The Memorial Wall

John R. Froines, a quiet but politically stalwart chemist who stood trial alongside six other anti-war activists — known collectively as the Chicago Seven — on charges of conspiring to incite a riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and who went on to become a pioneering advocate for environmental justice, died Wednesday in Santa Monica, California. He was 83.

His wife, Andrea Hricko, said the death, at a hospital, was caused by complications of Parkinson’s disease.

A recently minted Yale Ph.D. on his way to teach chemistry at the University of Oregon, Froines found himself drawn into the swirl of anti-war activism building up to the Democratic convention, to be held in August 1968 at Chicago’s International Amphitheater.

Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis, two of the protest organizers, knew Froines through his work in Connecticut with the New Haven chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, and they invited him to join their inner circle.

During the convention, tens of thousands of protesters marched in the streets and hundreds were arrested during violent clashes with the Chicago Police Department. But only eight were indicted under federal charges of crossing state lines to incite a riot; they included Hayden, Davis and Froines, who was also charged with building an incendiary device, accused of having shown three women how to make a stink bomb.

Several of those charged were already famous as radical activists and counterculture provocateurs. Bobby Seale had co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966; Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, co-founders of the Youth International Party, or the Yippies, were renowned for antics like dropping wads of cash onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange from the visitors gallery.

The defendants were originally known as the Chicago Eight, but became the Chicago Seven when the judge in the case, Julius Hoffman — no relation to Abbie — had Seale legally severed from the group to be tried separately. (In an extraordinary move, the judge had earlier ordered Seale bound and gagged for several days in the courtroom after Seale’s repeated protests over his treatment by the court. He was later jailed for contempt.)

Though the men stood in solidarity, Froines stuck out as particularly straight-laced and earnest, especially in contrast to the likes of Hoffman, who treated the trial with comic disdain, putting his feet on a table and referring to Judge Hoffman as his illegitimate father.

“John was straight,” Lee Weiner, one of the defendants, said in a phone interview. “I’m not going to say we didn’t get along, because that’s not true. But I never had an impulse to say to John, ‘Let’s go smoke some dope.’ "

Despite what many saw as clear bias against the defendants by Judge Hoffman, in 1970 the jury acquitted Froines and Weiner of all charges. An appeals court later dismissed most of the charges against the others.

Froines eventually returned to academia, then worked for several years in Washington for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Under his direction, the agency wrote the first regulatory guidelines for non-carcinogenic toxins like lead and cotton dust, setting the stage for dramatic increases in workplace and public health.

He did much the same at UCLA, where he moved in 1981. He directed numerous university research centers and sat on the state’s scientific review panel for air quality.

And he engaged with communities hit hard by industrial pollution and smog, tailoring his research to their needs and even accompanying neighborhood groups to meet with government and corporate officials.

“When you walk into a room with an internationally recognized expert on an issue, it makes a difference,” Angelo Logan, co-founder of one such organization, the California-based East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, said in a phone interview. “John’s work was driven, driven to make real differences in people’s lives.”

John Radford Froines was born June 13, 1939, in Oakland, California. His father, George, a shipyard worker, was murdered when John was 3, leaving his mother, Katherine (Livingston) Froines, a teacher, to raise him and his brother, Robert, by herself.

After graduating from high school, he joined the Air National Guard, then earned an associate degree from Contra Costa Community College. He went on to the University of California, Berkeley, where he received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1962.

It was at Yale, where he pursued a doctorate, that he first became involved in politics. He started as a moderate, chairing the university chapter of Students for Johnson during the 1964 presidential campaign.

But, like many young people, he soured on the president after Johnson followed his landslide victory that fall with a massive expansion of the war in Vietnam. Froines joined the local branch of SDS, helping to organize poor white and Black residents in the city’s Hill neighborhood.

He met his first wife, Ann (Rubio) Froines, through the organization. They later divorced. In addition to his wife, Hricko, he is survived by his daughter, Rebecca Froines Stanley, and his son, Jonathan.

