“Everybody Hates Chris,” the latest and perhaps greatest album from Toledo’s heavy-weight artist Swill Gates, is the perfect Christmas gift for Toledo’s Hip-Hop scene. If “everybody” refers to Gates’ competition then it’s easy to hear why he’s so hated.

With production by Scott Lindsey from Big Bald Head Entertainment, DJ Mpress from Soulbeat Music Group and Corey Jones from Space Stacey Productions, Gates has made sure to pack two albums worth of genius into 12 tracks. Hip-Hop fans who miss lyrical content and beats that get the head noddin’ will find this album fresh yet familiar.
With a delivery that is as smooth as it is potent, Gates’ cadence and feel is authentic and overflowing with character. Interludes and comedic punch lines keep the album moving with ease and Gates makes sure to balance dominance with a humble, not-too-serious focus.
Gates, amongst the top tier of Toledo talent, cleverly weaves metaphors and analogies with comedic and socially relevant content, commanding attention.
“This is my first album as a solo artist,” Gates said. “I didn’t want to come with nothing wack, so I took my time. I was with The Basix since ’03 and my partners moved to Columbus. I was the only one left here and as time went on people were telling me to do my thing.”
After a year of production and writing, “Everybody Hates Chris” was complete and immediately generated talk among Hip-Hop fans.
“This is the first time I’ve had top-notch confidence in anything I’ve done,” Gates said. His confidence is justified. From start to finish, the album clearly demonstrates lyrical prowess and an ear for authentic Hip-Hop.
“There’s a difference between Hip-Hop and Rap,” Gates said. “Everything out now is Rap; Rap is mainstream and they’re all followers, there are no leaders. Hip-Hop is a way of life. The mainstream rappers just dress like they’re Hip-Hop.”
Regardless of how you differentiate Rap and Hip-Hop, Gates entertains and keeps the listener’s finger on the rewind button.
“I define success as having peace of mind about whatever your craft is,” Gates said. “People think it’s about money, cars and clothes, but real success comes when you have confidence in what you do.”

DETROIT, Mich.—Second-year Toledo head coach Tim Beckman knew exactly what he wanted to do. He’s a competitor, and he wanted to win. The Rockets had just orchestrated a nine-play, 62-yard touchdown drive to make it a 31-30 ballgame after redshirt freshman quarterback Terrance Owens rushed 14 yards to the end zone with 1:14 remaining in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl at Ford Field Dec. 26. Beckman and Co. decided to go for the two-point conversion, and Owens completed his pass to sophomore wide receiver Eric Page as Toledo took a 32-31 lead. Then the improbable happened.

With the Rockets’ defense forcing Florida International into fourth-and-17 from its’ own 41-yard line, the Panthers pulled out the hook-and-ladder, T.Y. Hilton was ruled to have reached the first down marker before stepping out of bounds after the play was reviewed, and Jack Griffin kicked the game-winning 34-yard field goal four plays later as time expired for the 34-32 final and his school’s first bowl victory.

“We’re going to go for two points,” Beckman said. “We talked about it even prior to that touchdown drive that we were going to go for two points and win the football game. The squib kick wasn’t quite as good as we wanted it.

“We’ve had blunders in the kicking game all year, and it came back to hurt us.”

The Rockets (8-5, 7-1 Mid-American Conference) led 24-7 with 9:44 left to play in the third quarter, but Hilton’s ensuing 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown twelve seconds later ignited a fire on the Florida International sideline, and the Panthers (7-6, 6-2 Sun Belt Conference) went on to outscore Toledo 27-8 the rest of the way for the victory.

“I figured it was the key moment, but I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the guys on the kickoff return team for picking up their guys and leaving me with one or two guys to beat with my speed,” Hilton said. “I know if I get around the corner, it’s just a wrap.”

Hilton was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after picking up 210 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Junior running back Adonis Thomas led the Rockets with a game-high and career-best 193 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns. Page finished with 130 all-purpose yards, but was limited to just 24 receiving yards on five catches. Owens completed 15 of his 27 attempts for 132 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions, also picking up 65 yards on 10 carries with a rushing touchdown for Toledo.

“The game of football is not one play,” Beckman said. “It never is one play; it’s a bunch of plays. They made more plays than we did—on special teams, on defense and on offense. That’s why they won that football game, and the credit’s got to go to them for making those plays and the Rockets not making the plays.”

In the first quarter, the Rockets got on the board on their second possession of the game after a four-yard touchdown run from Thomas capped a five-play, 36-yard drive and gave Toledo a 7-0 lead at the 5:40 mark. While Thomas fumbled on the Rockets’ ensuing possession following a hit from Chuck Grace to give the ball back to the Panthers at their own 31-yard line with 2:46 on the clock, Toledo was able to escape the first quarter with the seven-point advantage and Thomas closed out the first 15 minutes averaging 8.8 yards per carry. He continued to provide the spark for the Rockets’ offense in the second quarter, reeling off a career-long 87 yard run all the way to paydirt at the 10:45 mark to put Toledo up 14-0.

However, Florida International bounced right back on their next possession as Darriet Perry scampered 74 yards on first down to set up the Panthers in the red zone on the Rockets’ 13-yard line. Seven plays later, Perry rumbled in from one-yard out to make it 14-7 with 6:25 remaining in the half. Toledo countered with an eight-play, 63-yard drive capped by a 10-yard strike from Owens to junior tight end Danny Noble that put the Rockets back up by 14, the score 21-7 at the 2:56 mark. The Toledo defense stopped the Panthers on fourth down on their next drive and went into halftime with the 21-7 lead.

In the third quarter, Toledo continued to extend its’ lead as junior kicker Bill Claus capped an 11-play, 38-yard opening drive with a 29-yard field goal to make it 24-7 with 9:44 on the board. Hilton responded with a Little Caesars Pizza Bowl record 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as he went untouched to the end zone 12 seconds later to pull Florida International back within 10, the score 24-14 at the 9:32 mark. On the Rockets’ ensuing possession, Owens’ pass intended for Noble was picked off by Kreg Brown, and Brown returned his interception 11 yards to the Toledo 23-yard line. Three plays later, Perry scored his second touchdown of the game from seven yards out to make it 24-21 with 6:45 left to play in the third.

