Don M. Mankiewicz

Don Martin Mankiewicz was an American screenwriter and novelist best known for his novel, Trial.

Mankiewicz was born on January 20, 1922 in Berlin, Germany, he was the son of Sara (née Aaronson) and the screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and brother of journalist Frank Mankiewicz. He graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University in 1942.

His 1955 novel Trial won the Harper Prize and was made into a film of the same name. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for I Want to Live! (1958). Among his many television credits are Ironside, for which he wrote the pilot, the Star Trek episode "Court Martial", and the mini-series adaptation of President John F. Kennedy's book, Profiles in Courage.

Mankiewicz married Ilene Korsen on March 26, 1946 and divorced her in 1972. He married Carol Bell Guidi on July 1, 1972. Mankiewicz had 2 children with Ilene (Jane and John). He had two children with Carol (Jan and Sandy). His son is a screenwriter and producer, John Mankiewicz. Jane is a fiction writer published in the New Yorker.

Mankiewicz died on April 25, 2015 at his home in Monrovia, California at the age of 93 of congestive heart failure.

Jack Farris

Jack Farris, a novelist, poet and playwright. 

Farris, a romantic literature professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, for many years, wrote Into Thy Narrow Bed, a play first produced at Circuit Playhouse in Memphis in 1981.

He also wrote a clutch of novels, including "Me and Gallagher" (1982), "A Man to Ride With" (1953), "The Abiding Gospel of Claude Dee Moran Jr." (1987) and "Keeping the Faith" (1990).

His 1951 novel, "Ramey," became a 1974 NBC TV movie, "The Greatest Gift" with Glenn Ford (itself the pilot for the series, "The Holvaks").

He died on Nov. 26, 1998 in Silver Spring, MD at the age of 77. 

Thomas A. Fulham

Thomas A. Fulham was a businessman and president of Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts from 1970 to 1980.

Thomas Fulham was born in 1915 in Winthrop, Massachusetts. Fulham graduated from St. John's Preparatory School and College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1937. 

He served in the Army during World War II. After the War, Fulham entered the family fish business and served as president of the Boston Fish Market Corporation starting in 1953. He pioneered fish sticks in the 1950s. 

Fulham was elected as president of Suffolk University in 1970 and served until 1980. He received an honorary doctorate from Northeastern University in 1980.

Fulham died in Natick, Massachusetts in 1995 at age 79. The Thomas A. Fulham Merit Scholarship is named in his honor.

Charles N. Millican

Charles Norman Millican was an American professor and academic administrator. He was the founding president of the University of Central Florida, then named Florida Technological University.

Millican was born on October 9, 1916 in Wilson, Arkansas. As a young man, he worked as a part-time reporter for Dun and Bradstreet while earning a Bachelor of Science degree in business and religion from Union University. He graduated in 1941 and was named pastor of Olive Branch Baptist Church in Mississippi.

Millican later entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky. But, he returned to Jackson, Mississippi, to serve as a coordinator for the 44th College Training Detachment of the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 to 1945. He married Frances Hilliard on May 15, 1945 in Jackson, Tennessee.

Millican returned to school, and in 1946 earned his Master of Arts degree in economics from George Peabody College, then joining the Commerce Department at his alma mater Union University. He would move south to Gainesville, Florida, in 1948, to earn a Ph.D. in business finance and economics from the University of Florida. Millican joined the university faculty, and was appointed the assistant dean of the Warrington College of Business Administration in 1956. Soon thereafter, he left for Texas where he became dean of the School of Business Administration at Hardin-Simmons University.

In 1959 he moved to Tampa, Florida, to become dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of South Florida.

On October 19, 1965, Millican was appointed as the founding president of a new state university in Florida, then without a name or even a campus. Millican, with the advice of a citizen advisory group, selected the name "Florida Technological University," though it is now known as the University of Central Florida. The campus site he selected was just east of Orlando, Florida. He is also credited with establishing twin tenets for the university, "Accent on the Individual" and "Accent on Excellence." Millican also chose the new university's motto: "Reach for the Stars." And, he was a co-designer of its distinctive "Pegasus" seal. The highlight of Millican's presidency was at his new university's commencement ceremonies in 1973, when he played host to President Richard Nixon.

Millican stepped-down as university president on January 31, 1978, but remained on the faculty. He was given the title of "President Emeritus," and taught classes in finance. Due to his role in shaping the university, Millican is considered by many to be the "Father of UCF."

After leaving UCF, Millican served as the president of nearby Lake Highland Preparatory School from 1982 to 1985, and continued as president emeritus-consultant until 1993. Millican returned to serve the University in 1993 as president emeritus and special assistant to the chief executive officer of the UCF Foundation. 

Millican died on December 1, 2010, at his home in Central Florida.

Trevor Colbourn

Harold Trevor Colbourn was an Australian professor and academic administrator, who served as the second president of the University of Central Florida, previously named Florida Technological University.

Colbourn was born in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia on 24 February 1927. As a young man, Colbourn and his family moved to England where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history at the University of London. Colbourn then moved to the United States, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in history from the College of William and Mary and a doctorate in history from Johns Hopkins University.

Colbourn taught history at Penn State University and Indiana University Bloomington before he becoming the graduate dean at the University of New Hampshire in 1967. In 1973, he was appointed Academic Vice President of San Diego State University and served as Acting President from 1977 to 1978.

On 1 July 1978, Colbourn took office as the second president of the University of Central Florida (UCF). He was appointed by the Florida Board of Regents on 9 January 1978, to succeed Charles N. Millican, the founding president of UCF. Under his leadership, and as the university's academic programs diversified and grew away from its strictly technological and scientific beginnings, Colbourn suggested that the university be renamed. In 1978, Governor Reubin Askew approved the change of name from Florida Technological University to the University of Central Florida. He established the university's football program, honors program, the Central Florida Research Park and numerous satellite branch campuses. During his tenure, enrollment increased from around 11,000 in 1978 to over 18,000 in 1989. Colbourn stepped-down as university president in June 1989, but remained on the faculty. He was given the title of "President Emeritus" in 1990 and taught classes in history.

Colbourn married Beryl Evans in 1949, and has two daughters. He enjoyed swimming, listening to opera and symphony music. He died at the age of 87 on 12 January 2015.

Bal Thackeray

Bal Thackeray was an Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena, a right-wing pro-Marathi and Hindu nationalist party active mainly in the state of Maharashtra.

Thackeray began his professional career as a cartoonist with the English-language daily, The Free Press Journal in Bombay (now Mumbai), but he left the paper in 1960 to form his own political weekly, Marmik[citation needed]. His political philosophy was largely shaped by his father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, a leading figure in the Samyukta Maharashtra (United Maharashtra) movement, which advocated the creation of a separate linguistic state for Marathi speakers. Through Marmik, Bal Thackeray campaigned against the growing influence of non-Marathis in Mumbai.[citation needed] In 1966, Thackeray formed the Shiv Sena party to advocate for the interests of Maharashtra in Indian political and professional landscape, and against certain segments of Mumbai's Muslim population.

