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OBITUARIES
22 October 2008
Dries Van Tonder, who was shot in his police van after arresting a man with an AK-47 in Bez Valley, Johannesburg, lived in a nightmare world of domestic violence, rape, burnings, hijackings, armed robberies and gun fights.
...He spoke a lot about being shot. His only hope was that when it happened he would be killed instantly rather than badly wounded. That was one prayer, at least, that was answered this week. He died quickly. He was 38.
...Policing was a vocation for him, not just a job. He was enormously proud of his uniform and took the small part he played in the fight against crime very seriously.
...His form of therapy was a fishing weekend at the Vaal River with his family, an occasional visit to his parents’ farm in Mpumalanga, taking time off to watch his son play rugby and doing jobs around the house.
- Chris Barron, Sunday Times, October 26, 2008
19 August 2008
President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, whose economic policies won the confidence of international donors and whose robust criticism of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe made him an anomaly amongst African heads of state, died this week in France, seven weeks after a stroke. He was 59.
- Chris Barron, Sunday Times, August 24, 2008
27 July 2008
Former Surgeon General Julius Richmond, who has died aged 91, was the US Surgeon General who first warned the Carter administration that cigarette smoking was "slow-motion suicide."
...Richmond, a paediatrician and a passionate advocate for public health, was also the first national director of Project Head Start in the US... - a federal effort to improve the learning skills and health of poor and disadvantaged children before teh start of their schooling.
...Richmond's 1979 report on the health risks of smoking persuaded congress to require new labels on cigarette packets stating "Surgeon General's Warning" and outlining specific health risks related to smoking.
- Chris Barron, Sunday Times, August 24, 2008
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