With 12 seconds left in the quarter, Owens was intercepted again—this time by Junior Mertile—and the Panthers again set up shop in Toledo territory on the Rockets’ 41-yard line following Mertile’s six-yard return as Florida International took the momentum heading into the fourth quarter. That momentum took a temporary shift at the 12:12 mark when Wes Carroll’s pass down the left sideline was picked off by senior cornerback and Rogers graduate Myshan Veasley-Pettis at the three-yard line. However, Owens was again intercepted by Brown on the Rockets next possession, and Brown returned his pick 16 yards to the Rockets’ 37-yard line with 8:43 left.

Three plays later, Carroll found Hilton open on the right side, and Hilton ran the rest of the way for the 10-yard touchdown to give the Panthers a 28-24 lead at the 7:34 mark. With 5:21 left, Wayne Times blocked Claus’ punt attempt and Jon Faucher returned it 11 yards to the Toledo 19-yard line. Four plays later, Griffin kicked a 31-yard field goal to extend Florida International’s lead to 31-24 at the 3:18 mark. Owens redeemed himself on the Rockets ensuing drive after his touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion to Page, but it was not enough as Toledo fell short in its’ first bowl game since 2005.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, senior cornerback Desmond Marrow was happy to have been able to finally compete in a bowl game as a Rocket.

“It feels good to battle back through all that stuff,” Marrow said of coming back from numerous injuries to play again. “The coaches and my teammates believing in me through all the injuries that I’ve had, and just to finish out in a bowl game—I haven’t been to a bowl game since I’ve been at Toledo. It’s a blessing.”

Many of the issues currently causing worry among Americans, particularly among the working class, are based on several assumptions. Fortunately, many of these assumptions are flawed.

Of these worries, two stand out: First, that the national debt is growing too large and too fast, and that it will cause the US to go bust. Second, that employment in this country has undergone a substantial shift and that we must adjust to the “new normal.”

Oddly enough, these concerns are related, and both are based on the assumption that jobs which have been swept overseas during outsourcing wave of the past several decades are gone forever.

Since we at Treece Investments spend roughly 80% of our time trying to figure out where the economy is headed (so we can make profitable investments for clients) we feel fairly competent to address this topic, and qualified to comment. And given the set of economic circumstances that we see developing presently, we feel confident in saying that manufacturing must come back to the US.

As the economies of China, India and Russia have grown over the past several decades thanks to outsourcing and political shifts (Russia), each has begun developing a substantial middle-class that did not previously exist.

These growing middle classes are now getting to the point where they want access to many of the same luxuries that we have long enjoyed in this country.

For example, in Russia car sales have roughly doubled this year from last. In China, meanwhile, the average age of an owner of Mercedes’ luxury S-class sedan is a startling 26, all of 30 years less than it is in this country.

To date, as these countries have grown an increasing amount of their production has gone simply to meet demand within their own countries. Rather than building goods and shipping them to the Americas or Europe for sale, they are sold in India, Russia, or China without such high shipping costs.

Thankfully for the US, many of these countries are now getting to the point where they are having trouble simply producing enough to meet their internal demand, let alone those from other nations that had outsourced their production.

As the Asian nations have developed each has carved out a role in the manufacturing process, but in a strange twist of events it seems that they are missing a valuable link in the chain that few nations besides ours can fill: Russia has raw materials, India has technology, China does manufacturing, but none of them do engineering. The US, however, is one of if not THE world’s best country for engineering, and while other countries do have manufacturing sectors, few do it has efficiently as we do.

In fact, thanks to many of our contacts in various businesses, most notably automotive manufacturing, we have personal knowledge that the Chinese are actually looking at outsourcing a good deal of their engineering to the US.

We’ve also caught wind of several Chinese companies that are considering purchasing manufacturing facilities in the United States. Ironically, they’ve apparently grown tired of having a government that owns everything, and though the US has been looking increasingly socialist, it’s still not caught up to Red China.

Dock David Treece is a discretionary money manager with Treece Investment Advisory Corp (www.TreeceInvestments.com) and a stockbroker licensed with FINRA. He works for Treece Financial Services Corp and also serves as editor of the financial news site Green Faucet (www.GreenFaucet.com) and as a business commentator for the Toledo Free Press (www.ToledoFreePress.com). The above information is the express opinion of Dock David Treece and should not be construed as investment advice or used without outside verification.

We have reached the end of the regular season in college football, and the postseason is upon us. For collegiate football that means bowl games. Grant it there are plenty of teams (70 to be exact) that make it into a postseason bowl game, but three of our local teams made it into bowl games including Michigan.

Gator Bowl – Michigan vs. Mississippi State
1/1 – Everbank Stadium – Jacksonville, FL

Michigan (7-5) became bowl eligible after consecutive seasons of failing to qualify for postseason play in coach Rich Rodriguez’s first two seasons in Ann Arbor. Mississippi State comes in on the heels of an 8-4 season in coach Dan Mullen’s second season with the Bulldogs.

This game won’t really pique the interest of the national fan base, but locally the story lines that have dogged Michigan will once again play a major role in the lead up to this New Year’s Day game.

Is this Rich Rodriguez’s last game as head coach at Michigan? Will the Wolverines’ defense get better between now and the bowl game? Will Denard Robinson be able to regain his early season form?

It is ironic how Michigan centric the storylines are at this point, and that is a bonus for MSU.

The teams are pretty even on paper. Both teams had winning records at home and on the road. Neither team’s conference record was all the impressive, although the Bulldogs did almost beat the Auburn Tigers, who are playing for the national championship.

Both teams run the spread offense, but the Bulldogs favor a more power attack than a finesse game. Their rushing attack is led by junior Vick Ballard. Ballard ran for almost 900 yards and 16 TD this season.

The maize and blue’s defense has been awful almost the entire season, especially to round out the regular season. The Wolverines gave up 258 yards rushing to Ohio State and over 300 yards to Wisconsin in back to back games.

As always, Michigan will rely on its dynamic offense led by the aforementioned Denard Robinson. The Big Ten’s offensive player of the year will have to have a huge day in order for Michigan to win.

The early favorite for the game was Mississippi State by six points, and that might be accurate; but the Wolverines have so much more to play for this bowl season.

The fact that Michigan may be exploring a coaching change has been one of the worst kept secret in sports.

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon has insisted he will not evaluate Rodriguez and his performance until after the bowl game, but only the naïve would believe that is true. Brandon and the Wolverine brass have been discussing a possible coaching change for months now, but it is possible they have not made up their mind.

After last week’s story of an emotional breakdown at the Michigan team banquet and vocal support from his players, Rodriguez does have his team’s backing even if not from the athletic office.