He had a large political influence in the state, especially in Mumbai. A government inquiry found that Thackeray and Chief Minister of Maharashtra Manohar Joshi incited members of the Shiv Sena to commit violence against Muslims during the 1992–1993 Bombay riots.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Thackeray built the Shiv Sena with help of Madhav Mehere chief attorney for trade union of India, Babasaheb Purandare, historian for Govt of Maharastra and Madhav Deshpande Head Accountant for Shiv Sena, these three individuals to a large extent were responsible for the success of Shiv Sena and stability of politics in Mumbai till 2000 to ensure it grows into an economic power center. Thackeray was also the founder of the Marathi-language newspaper Saamana. After the riots of 1992–93, he and his party took a Hindutva stance. In 1999, Thackeray was banned from voting and contesting in any election for six years on the recommendations of the Election Commission for indulging in seeking votes in the name of religion. Thackeray was arrested multiple times and spent a brief stint in prison, but he never faced any major legal repercussions. Upon his death on 17 November 2012, he was accorded a state funeral, at which many mourners were present. Thackeray did not hold any official positions, and he was never formally elected as the leader of his party.

D. Devaraj Urs

D. Devaraj Urs was an Indian politician who served two terms as the eighth Chief Minister of Karnataka (1972–77, 1978–80), a state in southern India. He is also the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka in terms of days of tenure in office. He entered politics in 1952 and was an MLA for 10 years. When the Indian National Congress split in 1969 as Samstha (Congress(O)) and Indira Congress (Congress (R)), he stood with Indira Gandhi. He became the Chief Minister of Karnataka (fifth Assembly) for the first time from 20 March 1972 to 31 December 1977 and later for the second time from 17 March 1978 to 8 June 1980 (sixth Assembly).

D. Devaraj Urs was born on August 20, 1915 at Kallahalli Hunsur Taluk, Mysore district, the then Kingdom of Mysore. His father, also named Devaraj Urs, was a land-owner and his mother, Devira Ammanni, was a pious and traditional lady. His younger brother, Kemparaj Urs was an actor. The family belonged to the Arasu community and were very distant relatives to the Wodeyar royal family.

Urs was married to 11-year-old Chikkammanni (or Chikka Ammani), a girl from his own community and from a suitable family, in a match arranged by their parents when he was almost 15. The marriage proved to be harmonious and conventional. They had three daughters – Chandra Prabha, Nagrathna and Bharathi.

Urs had his primary and high school education at the Urs Boarding School in Mysore, which had been set up by the Maharaja of Mysore expressly to provide suitable education to the sons of the Arasu community, to equip them for higher responsibilities in their adulthood. After passing school, Urs studied at the Central College in Bengaluru and took a BSc Degree.

After completing his education, Urs returned to Kallahalli and engaged himself in agriculture, overseeing the extensive lands owned by his family. However, his innate leadership quality did not permit him to stay in the village and brought him to politics.

Urs entered politics in 1952 by contesting the first elections held in the country after it attained independence. At this time, the Maharaja was still the head of state in Mysore (until 1956), the state retained the same boundaries as before independence, and the Arasu community was entrenched in the countryside due to centuries of ties with village communities. Urs easily won a seat to the state legislature and served as a member of the legislative assembly for ten years (two successive terms). An Indian National Congress party leader from Mysore, Urs was a member of the intra-party "Syndicate" of powerful regional leaders. However, he was never as antagonistic towards Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as other leaders of the Syndicate, such as K. Kamaraj. When push came to shove, he chose to abandon the Syndicate and go with Indira Gandhi.

Urs had practically retired from politics when the first Congress split took place in 1969, and the Syndicate formed the Congress (O) ('O'for "Organization") while Indira Gandhi formed the Congress (R). The Congress (O), under S. Nijalingappa, Veerendra Patil, Ramakrishna Hegde and Deve Gowda dominated Karnataka electorally and had a majority in the state assembly, but Urs declined an invitation to join it. Instead, he agreed to lead the Congress (R) in the state and helped win all the 27 seats at the 1971 Lok Sabha elections and majority in the 1972 legislative assembly elections. Under his leadership Congress(R) won 165/216 seats, thus garnering more than 75% of the seats. Congress(O) came a distant second with 24 seats. Independents won 20 seats. CPI won 3 while BJS, the earlier avatar of BJP stood second in 16 seats, winning none. He was chief minister of Karnataka for the full term of the assembly from 1972 to December 1977. In January 1978, he joined Congress (I) as Mrs Gandhi split the party yet again. The new party won the assembly elections in February 1978 and Urs was appointed Chief Minister. But in 1979, he left Congress(I) following differences with Indira Gandhi, and joined the other Congress faction, Congress (S). He continued to be CM as many MLAs joined him. The other Congress faction was even known as Congress (Urs) briefly when he became its president. But in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, his party won just one seat in Karnataka. Most MLAs in his camp deserted him to re-join Congress(I) and Gundu Rao became Chief Minister in January 1980. Urs then formed the Karnataka Kranti Ranga in 1982, a few months before his death.

Thomas A. McBride

Thomas Allen McBride was an American attorney and judge in Oregon. He was the 20th Chief Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court serving three times as chief between 1913 and 1927. Overall he served on Oregon’s highest court from 1909 till his death in 1930.

McBride was born on November 15, 1847 in Yamhill County, Oregon near Lafayette, Oregon. He was one of fourteen children Doctor James McBride and his wife Mahala Miller had together. One of Thomas’ younger brothers George W. McBride served as a United States senator, while an older brother John R. McBride served in the house and as Idaho’s territorial chief justice. Thomas attended school in Vancouver, Washington where he also read law, and then spent some time at what is now Linfield College. He was then admitted to the bar on October 6, 1870.

Thomas then practiced law in Lafayette, Oregon City, and then St. Helens from 1872 to 1877. In 1876, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican from Columbia County. In 1877, he moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he lived until 1880. He then returned to Oregon and practiced at Oregon City before becoming the district attorney (DA) for Clatsop County. He served as the DA until 1892.

In 1892, McBride became Clatsop County Circuit Court judge, serving until 1909. While serving on the court he sentenced two people to death by hanging, including the first legal hanging in Clatsop County, Oregon, on December 1, 1893.

On May 1, 1909, Oregon Governor Frank W. Benson appointed McBride to the state supreme court to fill the vacancy created when justice Robert S. Bean resigned. McBride then won a full six year-term in the 1914 election. He was re-elected in 1920 and again in 1926.[6] During his time on the bench he was chief justice of the court from 1913 to 1915, 1917 to 1921, and then from 1923 to 1927. Justice Thomas McBride died in office on September 9, 1930.

Bobby Lee Cook

Bobby Lee Cook was an American defense attorney from Summerville, Georgia, in Chattooga County. He had practiced law since the late 1940s, and is known for combining a sharp legal mind with a folksy demeanor. He had represented a wide variety of clients, from rural Southerners to international businessmen and corporations. He was reputed to have been the inspiration for the television series Matlock main character Ben Matlock, which starred Andy Griffith as a Georgia attorney.

Cook was born in 1927 in Lyerly, Georgia. He attended Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee. He practiced law in Summerville with the Cook & Connelly law firm.

Cook had been a defense attorney for over 65 years. He recalled a time of racial prejudice when African Americans were "required to sit in the balcony of old courtrooms". He described it as "a most unusual, extraordinary time. It was a time when no women sat on juries, and certainly no blacks."

Cook was estimated to have won 80% of his murder trials and has "estimated his annual net income at $1 million."

Bobby Lee Cook died on February 19, 2021, aged 94.

