Classic Ferraris Designer Sergio Pininfarina dies at 85

Sergio Pininfarina, which led to a family known for its elegant designs Ferraris and other cars, has died. He was 85 years.

Pininfarina died Monday night at his home in Turin, the company announced Tuesday. No cause was given.

The company was founded in 1930, the cars designed by Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce and Volvo, but is more closely associated with Ferrari, designing nearly all models in 1950.

The design of the house was founded by his father, Battista "Pinin" Farina, who later changed his surname to Pininfarina.

Sergio Pininfarina was born September 8, 1926, in Turin and joined the family business after earning a degree in mechanical engineering at Turin Polytechnic in 1950. It became general manager in 1960, CEO in 1961 and president in 1966, when his father died.

Pininfarina has transformed the business from a boutique producer of hand crafted designs in high volume production that have maintained the beauty of Italian design of automobiles.

In early 1950 the company was less than 1,000 cars a year. Sorted by Pininfarina, the production increased to over 50,000 a year.

Among the cars were popular, the company designed the Fiat 124 Sport Spider and Alfa Romeo Spider. E 'was also responsible for Ferrari floor, high-performance sports cars, including 250 and 500 and the Dino, Daytona, and the 356 Modena.

Each car has withstood the scrutiny of Pininfarina.

"No design, unique design, unique style that leaves the factory without my approval," he told The Christian Science Monitor in 1981.

And it raises the design of major importance in car manufacturing.

"Frankly, I think that trying to minimize the importance of the aesthetic appearance of a car just because they do not design cars can be beautiful," he said in a speech in 1977.

In an interview with The Times the following year, he said, "You're talking to a man who is enamored of cars ....

"Ferrari 12-cylinder is, well, like a cathedral. You go in and pray. Instead of Brahms, feel the Vroom, Vroom!"

Pininfarina has resigned to become honorary president of the company in 2006 and was also named an Italian senator for life.

Read More

00:58 | 0 comments

Former NBC president Julian Goodman Dies at 90

Julian Goodman, who has produced a experiodista the second Kennedy-Nixon before becoming the president of NBC during a tumultuous period of conflict with the government of Nixon, died Monday at his home in Juno Beach, Fla. He was 90 years.

The cause was kidney failure, said a spokesman for the family.

Although proud of the fact that often the defense of the First Amendment and the white of the Nixon White House as a political opponent, Mr. Goodman had a reputation for being shy and never ask for a promotion or a raise.

"People gave me when I did my job well," he wrote in 1985.

When he became president of NBC in 1965, told the New York Times, "I am not an ambitious man."

However, four years later, was engaged in a war of words with Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, who has accused the media coverage of the Vietnam War. Mr. Goodman said: "Obviously, I would have preferred a different kind of television communication - What I submit to any group was in authority at the time."

After discussing it with the composer of Nixon speeches Patrick J. Buchanan, who said the network should be decentralized, but Mr. Goodman called it "dangerous thought". Has resisted the administration when he threatened to licensees of broadcast news, if the divisions of the routine gave President Richard M. Nixon what he considered fair - that is, more favorable - coverage.

During his tenure, NBC, Mr. Goodman has also negotiated a record $ 1,000,000 agreed to keep Johnny Carson as host of "The Tonight Show." He joined other leaders of the network to push to end the Fairness Doctrine, which forced the networks to the same time to different opinions. (E 'was finally abandoned.) I was forced to apologize to viewers in 1968, after NBC cut a message on a national network of New York Jets and Oakland Raiders, so play a movie version of "Heidi" could go as expected.

Viewers never see the end of the game, later known as the "Heidi Bowl" when Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minutes to overcome a 32-29 advantage in New York. Mr. Goodman called the schedule change "as an excuse."

"I miss the end of the game as much as anyone else," he said.

Bryn Julian Goodman was born on 1 May 1922, in Glasgow, Kentucky, and began his journalism career as a reporter for $ 3 a week for The Times of Glasgow.

After serving in the army, he moved to Washington where he met William McAndrews, head of NBC News, who joined the news desk of the night, replacing David Brinkley.

As manager of the Washington office, Mr. Goodman later became a strong supporter of Mr. Brinkley, NBC News press paired with Chet Huntley to anchor the 1956 Democratic and Republican conventions. The two came to fame in the anchor of the evening news network together for over a decade.

Mr. Goodman often jokes that Mr. Brinkley freeing the table the night was his greatest contribution to journalism.

Mr. Goodman was surprised that it has been identified by the Nixon government. (His name appeared on a list of White House "enemies", a complete list of the original 20 "enemies" of Nixon).

He recalled a visit in 1970 of collaborating Nixon, Charles W. Colson, who said he had come with the intention of intimidating. But Mr. Colson and Mr. Goodman describes as complacent, because the only ornament on the desk of Mr. Goodman was a medal from Mr. Nixon's 1969 inauguration.

That Mr. Colson did not know was that Mr. Goodman was notoriously messy table cleared, leaving only the medal as a joke.

Mr. Goodman has produced the second Kennedy-Nixon debate in 1960 in Washington, in a study of the NBC.

Cleveland rejected the initial election, saying he could not find a suitable location there. Cleveland responded with shade, and Mr. Goodman rarely puts a foot in the city again.

Through their associations with Mr. McAndrews and then NBC president Robert Kintner, Mr. Goodman went up to the network level, reaching the president's office, when Mr. Kintner was fired in 1965 .

Read More

08:42 | 0 comments