Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 19

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4 2001 STAR TRIBUNE PAGE B7 Obituaries Mordecai Richler, celebrated Canadian novelist, dies at 70 He was called a 'literary giant' Associated Press TORONTO Mordecai Richler, a Canadian writer known for novels on Jewish life in Montreal and acerbic social commentary, died of cancer Tuesday at age 70. In essays, articles and novels such as "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" and "Barney's Version," Richler examined the culture and characters of his upbringing and attacked anyone or anything that smacked of pretentiousness. "Richler left no sacred cow unslaughtered," said Russell Brown, a University of Toronto English professor. Richler had surgery on a cancerous kidney in 1998, and a statement issued by his family said his death was due to complications from cancer. "Mordecai Richler was the quintessential Canadian man of words, and his loss leaves us grasping for words that can do justice to his importance in Canada's artistic landscape," Prime Minister Jean Chretien said in a statement.

"He was quite simply one of the most brilliant, original and celebrated artists in Canadian history." Fellow author Pierre Berton used the phrase "literary giant" to describe Richler, who wrote 10 novels along with magazine articles, essays and popular children's books about a character named Jacob Two-Two. "Barney's Version" won the Giller Prize for Canadian literature in 1997 and two others "St. Urbain's Horseman" and "Solomon Gursky was Here" were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz," published in 1959 and probably Richler's best-known work, was made into a film in 1974 with Richard Dreyfuss in the lead role. Richler was born in Montreal on Jan.

27, 1931, and grew up in the kind of hardscrabble neighborhood he went on to describe in his novels. He moved to Europe at age 19, living first in Paris and then London, complaining at the time that "novelists, I'm afraid, are regarded as something of a freak in Canada." Mordecai Richler puffed on a trademark cigar in Toronto in November 1997 after winning Canada's Giller prize for his 10th novel, "Barney's Associated Press Like his fellow Jewish writer, Philip Roth, Richler's fearless portraits led some to accuse him of anti-Semitism. Defending his conniving characters, Richler complained that others were unwilling to present a Jewish character "who cheats on his income tax, buys a Jag with his ill-gotten gains, and is all the happier for it." Brown ranked Richler with Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and a few others as major Canadian writers. Atwood, author of 'The Handmaid's Tale" and other novels, called Richler "a fine novelist, a brilliant satirist, and an invaluable commentator on the absurdities of national life. He was a consummate professional; he was also a decent and generous man, loved by his friends and respected by his fellow writers." Richler is survived by his wife of 40 years, Florence, and five children.

The family statement said a private funeral would be held later in the week. Also noted Also noted sell's biggest hit was the working class anthem "Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer," which Nashville entertainer Johnny Russell Johnny Russell, 61, a Grand Ole Opry star whose song "Act Naturally" was recorded by Buck Owens and the Beatles, died of leukemia, diabetes and other ailments Tuesday in Nashville. "Act Naturally" was cowritten with Voni Morrison. When Owens recorded a version in 1963, it went to No. 1 on the country charts.

Two years later, it was recorded by the Beatles, with Ringo Starr singing. In 1989, Starr and Owens recorded a duet of the song that was nominated for Grammy and Coun26 try Music Association awards. Rus- went to No. 4 in 1973 and was nominated for a Grammy. Russell joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 1985, and became its regular closing act.

Lucille (Lupe) G. Murchison, 75, a patron of the arts and former Dallas Cowboys co-owner, died of cancer Tuesday in Dallas. She shared ownership of the Cowboys with her brother-in-law, Clint Murchison after the death of her husband, John Murchison, in 1979 until the team was sold in 1984. Murchison served three terms as a regent for the University of North Texas and the school named its Performing Arts Center, which opened in February 1999, after her. Roy Nichols, 68, a country guitar player who played in Merle Haggard's band for 22 years, died Tuesday in Bakersfield, Calif.

He had been hospitalized with kidney inflammation and a bacterial infection. Nichols began recording with Haggard's band the Strangers in 1963 and played with some of country music's biggest names from the time he was 16 years old. He played for Johnny Cash on "Tennessee Flat Top Box," the original version, and also on "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," Haggard said Tuesday. Halina Czerny-Stefanska, 79, one of Poland's leading pianists, died Sunday in Krakow. She won the Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1949.

James Stewart Otto, 84, an atomic bomb researcher who advised President Harry Truman before the United States attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki, died Friday in Lynn Haven, Fla. He was a radiation biologist for the Navy who later worked for the space program. During World War II, Otto studied the effect of atomic tests on animals. In the war's final weeks, Truman called Otto to Washington for advice before he decided to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From 1959 to 1973 he headed the Navy's animal research center in Bethesda, Md.