Richard "Racehorse" Haynes

Richard "Racehorse" Haynes was a Texas criminal defense attorney. 

He became a star of the legal world after prevailing in a series of seemingly impossible murder trials in Texas in the 1970s and 1980s. Time magazine named him one of the top defense attorneys in the nation.

Haynes was born on April 3, 1927 in Houston, where he later established his law practice. His father was a plasterer who struggled financially, so at the age of 2 Haynes was sent to San Antonio to live with his grandmother, where he stayed until he was 8 years old.

At 5'7" in height, Haynes was an excellent boxer. He was the Texas amateur welterweight champion in the 1940s. A football coach gave Haynes the nickname "Racehorse." The coach said Haynes couldn't carry the ball through the opposing team's line but ran toward the sideline "like a racehorse."

Haynes served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and, after receiving an accounting degree from the University of Houston in 1951, he was drafted into the United States Army and served as a paratrooper and hand-to-hand combat instructor with the 11th Airborne Division during the Korean War.

During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Haynes was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for pulling two wounded and drowning Marines from the water after their landing craft overturned.

Haynes graduated from the University of Houston Law Center in 1956, and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas on April 23, 1956. He was involved in landmark cases such as The State of Texas v. John Hill (a basis for journalist and author Thomas Thompson's 1976 book Blood and Money), and the notorious T. Cullen Davis murder and later solicitation of murder trials in Fort Worth, Texas, both of which ended in acquittals. He also represented Morganna, a.k.a. "The Kissing Bandit," and Vicki Daniel, who was the wife of Price Daniel Jr. His successful defense of Vicki Daniel established battered woman syndrome as a legal defense in the state of Texas.

Haynes said the secret to his legal advocacy was to have the answer to any prospective question from a judge or prosecutor or if an answer wasn't at the ready, be prepared to change the subject.[1] At an American Bar Association seminar in New York in the late 1970s,[4] Haynes explained how to plead in the alternative: "Say you sue me because you claim my dog bit you. Well now, this is my defense: My dog doesn't bite. And second, in the alternative, my dog was tied up that night. And third, I don't believe you really got bit. And fourth, I don't have a dog."

When he first began practicing law, Haynes would sometimes ask his clients to thank the judge and jury after their acquittal. He ended the practice after one client said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank each and every one of you. And I promise you that I will never, ever do it again."

Haynes once cross-examined an empty chair when the prosecution failed to call a key witness. His courtroom theatrics included shocking himself with a cattle prod to make a point. In defending a biker gang that had nailed a woman to a tree, Haynes planned to drive a nail into his hand to show the jury it wasn't that painful, but changed his mind at the last second. Such flamboyant tactics comprised a small part of Haynes' legal strategy, however. As journalist Gary Cartwright declared: "[Trials] are won through careful attention to detail and by hard scientific analysis of situations and evidence. Haynes prepares himself for a case by cramming down books and articles on criminology, pathology, ballistics, psychology, crime-scene investigative technique, whatever is called in for a particular case."

In 1979, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

Haynes died on April 28, 2017, in Livingston, Texas.

Sir Bob Jones

Sir Robert Edward Jones is a property investor, author and former politician in New Zealand. 

Jones was born in Lower Hutt on 24 November 1939, the son of Edward L. Jones. He is the older brother of author Lloyd Jones. Growing up in the Lower Hutt state housing suburb of Avalon, Jones attended Naenae College from 1953 to 1957. He was one of the 200 foundation pupils, and one of the ten who stayed to the sixth form—most pupils left as soon as they turned 15 to work—where he recalled a brilliant history teacher, Guy Bliss. He went on to attend Victoria University of Wellington, where he earned a blue in boxing, won the New Zealand Universities lightweight boxing title in 1957, and contributed to a boxing column in the university's newspaper Salient. He remained a fan of boxing and sometimes commented on TV on big matches.

Jones earned his wealth through investments in commercial property via his company Robt. Jones Holdings Ltd, and was worth $550 million according to the 2013 NBR rich list, and $600 million a year later.

Jones formed the short-lived libertarian New Zealand Party in 1983, just before Robert Muldoon's snap 1984 election. Jones explicitly stated his disgust that the supposedly pro-free-enterprise New Zealand National Party had implemented socialist policies like price and wage freezes, and a top tax rate of 66%. His party acted as a spoiler, helping to deliver the government to the New Zealand Labour Party. Then the party implemented free market reforms under Finance Minister Roger Douglas (hence Rogernomics). When the election was over, Jones disbanded the party, seeing that Labour had implemented many of his policies. He and Muldoon had a legal feud, where Muldoon unsuccessfully sued Jones for defamation. But Jones had great respect for Muldoon in other areas. Jones even chaired the farewell dinner on the occasion of Muldoon's retirement from Parliament.

In the 1984 election Jones stood for the Ohariu seat, held by cabinet minister Hugh Templeton. Templeton distributed a speech to journalists, which included the statement "Mr Jones despises... bureaucrats, civil servants, politicians, women, Jews and professionals..." Jones successfully sued Templeton for defamation. Templeton conceded the comment Jones despised Jews was untrue, but claimed to have a number of defences such as qualified privilege; all were rejected by the court, which found in Jones favour. Templeton v Jones became an important precedent in defamation law.

In 1985, Jones was located by reporters in a helicopter while out fishing in a remote valley in Taupo. Jones, incensed at the intrusion when the helicopter landed on the adjacent bank, famously punched TVNZ reporter Rod Vaughan, with the whole incident recorded on tape. Jones was convicted of four charges of assault and fined $1,000. Jones asked the judge if he could pay $2,000 to do it again.

Jones attempted to remove the Fijian Embassy from one of his properties during the time of the 1987 Fijian coup and succeeded two years later.

In 2015, Jones was removed from an Air New Zealand flight by security staff for failing to follow crew instructions. Jones' company subsequently bought a jet for Jones and other company executives to use for NZ travel.

In 2018 Jones sued filmmaker Renae Maihi for defamation after she presented a petition to NZ Parliament calling for his knighthood to be revoked. The petition had garnered more than 90,000 signatures but was not accepted for consideration. The petition objected to comments Jones had written for the National Business Review. In one of Jones' newspaper columns, Jones suggested that the country's national holiday Waitangi Day, should be replaced by a Maori Gratitude Day, a suggestion he claimed was satirical. The defamation trial began in February 2020 and was due to last 2 weeks. Ultimately, Jones withdrew the case after five days.

Jones was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to business management and the community.

Fred Bulmer

Fred Bulmer (1865-1941) was born at Credenhill just a few miles west of Hereford where his father was Rector.   From school, he won a Classics exhibition to King’s College in Cambridge, thriving in its atmosphere and also winning an athletics blue.  He then eschewed a career elsewhere, joining his younger brother, Percy, in the fledgling cider business.  

Nurtured in a progressive form of liberalism at Cambridge, and naturally sensitive to the want and oppression evident in the world, and indeed indifference, he saw that intervention was needed to help the poor.   He advocated a minimum wage, the building of houses, medical aid and the founding of schools.   As a County Councillor, then Mayor in 1908, and again in 1925, he vigorously pursued reforms.   ‘The capitalist’, he said, ‘must be judged by the use he makes of it, and the amount he spends on himself’.