After his acquittal, Froines resigned from his position at the University of Oregon to continue his anti-war activism. He went back to New Haven to support the Black Panther Party during a series of trials against Seale and others, and in 1971 he helped organize the May Day anti-war protests in Washington, D.C.

The next year, he returned to academia as a professor at Goddard College, in Plainfield, Vermont. He later worked for Vermont’s department of occupational health for two years before moving to Washington.

Froines’ death leaves just two surviving members of the Chicago Eight, Seale and Weiner.

The trial of the Chicago Seven became a touchstone of the era, one repeatedly mined for its historical significance. Two movies have been made about the case, most recently “The Trial of the Chicago Seven” (2020), written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, with Danny Flaherty playing Froines.

It was a personal legacy that left Froines with mixed feelings. He remained as committed to social justice as he had been in his youth, he said, but he had left his activist days behind and was eager to be known better for his work regulating lead than for standing in court beside Abbie Hoffman.

“No one is the same now as then,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 1990. “We still need student protesters because many of the problems of the ‘60s continue and new issues have emerged. But nobody’s a student activist at 50. You’d have to have your head examined.”

Adam Wade, whose career spanned in the music and TV industry, has died. He was 87.

Wade's wife, Jeree Wade, first confirmed the tragic news to The Hollywood Reporter, saying that the actor, singer, and game show host died at his home in Montclair, New Jersey.

She did not release an official statement regarding her husband's passing. But she confirmed that Adam Wade's cause of death was Parkinson's disease.

Meanwhile, a separate statement posted on Facebook, per American Songwriter's website, also disclosed Wade's passing.

"It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the passing of our husband, father, brother, friend, Adam Wade. Arrangements are being made for his memorial and we will keep you updated; it is a great loss for everyone who knew and loved him. Please keep our family in your prayers. With deep sorrow, The Wade Family," it went on.

The Johns Hopkins Medicines clarified that Parkinson's disease is not "a direct killer." Instead, it can lead a patient to become more vulnerable to falls and infection. The later stages of the disease also cause people to overlook the signals that can threaten lives even more.

Meanwhile, NHS explains that it is a condition in which the parts of the brain get damaged progressively over the years.

After his death, notable personalities and his fans offered tribute as they remembered his contributions to different industries.

Comedian and actress Marsha Warfield said, "I'm so sorry to hear the passing of actor/singer/game show host, Adam Wade. Among his many accomplishments, he will always be the first Black American man to ever host a TV game show, 'Musical Chairs.' My condolences to all whose lives he touched.

Adam Wade's Career

Wade did notable moves in the music, TV, and acting industries that made him more unforgettable.

In 1961, he got compared to Johnny Mathis because of his romantic songs like "The Writing on the Wall," "As If I Didn't Know," and "Take Good Care of Her."

It took years before he clarified in a 2014 interview that he was actually trying to imitate Nat King Cole instead of Mathis.

He then became the first Black person to host the game show, "Musical Chairs." Created by Don Kirshner, the game master recorded it at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York and challenged contestants to answer correct lyrics and song titles.

As for his acting career, he made his debut in an episode of "Tarzan" before collecting more titles like "Come Back Charleston Blue," "Across 110th Street," "Phantom of the Paradise," "Search for Tomorrow," "The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo," and "The Dukes of Hazzard."

Larry Parrish, of Rancho Mirage, passed away at home on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. He was surrounded by those he loved best and was peaceful in his departure.

Larry was 82 years old and lived in Rancho Mirage for 24 years. He came to the desert in 1992 to serve as Riverside County Chief Executive Officer until his retirement in 2008. A short time later, he returned to the County to serve as interim CEO, a position he also held during times of leadership transition for the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG) and the local cancer society. He also served on the Boards of the Regional Access Project Foundation and the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians’ East Valley Tourism and Development Authority.