Mortimer J. Adler, 98, an educational theorist and father of the Great Books program, died Thursday in San Mateo, Calif. As an author and editor, Adler built a publishing and symposium empire on the philosophic influenced system of his work Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. That system as compiler of the Great Books of the Western World and as editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

FINISH Associated Press From start to finish A runner with a long shadow completed the 2-mile portion of the Heart and Sole Road Race in Pittsville, on Tuesday. The Twin Cities should have a sunny holiday with a high in the upper 70s. BUS from B1 It will take to check company Colorado State Patrol trooper Rob Marone said Tuesday that preliminary findings indicate Wright was driving too fast for the conditions when the wreck happened about 4 p.m. Saturday. Rain had started to fall as the bus started to descend from the Kenosha Pass on Hwy.

285, 60 miles southwest of Denver. It remained unclear if Wright was exceeding the posted 65-mile-per-hour speed limit when the bus slid off the highway, spun 180 degrees and tipped on its side. Wright's lawyer, Pete Cordova, has said Wright was not speeding and will be vindicated when all the investigations are complete. Trip organizers specifically requested Wright to drive the bus from Burnsville to a Young Life Christian youth camp in Buena Vista, Colo. He made a similar trip last year.

Accident reconstruction specialists are working to determine whether two rear brakes, initially found to be out of adjustment, contributed to the crash, Marone said. Three teenagers and one 27-year-old camp counselor remained in Denver-area hospitals Tuesday. Two teenagers were released from hospitals Tuesday, a spokeswoman said. Other injured passengers from among the 45 teenagers and youth group advisers returned to the Twin Cities early Monday. Minnesota City Bus Service has sent all of its inspection records to the state Department of Transportation, Twait said.

"This is the only one that was not current," she said. A mechanic who worked for Lawrence Transportation inspected the bus last May, said Eric Lawrence, vice president for the Winona company. Lawrence said he pulled a copy of that inspection "to make sure we were not involved here." The inspection report, from which Lawrence was reading, indicated that the CHARGES from B1 Crash suspect is distraught, attorney says Meyer is charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license, all misdemeanors. An officer who talked to Meyer after the accident said he smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred, according to the charges. Crime, courts and public safety Man pleads guilty to running: over Duluth man, killing him Associated Press Man gets jail term for road rage assault DULUTH A man from Hermantown, accused of killing a man whose body has never been found, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Joseph Wehmanen, 32, pleaded guilty Monday for killing Eric Schrieffer after police found blood and hair on a pickup that witnesses said was used to run over Schrieffer. Schrieffer, 27, had not been seen since Jan. 24, when, prosecutors said, Wehmanen beat him and ran over him with the truck behind the victim's Duluth apartment. At a hearing two weeks ago, defense attorney Richard Holmstrom argued that no evidence was found on Wehmanen's truck to indicate that he had driven over Schrieffer and asked that the murder charge be dismissed. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had discovered no evidence of the crime after searching the truck bed and underside.

But two witnesses told police they saw Wehmanen drive over Schrieffer, prompting officers to spend two days taking the truck apart and searching for evidence. Lt. John Hall said they found what appeared to be human hair and blood stains. Presented with those findings, Wehmanen confessed June 26, saying he disposed of Schrieffer's body below the ice of the St. Louis River in Duluth.

Authorities spent four days searching it but found nothing. They called off the search Saturday. about 2 weeks records bus passed in every applicable category. Lawrence, who reviewed Minnesota City Bus Service's file, said it appeared that inspections on the company's other buses were current. "These guys run a pretty good little business down here," he said.

"They are not the kind of operation that keeps their equipment held together by duct tape. This is really unfortunate." Minnesota City Bus Service employs its own mechanic, Lawrence said. He said his company also has serviced and repaired some of their buses. "If they have needed a major repair, they have said: 'Do Lawrence said. The company could face a fine for letting an annual inspection expire, said Dan Drexler, the state director of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Drexler said he expects his office's investigation into the company's compliance with federal regulations to be completed in about two weeks. The probe in Colorado into the cause of the accident could also take weeks as investigators take apart the bus and its mechanical systems to look for possible equipment malfunctions. Wright should have made note of the lapsed state inspection decal in the driver's side window of the bus as part of his pretrip inspection, said Minnesota State Patrol Capt. Ken Urquhart, of the commercial vehicle section. "It's part of his responsibility to look at that, too," Urquhart said.