In 1938, he made over a tenth of his personal wealth to a welfare fund for the employees of the cider firm.  This became the EF Bulmer Trust for the provision of help to former HP Bulmer plc employees, and for the people of Herefordshire, suffering from want, need and hardship.

Lars-Magnus Lindgren

Lars-Magnus Lindgren (3 July 1922 – 23 November 2004) was a Swedish film director and screenwriter. 

Lindgren was born on July 3, 1922. After leaving school, Lindgren studied engineering. He then started working for the Swedish company Sandrews , where he was commissioned to produce commercials and produced about 30 short films. He made his directorial debut in the film industry in 1957 with En drömmares vandring , a film adaptation of writer Dan Andersson 's biography. For this he was subsequently awarded the Encouragement Prize ( Uppmuntringspris ) by the Swedish weekly magazine Folket i Bild. 

His 1964 film Dear John was nominated for a 1966 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Among his other best-known works is the 1968 film Black Palm Trees (Svarta palmkronor), based on the 1944 story by writer Peder Sjögren. After some great successes and ups and downs in his career, he retired from film production. Lindgren wrote his last screenplay for the film Lejonet och jungfrun, in which he also directed and in 1980 he directed the television film Styv kuling for the last time.

He died on November 23, 2004.

Gustavo de Greiff

Gustavo de Greiff Restrepo was a Colombian lawyer, educator and activist, who served as Attorney General of Colombia during the Gaviria presidency and later as Ambassador to Mexico during the Samper presidency. He was an outspoken critic of the United States' War on Drugs in Colombia, and an advocate for drug liberalization policies.

De Greiff was born in Bogotá, D.C., on June 20, 1929, to Gustavo de Greiff Obregón and Cecilia Restrepo Piñeres. De Greiff was of Swedish descent by way of his father whose grandfather was Karl Sigismund Fromholt von Greiff, a Swedish engineer and geographer who moved to Colombia in 1825 and whose family had played an active role in the abdication of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. He was married to Inés Lindo Koppel, and they have five children together: Mónica, also a lawyer and ex-Minister of Justice; Natalia, an engineer and ex-General Manager of IBM in Colombia; Gustavo, who is the founder of Knee Voice; Pablo, a professor at NYU; and Veronica who married Ajay K Wakhool who is the chief of Neurointerventional Radiology.

A lawyer who graduated from Our Lady of the Rosary University, de Greiff returned to his alma mater, where he worked as a Professor of Introduction to Law and Insurance Law at the Faculty of Law, later becoming Deputy Rector under Rector Roberto Arias Pérez and subsequently replacing him as the 115th Rector of the University on October 24, 1990, until April 1, 1991.

In addition to his tenure at El Rosario University, de Greiff worked as Professor of Civil Law at the National University of Colombia, and Professor at the Graduate Faculty of Political Science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, while also participating as a conference speaker at different events in other participating centers of education.

In 1992, as part of the changes in Government following the ratification of the 1991 Constitution, de Greiff was tapped for the position of Attorney General of the newly institutionalized Office of the Attorney General of Colombia, making him the top prosecutor of the nation. De Greiff was selected by the Supreme Court out of the ternary presented by President César Gaviria Trujillo, which also included Hugo Escobar Sierra and Guillermo Salah Zuleta (his former Deputy Rector, and subsequent successor at El Rosario University).

When de Greiff started as Attorney General he was faced with the monumental challenge of determining the course of the Office of the Attorney General, and was entrusted with repairing the reputation of Colombia as a safe haven for criminals and drug lords, and facing the various tactical inconveniences of a new agency such as operating from a hotel in central Bogotá as there was no building for the Office of the Attorney General at the time. De Greiff from the onset took the role of the Attorney General as an autonomous entity within the government very seriously which alienated members of the executive, angered legislators and drove the judiciary to take action while raising his public image and standing but at the same time angering foreign powers.

The first challenge for de Greiff happened before he even assumed his new position and involved dealing with the conditions of the incarceration of Pablo Escobar, a notorious drug kingpin and boss of the Medellín Cartel who had recently voluntarily surrendered to the authorities, but as the media had shown, was living a life of luxury in his own personal jail La Catedral where he continued running the cartel. De Greiff wanted to move Escobar out of La Catedral to a more secure prison where the authorities could "see, look, inform on, and prevent irregular acts". Escobar, however, managed to escape during this arranged transportation which started a massive manhunt for him aided by the United States and the United Kingdom. His outspoken remarks against Escobar, someone feared by most politicians and journalists however, popularized him and catapulted him into the media spotlight, as a brave prosecutor who would take a stance against crime and follow the due process of law, a path which would inadvertently render him the most threatened man in Colombia. Having garnered enough public support, de Greiff went on to readdress controversial cases like those of 6 innocent men jailed in connection with the assassination of Luis Carlos Galán and those involved in the Escobar scandal.

The Office of the Attorney General was primarily in charge of the investigation against Escobar's escape and future apprehension, facilitating clues and aiding in his apprehension, de Greiff, however was under pressure from foreign governments who feared that his office was going to grant Escobar a deal to surrender which would not punish Escobar accordingly. This all ended on December 2, 1993, when Escobar was gunned down after he tried to escape when authorities discovered his location.

After Escobar's death, several other criminals belonging to the group Los Pepes, who were in hiding for fear of Escobar's reprisals, agreed to surrender under a new law initiated by the Attorney General. This aimed to get drug traffickers off the streets by surrendering themselves to receive reduced sentences if they confessed their crimes and surrendered their ill-gotten gains, with further reductions if they provided testimony against other criminals. De Greiff was harshly criticized for this program by U.S. and Colombian law enforcement officials who accused him of providing amnesty for criminals.

In another controversial incident, de Greiff was criticized after he held a private meeting with three suspected drug traffickers. They had reached out to him in hopes of working out a deal for leniency if they surrendered to the authorities. The problem however was that the suspects had no arrest warrants in Colombia and the United States, and after informing both authorities of their presence in his office he was not able to get charges to arrest them.

De Greiff responded harshly to his detractors; in response to a letter from the Ministry of Justice de Greiff said: "I am old enough to not have the Minister of Justice protect me from a hoax."

Stance on drugs

In November 1993, de Greiff attended the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, to discuss issues relating to drug policy. De Greiff became the center of attention and target of a very harsh and organized response by the American and Colombian Government after he made statements saying that fighting drug trafficking was a lost cause and that legalization of drugs would cut black market demand for them, arguing that the drug consumption in the United States fueled drug production in Colombia which fed violence.

A kilo of cocaine costs $50 in the trafficking countries and is sold in the consuming countries for $5,000 to $10,000, and so there always will be someone ready to run the risk of the illegitimate business.

— Gustavo de Greiff, 

De Greiff's comments drew swift condemnation from Colombia's President, Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, who rebuked de Greiff in a letter released to the press, and went on to state "Legalization is not the solution, ... our policy against drug trafficking based on prohibition, the strengthening of justice, the exchange of information and international legal cooperation, will remain unaltered."

In the United States, de Greiff's comments only fuelled an existing opposition against the Colombian Attorney General and they were used as evidence of de Greiff's compromised relations with drug lords. Speaking before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Jo Ann Harris, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, called the behavior of de Greiff "most disturbing" and said that it "jeopardized" the U.S. evidence-sharing program with that country. Senator John Kerry, then chairman of the subcommittee escalated the situation by directly stating that he was "deeply disturbed" by de Greiff's actions. This led the US Department of State in March of that year to suspend an evidence-sharing program with the Office of the Attorney General citing that his actions suggested a willingness to make accommodations with drug traffickers.