Most pundits think nothing short of an impressive win over the Bulldogs will save Rodriguez’s job, and despite whatever corny joke the Ohio State fan in me wants to throw out here, Michigan players can read and have seen the headlines and innuendo surrounding the fate of their coach.

If these players are being truthful and they want Rodriguez back as head coach, it will take a strong showing on their part in the Gator Bowl, and it makes this team’s bowl preparations even more important than ever.

Yes there has been improvement this season, but the status quo is not going to get it done just like it didn’t against Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State.

If this team wants Rodriguez to stay a “Michigan man”, it will largely rest on their shoulders.

Prediction: Michigan 45 MSU 38

Chris Schmidbauer is sports editor for Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at cschmidbauer@toledofreepress.com. He is also the co-host of the “Odd Couple Sports Show” on Fox Sports Radio 1230 WCWA and can be heard every weekday from at 10 a.m. to noon. He can also be seen weekly on the “Friday Night Frenzy Tailgate Show” on NBC 24’s America One.

Richard Cordray says he sees his new job in Washington, D.C., as an opportunity to do for the whole country what he was trying to do for the state of Ohio.
Cordray was unsuccessful in his November re-election bid as Ohio’s attorney general. He was elected in 2006 as Ohio’s treasurer, then was elected in 2008 to finish the term of attorney general. Before that, the 51-year-old Democrat was treasurer of Franklin County, first solicitor general in the Ohio attorney general’s office, a state representative and an undefeated five-time champion on the “Jeopardy!” television program.

On Dec. 15, it was reported that Cordray would be head of the enforcement division for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) implementation team.
Cordray spoke with Toledo Free Press from Columbus on Dec. 17. About the new position, he said, “I’m going to have the opportunity to work with Elizabeth Warren, with a team that is setting up the new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, which is a brand-new agency under the Dodd-Frank Financial Regulatory Reform bill.”
The agency will address all of the household financial products that matter in people’s lives, Cordray said.
“Mortgages, credit cards, debit cards, student loans, payday loans, debt collection, credit reports, you name it. And our goal is to achieve greater transparency, comparability, fair treatment of consumers, and a system of household financial products that works for Americans and the economy and for the banks as well,” he said.
Cordray’s previous campaigns had referenced the topic of ethics. In 2006 when running for Ohio treasurer, he said candidates are better off if they keep their investments more general, using money market funds instead of picking stocks, to avoid questions concerning inside information and possible concerns about corruption.
When asked how he felt about transparency given the recent comment made by Governor-elect John Kasich ­ where Kasich blamed reporters for the attention to transparency and conflicts of interest, ­ Cordray said his position had not changed.
“Conflicts of interest should not be dictating choices in government, and transparency is important because the public is ultimately the boss of government. They have to be able to know what is going on in order to exercise their role as the boss,” Cordray said.
Transparency is an important factor in Cordray’s new position.
“It’s about people making choices, where they’re not confused by gobbledygook and that the terms are clear and they can make sensible choices for themselves and not get caught up in financial products that are going to undermine their financial well being because of the way the fees and other things are folded in there in ways the consumer does not understand them,” he said.
It was reported on Dec. 15 that Ohio will receive more than $861,000 through the settlement of a multistate lawsuit on claims The Dannon Co. made for its Activia yogurt and DanActive dairy drink. Cordray as attorney general, sought to have Ohio included in the lawsuit with 38 other states.
Cordray said cases like the Dannon lawsuit were “part of the reason why this is such a great opportunity, because we will be doing a lot of the same work, especially with respect to mortgages and credit cards for the whole country, that I was trying to do in the state of Ohio.”
Cordray’s new position will not require him to move his family to the D.C. area.
“I’m going to be commuting, they were pretty flexible about the arrangement. I will go out to D.C. and be there much of the workweek and then do some work in Ohio as well,” he said.
Keeping his Ohio residency is important for more than just family reasons, Cordray’s name is already being mentioned for the 2014 elections. It may not be a return run for the attorney general’s office — it could be governor.
Until then, he said his focus will be on making sure consumers are treated fairly and that people have information accessible to them to make good financial choices.

Lisa Renee Ward operates the political blog GlassCityJungle.com.

One helped drop an atomic bomb on Japan during World War II. The other survived that bombing and also the second bombing that came only days later.

Morris Jeppson was a weapons test officer aboard the Enola Gay and helped arm the atomic bomb that was dropped over Hiroshima. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was the only person recognized as a survivor of that bombing and the bombing of Nagasaki that came three days after.

They are among the notables who died in 2010.

Plane crashes took the lives of some of the political figures the world said goodbye to this year. Lech Kaczynski, an anti-communist activist who became Polish president, and Anna Walentynowicz, a union activist whose dismissal from a shipyard touched off strikes that led to the eventual toppling of Polish communism, were killed with other officials in a plane crash in Russia. Longtime Republican Sen. Ted Stevens died in an Alaska plane crash.

The political world also lost Robert C. Byrd, Viktor Chernomyrdin, Richard Holbrooke, John Murtha, Francesco Cossiga, Menachem Porush, Nestor Kirchner, Charlie Wilson, Sheik Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Alexander Haig, Elizabeth Edwards, Anatoly Dobrynin, Dov Shilansky, Dan Rostenkowski and Juan Mari Bras.

Among the inventors who died this year: a man who literally put more money in people’s pockets. John Shepherd-Barron was credited with inventing the world’s first automatic cash machine.

Other scientists and inventors who died this year include David Warren, Marshall Nirenberg, Samuel T. Cohen and Albert M. Kligman.

In arts and entertainment, the year saw the deaths of two members of the Redgrave acting dynasty: Lynn Redgrave and her brother Corin Redgrave. Another who died was author J.D. Salinger, who spent much of his life retreating from the fame garnered by his book “The Catcher in the Rye,” which shocked and inspired millions.

Other artists and entertainers who died this year: Lena Horne, Dennis Hopper, Jimmy Dean, Tom Bosley, Gary Coleman, Dixie Carter, Ronnie James Dio, Art Linkletter, Kazuo Ohno, Corey Haim, Robert Culp, Peter Graves, Joan Sutherland, Leslie Nielsen, Tony Curtis, Rue McClanahan, Johnny Maestro, Helen Wagner and Eddie Fisher.

Here is a roll call of some of the people who died in 2010. (Cause of death cited for younger people if available.)

