Nao Takasugi's UCLA letter

Nao Takasugi was a standout tennis player at UCLA when his family was ordered into a Japanese internment camp. Takasugi, who died Thursday at 87, earned a letterman's sweater, but "I never got the chance to wear it," he told the Ventura County Star in 2005.

Friends wanted to borrow it. It disappeared and Takasugi couldn't recall what happened to it.

He was allowed to leave the internment camp after a few months to finish college in Pennsylvania at Temple and the Wharton School. When he returned to Oxnard after the war, he realized the sweater was gone.

In 2005, UCLA gave him a replacement.

According to the newspaper, one of Takasugi''s sons, Ronald, and one of his former aides, Mark Dodd, had attended UCLA and brought the matter to the attention of the athletic department.

"It was a nice little surprise," Takasugi said.

-- Keith Thursby

Photo: Nao Takasugi in 2003, in front of a photo from 1907 of his family's store in Oxnard. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Tommy Jacquette and his legacy in Watts

Tommy Jacquette, the longtime South Los Angeles activist who died Monday at 65, was one of the founders of the Watts Summer Festival, which started in 1966, a year after the riots. The weekend of the first festival, Jacquette was one of several community leaders quoted in a Times story about meeting with Sargent Shriver, then the director of the federal government's War on Poverty.

According to the July 14, 1966, story, Jacquette told Shriver "that the poverty war is a sham unless more money can be put into programs directly involving the ghetto."

Shriver was in L.A. to serve as grand marshal of the Watts Summer Fesitval parade.

-- Keith Thursby

Photo: Tommy Jacquette in 2005. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

'Fidel Castro Killed by Rumors, Again'

Go ahead, Google this: "Fidel Castro," "rumors” and "death" and see what pops up.

Yes, the Internet, that virtual bastion of unverified dispatches, is once again frantically aflutter with “news” that the ailing 83-year-old former Cuban president may have died.

“Rumors of Fidel Castro’s Death Swirl Around Miami,” says one headline. Oops, that’s from 2007.

“Rumors of Castro’s Death May or May Not Be Greatly Exaggerated” says another. Argh, 2004.

“Fidel Castro’s Death Rumor Denied."  Wait. Right year, wrong month — January 2009 — but at least it attempts to set the record straight.

Finally, one posted yesterday on Discovery News, “Fidel Castro Killed by Rumors, Again,” displayed a refreshing amount of skepticism as it ran down present and past reports of Castro's rumored death all the way back to 1986.

“With so many crying wolf for so long,” wrote Talal Al-Khatib on the Discovery News site, “when the former Cuban leader finally passes away, will anyone actually believe it?”

-- Valerie J. Nelson

Photo: Fidel Castro appears on a TV broadcast in Cuba in 2006. Credit: Ismael Francisco / AFP / Getty Images

JFK's 'last autograph' bought by Calabasas collector

A Calabasas historic document dealer recently purchased what may have been the last autograph signed by President Kennedy.

Joe Maddalena paid $39,000 for a copy of the Dallas Morning News with the president’s signature, according to Heritage Auctions, the company that sold the item.

When a Dallas woman handed the president the newspaper, he signed the front page near the date, Nov. 22, 1963. He was assassinated about two hours later.

Maddalena told CNN that he got an “impressive piece of history at a bargain price” and plans to display it with other JFK items at “appropriate times,” such as the slain president’s birthday. The name of Maddalena's business, Profiles in History, is inspired by the Kennedy book "Profiles in Courage."

Immediately after taking possession of the autograph, Maddalena said he insured it for a quarter-million dollars.

-- Valerie J. Nelson

Photo: President Kennedy addresses a crowd in Fort Worth on Nov. 22, 1963. Credit: Associated Press

Angels manager honored in part for reaction to Adenhart death

Mike Scioscia was named American League Manager of the Year after a season in which the Angels' manager dealt with the death of pitcher Nick Adenhart.

"The tragedy obviously hit very deep with our guys, but very quickly, everyone in the clubhouse realized it wasn't about us, it was about the Adenhart family and supporting them," Scioscia said Wednesday during a conference call that included The Times' Mike DiGiovanna. "It gave them a deeper appreciation of playing baseball every day."

Adenhart was one of three people killed in an April 9 car accident. Another person was seriously injured.

After a slow start, the Angels won the Western Division championship, their fifth in six seasons.

"It took a little time, but once they realized they were a good team, that they could keep moving forward with Nick's memory, they relaxed and played baseball," Scioscia said. "For a long time, it wasn't easy, but as we started to play the game, they realized there was a purpose to playing this year, and they played terrific baseball."

--Keith Thursby

Photo: Torii Hunter of the Angels looks at a picture of teammate Nick Adenhart before playing a game in October. Adenhart was killed in a car accident in April. Credit: Getty Images.