De Greiff defended himself by calling Gaviria's statements desperate attempts to appease the ire of the United States and by calling Senator Kerry a liar and implying that his comments served only to undermine Colombia's law and autonomy. De Greiff accused the US government of mounting "a campaign of innuendo and falsified facts" against him, and accused his US counterpart Janet Reno of acting out in defense of her failed Drug War. De Greiff went on to clarify that he never mean to advocate for the legalization of drugs, but rather to criticize the excessive emphasis on battling drug trafficking and less on fighting consumption, which generated a double market for traffickers.

De Greiff received the Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform for epitomizing loyal opposition to drug war extremism.

De Greiff was at one point the toughest and most important partner the United States had in its war on drugs, but he had fallen from the grace of the Clinton Administration by November 1993 when he had come out in favor of legalizing the use of drugs, the Clinton administration had also come out against de Greiff's attempts to negotiate with drug lords and guerrilla members to surrender in exchange for reduced sentences, which the United States Department of Justice classified as "outrageous". A frustrated de Greiff in turn described the Clinton Administration's refusal to study legalization of drugs as "not an ostrich policy, but a McCarthyite, Stalinist, fascist policy", and when confronted by Senator Roberto Gerlein Echeverría on why he had gone to the United States to talk about drug legalization he responded: "You are right, Doctor Gerlein, when you say that my mistake was talking in the United States about legalization, but I suffer from a rare illness of the spine that prevents me from bowing before the powerful". This was the termination of the evidence sharing agreement between the two nations. For the United States, this was a direct result of the American Government's disapproval of de Greiff actions, this in turn forced the Colombian Government to come out in defense of de Greiff in spite of their own personal disagreements with the Attorney General, saying "the Government does not share any point of view, calling into question the sincerity and firmness of the Attorney General in its fight against drug trafficking". The United States and Colombia found themselves in a diplomatic row over de Greiff with the US Department of State and the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs exchanging letters, the U.S. calling de Greiff's intrusion in the case of Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera improper, while Colombia accusing Senator John Kerry of using his senatorial pulpit to damage the image of Colombia and misrepresenting de Greiff. In 1995 under a provision which denies entry into the United States to anyone believed to have assisted drug traffickers, the U.S. rescinded de Greiff's visa further preventing him to enter the United States after accusing de Greiff of having links to the Cali cartel, charges which he denied.

De Greiff stirred up some Colombian officials of Catholic Church when he directly accused Monsignors Leonardo Gómez Serna, Bishop of the Diocese of Socorro y San Gil, Nel Hedye Beltrán Santamaria, Bishop of the Diocese of Sincelejo, Darío Castrillón Hoyos, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Bucaramanga, Luis Madrid Merlano, Bishop of the Diocese of Tibú, and Oscar Angel Bernal, Bishop of the Diocese of Girardota of direct links to the FARC. The accusations stemmed out of a private meeting Mgr Gómez Serna had with the 23rd Front of the FARC out of which he revealed that the Paramilitarists and not the FARC were responsible for recent attacks in the Vélez Province of Santander; de Greiff interpreted this meeting as advocating for the terrorist groups and accused the bishops of being relays of the FARC and criticized the Church for ignoring the law of Colombia which states that no person shall be in communication with the guerrillas be it the President of the prelates. The accusations drew quick condemnation from the Colombian Episcopal Conference, its President Mgr Pedro Rubiano Sáenz defended the bishops and vowed that the Church in Colombia would continue its duty of ministry to all baptised Colombians regardless of their occupation and alluded that what de Greiff was doing was ignoring the basic principle of the Constitution of Colombia which guarantees freedom of religion, and under that principle, bishops, priests or other member of the church can be in communication with its members. This incident escalated to international proportions when the Vatican's Nuncio to Colombia, Monsignor Paolo Romeo came out in defense of Mgr Gómez Serna and undermined the actions of the Prosecutor by comparing them to the ancient persecutions of the Church, "in other times the Church has seen its people taken to court and even sentenced to death" said the Nuncio and added "The lost sheep cannot return to its herd if one does not look for it."

De Greiff explained that the Office of the Attorney General would investigate whether the actions of the clergy were carried out as part of its religious commitment or were part of a political agenda. Additional the National Committee of Victims of the Guerrilla (Spanish: Comité Nacional de Víctimas de la guerrilla (Vida)) had previously filed a formal complaint in August 1993 against Mgr Gómez Serna for presumed crimes of complicity and aiding and abetting subversion, likewise other complaints had been filed against other members of the clergy but had been filed away. After much deliberation, on March 27, 1994, de Greiff announced that his office was not competent to continue the investigations on the bishops and that the cases would be handed off to the Ecclesiastical court. The Office of the Attorney General arrived at this decision after convening with Chancellor Noemí Sanín, Inspector General Carlos Gustavo Arrieta, the Apostolic Nuncio, and members of the Episcopal Conference. The Office of the Inspector General found that the Office of the Attorney General could not investigate the bishops because of the existing concordat with The Holy See based on Article 19 of Law 20 of 1974 which states that members of the clergy can only be investigated by the ecclesiastical courts which are ruled by canon law, and that based on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties the Government of Colombia had to uphold the concordat even if there are constitutional grounds to investigate the prelates.

The controversy did not damage the ties of the Government and the Church in the long run, but both sides did make amends and changes in policy in relation to one another. The Church in Colombia even went on to defend de Greiff from his critics stating that: "At the moment of truth the Prosecutor has wanted to stick to the legislation. If this was wrong, it is not a problem of the Prosecutor, he did not create it."

On June 20, 1994. de Greiff turned 65 years old. This usually celebratory event, however, brought on an investigation by the Colombian Supreme Court. According to Colombian law, members of the Judicial Branch undergo mandatory retirement when they reach the age of 65. Although the Attorney General was not directly part of the Judicial Branch, many believed the office should fall under the same constrains of the Judiciary. Additionally, the Fundamental Charter, which created the Office of the Attorney General, required that the Attorney General meet "the same qualifications required to be a magistrate of the Supreme Court". Magistrates from the Civil and Labour Chambers of the High Tribunal of the Court were of the opinion that the Attorney General should not be subject to the same norms as those of the high courts in the absence of any statutory law that would address the matter. In a final decision of 12 votes against 8, the Plenary of the Supreme Court determined that de Greiff would have to retire because of his age. de Greiff consequently retired on August 17 and received the Order of Military Merit Antonio Nariño from President Gaviria for his service to the nation. On May 4, 1995 the First Session of the Colombian Council of State overturned the decision of the Plenary Court by a vote of eight magistrates to zero with two abstaining. But the new decision did not change much, because President Ernesto Samper had already appointed Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento as new Attorney General and had appointed de Greiff as Ambassador to Mexico. Nevertheless, the decision set a precedent and clarified the role of the Attorney General.

De Greiff was extremely popular in Colombia during his term as Attorney General and considered a hero by many. He achieved high and stable opinion poll ratings, with higher approval percentages than those of the President and other public officials.