Larry’s career in public service spanned 40 years and four counties. He began in Santa Cruz as a probation officer. He was hired by Santa Barbara County in 1979 to be the Chief Probation Officer. Eight months later that Board hired him as their Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), a position in which he served until he was recruited by the County of Orange in 1985 to serve as chief executive there. In 1989, Dennis Carpenter & Associates lured him to Sacramento to join their lobbying team; however, Larry’s real passion was local government. Two years later he was extremely happy to get the nod from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to return to local government.

Larry was well known as a bright, funny, problem solver of high intellect and great wit. He had a knack for finding and placing good people to serve local communities. He was respected and loved by all who worked with him. Friends and colleagues describe Larry as a big-picture guy who never lost sight of the details – he could see both the forest and the trees, which is a rare quality in any leader. He believed in the power and the promise of local government to change lives for the better and spent four decades in public service plying his special gift for bringing people together and helping them find common ground.

He was well known for a vast catalogue of Larry-isms – quick wit, wisdom, and humor always at the ready to make a pithy point with his special brand of humor.

He loved the ocean and relaxed by vacationing annually in Cabo San Lucas. Following his retirement in 2008, Larry enjoyed traveling up and down the west coast and spending summers at Big Bear Lake in his Fleetwood RV with wife Kathie and Mattie, their Australian Shepherd.

At the outset of the pandemic, Larry and Kathie adopted two kittens to bring love and joy into the house. A short time later, a Mini-Aussie they named Sydney quickly became one of his best friends.

Larry was married to his wife Kathie for 36 years. He is survived by his daughter (Nancy), son (David), friend and ex-wife (Lois) and two grandchildren (Hal and Gabe). A private service will be held later in the year.

Should you wish to honor this life well lived, please send remembrances to the local Parkinson’s foundation or the local Alzheimer’s Association.

Allen Adashek passed away at age 79 due to complications from Parkinson's disease.

Allen was predeceased by his parents, Dr. William and Lillian Adashek as well as his beloved sister Barbara.

Allen is survived by Michele, his wife of 43 years and his sons William (Marie) and Andrew. He was also Grandpa Al to his grandson Oliver. He leaves behind many cousins and lifelong friends as well as his aunt Doris Golden.

Al attended University Elementary School, University High School, UCLA and UCLA Law School.

Al was a Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender for 36 years and was a devoted advocate for those he represented.

He will be deeply missed.

Larry Wartur greatly enjoyed his work as an engineer, making his mark with projects like miles and miles of guardrails on the Belt Parkway, a huge waterfront bulkhead in Yonkers, the reconstruction of Staten Island’s Richmond Parkway, and his favorite, the design and reconfiguration of Central Avenue in Yonkers.

Mr. Wartur, who died at home in Springs on June 27, deeply loved his family, including Susan Wartur, his wife of nearly 63 years, and his daughter, Lisa Rachel Wartur. He had advanced Parkinson’s disease for 12 years, and was in hospice care for the last 13 months. His family was by his side when he died, at the age of 88.

“He retained his devotion to his family and his enthusiasm for food and movies, for friends and music and shows, for the Mets and East End vistas, for parties, and for reaching beyond his illness to keep touch with his life,” Susan Wartur said. “He awed all in his orbit with his strength and courage.”

She recalled meeting a “warm, tweedy, pipe-smoking, adorable guy, fresh from two years as a first lieutenant with the Army Corps of Engineers.” His reputation, she said, was that of an excellent, astute, ethical engineer and supervisor who could get the job, no matter how big, done on time.

Charles Lawrence Wartur was born in New York City on Jan. 24, 1934, to M. Harry and Bertha Wartur. He graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, and went on to study at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. There was no liberal arts program there back then, so he would take literature classes at other colleges in the summers. He joined the Corps of Engineers in 1956 and stayed for about three years.

Mutual friends introduced him to his future wife, and they were married in August 1959. While living full time in Queens, they bought a boat, docked it here, and allowed their daughter to name it. They lived seasonally aboard the “Love Boat,” as she called it, for 10 years. They built their house in Springs 35 years ago.

