Man Fakes Mother's Obit to Take Time Off: Cops

'Polarizing' Pennsylvanian known for 'Christina's World'

(NEWSER) - Andrew Wyeth, a painter both celebrated and scorned in the art community, has died at 91 at his home outside Philadelphia. In his paintings, the “polarizing” figure depicted a rural America of fallow fields, faded colors, and weather-beaten people, writes Michael Kimmelman in the New York Times. He was vastly popular with the public while critics generally attacked him, “saying he gave realism a bad name.” His painting Christina’s World, however, was iconic. More»

Joins growing number of bills nationwide targeting PP

(NEWSER) - Add Pennsylvania to the list of states moving to yank Planned Parenthood's funding: Republican state Rep . Daryl Metcalfe is today bringing legislation, co-written by two pro-life groups, that would knock organizations that offer abortions to the bottom of the pile of those seeking state funding. Metcalfe insists that the Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act shifts taxpayer dimes toward groups that offer a more holistic approach to women's health. More»

Eugene Polley created the Flash-Matic for Zenith in the 1950s

(AP) - Couch potatoes everywhere can pause and thank Eugene Polley for hours of feet-up channel surfing. His invention, the first wireless TV remote, began as a luxury, but with the introduction of hundreds of channels and viewing technologies it has become a necessity. Polley died of natural causes at a suburban Chicago hospital over the weekend. The former Zenith engineer was 96. More»

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau excelled at Schubert lieder

(NEWSER) - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, perhaps the greatest singer of art songs in the 20^th century, died yesterday at home in Bavaria, the New York Times reports. He was 86. The German son of a classical scholar and a schoolteacher, Fischer-Dieskau (pronounced FEE-sher DEES-cow) studied voice in Berlin and got two years of unexpected practice singing for fellow POWs during World War II. Returning to Germany at age 22, he quickly became a singing sensation. "I passed my last exam in the concert hall," he said. More»

DC's funk pioneer is gone

(NEWSER) - Chuck Brown, who created the "go-go" genre of funk in DC in the 1970s and remained a mainstay of black Washington's culture ever since, has died at age 75, reports the Washington Post . A snippet from the paper's obituary, by Chris Richards:

• "Like a DJ blending records, Mr. Brown used nonstop percussion to stitch songs together and keep the crowd on the dance floor, resulting in marathon performances that went deep into the night. Mr. Brown said the style got its name because 'the music just goes and goes.'" Full piece here .