National Obituaries

TORONTO — American trainer David Hofmans, who won the '97 Queen's Plate, died Wednesday. He was 81. The cause of death was not immediately known.

VANCOUVER — Former CBC radio journalist and personality Rick Cluff, who has died at the age of 74, is being remembered for allowing guests to be themselves on air and always supporting his colleagues and community.

NEW YORK (AP) — Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenplay writer of "Shampoo," "The Last Detail" and other acclaimed films whose work on "Chinatown" became a model of the art form and helped define the jaded allure of his native Los Angeles, has die

Darrell L. Christian, a former managing editor and sports editor of The Associated Press known for a demanding demeanor and insistence on excellence during more than four decades with the news agency, died Monday. He was 75.

HELSINKI (AP) — Pål Enger, a talented Norwegian soccer player turned celebrity art thief who pulled off the sensational 1994 heist of Edvard Munch’s famed “The Scream” painting from the National Gallery in Oslo, has died. He was 57.

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian novelist and poet Ismail Kadare, whose irreverent works from inside communist Albania earned him international renown and repression from the country's dictatorship, has died in Tirana, his publishing editor said Monda

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Rajavarothiyam Sampanthan, an ethnic Tamil leader and lawmaker who became the face of the minority group's campaign for autonomy in Sri Lanka after the end of a brutal quarter-century civil war, has died. He was 91.

Lori Paris, who became both a mainstay of the airwaves during her decade as a Canadian Press broadcaster and a beloved newsroom leader, died suddenly over the weekend at the age of 46.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” has died, his daughter said Friday. He was 80.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Orlando Cepeda, the slugging first baseman nicknamed “Baby Bull” who became a Hall of Famer among the early Puerto Ricans to star in the major leagues, has died. He was 86.