Obituaries in the News

Doug Friedline

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Doug Friedline, who managed pro wrestler Jesse Ventura's long-shot but winning campaign for governor of Minnesota, was found dead in his apartment Friday. He was 49.

Friedline, who had run this year's Florida gubernatorial campaign for Reform Party candidate Max Linn, was found dead Friday at an apartment in Treasure Island, Fla., said Linn campaign spokeswoman Liz McCallum. She said he had serious heart problems and had complained of faintness for several days.

McCallum said Friedline knew his candidates stood little chance of winning and called him a champion for the underdog. Linn finished with about 2 percent of the vote.

Ventura's 1998 campaign directed by Friedline won a surprise victory over established candidates - Republican St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, now a U.S. senator, and Democrat Hubert "Skip" Humphrey III, son of the former vice president.

The campaign played up Ventura's gruff persona with ads that showed the sometimes flamboyant wrestler - he donned a feather boa at his inaugural and sang a duet with rocker Warren Zevon - as an outsider. One showed a Ventura action figure fighting off "Evil Special Interest Man."

Friedline, a Minnesota native, went on to manage campaigns for other long-shot candidates, including independent gubernatorial candidate Bill Schluter in New Jersey in 2001.

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Buddy Kerr

NEW YORK (AP) - Buddy Kerr, an All-Star shortstop who in the 1940s played 68 consecutive games without an error, died Tuesday, the New York Mets said. He was 84.

Kerr died Tuesday after a short illness at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, according to his former team. Kerr worked for the Mets from 1975-1996 as a special assignment scout.

Kerr played from 1943-51 for the New York Giants and Boston Braves and hit .249 in 1,067 major league games. He represented the Giants on the All-Star team in 1948. His errorless streak came over the 1946-47 seasons and was a record at the time.

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George A. Naifeh

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - George A. Naifeh, an Oklahoma native who served as a U.S. diplomat in the Foreign Service and founded the American-Arab Affairs Council, died Thursday, according to family members. He was 82.

The youngest of six children, Naifeh was born Aug. 19, 1924, to Shahada and Saida Naifeh, who immigrated to Kiefer, near Tulsa, from Jordan and Lebanon.

He joined the Army Air Forces and served as a staff sergeant during World War II, earning the Purple Heart, Oak Leaf cluster, Air Medal and four battle stars.

After the war, Naifeh earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Oklahoma and then attended Johns Hopkins University, where he studied the Middle East.

Naifeh's 30-year career in the Foreign Service took him to Iran, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Jordan, where he befriended state leaders and tried to help Arabs understand Americans by showing films, opening libraries with books about the United States, lecturing and speaking to the media.

He served in Nigeria during its civil war and helped free political prisoner and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka from prison.

After retirement, Naifeh founded the American-Arab Affairs Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating Americans about the Arab world. He was president and chairman of the organization from 1981 to 1990.

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Jack Williamson

PORTALES, N.M. (AP) - Jack Williamson, a science fiction author who wrote dozens of novels and short stories in a career that spanned eight decades, died Friday. He was 98.

Williamson died at his home in Portales, according to his niece, Betty Williamson, and officials at Eastern New Mexico University, where he taught.

Williamson published steadily since writing his first story, "The Metal Man," in 1928 at the age of 20. His last book, "The Stonehenge Gate," was published recently.

He was already a well-known author when he returned to ENMU, his alma mater, and joined the faculty in 1960. He had received Hugo and Nebula awards as well as lifetime achievement honors from the World Fantasy Convention and the Horror Writers of America.

He was named a grand master of science fiction in the mid-1970s by the Science Fiction Writers of America and his second-to-last novel, "Terraforming Earth," was singled out for awards in 2002.

According to his publisher, Williamson was the first to write about genetic engineering and antimatter.

His works includes "The Humanoids" series and the novels "With Folded Hands" and "The Legion of Time."

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