Area philanthropist; Thai princess

Rhoda Pritzker, whose late husband was a founder of the Hyatt hotel chain and a namesake of the world's most prestigious architecture prize, died at her winter home Dec. 23 in Casey Key, Fla., after a long illness, her son said. She was 92.

She was married to Chicago businessman and lawyer Jack Pritzker. He and his brother Abram Nicholas Pritzker were original builders of the Pritzker empire, which includes the Hyatt hotel chain. Jack Pritzker died in 1979.

Rhoda Pritzker was born in Manchester, England, and worked as a journalist for media outlets including the British Broadcasting Corp. She moved to the United States and continued working as a journalist.

She later became a philanthropist and served on many boards including The Theater School at DePaul University, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota Bay, Fla., and the New College of Florida.

Princess Galyani Vadhana, the older sister of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, died Wednesday, the royal palace announced. She was 84.

Galyani had been hospitalized since June, after doctors found she had abdominal cancer.

The princess was noted for her interest in the arts, especially theater and classical music, a taste cultivated when she was educated in Switzerland.

Galyani spoke five languages and loved to travel, documenting many of her journeys in books. She was the oldest child of Prince Mahidol -- a son of King Chulalongkorn -- and his commoner wife, Sangwal.

Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno, the oldest son of the late New York City crime chieftain Joe Bonanno and author of a book about growing up in a Mafia family died Tuesday in Tuscon, Ariz.. He was 75.

Los Angeles literary agent Mickey Freiberg confirmed in an e-mail that Bonanno. The cause of death was a heart attack, according to Bonanno's nephew Anthony Tarantola. Bonano, who escaped mob hits and eventually the mob itself, wrote "Bound by Honor: A Mafioso's Story" in 2000. His Web site describes him as an author, movie producer and lecturer.

The book was an attempt to make sense of myths about the Mafia in America, the site says.

Former figure skater Janie Collins died last week after a long illness. She was 69.

Collins, whose full name was Rosalie Jane, died Dec. 28 her family confirmed through a publicist.

The wife of skating entrepreneur Tom Collins, the founder of the Champions on Ice tour, Janie Collins was the 1956 Miss Georgia and represented the state in the Miss America pageant.

She performed in "Holiday on Ice" with skating partner Alfredo Mendoza, and they also created balletic routines at Cypress Gardens in Florida that could be done on waterskis.

Advertising executive Philip B. Dusenberry, who oversaw the Pepsi television commercial in which Michael Jackson's hair caught fire and who helped coin some of the industry's best-known slogans died of lung cancer Dec. 28 at his Manhattan home, his advertising firm, BBDO, said in a news release. Dusenberry was named one of the Top 100 Advertising People of the past century by Advertising Age. At BBDO he helped create the Pepsi theme line "The choice of a new generation" and the General Electric slogan "We bring good things to life." In his television ads, he focused on advertising as entertainment, using beautifully filmed images, inspiring music and poignant themes to create emotional attachments between consumers and product brands, BBDO said. He liked to use special effects and often cast celebrities, including Lionel Richie and Madonna.

Princess Galyani Vadhana, the older sister of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, died Wednesday, the royal palace announced. She was 84.

Galyani had been hospitalized since June, after doctors found she had abdominal cancer.

The princess was noted for her interest in the arts, especially theater and classical music, a taste cultivated when she was educated in Switzerland.

Galyani spoke five languages and loved to travel, documenting many of her journeys in books. She was the oldest child of Prince Mahidol -- a son of King Chulalongkorn -- and his commoner wife, Sangwal.

Victor Navarra, a longtime firefighter who coordinated the start of the New York City Marathon for a quarter-century, died Dec. 29 of cancer in his head and neck that he believed was caused by his volunteer work at the World Trade Center after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, his family said. He was 55.

Navarra earned praise for handling the daunting logistical task of staging the marathon as it grew into an event with nearly 40,000 runners.

"Weepin' " Willie Robinson, a blues singer who performed with Steven Tyler and Bonnie Raitt but also spent time homeless, died Dec. 29 in a fire started by a cigarette he was smoking in bed, the Boston Fire Department said.

He worked at a benefit concert with Tyler and two Boston Music Awards shows, in 2005 and again this month.

Robinson was born in Atlanta and picked cotton and fruit with his family up and down the East Coast. After spending time in the Army in the 1940s, he became a master of ceremonies and doorman at blues clubs in Trenton, N.J., where he met and became friends with B.B. King and other musicians. He eventually sang with King's 21-piece orchestra.

Louis Wolfson, owner of the 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed died on his 35th wedding anniversary Dec. 29 at his Bal Harbour, Fla. home, his son said. He was 95.

Affirmed won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont in 1978, becoming the third horse in six years to win the Triple Crown.

Wolfson was also an important figure in a scandal that led to the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas.

Wolfson was convicted in 1967 of selling unregistered securities and tried to appeal the conviction. His appeal was ultimately turned away by the Supreme Court, but not before Fortas resigned following a disclosure that he had agreed to accept a $20,000 annual fee from a foundation headed by Wolfson.

Bert Bolin, a Swedish climate scientist and co-founder of the Nobel Peace-winning U.N. panel on climate change died Sunday in a Stockholm hospital from stomach cancer, but was active until three days before his death, said his colleague Henning Rodhe, a professor in chemical meteorology at Stockholm University. He was 82.