Jeanne-Claude and Christo's yellow umbrellas

Back in the fall of 1991, the hillsides on both sides of Interstate 5 through the Tejon Pass were dotted with yellow umbrellas. The huge nylon canopies were part of a joint installation with another exhibit featuring blue umbrellas in Japan, both conceived by the artist Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, who died Wednesday in New York after a brain aneurysm. She was 74.

Unfortunately, on Oct. 26, 1991, sudden high winds caused one of the 485-pound yellow umbrellas to blow over and fall on Lori Keevil-Mathews of Camarillo, killing her. The artists ordered the installation dismantled after the accident.

Thousands of people flocked to the Tejon Pass to see the umbrellas. Were you one of them? What did you think of them?

Update: Click here to see more photos of the artists and their work.

-- Claire Noland

Photo: Aerial view of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's umbrella project near Gorman, Calif., in October 1991. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Marvin Minoff and the Nixon-Frost interviews

TV and film producer Marvin Minoff, who died Nov. 11 at age 78, worked with David Frost when the British talk show host interviewed former President Nixon in a series of televised exchanges.

Minoff shows up frequently in newspaper coverage of the interviews, which were taped in 1977 in a south Laguna Beach home after electronic interference made it impossible to film at Nixon's mansion south of San Clemente.

"I believe viewers will feel that this confrontation tests the Nixon accounting of Watergate the way — and with the intensity — that it should be tested," Minoff told The Times' Lee Margulies on April 27, 1977. "I think the reaction is going to be spectacular."  Minoff was identified as executive vice president of Frost's Paradine Productions and executive in charge of production for the Nixon shows.

By July, the first four interviews had been shown, with a fifth program of additional material scheduled for September.

"I still think, all in all, the ratings were terrific. Everybody seemed pleased," Minoff said. "We were happy both in terms of quality and ratings. I don't think there's been another news show that's ever done as well."

-- Keith Thursby

Photo: Former President Nixon and David Frost during their 1977 interviews. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Retired Army Col. Lewis L. Millett, a Medal of Honor recipient, honored by son

Retired Army Col. Lewis L. Millett, a Medal of Honor recipient who died Nov. 14 at 88, was honored by his son, Lee, in a unique way. The Idyllwild resident, a sculptor, has created a series of sculptures honoring Medal of Honor recipients through history, including his dad.

The bronze sculpture depicts Lewis Millett, then a captain, while he led a bayonet charge up a heavily defended hill during the Korean War in 1951.

One of the sculptures of Col. Millett has been on display in the lobby of the Riverside National Cemetery, where Millett will be buried Dec. 5.

"We also have a lithograph of him charging up Hill 180 [by Don Stivers] that's on display, along with a framed photograph of him," said Jim Ruester, the cemetery's public affairs officer.

Lee Millett, who has heard firsthand accounts from many war veterans and has attended numerous military ceremonies and services, remains moved by their service.

"To meet these guys and talk to them is overwhelming," he told the Riverside Press-Enterprise in 2002. "They are real heroes. They put their life on the line. They put their dreams and hopes aside to protect us. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't ... we wouldn't be here today."

-- Dennis McLellan

Photo: Lewis L. Millett in 1995. Credit: Doug Mills / Associated Press

Ken Ober in control of 'Remote Control'

It took The Times a while to discover "Remote Control," the MTV game show hosted by Ken Ober, who died Sunday at age 52.

The show debuted in 1987 but the first significant mention in The Times is May 22, 1988, when Beth Ann Krier wrote about "Remote Control" during a visit to Dayton Beach, Fla. Krier labeled the show "apparently sacred stuff to college students" who had come to Daytona Beach for spring break.

The satire of game shows "isn't even remotely in control. In fact, it's trying to be the sassiest series ever to appear on national TV," Krier wrote.

She called Ober "a nice but decidedly smart-aleck host" who had become such a hit he was mobbed at a recent Bruce Springsteen concert.

--Keith Thursby

 Photo: Ken Ober in 2004. Credit: Getty Images

Paul Wendkos and the art of the documentary

Director Paul Wendkos, who died Nov. 12 at 84, started his career producing and directing documentaries for the U.S. State Department.

In 1968, he talked to a cinema arts class at Madrid University about the role of documentaries. Wendkos was in Madrid to direct "Guns of the Magnificent Seven."

"The importance of the documentary film in today's world of lightning communications cannot be overemphasized," Wendkos said in a short story in the May 16, 1968 edition of The Times. "Everyone can comprehend and respond to a visual demonstration on the screen.

"The task of the intelligent documentary maker is to present his subject in such an interesting and exciting manner that the viewer not only can enjoy the film but learn while watching."

-- Keith Thursby