Mr. Wartur also worked as a consultant for East Hampton Town’s Planning Board and supervised projects for East Hampton Village, including work on Toilsome Lane, Railroad Avenue, Gingerbread Lane, Race Lane, Cooper Avenue, North Main Street, and the Reutershan parking lot.

He and his daughter, Lisa, who now lives in Lakewood Township, N.J., had a remarkable family resemblance. He would tell ghost stories at Halloween,  she said, and host warm and welcoming gatherings for her and her friends. He was also a good friend to his niece and nephew, Ellen Wolfson of Boston and Roger Wolfson of Los Angeles, and his son-in-law, Steven Lance.

“A man ahead of his time,” Ms. Wartur said, her husband was a skilled ice skater, tennis player, potter, boater, and cook. He enjoyed trains and trolleys, coached Pee Wee hockey, and enjoyed traveling. He didn’t love opera at first, but eventually became an expert, thanks to his aspiring-soprano wife. He was chairman of the board of the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven, Conn.

Mr. Wartur was also a baseball fan, and although he never forgave the Dodgers for leaving Brooklyn, he did catch Mets fever later in life — even cheering for a Mets grand slam after a steak dinner on a recent evening.

French paleontologist Yves Coppins, famous for discovering in Ethiopia in 1974 the skeleton of Lucy, the ancestors of humans dating back about 3.2 million years, the most famous Australopithecus afarensis, died today at the age of 87 after a long illness. Coppins is considered the “father of prehistory”, who revolutionized thanks to dozens of discoveries in paleobiology over the course of more than half a century. In October 2021, he organized a workshop on symbolism and the religious sense in man from the beginning at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, of which he has been a member since 2014.

He was Professor Emeritus of Ancient and Prehistoric Anthropology at the College de France, Director Emeritus of the Musée du Manne in Paris, and a member of scientific institutions around the world, including the Royal Academy of Sciences, the European Academy, the Royal Belgian Academy, the National Academy of Sciences in Rome and the Institut Royal Anthropology.

Born in Vans on August 9, 1934, Coppins began his research first in Brittany while in high school and then at the Sorbonne in Rennes in Paris, where he studied geology, zoology, botany, and palaeontology. In 1956 he joined the French National Center for Scientific Research and dealt with distant periods and distant countries, particularly the borders of the Third and Quaternary eras in the tropics of the Old World. Beginning in 1960, he organized important expeditions first on his own in Chad, then in international cooperation, in Ethiopia (Omo Valley and Afar Basin) as well as numerous expeditions in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, China and Siberia. His research focused on the paleontology of vertebrates (proboscis, hippos), their formation and importance to paleoenvironments, climate, biology, as well as paleoanthropology. The fruit of those expeditions is remarkable: tens of tons of fossils including more than a thousand human remains which could have been studied with amazing results, shedding light on the history of the past ten million years. He is known for his hypotheses that highlight the interrelationships between human evolution and the evolution of the environment.

In 1969 Cobbins was called to the deputy director of the Museum of Man, who became its director in 1980 at the same time
To dedicate the Anthropology Chair to the National Museum of Natural History. Meanwhile, travel to the Omo River valley in Ethiopia, an important site for the discovery of ancient humans. At the request of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, the British paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey organized an international expedition in which Yves Coppins participated, discovering the remains of Australopithecus Aethiopicos (2.5 million years ago).

Then the French scientist headed to Afar in eastern Ethiopia: in 1974 Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis) was discovered with Maurice Tayeb and Don Johansson (USA). Lucy’s 52 bones (a human skeleton has 206) made it possible to reconstruct her weight, age, and movement and to discover that pre-humans walked and climbed trees. Lucy’s name comes from the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” whose tunes rang out in the field.