As early as the 1950s, Bolin produced research about the circulation of carbon in nature that remains relevant to the debate on climate change. He played a key role in communicating the dangers of climate change and served as the first chairman of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change from 1988 to 1998.

George MacDonald Fraser, author of the "Flashman" series of historical adventure yarns, died Wednesday, his publisher said. He was 82.

Fraser died following a battle with cancer, said Nicholas Latimer, director of publicity for Knopf, which will release Fraser's latest work "The Reavers" in the United States in April.

Latimer was unable to provide details of where Fraser died. He lived on the Isle of Man, off the coast of northwest England.

"Flashman," published in 1969, introduced readers to an enduring literary antihero: the roguish, irrepressible Harry Flashman.

The novel imagined Flashman -- the bullying schoolboy of 19th-century classic "Tom Brown's Schooldays" -- grown up to become a soldier in the British army. In the book and 11 sequels, Flashman fought, drank and womanized his way across the British Empire, Europe and the United States, playing a pivotal role in the century's great historical moments. A vain, cowardly rogue, Flashman nonetheless emerged from each episode covered in glory, rising to the rank of medal-garlanded brigadier-general.

Cuban ballet master and choreographer Alberto Julio Rayneri Alonso died Monday. He was 90.

Alonso died at North Florida Regional Medical Center, said an official at Santa Fe Community College, where he was the master artist in residence. He died of heart failure.

Alora Haynes, leader of Santa Fe's visual and performing arts program, arranged for Alonso to go to the school after his defection from Cuba in 1993 at age 76.

He was best known for his 1967 work "Carmen Suite," the only Bolshoi Ballet ever commissioned by a non-Russian.

Former Wisconsin Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus, who signed the nation's first statewide gay rights law in 1982, died Wednesday. He was 81.

Dreyfus, a Republican governor from 1979 to 1983, died at his Waukesha home, his son Lee S. Dreyfus Jr. said. He had suffered from heart and breathing problems.

Dreyfus was chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point before running for governor in 1978. He surprised party leaders by deciding not to seek a second term four years later, saying he wanted to return to private life.

The gay rights measure signed in 1982 made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment and public accommodations.

Tony Elliott, a New Orleans Saints nose tackle in the 1980s who was later paralyzed in a shooting, was found dead Monday at his home. He was 48.

A health care aide found Elliott in his bed, brother Carl Elliott said. Morton's Mortuary confirmed the death. Carl Elliott told the Connecticut Post his brother used a wheelchair and had congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Elliott was paralyzed below the waist by a shooting in Stamford in 2000 after he retired from football, his brother said.

Music maven Ronald "Ronnie" Johnson, an executive vice president of Capitol Music Group, died Dec. 29. He was 49.

Johnson, who worked with artists such as Chingy and Fat Joe, had a heart attack at home. He had been training for his first marathon, said his wife, Jackie Pack-Johnson.

Doctors believed his death was related to an artery condition caused by a childhood illness, she said.

Johnson fell in love with the music business while growing up in Mobile, Ala. His mother was an on-air gospel personality; his stepfather was in record promotion.

Joyce Carlson, a Disney artist who helped create the idyllic universe of singing children at "It's a Small World" rides across the globe, died Wednesday. She was 84. Carlson died at home after long suffering from cancer, The Walt Disney Co. said.

In a 56-year career with Disney, Carlson went from delivering paints and brushes to animators to inking films herself, but it was her work on "It's a Small World" that is witnessed by millions of visitors each year. Carlson was among the creators of a miniature prototype of "It's a Small World" for the 1964 World's Fair in New York and subsequently helped bring the attraction to each of its permanent locations: Florida, California, Toyko, Paris and Hong Kong. Born in Racine, Wis., on March 16, 1923, Carlson moved with her family to southern California in 1938. Within six months of joining Walt Disney Studios, she was working on "Cinderella," "Peter Pan" and other animated features over 16 years.

Ed LaDou, a pizza innovator and restaurateur who gained notoriety with a salad rumored to induce labor in pregnant women, died Dec. 27. He was 52.

LaDou died of cancer at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, his widow, Carrie LaDou, said Friday.

His Los Angeles cafe, Caioti, began drawing a clientele of expectant women in the 1990s as the salad rumor spread. LaDou said 18 customers had claimed the romaine and watercress salad caused contractions within five hours. He believed it was his dressing that contained the labor-inducing qualities.

And that was one combination Ladou planned to keep secret.

Joseph Lazarow, a record-breaking glad-hander who presided as mayor of Atlantic City during the dawn of the casino industry, died Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was 84.

The Atlantic City native known for his integrity and for his publicity stunts died after a long illness, said his daughter, Robin Lazarow. She declined to identify the illness.

With little political experience, Joseph Lazarow was elected to the City Commission -- now the City Council -- in 1972. His counterparts on the council named him mayor in 1976, the start of the aging beach town's transformation to a glittery, gambling mecca.

But he was best known for his low-key leadership style and stunts promoting his beloved city.

In July 1977, Lazarow bested a world record set by Teddy Roosevelt in 1901 for shaking hands in a single day. Lazarow did it 8,514 times, beating Roosevelt's record of 8,513, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.