JANUARY:

Freya von Moltke, 98. Prominent member of the anti-Nazi resistance in Germany during World War II. Jan. 1.

Deborah Howell, 68. Journalist and Washington Post ombudsman. Jan. 1. Struck by car.

Tsutomu Yamaguchi, 93. The only person recognized as a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings at end of World War II. Jan. 4.

Jean Biden, 92. Mother of Vice President Joe Biden. Jan 8.

Eric Rohmer, 89. French New Wave director known for “Claire’s Knee” and other films tracing the intracacies of romantic relationships. Jan. 11.

Miep Gies, 100. Dutch office secretary who defied Nazi occupiers to hide Anne Frank and her family for two years and saved the teenager’s diary. Jan 11.

Teddy Pendergrass, 59. R&B singer who was one of the most successful figures in music until a car crash left him in a wheelchair. Jan. 13. Colon cancer.

Edgar Vos, 78. Designer known as the emperor of Dutch fashion who created clothing for all figures and most budgets. Jan 13.

Marshall Nirenberg, 82. Scientist whose work in untangling fundamental genetic processes earned him a Nobel Prize. Jan. 15.

Glenn W. Bell Jr., 86. Entrepreneur best known as the founder of the Taco Bell chain. Jan. 16.

Erich Segal, 72. Author of best-selling novel “Love Story” about a young couple dealing with love and bereavement. Jan. 17.

Jean Simmons, 80. Actress whose ethereal screen presence and starring roles with Hollywood’s top actors made her widely admired. Jan 22.

J.D. Salinger, 91. Legendary author, youth hero and fugitive from fame whose “The Catcher in the Rye” shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned. Jan. 27.

FEBRUARY:

Frances Reid, 95. Played matriarch Alice Horton on “Days of Our Lives” for four decades. Feb. 3.

U.S. Rep. John Murtha, 77. The tall, gruff-mannered former Marine who became the de facto voice of veterans on Capitol Hill and later an outspoken and influential critic of the Iraq War. Feb. 8. Complications from gallbladder surgery.

Albert M. Kligman, 93. Dermatologist whose research led to discoveries including the acne and wrinkle drug Retin-A but whose pioneering work was overshadowed by his experiments involving prisoners. Feb. 9.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, 76. Texan who worked tenaciously to funnel millions of dollars in weapons to Afghan rebels who fought off the Soviet Union. Feb. 10.

Frederick C. Weyand, 93. Former Army Chief of Staff and the last commander of U.S. military operations in the Vietnam War. Feb. 10.

Alexander McQueen, 40. British fashion designer known for his daring and edgy style. Feb. 11. Suicide.

Doug Fieger, 57. Leader of the power pop band The Knack who co-wrote and sang on the 1979 hit “My Sharona.” Feb. 14. Cancer.

Bill Gordon, 92. Designed the photogenic radio telescope in Puerto Rico that spotted the first planets beyond our solar system and lakes on one of Saturn’s moons. Feb. 16.

Kathryn Grayson, 88. star of popular MGM musicals of the 1940s and ’50s such as “Anchors Aweigh,” “Show Boat” and “Kiss Me Kate.” Feb. 17.

John Babcock, 109. The oldest Canadian veteran of World War I. Feb. 18.

Alexander Haig, 85. Soldier and statesman who held high posts in three Republican administrations and some of the U.S. military’s top jobs. Feb. 20.

Menachem Porush, 93. Estemmed rabbbi and longtime leader of one of the most influential ultra-Orthodox factions in the Israeli parliament. Feb. 21.

MARCH:

Evaristo Porras, 62. Former high-flying Medellin cartel drug trafficker associated with Pablo Escobar in the 1980s. March 3. Heart attack.

Doris “Granny D” Haddock, 100. New Hampshire woman who walked across the country at age 89 to promote campaign finance reform and later waged a quixotic campaign for U.S. Senate. March 9.

Corey Haim, 38. Teen talent who started working in TV commercials at 10 and was a big-screen heartthrob at 15. March 10. Pneumonia.

Peter Graves, 83. Tall, stalwart actor whose calm and intelligent demeanor was a good fit to the intrigue of “Mission Impossible” as well as the satire of the “Airplane” films. March 14.

Jerome York, 71. Apple Inc. board member and a financial wizard credited with turning around Chrysler and IBM. March 18.

Roy Steinfort, 88. veteran newsman and former vice president of The Associated Press who turned the agency’s radio operations into a service providing news to millions of listeners worldwide. March 21.

Margaret Moth, 59. CNN photojournalist who survived a near-fatal gunshot wound to the face while filming in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the wars there in the early 1990s. March 21. Colon cancer.

Robert Culp, 79. Actor who teamed with Bill Cosby in the racially groundbreaking TV series “I Spy” and was Bob in the critically acclaimed sex comedy “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.” March 24.

Johnny Maestro, 70. Performed the 1958 doo-wop hit “16 Candles” with The Crests and enjoyed a decades-long career with The Brooklyn Bridge. March 24.

Marty Lederhandler, 92. Associated Press photographer who captured on film every U.S. president from Herbert Hoover to Bill Clinton, covered the D-Day landing in 1944 and climaxed a 66-year career with an iconic shot of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks. March 25.

Jaime Escalante, 79. Transformed a tough east Los Angeles high school by motivating students to master advanced math, became one of the most famous teachers in the U.S. and inspired the movie “Stand and Deliver.” March 30.

Morris Jeppson, 87. Weapons test officer aboard the Enola Gay who helped arm the atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima. March 30.

APRIL:

John Forsythe, 92. Actor who starred in television series such as “Dynasty” and “Bachelor Father” and films including Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Trouble with Harry” and “Topaz.” April 1.

Corin Redgrave, 70. Actor in dozens of plays, television shows and movies including “A Man for all Seasons” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” Brother of Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave. April 6.

Anatoly Dobrynin, 90. Legendary Soviet diplomat who represented Moscow during the Cuban missile crisis and later in key superpower negotiations to curb the growth of nuclear arsenals. April 6.

Wilma Mankiller, 64. First female leader of the Cherokee Nation, from 1985 to 1995. April 6.

J. Bruce Llewellyn, 82. Became one of the country’s most successful black businessmen in retailing, bottling and media. April 7.

Meinhardt Raabe, 94. Played the Munchkin coroner in “The Wizard of Oz” and proclaimed in the movie that the Wicked Witch of the East was “really most sincerely dead.” April 9.

