Recent necrology, December 2010

Necrology – a list of notable people who have died recently:

John Alldis, 1929-2010
Conductor whose choir specialised in contemporary music and worked with Pink Floyd and Duke Ellington

Helen Boatwright, 1916-2010
Soprano who championed the performance of American song and in particular the music of Charles Ives, of whose work she recorded the first full-length album

Jerry Bock, 1928-2010
Songwriter whose partnership with Sheldon Harnick yielded one of the theatre’s most successful shows – Fiddler on the Roof.

Hugues Cuenod, 1902-2010
Swiss tenor who ranged from French mélodie to opera and continued performing into his nineties

Denis Dutton, 1944-2010
Academic, web entrepreneur and libertarian media commentator/activist, Professor of Philosophy at Canterbury University

Blake Edwards, 1922-2010
Director who married Julie Andrews and sent Audrey Hepburn to Tiffany’s but forged his most celebrated partnership with Peter Sellers

Peter Hofmann, 1944-2010
German tenor who excelled in heroic Wagnerian roles but stretched his voice to breaking point

Richard Holbrooke, 1941-2010
‘The Raging Bull of US diplomacy’ who brought peace to Bosnia but antagonised allies in Afghanistan

Anthony Howard, 1934-2010
Outstanding journalist who blew away the cobwebs, clichés and fawning of 1950s political discourse

Philip Lawrence, 1921-2010
Educational psychologist, Canterbury University Emeritus Professor

Val McGirr, 1951-2010
West Coast genealogist

Harvey McQueen, 1934-2010
NZ poet, anthologist and educator

Jessie Mould, 1916-2010
Akaroa historian and author

Thomas Newnham, 1926-2010
NZ educationalist and political activist

Ruth Park, 1917-2010
NZ-born author who spend most of her life in Australia

Norman Roberts, 1915-2010
Scientist, founding Director of WRONZ, community man and author

James Tyler, 1940-2010
Lutenist involved in the Early Music revival who brought forgotten instruments back into the mainstream