After de Greiff retired as Attorney General he was given a diplomatic post as Colombia's Ambassador to the United States of Mexico. Some of the challenges he faced during his time as ambassador included allegations of corruption and bribe taking, the cancellation of his United States travel visa, protesters who wanted him declared persona non grata in Mexico, and assisting with Ernesto Samper's presidential visit to Mexico. De Greiff was one of the few Colombian ambassadors who did not resign following the political scandal that directly linked President Samper to drug cartels and guerrilla members.

After leaving politics, Gustavo de Greiff returned to his private practice and was appointed by Grant Thornton LLP, one of the largest international accounting and management consulting firms, manager in the firm's international business center, leading the firm's business development efforts in Latin America. Although de Greiff did not return to politics he continued advocating for decriminalization of drug use and speaking out against the War on Drugs as a notable speaker and LEAP Advisory Board Member.

De Greiff died on July 19, 2018, at the age of 89.

General J.K. Davis

John Kerry Davis, also known as J.K. Davis, was a United States Marine Corps four-star general. Davis, a Vietnam War veteran and naval aviator, served as the Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (1977–1978) and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1978-1978). His final assignment was as the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1, 1983 to June 1, 1986.

Davis was born on March 14, 1927, in Hagan, New Mexico. He graduated from Albuquerque High School in 1945, and enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, attaining the rank of private first class prior to being released to inactive duty. He holds a B.A. degree in Social Studies from the University of New Mexico (1950), and an M.P.A. degree in Public Administration from George Washington University (1963). He was commissioned a U.S. Marine Corps second lieutenant in June 1950.

Upon completing The Basic School, Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia, in March 1951, Davis was assigned as a platoon commander, 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was promoted to first lieutenant in June 1952, and the following October he began flight training at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. He was promoted to captain in December 1953, and designated a Naval Aviator in June 1954.

Davis served as a training officer with VMF(N)-542 at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California. He remained in that billet until December 1954, when he was transferred to the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, serving in Korea and Japan, as the S-4 Officer, and later, as the S-1 Officer, Marine All-Weather Fighter Squadron 513, Marine Aircraft Group 12. He returned to the United States in May 1956, as Operations Officer, Marine Air Control Squadron 4, Marine Wing Headquarters Group, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, at MCAS El Toro. He was later reassigned and served consecutively as the aviation safety officer in VMA-121, MAG-15, and VMA-311.

In July 1959, Davis was transferred to the Naval Air Station Beeville, Texas, as S-3 Officer, Training Squadron 26. He was promoted to major in February 1961, and in July 1962, attended the Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He completed the course in June 1963, and was ordered to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, serving concurrently as S-3 Officer, Marine Wing Headquarters Group 1, and as Officer-in-Charge, Tactical Air Control Center, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. From September 1964 to August 1967, he served as a staff officer in the Air Branch, Joint Exercise Planning Division, Headquarters, Allied Forces, Northern Europe, Oslo, Norway. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in January 1966.

Davis returned to the United States in September 1967, and served consecutively as Executive Officer for Marine Aircraft Group 14, Commanding Officer of VMFA(AW)-224 and Commanding Officer again for VMAT(AW)-202. He attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C., from August 1968 to June 1969, when he was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam as the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing Aviation Safety Officer, and later, as Executive Officer, Marine Aircraft Group 11.

Davis was promoted to colonel in August 1970, and a month later, returned to the United States as Executive Officer, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff (Air), Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. He remained in that billet until June 1973, when he transferred to El Toro as Commanding Officer, Marine Aircraft Group 46/Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment.

Davis became Assistant Wing Commander, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, MCAS El Toro, following his advancement to brigadier general on July 1, 1975 and assigned duty as Commander, Marine Corps Air Bases, Western Area/Commanding General, Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, in June 1976. During this tour he was advanced to major general on February 17, 1977 and assigned duty as Commanding General, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, MCAS El Toro. From July 6, 1977 to August 8, 1977, he was assigned additional duty as Commanding General, 1st Marine Amphibious Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

On February 15, 1978, he was assigned duty as the Commanding General, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan. He was assigned duty as the Director of Operations, J-3, Pacific Command, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii on June 16, 1979. Davis was assigned duty as the Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii on June 30, 1981, and was promoted to lieutenant general on July 1, 1981. Upon promotion to general, Davis assumed the assignment as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps on July 1, 1983 and served in this capacity until his retirement on June 1, 1986. During his term as Assistant Commandant, he served as president of the Marine Corps Association.

Davis has flown over 30 different aircraft including; the F3D, F9F, F11F, A-6, F-4, F-104, A-4, AH-64, UH-1, CH-46, CH-53, FA-18, and the XV-15 (MV-22 Prototype). He flew 285 combat hours in Republic of Vietnam (160 at night) and 171 combat missions (100 at night).

He died on July 31, 2019 at the age of 92, from cancer.

Tom Collins

Tom Collins was a well-known radio and film actor known for his appearances as "Chandu the Magician." 

Tom Collins was born Beryl Williams Collins on June 7, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from Austin High School in 1930, he enrolled at the University of Illinois. He stayed for only one year, leaving to join the Goodman Theater in Chicago where he learned his craft along with other young Chicagoans such as Karl Malden. The acting bug had bitten and Tom was on his way to becoming a performer. He was signed to a contract with MGM around 1938.

Beryl Collins now became Tom Collins. During the 1940's Tom moved into radio which at the time was the place to be. Tom landed his first big role as Nick Lacey on "One Man's Family" a show witten and produced by Carlton E. Morse his educated English accent was always spot on and Tom had such a distinctive voice you can pick it out of any cast. This role lead to the recurring role as announcer for the "Calvalcade of America" guest appearances followed on shows such as the Whistler and many others. Then came the role of Frank Chandler on Chandu. Tom took the lead role of Chandu the magician and for a lot of us is his most recognized part. Tom played the part with strength and versatility. The show which was aimed at kids played extremely well with very good writing and a great supporting cast. Tom was very believable as the mystic Chandu who could command the secret oriental art of magic to fight the evil Roxor. In each episode we heard Tom pull us into the world of magic and high adventure. To this very day those performances stand the test of time. Tom Collins brought the characters alive with brilliant acting.

Before Chandu Tom took the part of Reggie York in the half hour Morse production "I Love Adventure" which continued the stories of "I Love A Mystery" after ILA and Chandu he took the lead role in the new adult crime drama "The Adventures of Frank Race" Tom got to stretch his talents a little in this role. Tom provided a first person narration of the action at times which filled in the scenes so vividly. He had pitch perfect characters. Race was a lawyer who joined up with the OSS during the war and had seen the dirty side of life and was used to betrayal.

Each week Race help investigate a crime usually for an insurance firm Intercontinental Underwriters he freelanced for. With the help of his cabby friend Mark Donovan, Race got into trouble every episode. The beauty of this series was the narration by Collins which provided much of the atmosphere.

From the time Tom Collins started in radio and throughout the 40's in Hollywood he was a popular and sought after actor. Some days he had four jobs and was lead and guest in many shows. Why then would a successful actor who in 1949 was starring in Frank Race and had just completed his 23 episode pickup and move to New York. This story had never been fully explained and thanks for Tom's children I have been able to put together a likely scenario for what may have happened. Two things happened that made him decide to move. In the late 40's New York city was the center of the new movement to TV. Unlike today where Hollywood has a lot of TV it was New York City where the buzz was. Carlton E. Morse was given the go ahead to create a TV version of the radio show "One Man's Family" Tom loved the role of Nick and liked working with Morse. 