Lech Kaczynski, 60. An anti-communist activist who became Polish president. He died with other officials in a plane crash in Russia. April 10.

Anna Walentynowicz, 80. A union activist whose 1980 dismissal from a Gdansk shipyard touched off strikes that led to the founding of the Solidarity movement and the eventual toppling of Polish communism. April 10. Plane crash.

Dixie Carter, 70. Star of the television series “Designing Women” who had roles in a host of other television shows. April 10.

Benjamin L. Hooks, 85. An attorney and pastor who became the South’s first black state trial court judge since Reconstruction and then led the flagging NAACP in a strong rebound. April 15.

Guru (Keith Elam), 48. Influential rapper known for intellectual themes, a monotone delivery and his combination of jazz sounds with hip-hop beats. April 19. Cancer.

Dorothy Height, 98. The leading female voice of the 1960s civil rights movement and a key participant in historic marches with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. April 20.

Keli McGregor, 48. President of baseball’s Colorado Rockies and a former NFL football player. April 20. Found dead in hotel room of natural causes.

Juan Antonio Samaranch, 89. A former Spanish diplomat and shrewd dealmaker whose 21-year term as president of the International Olympic Committee was marked by unprecedented growth of the games. April 21.

Elizabeth Post, 89. Etiquette expert and author of books and magazine columns. April 24.

Franklin Mieuli, 89. His deerstalker cap, substantial beard and casual style made him one of the NBA’s most colorful figures in his 24 years as owner of the Golden State Warriors. April 25.

MAY:

Jean Louis Dumas, 72. Ran luxury brand Hermes for nearly three decades and was hailed as an emblem of French style. May 1.

Helen Wagner, 91. Actress who held the Guinness world record for playing the same role soap opera “As the World Turns” for the longest period of time, 54 years. May 1.

Lynn Redgrave, 67. Actress who became a 1960s sensation as the free-thinking title character in “Georgy Girl.” May 2. Breast cancer.

Dave Fisher, 69. Lead singer of the Highwaymen, the popular 1960s folk group. May 7. Bone marrow disease.

Lena Horne, 92. Jazz singer known for signature song “Stormy Weather” and for her triumph over bigotry that allowed her to entertain white audiences but not socialize with them. May 9.

John Shepherd-Barron, 89. Scotsman credited with inventing the world’s first automatic cash machine. May 15.

Ronnie James Dio, 67. Singer whose soaring vocals and poetic lyrics broke new ground in heavy metal music. May 16. Stomach cancer.

Hank Jones, 91. Jazz pianist and composer who played with some of the biggest names in American jazz including singer Ella Fitzgerald. May 16.

Art Linkletter, 97. Known on American television for his interviews with children and ordinary people. May 26.

Gary Coleman, 42. Adorable, pint-sized child star of the 1970s TV sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes” who spent the rest of his life struggling on Hollywood’s D-list. May 28. Brain hemorrhage.

Dennis Hopper, 74. Hollywood actor whose memorable career included “Rebel without a Cause” and “Easy Rider.” May 29. Prostate cancer.

Ali-Ollie Woodson, 58. Led the Motown quintet the Temptations in the 1980s and ’90s; helped restore them to some of their hit-making glory. May 30. Cancer.

JUNE:

Kazuo Ohno, 103. Brought the Japanese modern dance style of Butoh to the international stage and charmed audiences with eerie but poetic performances. June 1.

Rue McClanahan, 76. Emmy-winning actress who brought the sexually liberated Southern belle Blanche Devereaux to life on the hit TV series “The Golden Girls.” June 3.

John Wooden, 99. Built college basketball’s greatest dynasty at UCLA and became one of the most revered coaches ever. June 4.

Jack Harrison, 97. Survivor of the Great Escape plot by Allied prisoners in a German prison in World War II. June 4.

Jimmy Dean, 81. Country music legend for his smash hit about a workingman hero, “Big Bad John,” and an entrepreneur known for his sausage brand. June 13.

Sergei Tretyakov, 53. Former top Russian spy who defected to the U.S. after running espionage operations from the United Nations. June 13. Choked on a piece of meat.

Garry Shider, 56. Longtime musical director of Parliament-Funkadelic whose funky guitar work, songwriting skills and musical arrangements thrilled fans and earned him a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. June 16.

Sebastian Horsley, 47. Self-styled dandy and noted British eccentric who found fame by having himself nailed to a cross in the Philippines. June 17.

Marcel Bigeard, 94. General who led France’s elite parachute forces in colonial wars in independence-seeking Indochina and Algeria after serving in the French Resistance in World War II. June 18.

Manute Bol, 47. Lithe 7-foot-7 shot-blocker from Sudan who spent 10 seasons in the NBA and was dedicated to humanitarian work in Africa. June 19.

Edith Shain, 91. Claimed to be the nurse who was smooched by a sailor in Times Square in the famous Life magazine photograph marking the end of World War II. June 20.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, 92. Rose from an impoverished childhood in West Virginia’s coal country to become the longest-serving senator in U.S. history. June 28.

JULY:

Frank Colacurcio Sr., 93. Organized crime figure who built a strip club empire across 10 Western states. July 2.

Mohammed Oudeh, 73. Key planner of the 1972 Munich Olympics attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes. July 3.

Dr. Robert Butler, 83. Pulitzer Prize-winning expert on aging who coined the phrase “ageism.” July 4.

Tuli Kupferberg, 86. Founding member of the 1960s underground rock group the Fugs. July 12.

Harvey Pekar, 70. Author of the autobiographical comic book series “American Splendor.” July 12.

George Steinbrenner, 80. Rebuilt New York Yankees dynasty over more than three decades of owning the franchise. July 13.

Vernon Baker, 90. Belatedly received Medal of Honor for World War II valor after being denied the award because he was black. July 13.

Stephen Schneider, 65. Served on international research panel on global warming that shared 2007 Nobel Prize with former Vice President Al Gore. July 19. Heart attack.

David Warren, 85. Inventor of “black box” flight data recorder. July 19.

Daniel Schorr, 93. Journalist who covered the Cold War and found himself on President Richard Nixon’s “enemies list.” July 23.

Theo Albrecht, 88. Secretive co-founder of Germany’s worldwide discount supermarket chain Aldi, co-owner of Trader Joe’s in the U.S. July 24.

Erich Steidtmann, 95. Former Nazi SS officer suspected of being involved in World War II massacres; was never convicted. July 25.

