JESUS DE POLANCO, 77 Spanish media mogul
Jesus de Polanco, a media giant credited with helping restore Spain's independent press after the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in the 1970s, died Saturday.
Mr. de Polanco, the billionaire chairman of the powerful Spanish media conglomerate Grupo PRISA and one of Spain's most influential people, died of an unspecified rheumatic disease, his flagship newspaper El Pais reported.
Mr. de Polanco co-founded El Pais and founded Grupo PRISA, which also owns radio and TV stations and publishing companies, and he was very close to the ruling Socialist Party. Grupo PRISA is the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world, El Pais said.
El Pais, which was launched in 1976, after Franco's death, quickly became Spain's most-read newspaper as the country returned to democracy. It remains the country's top-selling daily.
Mr. de Polanco ranked 287th on Forbes list of the world's billionaires, published in March, with a net worth of $3 billion.
He was credited with transforming a company once composed only of El Pais into an international media conglomerate with extensive Latin American holdings.
Mr. de Polanco also pioneered digital television in Spain.
Three of his four children from the first of his two marriages hold senior posts in Grupo PRISA companies.
Earlier this year, Mr. de Polanco designated his son Ignacio Polanco Moreno to succeed him as Grupo PRISA chairman.
DICK AULT, 81 Olympic runner
Dick Ault, a former Olympian and University of Missouri track star, died last Monday in Jefferson City, Mo., of complications from diabetes.
Mr. Ault placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1948 Olympics in London and tied the world record in the 440-yard hurdles at a 1949 meet in Oslo, Norway.
He spent nearly 30 years at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., coaching track, cross country, golf and swimming. He also was a high school football and track official.
A St. Louis native, Mr. Ault won consecutive Big Six Conference titles in the 220-yard hurdles in 1946 and 1947, and Big Seven Conference titles in the event the next two years.
He was inducted into the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
DAVE FAY, 67 Newspaper reporter
Dave Fay, a reporter for The Washington Times, who recently earned recognition in the Hockey Hall of Fame for his coverage of the sport over more than two decades, died Tuesday in Monrovia. He had suffered from cancer for 12 years.
Mr. Fay worked at The Washington Times from its start in 1982, mainly writing about the Washington Capitals. He also covered the Washington Redskins in the early 1990s.
As quick with a quip as he was with insights about hockey, Mr. Fay won the Professional Hockey Writers Association's Elmer Ferguson Award in May and will be honored permanently with a plaque at the Hall of Fame. His family will be presented with the award in November.
Born in Brighton, Mass., Mr. Fay served in the Navy before beginning his journalism career in 1961. He worked at newspapers in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island before joining The Washington Times.
JERRY HADLEY, 55 Renowned tenor
Jerry Hadley, a world-class tenor known for his agile and lyric voice, died Wednesday, a week after he shot himself in an apparent suicide attempt.
The singer died two days after doctors at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie took him off life support, said family friend and spokeswoman Celia Novo.
Mr. Hadley, who had been battling personal problems, shot himself with an air rifle July 10 at his home in Clinton Corners, 80 miles north of New York City. State police said he was found unconscious on his bedroom floor.
The Illinois-born Mr. Hadley sang everything from Mozart to show tunes, including appearing on a recording of Show Boat that was a best-seller.
He built his reputation tackling demanding work, including the title role in composer John Harbison's 1999 The Great Gatsby at the Metropolitan Opera. Leonard Bernstein chose Mr. Hadley to sing the title role in a 1989 production of his musical Candide, and he sang the lead in Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio in 1991.
Mr. Hadley was featured in Leos Janacek's opera Jenufa, which won a Grammy in 2004.
Mr. Hadley started his career in regional companies. He was noticed in the late 1970s by Beverly Sills, then general director of the New York City Opera, which hired him. She died earlier this month.
Mr. Hadley in recent years had been dealing with financial problems and was being treated for depression, police said after the shooting. He had been arrested in Manhattan last year in a parked car on a charge of driving while intoxicated. His lawyer said the singer never intended to drive because he realized he was tipsy, and the case was eventually dropped.