By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: August 6, 2013     

NY Times 

Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone, via Associated Pres

George Duke, who began his career as a jazz pianist in the 1960s but made his name by crossing musical boundaries, died on Monday in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 67.       

He had suffered heart complications after being treated for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, said his manager, Darryl Porter, who confirmed the death.       

The name of the instrument with which Mr. Duke is perhaps most closely associated also describes his approach to music: synthesizer. While he remained a respected figure in the jazz world, over the years he also played keyboards with Frank Zappa and Michael Jackson, sang lead on a Top 20 single and produced pop and rhythm-and-blues hits for others. His work has been sampled by hip-hop and electronic artists, including Daft Punk.       

"I was in a rock band, I played with a bunch of Brazilians, I played R&B with Parliament-Funkadelic and all of that," he said in an interview before his most recent album, "DreamWeaver," was released last month. "I mean, I've done jazz with Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley. It's a goulash. It's a gumbo."       

Mr. Duke, who as a small boy begged his mother to buy him a piano after she took him to see Duke Ellington, began playing professionally at a time when many musicians were interested in blending genres. He played in a trio that backed the singer Al Jarreau while he was still a teenager, then accompanied Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz musicians at clubs in San Francisco. By the early 1970s he had performed and recorded with Adderley, the jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and Zappa's Mothers of Invention. (His long stint with Zappa included an appearance, with the rest of the band, in the feature film "200 Motels.")

Fort Collins Symphony Auditions 

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Barbara J. Easterling, President, Alliance for retired Americans 

Huffington Post 

8/13/2013  8:39 pm                      

This week, we celebrate Social Security's 78th anniversary. There is a lot to celebrate! For nearly eight decades, Social Security has provided seniors with a secure retirement income and prevented retirees from falling into poverty. Social Security lifts over 21 million Americans out of poverty, including over 14 million seniors. It is doing just what it was designed to do.

I am reminded of the importance of Social Security every day as I hear stories from members about the role Social Security plays in their lives.

Leah Witherspoon from Dallas, Texas, for example, worked hard for decades, but she lost her job just a few years shy of retirement and lost her health insurance as a result. Leah struggled to get by until she became eligible for Social Security and Medicare. Now, Leah receives $1,684 a month from Social Security, which just enables her to pay for her healthcare costs and basic living expenses. Leah's situation is not uncommon -- almost half of unmarried older recipients depend upon Social Security for 90 percent or more of their income.