Over the years, Coppins has formulated hypotheses proposing an ecological explanation for the separation of Hominidae Panidae 8 million years ago (1983), another hypothesis that identified the first appearance of Australopithecines 4 million years ago (1999), and another hypothesis about the emergence of the genus Homo 3 million years ago (1975) . These three stages postulated by Coppins are connected vertically or transversely within real trees, and each creates the conditions for the next stage, while developing its own stock in an original and independent manner.

Drawing on the different speeds of development of biology and technology, Yves Coppins also explained how the acquired gradually prevailed over the innate, giving man freedom and responsibility, and why human evolution slowed and then stopped.

Norman F. Steinberg, the co-founder of the Mayer & Steinberg Inc. insurance company, died from Parkinson’s disease on June 22 at his Pikesville home. While he was largely known in the industry for specializing in insurance and hard work, Mr. Steinberg also cherished family, travel, and the little things in life. The former longtime Pikesville resident was 91.

Mr. Steinberg, son of Julia and Irvin Steinberg, grocery store owners, was born in Baltimore.

After graduating from Baltimore City Community College in 1948, Mr. Steinberg attended the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy for two years before realizing his calling to start an insurance agency; he co-founded Mayer & Steinberg Inc. with his partner Alex Mayer in 1959.

“To him, it wasn’t just a matter of selling something— it was about having that integrity and knowledge to be able to tell the people what services they actually needed,” said his daughter Joy Robinson.

Mr. Steinberg quickly became a leading expert in the industry, earning a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter credential for specializing in risk management and property-casualty insurance. He also helped kickstart a program that would help others become more knowledgeable about the in’s and out’s of the insurance industry.

In addition to having a driven work ethic and creating a name for himself in the world of insurance, Mr. Steinberg also valued traveling the world and spending time with his family.

He traveled to every continent in the world except Antarctica, according to Mrs. Robinson.

“It was really nice to see that he savored all the places that he traveled. He had no fear — he always wanted to try everything.”

Mr. Steinberg frequently bonded with others he came across during his travels around the globe, creating meaningful friendships with people from other states or countries that would last for decades. He would fully embrace cultural traditions and seek out authentic experiences in each country he visited.

Additionally, Mr. Steinberg enjoyed photography and capturing memories he would make on his different adventures.

“Every time he took trips out of the country, he would come back and have a slide presentation for people to see,” said his brother, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Melvin “Mickey” Steinberg.

Mrs. Robinson described her father as someone who constantly loved living and learning.

“He was very smart, very intelligent, and had a sense of figuring things out. He always would have life lessons to give us.”

He was an active, extroverted person who enjoyed a variety of activities, including dancing, golfing, playing tennis, attending shows, traveling and meeting new people. He was a good listener and someone people could count on for anything.

Mrs. Robinson recalls a time when she needed her father to pick her up from Ocean City when her car broke down and she was stranded with a friend. Her father was out dancing that night but dropped everything to pick up his daughter once she paged him saying she needed him.

“I knew that if I called him, he would come,” Robinson said. “That was the thing — we could always depend on him to be there and for all of us.”

Former Lt. Gov. Steinberg also attests to this by recalling his earlier childhood years with his older brother, with whom he shared a “close” and “special” relationship.

As a child, Mr. Steinberg’s younger brother would often get sick at school.

“We only lived a couple of blocks from the elementary school — and so, my brother would carry me home on his shoulders,” his brother said. “He always took care of me. He was my big brother.”

In addition to their closeness during childhood, they also fostered a caring relationship throughout former Lt. Gov. Steinberg’s election campaigns.

“He was always very proud of me. He was proud of my accomplishments and everything, and he was very active in my campaign. He really appreciated everything that I accomplished, as much as I did. There was no jealousy— he was always just proud of me for different things.”

A month or two after former Lt. Gov. Steinberg was officially out of office, it was only then that Mr. Steinberg filed for residency in Florida, signaling that he had wanted to stay close to his brother throughout his election campaigns and his time in office.