He went to New York on a six-week contract to provide screen tests and work on the show. Its up for supposition what caused the project to fail. Some say Morse could not write for TV others say the rest of the cast did not want to move to New York. This and the fact ABC had picked up Chandu and would be recording it in NYC. Tom must have thought it would be as successful as the previous show and with the OMF TV deal he would be safe in relocating the whole family to Rye New York. After the OMF TV show fell through Tom tried to get work in NYC. He did land roles, but not the type or consistency he had in Hollywood. Chandu in the 30 minute format did not work and Chandu seems more like a gumshoe than a mystic and of course that darn TV was grabbing viewers. Advertisers were putting their money into TV and the money for radio dried up. Through to 1957 he still worked on radio getting roles at ABC as Barkley Bailey in "The Romance of Helen Trent" and in commercials and guest spots never really finding the traction he found in Hollywood. I think NYC radio like any other medium had its circle of stars and Tom never fully broke into this circle. During these years in the 50's radio was being replaced by TV so Tom's prospects of getting radio jobs were greatly reduced. To make ends meet he had to take a series of jobs that were less than appealing. He worked as a ticket agent for NY Central Railroad until 1962 when he damaged his back loading a heavy mail bag. After a year and a half of healing he worked at a florists, sold Aeolean Pianos, sold books for Double Day, worked as a Good Humor Ice Cream Guy and finally as a security guard in Iona College in New Rochelle, NY. 

On June 17th 1973 at the young age of 60 years old he passed away.

Krzysztof Śliwiński

Krzysztof Edmund Śliwiński Polish Catholic activist, participant in the democratic opposition during the PRL period, diplomat.

Son of Edmund and Jadwiga. He graduated from biological studies at the University of Warsaw . In 1969 he defended his doctoral thesis there. He also graduated in theology at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw . He worked as an assistant professor at the Institute of Zoology of the University of Warsaw from 1961. In the years 1974–1979 he was a lecturer at the University of Kisangani in Zaire. He resigned from scientific work in 1980.

From the 1960s, he was an active member of the Catholic Intelligentsia Club in Warsaw, e.g. chaired the Youth Section, participated in the work of the Culture Section, was a member of the club's board (in terms of office 1966/1967, 1969/1970, 1973/1974, 1974/1975, 1980/1981, 1981/1984, 1984/1985, 1987/1988, 1988 /1989 and 1989/1990). At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of the initiators of KIK's contacts with the so-called commandos . In 1973, as part of the Culture Section, he started the annual action of tidying up the historic part of the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw. In 2011 he became an honorary member of the Kik in Warsaw.

During the August events in 1980 , he joined the appeal of 64 scientists, writers and journalists addressed to the communist authorities to start a dialogue with striking workers. From September 9, 1980, together with Katarzyna Cywińska, he ran a consultation point at the seat of the KIK, helping newly established trade unions. Then he became involved in the work of the board of the Mazowsze Region of NSZZ "Solidarność" , e.g. he was the first manager of the board office, after which he headed the foreign department. In November 1980 he became a member of the Society of Scientific Courses . After the introduction of martial law , he was interned on December 13, 1981, he stayed in the internment center in Jaworze; he was dismissed in December 1982. In the 1980s he was a member of the editorial staff of the monthly "Znak", he prepared reviews of the domestic and foreign press for the magazine. His name, however, was not disclosed in the imprint. In 1988 he became a member of the Citizens' Committee under the chairman of NSZZ "Solidarity" Lech Wałęsa . He was also a member of the PEN Club.

From 1989 to 1990 he was deputy editor-in-chief of "Gazeta Wyborcza". In 1990 he became the Polish ambassador to Morocco . After the end of this mission, he headed the Information Department, at the same time being the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1994-1995), he was the government plenipotentiary for contacts with the Jewish diaspora (1995-1999), adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on conflicts in Africa (1999-2000) and the Polish ambassador to South Africa (2000–2004). In 1998 he received the title of ambassador ad personam. He was a member of the Support Committee of the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.

He died on January 7, 2021 and buried in the forest cemetery in Laski. 

Stacy B. Lloyd III

Stacy Barcroft Lloyd III was an award winning foreign service officer, rare book antiquarian and Washington, DC bookstore owner.

Mr. Lloyd was the son of Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, the Listerine fortune heiress who later married Paul Mellon, an art collector and patron, philanthropist and horse breeder. He was raised at the Mellon farm in Upperville, Va. His father and namesake was a Virginia publisher who helped found the equestrian journal the Chronicle of the Horse.

Stacy Barcroft Lloyd III was born in Millwood, Va., on Sept. 23, 1936. He graduated in 1960 from Middlebury College in Vermont and began his career aboard the hospital ship Hope, traveling to Peru and Saigon.

In the early years of America’s entry into the Vietnam War, Mr. Lloyd became a U.S. Information Service field officer in a remote area of northeastern Laos. He spoke the language of the mountain tribesmen, among whom he was trying to promote a sense of identity and loyalty with the Laotian governing authorities.

In 1968, Mr. Lloyd he was the first recipient of the Averell Harriman Award, which honors outstanding work among young Foreign Service officers.

After five years with the Foreign Service in Laos and two in Washington, Mr. Lloyd left the State Department and spent a year as a writer and researcher for newspaper columnist Jack Anderson.

He later opened an antiquarian and travel bookstore in Georgetown called Lloyd Books, where published authors were known to browse on the third floor. Customers could get discounts on their purchases with correct answers on a daily travel quiz. The staff made a practice of celebrating such little-known events as the mailman’s birthday.

Lloyd died on March 16, 2017 at the age of 80.

Courtney C. Smith

Courtney C. Smith was a professor and President of Swarthmore College.

An Iowa-born Rhodes Scholar, Smith taught English at Princeton and was serving as head of the American Rhodes Scholarship Committee directly succeeding former Swarthmore's president Frank Aydelotte in the position when he was selected as the College's ninth president.

Smith was educated at Harvard in the 1930s, took a Rhodes Scholarship, taught English literature at Princeton, and was the first national director of the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Program before becoming president of Swarthmore College in 1953 at the age of thirty-six. Simultaneously he became the American Secretary of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust. His engagement with education, philanthropy, and government over the next sixteen years resonated with such major issues of the times as McCarthyism, the future of the liberal arts, and race relations. His skill at fundraising provided Swarthmore with new science, library, and other buildings, but he focused even more on attracting first-rate faculty and undergraduates. While he was generally successful in negotiating the shoals of faculty discontent and student unrest in the late 1960s, Smith’s death in office during a sit-in in January 1969 made him a visible casualty of the era.

Charles Fraser-Smith

Charles Fraser-Smith was an author and one-time missionary who is widely credited as being the inspiration for Ian Fleming's James Bond quartermaster Q. During World War II, Fraser-Smith worked for the Ministry of Supply, fabricating equipment nicknamed "Q-devices" for SOE agents operating in occupied Europe. Prior to the war, Fraser-Smith had worked as a missionary in North Africa. After the war he purchased a dairy farm in Burrington, Devon, where he died in 1992.