Jacques Montouroy, 63. French national and aid worker in Africa known as “Papa Jacques.” July 29.

AUGUST:

Lolita Lebron, 90. Puerto Rican independence activist who spent 25 years in prison for participating in a gun attack on the U.S. Congress a half century ago. Aug. 1.

Reginald Levy, 88. British pilot praised for his cool-headed bravery during a 1972 hijacking by Palestinian mi1itants. Aug. 1.

Patricia Neal, 84, the willowy, husky-voiced actress who won an Academy Award in 1963 for “Hud” and then survived several strokes to continue acting. Aug. 8.

Ted Stevens, 86. The longest serving Republican in the U.S. Senate; funneled billions of dollars to his remote state of Alaska. Aug. 9. Plane crash.

David L. Wolper, 82. Hollywood impressario whose landmark 1987 television miniseries “Roots” engrossed the U.S. with its saga of an American family descended from an African slave. Aug. 10.

Dan Rostenkowski, 82. Former Illinois congressman who wielded enormous power on Capitol Hill for more than 30 years. Aug. 11.

Edwin Newman, 91. NBC News correspondent for more than three decades who battled linguistic pretense and clutter in his best-sellers “Strictly Speaking” and “A Civil Tongue.” Aug. 13.

Philip Markoff, 24. Former medical student accused of killing a masseuse he met through the website Craigslist. Aug. 15. Suicide.

Dimitrios Ioannidis, 87. Feared security chief who led a countercoup against Greece’s military leaders and provoked a 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Aug. 16.

Francesco Cossiga, 82. Veteran politician in Italy’s fight against domestic terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s who resigned as president after failing to save the life of a politician kidnapped by the Red Brigades. Aug. 17.

SEPTEMBER:

Paul Conrad, 86. Political cartoonist who won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his stark, powerful visuals that poked fun at politicians and presidents. Sept. 4.

Jefferson Thomas, 67. One of nine black students to integrate a Little Rock high school in American’s first major battle over school segregation. Sept. 5. Pancreatic cancer.

Israel Tal, 86. Decorated war hero and creator of Israel’s renowned “Merkava” tank, in Rehovot, Israel. Sept. 8.

Juan Mari Bras, 82. Elder statesman of Puerto Rico’s independence movement who gave up his U.S. citizenship in an act that inspired hundreds of other activists. Sept. 10.

Kevin McCarthy, 96. Actor who played the frantic doctor trying to save his friends and neighbors in the science-fiction movie classic “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Sept. 11.

Claude Chabrol, 80. French director who was one of the founders of the New Wave movement and whose films probed the latent malice beneath the placid surface of bourgeois life. Sept. 12.

John “Jack” Goeken, 80. Founder of telecommunications giant MCI and father of air-to-ground telephone communications. Sept. 16.

Gennady Yanayev, 73. Leader of the abortive coup who briefly declared himself Soviet president, replacing Mikhail Gorbachev. Sept. 19.

Eddie Fisher, 82. Pop singer who crooned love tunes in the 1950s but whose life was overshadowed by drug use, gambling and failed marriages to actresses Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds. Sept. 22.

Gloria Stuart, 100. The 1930s Hollywood beauty who gave up acting for 30 years and later became the oldest Academy Award acting nominee as the spunky survivor in “Titanic.” Sept. 26.

Arthur Penn, 88. A myth-maker and myth-breaker who, in directing such film classics as “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Little Big Man,” refashioned movies. Sept. 28.

Tony Curtis, 85. Defiantly worked to mold himself from a 1950s heartthrob to a respected actor in such films as “Some Like It Hot.” Sept. 29.

OCTOBER:

Albertina Walker, 81. Grammy-winning singer from Chicago known as the “Queen of Gospel.” Oct. 8.

Linda Norgrove, 36. British aid worker killed after being taken captive in Afghanistan. Oct. 8. Head and chest injuries during a rescue attempt.

Maurice Allais, 99. Nobel economics winner and early critic of shortcomings in the worldwide financial system that led to the latest crisis. October 9.

Joan Sutherland, 83. Acclaimed opera singer whose voice stretched more than three octaves. Oct. 10.

Georges Mathe, 88. Performed the world’s first bone marrow transplant in 1959. Oct. 15.

Barbara Billingsley, 94. Played the mother of Beaver and Wally in “Leave it to Beaver.” Oct. 16.

Tom Bosley, 83. Actor best known for his role on “Happy Days.” Oct. 19. Lung cancer.

Bob Guccione, 79. Publisher of the adult magazine Penthouse. Oct. 20. Lung cancer.

Robert Katz, 77. American writer and historian, whose reconstruction of an infamous Nazi massacre in Rome sparked a trial over whether he defamed the pope. Oct. 20. Cancer surgery.

James F. Neal, 81. Attorney who prosecuted Jimmy Hoffa, key Watergate figures, and defended Elvis Presley’s doctor and the Exxon Corp. after the Alaska oil spill. Oct. 21.

Alexander Anderson Jr., 90. TV cartoon artist who created Rocky the flying squirrel, Bullwinkle the moose and Dudley Do-Right the Canadian mountie. Oct. 22.

Joseph Stein, 98. Turned a Yiddish short story into “Fiddler on the Roof.” Oct. 24.

Sheik Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, 90. Ruler in the United Arab Emirates federation and one of the world’s longest-reigning monarchs. Oct. 27.

Nestor Kirchner, 60. Former president of Argentina who steered the country out of crisis and political instability. Oct 27. Heart attack.

NOVEMBER:

Viktor Chernomyrdin, 72. Served as Russia’s prime minister in the turbulent 1990s as the country was throwing off communism. Nov. 3.

Eugenie Blanchard, 114. Nun considered the world’s oldest person. Nov. 4.

Sparky Anderson, 76. Legendary baseball manager who led the Cincinnati Reds to back-to-back World Series championships. Nov. 4.

Dino De Laurentiis, 91. Produced films such as “La Strada” and “Barbarella.” Nov. 10

Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki, 76. Polish composer famous for his “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.” Nov. 12.

Laurie Bembenek, 52. Former Milwaukee police officer who escaped from prison after she was convicted of murder. Nov. 20. Liver failure.

Ingrid Pitt, 73. Survived a Nazi concentration camp to become an acclaimed British movie actress. Nov. 23.

Leslie Nielsen, 84. Actor who starred in comedies such as “Airplane” and “The Naked Gun.” Nov. 28.