"If we had detected it," he said, "a trooper likely would have pulled him over and issued a citation, but we could not pull it off the road just for that." Twait called the crash and ensuing investigations "a very unique experience that I hope we don't go through again." Chris Graves is at His public defender, Henry Schaeffer, said Meyer knew the victims. "He is extremely dis" traught," Schaeffer said. Meyer repeatedly asked an officer if his friend had died, the charging document said. It also says Meyer told a jailer, "We were going about 100 miles an hour when he hit me." Garcia and Renville, both of St. Paul, died from blunt force trauma, autopsies found.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said more serious charges may be filed after blood-alcohol tests are ST. CLOUD, MINN. A 19-year-old St. Cloud man was sentenced to 21 months in jail Tuesday for assaulting a Waite Park City Council member in an apparent road-rage attack. District Judge Thomas Knapp stayed all but a year in jail for Richard A.

Olmscheid Jr. on the condition that he attend a teenage boot camp when released. Olmscheid pleaded guilty in May to the assault on Mike Linquist, as well as to unrelated charges of stealing snowmobiles. In exchange, prosecutors dropped burglary and assault charges against Olmscheid for allegedly breaking into a St. Cloud home while out on bail.

Olmscheid was arrested Jan. 12 after Linquist was attacked while driving with his son in Stearns County, police said. Linquist was trying to turn left when a car blocked him, then sideswiped him when he tried to drive around it. After Linquist pulled to the roadside, a juvenile in the other vehicle got out and smashed Linquist's door, police said. Linquist got out of his car and was approached by Olmscheid, who hit him in the head with a flashlight, according to court reports.

Linquist's son suffered minor injuries from smashed glass. Knapp also sentenced Olmscheid to a year in jail for each of two counts of receiving stolen property. The sentences are to be served concurrently. Associated Press Man shot by officer is in serious condition A Sherburne County man who was shot by a police officer and suffered apparent self-inflicted stab wounds improved Tuesday from critical to serious condition, hospital officials said. Sheriff's Sgt.

Steve Doran shot Jeremy Schugg, 25, in the abdomen Saturday morning after Schugg charged at Doran with a knife, authorities said. Sheriff's deputies went to a house in Livonia Township about 2 miles southwest of Zimmerman in response to a report that Schugg was trying to commit suicide with a knife and had injured someone else. Authorities said Schugg opened a patio door and charged at Doran. Doran is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a state investigation. Howie Padilla Hibbing teen charged in April grass fire HIBBING, MINN.

Prosecutors have charged a 13-yearold Hibbing boy with setting a grass fire that caused an estimated $50,000 in damage on April 28. He was charged with first- and second-degree arson. Police officer Dave Johnson said he acted alone. High winds blew the small grass fire into a blaze that burned 10 acres and badly damaged two homes, several small buildings, two garages and more than 30 cars. More than 100 firefighters worked for more than 11 hours to contain the blaze.

Several were treated for smoke inhalation. The charges are felonies. Associated Press Police find body of missing Littlefork man Police have found the body of a man from Littlefork, who had been missing since Thursday. John Rahto, 71, was found dead Tuesday morning. Foul play is not suspected.

Koochiching County Sheriff Duane Nelson said Rahto, a retired logger, was an "old-timer" who often drove his pickup down old logging roads to explore. Nelson said that Rahto drove his truck down one road Thursday and had engine trouble. He said Rahto couldn't walk very far and wasn't able to make it back to town. He had no means to call for help, Nelson said, and instead left a note in his truck describing what happened. Nelson said he suspects that last week's heat contributed to the death.

Sarah Baker Nisswa woman drowns in Lower Cullen Lake NISSWA, MINN. A woman drowned in a lake in the north-central Minnesota city of Nisswa. Jacqueline Lizakowski, 34, of Nisswa, drowned near the public access to Lower Cullen Lake, the Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office said. Her body was found Monday afternoon in about 6 feet of water, about 450 yards northeast of the access area. Foul play is not suspected, authorities said.

Associated Press confirmed and an accident reconstruction is finished. Because Garcia and Meyer were driving excessively fast and close together, Backstrom said, it is likely they were racing each other. A blood-alcohol test also will be done on Garcia, as the law requires for drivers in fatal accidents, Backstrom said. "It certainly appears alcohol was a contributing factor in this tragedy," he said. Detectives are investigating whether alcohol was furnished illegally to either man at the party, he said.

Police have identified a man who was riding in Meyer's car and are trying to interview him, Backstrom said. He said it appears neither of the victims were wearing seat belts. Garcia was thrown from the car he drove and the girl was found partly in the back seat. It had flipped over and bounced back onto its tires, Backstrom said. Meyer was being held Tuesday night in the county jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Jim Adams is at.