http://www.tmz.com/2018/01/06/jerry-van-dyke-dead-at-86/



Jerry Van Dyke -- the famed younger brother of Dick Van Dyke -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Jerry's wife, Shirley, tells us ... he died Friday afternoon at their Arkansas ranch with her by his side. She says they were involved in a car accident over 2 years ago ... and Jerry's health had deteriorated since.

We're told Dick visited them at the ranch over the Christmas holiday.

A beloved comedian just like his brother, Jerry pursued stand-up as a young man and performed at military bases around the world. He made his acting debut on "The Dick Van Dyke" show and followed that up with appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" before becoming a regular on "The Judy Garland Show."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/recy-taylor-alabama-woman-raped-six-white-men-dies-97-n833336

Recy Taylor, an African-American woman from Abbeville, Alabama, whose abduction and rape by six white men in 1944 made national headlines, died Thursday morning, her brother Robert Corbitt told NBC News.

She would have turned 98 on Sunday.

Corbitt said she passed peacefully in a nursing home in Abbeville.

“(She was) a brave woman and a fighter who tried her best to get it known all over the world,” he said during a phone interview from Alabama.

Taylor recently made headlines again as the film “The Rape of Recy Taylor” made its North America debut at the New York Film Festival this fall.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

Christmas truce


Soldiers from both sides exchange cheerful conversation
An artist's impression from The Illustrated London News of 9 January 1915: "British and German Soldiers Arm-in-Arm Exchanging Headgear: A Christmas Truce between Opposing Trenches"

In the week leading up to the 25th, French, German, and British soldiers crossed trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk. In some areas, men from both sides ventured into no man's land on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to mingle and exchange food and souvenirs. There were joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps, while several meetings ended in carol-singing. Men played games of football (soccer) with one another, giving one of the most memorable images of the truce. Peaceful behavior was not ubiquitous; fighting continued in some sectors, while in others the sides settled on little more than arrangements to recover bodies.

The following year, a few units arranged ceasefires but the truces were not nearly as widespread as in 1914; this was, in part, due to strongly worded orders from the high commands of both sides prohibiting fraternisation. Soldiers were no longer amenable to truce by 1916. The war had become increasingly bitter after devastating human losses suffered during the battles of the Somme and Verdun, and the use of poison gas.

The truces were not unique to the Christmas period, and reflected a growing mood of "live and let live", where infantry close together would stop overtly aggressive behavior and often engage in small-scale fraternisation, engaging in conversation or bartering for cigarettes. In some sectors, there would be occasional ceasefires to allow soldiers to go between the lines and recover wounded or dead comrades, while in others, there would be a tacit agreement not to shoot while men rested, exercised or worked in full view of the enemy. The Christmas truces were particularly significant due to the number of men involved and the level of their participation—even in very peaceful sectors, dozens of men openly congregating in daylight was remarkable—and are often seen as a symbolic moment of peace and humanity amidst one of the most violent events of human history.

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https://www.voanews.com/a/clifford-irving-howard-hughes-hoax/4172953.html

Clifford Irving, Author of Howard Hughes Literary Hoax, Dies at 87



SARASOTA, FLA. —
Clifford Irving, whose scheme to publish a phony autobiography of billionaire Howard Hughes created a sensation in the 1970s and stands as one of the all-time literary hoaxes, died after being admitted to hospice care. He was 87.

Irving’s wife, Julie Irving, confirmed that he died Tuesday at a hospice near his Sarasota home, The New York Times reported. She said he had been admitted there after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about a week earlier.

A novelist of little note in 1971, Irving conned McGraw-Hill publishers into paying him a $765,000 advance for a book about the reclusive Hughes. His elaborate ruse became the subject of the 2006 movie “The Hoax,” starring Richard Gere.

Irving served 17 months in federal prison for fraud after Hughes emerged to condemn the work as a fabrication. The bogus autobiography wasn’t published until 1999, when it was printed as a private edition.

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