David F. Nolan, 66. Co-founder of the Libertarian Party. Nov. 28.

John D’Agostino Sr., 81. His work in comic books ranged from Archie and Jughead to the Incredible Hulk and G.I. Joe. Nov. 28.

Samuel T. Cohen, 89. Neutron bomb inventor. Nov. 28.

Stephen J. Solarz, 70. Former New York congressman who in 1986 revealed the extravagance of Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, including her 3,000 pairs of shoes. Nov. 29.

DECEMBER:

Ron Santo, 70. Former Chicago Cubs third baseman and broadcaster. Dec. 2. Complications of bladder cancer.

Maria Esther Gatti de Islas, 92. Human rights activist who helped found Uruguay’s organization of relatives of people who disappeared during South America’s “dirty wars.” Dec. 5.

Elizabeth Edwards, 61. Closely advised her husband John Edwards in two bids for the presidency and advocated for health care even as her marriage publicly crumbled. Dec. 7. Cancer.

Dov Shilansky, 86. Holocaust survivor and former speaker of the Israeli parliament. Dec. 9.

John du Pont, 72. Chemical fortune heir who killed an Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler at his palatial estate. Dec. 9.

James Moody, 85. Jazz saxophonist who recorded more than 50 solo albums as well as songs with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Lionel Hampton and B.B. King. Dec. 9. Pancreatic cancer.

Mark Madoff, 46. Son of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff. Dec. 11. Suicide.

Richard Holbrooke, 69. U.S. diplomat who wrote part of the Pentagon Papers and was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace plan. Dec. 13.

Bob Feller, 92. Teenage pitching sensation, World War II hero and outspoken Hall of Famer. Dec. 15.

Blake Edwards, 88. Director and writer known for clever dialogue, poignance and occasional belly-laugh sight gags in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “10” and the “Pink Panther” farces. Dec. 15.

Tommaso Padoa Schioppa, 70. Italian economist who was one of the intellectual architects of the euro and a member of the European Central Bank’s first executive board. Dec. 18.

Fred Foy, 89. Announcer best known for his booming, passionate lead-ins to “The Lone Ranger” radio and television series. Dec. 22.

Fred Hargesheimer, 94. World War II Army pilot whose rescue by Pacific islanders led to a life of giving back as a builder of schools and teacher of children. Dec. 23.

Bernard McGhee, Associated Press

The incoming chairman of the Ohio Senate finance committee says the hole in the next state budget could be as large as $10 billion, nearly $2 billion more than what was earlier predicted.

Much has been discussed about roughly $8 billion in one-time grants and other money used to balance the current two-year budget that won’t be there in future years.

But the problem probably will grow beyond that, said Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield.

“There is also a series of other things swirling around out there impacting our budget above and beyond one-time money. We have other expenditures we are committed and obligated to make,” he said.

Among them, he said, are Medicaid growth that could exceed $1 billion and a $180million interest payment owed the federal government on borrowing for the state unemployment-compensation fund.

“There are probably 12 to 15 things that are going to come to roost one way or another, positive or negative, to have an impact on the next state budget,” Widener said.

Gov.-elect John Kasich must submit a blueprint for balancing the $50billion-plus budget for the next two years by mid-March.

The Republican has said he wants to cut taxes and phase out the state’s income tax.

To reduce spending, he has proposed diverting nonviolent offenders from prisons and taking on public employee unions.

The administration of outgoing Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland hasn’t made budget projections since last year, but revenue is higher than expected, said spokeswoman Allison Kolodziej.

Office of Budget and Management numbers show that personal income-tax collections were up 5 percent and sales-tax collections also had increased in the latest three-month period from the same period a year earlier.

Kolodziej said any projections about revenue growth and spending levels remain speculative.

Widener isn’t optimistic about revenue growth.

“It’s expected to continue to be on the plus side, which is a positive note,” Widener said. “But I don’t personally think there is going to be any major revenue growth in the next budget.”

AP story through The Plain Dealer

Editor’s note: Toledo Free Press will follow the Blank family of Millbury for the next year as they rebuild their lives after a June 5 tornado destroyed their Main Street home.

The Blanks are home, but it doesn’t feel like it yet.
“It seems like a different house to me,” Julie said. “When I sit down in the kitchen, it is like totally different to me. I try to picture the old house and I can picture certain rooms, but it is not at all like the other house.”
The changes are good.

The Blanks lost their home to the June 5 tornado and rebuilt on the same property. While staying in the neighborhood was important to them, making the house look exactly like the original was not. They moved in Dec. 17.
The Blanks’ new house is a little bit bigger and includes a more open kitchen, which pours into the family room.
“We had a very small kitchen, very small counter space and not many cupboards,” Julie said. “This is the biggest difference, the kitchen. I love it, it is the best. This is where I hang out all day.”
The first-floor bathroom used to be in the foyer, but now is near the garage entrance. Their builder, Mark Rigg, said houses these days don’t include bathrooms in the foyer. A pantry took the place of where the first-floor bathroom used to be.
The builder added a back door from the laundry room to the pool, which has been repaired and winterized.
All the furniture is new, except for two end tables that were found after the tornado. Those are in the Blanks’ newly finished basement. The basement also contains the sofas bought for the condo they lived in while their house was rebuilt.
“I made 30 trips back and forth from the condo,” Ed said. “All that is left in the condo is dirt, and we are having the carpets cleaned.”
The move-in went smoothly with meals supplied by the Blanks’ church, Zion Lutheran Church-Latcha.
“It wasn’t that bad until I got sick and then I woke up Saturday morning with the flu,” Julie said. “I wasn’t able to help. I was in bed all day, but at least I was in the new house.”
The house also looks different because of the widening of the stairs.
The Blanks also requested an open-foyer look, which was achieved by knocking some square footage off of the bedrooms.
Ed said there are still little things to do like hanging photos, displaying knickknacks, putting up the window treatments and getting the phone and cable situated.
“Casey has another dresser coming,” Julie said. “We have a family room couch and chair coming still. Part of the bar stools and kitchen table chairs came, but they were lopsided, so we sent them back.”
Even with work to be done, Ed said he and Julie will be hosting a New Year’s Eve party.
They said they have missed
entertaining.
“It will be nice to have people over and not have to go anywhere. We might just tie one on that night,” Ed said, laughing.

