

He relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he signed with the Blue Crest Music Publishing Company, in 1967.

Shafer  wrote two songs for George Jones, "Between My House and Home" and "I'm a New Man in Town", along with many other tunes for lesser-known acts. 

He then signed contracts with Musicor and RCA as a singer, but he was never as successful as he was as a songwriter. 

Sanger D. Shafer passed away at 84 years old.

Anthony Colaizzo, American politician, Died at 88

Anthony L. Colaizzo was born on May 31, 1930, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and died on January 12, 2019.

He was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served for ten years from 1989 until 1999.

Anthony Colaizzo was the mayor of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania for ten years until 2009 when David Rhome was elected to replace him.

Anthony Colaizzo earned his bachelor's degree in businessman administration, in 1956, from Duquesne University.

Anthony Colaizzo was involved in the real estate, tax preparation, and insurance businesses.

Anthony Colaizzo passed away at 88 years old.

Mel Stottlemyre, American baseball player, Died at 77

Melvin Leon "Mel" Stottlemyre Sr. was born on November 13, 1941, and died on January 13, 2019.

He was an American professional baseball pitcher and pitching coach.

Stottlemyre played for 11 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees and coached for 23 seasons.

Stottlemyre was a five-time MLB All-Star and five-time World Series champion, as a coach.

He grew up in the town of Mabton, Washington, located in the south-central part of the state. Stottlemyre lived with his wife, Jean, in Issaquah, Washington.

His 2 sons, Todd and Mel Jr., then their father by becoming major league pitchers.

His other son, Jason, died of leukemia at the age of 11.

Stottlemyre was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2000.

Stottlemyre was in remission for several years, he was an avid supporter of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

During 2011, the cancer reappeared.

He had succumbed to cancer on January 13, 2019, in 2007.

He had wrote an autobiography entitled Pride and Pinstripes, published.

Mel Stottlemyre passed away at 77 years old.

Lenin Rajendran, Indian film director, Died at 67

Lenin Rajendran was born in Trivandrum, Kerala, India and died on January 14, 2019.

He was an Indian film director and screenwriter.

He worked in Malayalam cinema. Rajendran served as the Kerala State Film Development Corporation from 2016 to January 2019.

When he started out his film-making career, he was an assistant to director P. A. Backer, Rajendran made his directorial debut with Venal (1982).

Rajendran's first film on to his last one, Edavappathy (2016), Rajendran has been consistent with the quality of his films, not surrendering to market forces even while using the form and stars of popular cinema.

Rajendran's other films are Prem Nazirine Kanmanilla (1983), Puravrutham (1988), and Vachanam (1989).

Lenin Rajendran passed away at 67 years old due to liver ailments at Appolo Hospital Chennai.