Charles Fraser-Smith was born on January 26, 1904, the son of a solicitor who owned a wholesale grocery business; he was orphaned at age seven. He was then brought up by a Christian missionary family in Croxley Green in Hertfordshire. He went to school at Brighton College, where he was described as "scholastically useless except for woodwork and science and making things."

On leaving school he veered from one occupation after another, working as a prep school teacher in Portsmouth, a motorcycle messenger rider, and an aircraft factory worker. Eventually, inspired by his foster family, he went to Morocco as a Christian missionary. Returning to England in 1939, he gave a Sunday sermon at the Open Brethren Evangelical Church in Leeds. In the sermon, Fraser-Smith described his practice of bricolage, and the necessity of procuring supplies from just about any source. In the congregation were two officials of Britain's Ministry of Supply, who were impressed by his adventures. As a result, the Director of the Ministry of Supply offered him what he later described as "a funny job in London."

Officially, Fraser-Smith was a temporary civil servant for the Ministry of Supply's Clothing and Textile Department (Dept. CT6). In reality, he developed and supplied gadgets and other equipment for section XV of Britain's World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive. Travelling by train from his home in Hertfordshire to a small office in the clothing department of the Ministry of Supply, near St. James's Park in London, Fraser-Smith was actually working at the direction of MI6 in the nearby Minimax House. Performing a job so secret that neither his secretary nor his boss knew what he was doing, Fraser-Smith invented numerous ingenious gadgets intended to help prisoners of war to escape and to aid SOE agents gathering information on Nazi activities in occupied Europe.

His first order was to counterfeit Spanish Army uniforms for a proposed SOE plan to infiltrate agents into neutral Spain to prevent it from entering the war on the side of Germany. He dealt directly with the textile suppliers, ultimately using more than 300 firms in and around London: many of them had no idea what they were making or why, to make equipment for secret operations.

Initially Fraser-Smith supplied clothing and standard props (from second-hand sources) for SOE agents working behind enemy lines, but SOE directives and his taste for gadgetry led him to develop a wide range of spy and escape devices, including miniature cameras inside cigarette lighters, shaving brushes containing film, hairbrushes containing a map and saw, pencils containing maps, pens containing hidden compasses, steel shoelaces that doubled as garrottes or gigli saws, an asbestos-lined pipe for carrying secret documents, and much more.

Directed to make copies of a new type of Luftwaffe life jacket, he made discoveries that were subsequently incorporated as standard in RAF "Mae Wests", including the use of a compressed air cylinder for inflating the jacket and a pouch filled with a powerful fluorescent dye for spotting of a downed airman at sea.

In an example of lateral thinking, Fraser-Smith used a special left-hand thread for the disguised screw-off top of a hidden-document container; he suggested this would prevent discovery by the "unswerving logic of the German mind", as no German would ever think of trying to unscrew something the wrong way.

At one point his expenses were challenged by a senior Treasury official over the extravagant costs of an order for packets of 12 razor blades. Fraser-Smith asked for a treasury costing clerk to accompany him on a visit to the company to determine whether or not they were profiteering. After checking that the clerk had signed the Official Secrets Act, the clerk reviewed the costs, which were in fact for a top-secret kit designed to aid SOE agents with escape and evasion. The clerk discovered that the company was in fact undercharging as they had not claimed the regulation profit. As a result, the supplier was directed to submit a new invoice with every item fully justified that, including the proper profit, was therefore greater than the original. Fraser-Smith never had a bill queried after that.

Fraser-Smith later estimated that 50% of the orders he received were exact specifications, 40% were approximate specifications and 10% were his own idea. He called his inventions "Q gadgets", after the Q ships, warships disguised as freighters, which were deployed in the First World War. This may have been the basis of Ian Fleming's use of "Q" to refer to the suppliers of James Bond's gadgetry.

Fraser-Smith was not the only gadget-master working for British intelligence during World War II. The SOE had various secret research and development laboratories including Station IX at the Natural History Museum and Station XII at the Frythe Hotel. Christopher Clayton Hutton of MI9, a clandestine unit within A-Force which specialised in escape and evasion, was also an inventor and deception-theorist. Major Jasper Maskelyne, a stage magician, also developed secret sabotage and subterfuge devices for MI-9.

Fraser was also involved in the intelligence operation codenamed Operation Mincemeat, which was designed to drop a body, carrying false papers to mislead the Nazis, off the Spanish coast. He was tasked with designing a trunk, 6' 2" long and 3' wide, to carry a "deadweight" of 200 lb that would be preserved in dry ice. When the dry ice evaporated, it filled the canister with carbon dioxide and drove out any oxygen, thus preserving the body without refrigeration. The plot was the basis of the book (and later film) The Man Who Never Was.

After the war, Fraser-Smith bought a rundown dairy farm in Bratton Fleming, in southwest England. It became a profitable business. In the late 1970s, his family persuaded him to seek permission to write a book about his wartime exploits. With clearance under the Official Secrets Act he wrote several, donating the royalties to charity.

He had kept examples of most of his gadgets, and an exhibit of his wartime works was presented at the Exmoor Steam Railway, a tourist attraction in Bratton Fleming. Once a year, Fraser-Smith would spend a week explaining their workings to visitors.

Charles Fraser-Smith died at his home of undisclosed causes on November 9, 1992. 

James Bond

James Bond was an American ornithologist and expert on the birds of the Caribbean, having written the definitive book on the subject: Birds of the West Indies, first published in 1936. He served as a curator of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. His name was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional British spy of the same name; the real Bond enjoyed knowing his name was being used this way, and references to him permeate the resulting media franchise.

Bond was born on January 4, 1900 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Margaret Reeves (née Tyson) and Francis Edward Bond. His interest in natural history was spurred by an expedition his father undertook in 1911 to the Orinoco Delta. Bond was educated at the Delancey School followed by St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, but after the death of his mother he moved with his father to the United Kingdom in 1914. There, he studied at Harrow and later Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained a B.A. in 1922 and was the sole American member of the Pitt Club.

After graduating he moved back to the United States and worked for a banking firm for three years in Philadelphia. An interest in natural history prompted him to quit, and along with Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee, took out a loan to set out on an expedition to the Amazon to collect specimens for the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Subsequently, he worked as an ornithologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, rising to become curator of ornithology there. He was an expert in Caribbean birds and wrote the definitive book on the subject: Birds of the West Indies, first published in 1936. From the 1920s to the 1960s, he took dozens of birding explorations to the West Indies.

Bond won the Institute of Jamaica's Musgrave Medal in 1952; the Brewster Medal of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1954; and the Leidy Award of the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1975. He died on February 14, 1989 in the Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia at age 89. He is interred in the church yard at Church of the Messiah in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania.

Dr. James A. Brussel

Dr. James A. Brussel, a psychiatrist, criminologist and former assistant commissioner in the State Department of Mental Hygiene in charge of the New York City office.

Dr. Brussel was involved in the cases of George Metesky, the ''mad bomber,'' and Albert H. DeSalvo, the ''Boston strangler.'' He interviewed the suspects and testified at their trials. He wrote eight books.

James Arnold Brussel was born on April 22 , 1905 in New York City. He graduated from the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and worked as a psychiatrist for the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene. During World War II and the Korean War, he served in the US Army Medical Corps. He maintained a private practice in Manhattan for nearly 50 years.

Brussel died October 21 , 1982 Thursday at St. Vincent's Hospital. He was 77 years old and lived in Manhattan