Travelogues are certainly not the most popular form of entertainment, but they can be valuable to a certain segment of the population. For those who can’t afford to travel, they are an inexpensive vehicle to see our country and the world. For those who like to travel, they can suggest new destinations and impart much practical information. For those whose traveling days might be over, they can bring back many wonderful memories.
For the next three months Toledoans will be blessed with just such an opportunity and it’s all free. Metroparks of Toledo Area and Hostelling International (HI) are sponsoring the Travel Circle series. If you are familiar with HI, you know it especially promotes hiking, biking and staying in hostels. Although some of the programs might feature some of those activities, they are generally more wide-ranging. They take place at several Metroparks (listed below) on Saturdays at 2:15 p.m. Refreshments are even free. If you are more ambitious, you can arrive at 1 p.m. and walk a few miles (or maybe cross country ski if snow) with a group, but that certainly is not required.
Jan. 8: Westward Ho! Western Canyons and Beautiful Vistas — Tim Kreps (Wildwood, Metroparks Hall)
Jan. 15: Alaska by Land and Sea — Jan and Gary Samples (Secor Room)
Jan. 22: African Affirmation in Namibia — Laura Schetter (Wildwood, Metroparks Hall)
Jan. 29: Bicycle Tour of Four National Parks in Utah — Larry Lindsay (Oak Openings Lodge)
Feb. 5: New Year’s in Switzerland — Jack McBride (Wildwood Metroparks Hall)
Feb. 12: Europe A (Azores) to Z  (Zeebruges) — Judy Pfaffenberger  (Secor Metropark)
Feb. 19: Egypt, Land of the Pharaohs — Bill Potvin (Wildwood, Metroparks Hall)
Feb. 26: Rome, Journey to the Eternal City — Connie Bauer (Oak Openings Lodge)
March 5: Zambian Habitat for Humanity: Adventure, Victoria Falls and Botswana Safari — Al Thompson (Side Cut, Lamb Center)
March 12: Community Organizing in Poland, Slovakia and Hungary —Dave Beckwith (Secor Metropark)
March 19: Vibrant Vietnam  —  Judy Pfaffenberger (Wildwood Metroparks Hall)
March 26: West Coast on a Bike from Vancouver to San Diego — Dick Hayes (Oak Openings Lodge)
The Maumee Library, the Way Public Library in Perrysburg and the Sylvania Branch library also present travel and cultural programs from time to time.
It is sad that this is all Toledo has to offer in terms of regularly scheduled travelogues. I grew up on programs of this nature and that is probably one reason that I have always loved to travel. When I outgrew “The Howdy Doody Show,” we switched to the “George Pierrot World Adventure Series on Detroit’s Channel 4.” It was on for an hour Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. We could travel the world every weekday evening as we ate our supper. (Except that my dad had to spend the first part of most shows trying to turn the antenna to get decent reception. I grew up thinking that many places had much more snowfall than they really did.)
For several years when I was in grade school, I went with my mother to the Meeting House Series at First Congregational Church to see some of the professionals that we knew from the “World Adventure Series” like my favorites Stan Midgley and Don Cooper. Then for a few years there was a Sunday afternoon travel series at the Commodore Perry Hotel. The last regular series of professional travelogues was sponsored by the West Toledo Kiwanis clubsand held at the University of Toledo Adult Education Center.
The only professional travelogues currently presented in our area are sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Tecumseh and held at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts, 400 N. Maumee St. in Tecumseh. The cost is $5 and they begin at 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 11: Texas Highways and Byways — Dale Johnson.
Feb. 8: Wales: Land of Song —Montie Brown.
March 8: Barbados: Island in the Sun — Steve Gonser.
April 12: Yellowstone’s Trails and Tales – Sandy Mortimer.

E-mail travel columnist Judy Pfaffenberger at letters@toledofreepress.com.

Playing a concert in Toledo is always special for Stanley Cowell. This time the pianist has two very different gigs lined up in his hometown — and he’ll share the spotlight at one show with his daughter.

“Toledo has been very supportive of my career since the beginning,” Cowell said. “There is an appreciation there, and I always enjoy seeing old friends, and I hope I can continue to do them proud.”
Growing up in the Glass City, Cowell learned to read music by age 3, thanks to his sisters who played piano.
“[My sisters] took me to their teacher, Mary Belle Shealy, and she wouldn’t take me until I was 4 when my feet could reach the pedals. So I waited six months or so and went back and I could reach the pedals because I had long legs, and that began my formal study and I took to it.”
Oh, and there was that visit from Art Tatum.
“It was an indelible impression that [Tatum] slammed into my forehead and my ears by playing at my house when I was 6 years old,” Cowell recalled and laughed during a call from his Maryland home. “He and my father knew each other when they were kids, and he came by to visit.
“It was such powerful playing, it obviously affected me. Years later, it kind of rolled off the top of my head at a recording studio, where I was asked to do a solo number I had not intended to do. It was a trio recording, and I just started playing and the tape was rolling, and there it was, the piece he had actually played at my house, ‘You Took Advantage of Me’ by Rodgers and Hart.”
Cowell has played keys for Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Herbie Mann and others, and has numerous recordings as a leader and a sideman.
After a decade away from the recording studio, the respected composer was lured back by the chance to work with his daughter, Sunny.
“The record business has been really strange, and I kind of backed off for a while purposely, and I was focusing on education where I teach,” said Cowell, a professor and chair of jazz at Rutgers University. “I think that the progress my daughter makes when she approaches a project with me inspired me to want to go back to the studio.”
The recently released result: “Prayer for Peace.” Sunny is featured as a vocalist and violist.
“She’s a very consistent performer with surprises of her own,” Cowell said. “She’s a creative person and a natural musician even though that’s not her total focus at this point.”
“When I perform with my dad, I learn so much,” Sunny, a first-year law student at the University of Maryland, wrote in an e-mail during exam week. “He is critical but endearing when we practice and perform together.
“Although I always knew he had a lot to offer as both a professional musician and professor, I feel like I am finally at the age when I can appreciate and benefit the most from his extensive knowledge and experience.”
Cowell will perform with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jeffrey Pollock at 8 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle Theatre. The concert will celebrate the orchestra’s upcoming trip to Carnegie Hall. Tickets are $20 to $60.
Cowell and his daughter will join bassist Clifford Murphy and drummer Renell Gonsalves for a CD release party at Murphy’s Place, 151 Water St., at 7 p.m. Jan. 8. Admission is $15 and includes appetizers.