“I think he felt that he wanted to be able to vote and continue to support and contribute to my election. He was that type.”

Mr. Steinberg possessed a keen, special quality of being able to savor and appreciate all the simple things that life had to offer him— things that others may ignore or take for granted. Whether it was family trips to the beach, spending the night on a dance floor with his beloved wife, playing with his grandchildren or stumbling upon a generic Costco drink that tastes almost exactly like Grey Goose— Mr. Steinberg had a “joie de vivre,” according to his daughter— a zest for life.

“It’s interesting to see somebody so well-rounded and just have that appreciation for all these things. He believed that it wasn’t about the destination, it was the journey. And he really did savor all these moments and times with his children, his grandchildren, his friends, his colleagues,” said Mrs. Robinson.

He is survived by his children, Sharon Rose Yospe, Steven Steinberg and Joy Robinson; as well as his grandchildren and 10 great-grandsons.

He is also survived by his brother, former Lt. Gov. Melvin “Mickey” Steinberg, and his loving companion, Mary Grodnitzky.

Bettye Elaine Steinberg, his beloved wife of 62 years, died in October 2013.

David Eugene Stone was born in Kansas City, Missouri, November 24th, 1953 to Richard and Edith Stone. The Stone family relocated to Oklahoma City in August 1961. He attended Putnam City High School and graduated in 1973. David married his beloved wife Nicki in 1974 and they remained devoted to each other for the rest of his life. His children Carlee and Dylan were his pride and joy, his devotion to his family was never ending. He owned an air filtration business with his brother Bill for 30 years in Oklahoma City selling nationwide. In 2007 he and Nicki relocated to Arizona and then California. He was an avid Kansas City Chiefs and OU football fan. David was known by all as a kind, gentle man who had an infectious laugh, great sense of humor, and a heart of gold.

David is survived by his wife Nicki, his daughter Carlee, his son Dylan, brothers Bill and Eric, and his sister Sarah. His loving parents, Richard and Edith, preceded him in death. David’s last act of kindness was his decision to leave his body to Research for Life, in hopes they can learn about his rare neurological disease, and can possibly help other people and families in the future.

“And I think to myself, what a wonderful world…”

Top Islamic eulogist Mohammad-Ali Karimkhani died at his home in Tehran on Monday after years of suffering from Parkinson’s disease. He was 72.

Karimkhani was best well-known for the ritual song “A Piece from the Heaven” or “I Came, O King, Shelter Me” that he sang for Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Imam of the Shia.

Born in Narjeh, a village near the city of Qazvin, he was interested in attending religious rituals from childhood. In his youth, he moved to Tehran to receive education on Islamic eulogy from numerous masters in this field.  

“Since childhood, I recited the Quran and was interested in Islamic eulogy,” he once said in an interview.

“During adolescence, I also continued my performances in religious events and received a lot of praise from people. My father and grandfather all enjoyed good voices, but they never performed in any official ceremonies; thus, I’m a born singer,” he added.

He recorded several albums and gave numerous fine performances during religious ceremonies, however, he shot to fame by singing “I Came, O King, Shelter Me”.   

With contributions from composer Aria Aziminejad, he performed the piece with a poem from Habibollah Chaichian, who, in this poem, refers to Imam Reza (AS) as king. The composition features a helpless person begging for help from the Imam at his shrine.    

Karimkhani had even performed the song at several of his relatives’ wedding ceremonies, due to popular demand.   

Vocalist Homayun Shajarian used the melody of the song to record “Man Koja, Baran Koja”, from his album “My Iran”. Accordingly, he dedicated the song to Karimkhani.

Karimkhani and Aziminejad also teamed up for “The Drunkard Cupbearer” about Imam Hussein (AS) and the epic of Ashura.

He was extremely meticulous in selecting a poem for singing and used all the capability of his voice to perform each song. 

His care for exploiting the most appropriate dastgah in traditional Persian music for his performances played a pivotal role to make his works popular.