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Goh Chok Tong

Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party (PAP) from 1992 to 2004. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade SMC from 1976 to 1988, and Marine Parade GRC from 1988 to 2020.

Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he was the country's Deputy Prime Minister, where he advocated for the Medisave, a savings scheme that allows Singaporeans to set aside part of their income into a Medisave account to meet future medical expenses. Goh also advocated for the Edusave Awards, a monetary reward for students who did well in school based on either their academic achievements or character to enshrine meritocracy.

Shortly before and during his tenure as prime minister, Goh proposed political reforms like the introduction of Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP), to allow more opposition into Parliament, Group Representation Constituencies (GRC), to make sure that minorities are represented in Parliament and Nominated Members of Parliament (NMP), to have independent opinions in Parliament since all NMPs are non-partisan. Goh assumed the responsibility of government in a carefully managed leadership transition. In 1990, He introduced the Vehicle Quota System to limit the exponential increase of personal vehicles. In 1991, Goh also enacted the elected presidency scheme in 1991, with previous presidents having been appointed by Parliament.

On 12 August 2004, Goh was succeeded by Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, and was subsequently appointed as a senior minister in the Cabinet and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) between 2004 and 2011. He resigned from the Cabinet in 2011, and was given the honorary title of "Emeritus Senior Minister" by Lee. He stepped down as a Member of Parliament (MP) and retired from politics in 2020.

Early life and education
Goh was born in Singapore on 20 May 1941 to Goh Kah Choon and Quah Kwee Hwa, who hailed from the Minnan region of Fujian province in China. He has Chinese Hokkien ancestry. Goh studied at Raffles Institution from 1955 to 1960. He was a very competitive swimmer in his younger days and was given the nickname "Bold".

Goh completed a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours degree in economics at the University of Singapore, and a Master of Arts degree in development economics at Williams College in 1967.

Upon his graduation, Goh returned to Singapore to work in the government. Goh's dream of getting a PhD was disrupted as the government would not transfer his bursary bond to the university, where he had signed on as a research fellow after graduation.

In 2015, Goh was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by his alma mater, the National University of Singapore, for his contributions to the country.

Career
In 1969, Goh was seconded to the national shipping company Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) as the company's Planning and Projects Manager. His career advanced quickly and by 1973 he was the Managing Director. At NOL, Goh worked under the company's founder, Muhammad Jalaluddin Sayeed, with whom he maintained close ties.

Political career
In the 1976 general election, Goh, then 35, was elected as Member of Parliament for Marine Parade SMC as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate. He was appointed as a Senior Minister of State. In 1981, he was promoted to Minister for Trade and Industry and later served in other appointments including Minister for Health and Minister for Defence.

Goh was tasked to organise the 1981 Anson SMC by-election which was a pivotal event in shaping his political sensibilities. Despite having been passed over as first assistant secretary-general by Tony Tan, Goh was asked to his surprise by Lee Kuan Yew to lead and organise the by-election, ostensibly because of Goh's previous successful campaigns in organising the 1979 by-election at Anson SMC and the 1980 General Elections.

Early on in the campaigning for the 1981 Anson SMC by-election, a chasm of leadership emerged as volunteers and older activists for the previous MP Devan Nair departed along with the MP. The new PAP candidate was Pang Kim Hin, who had difficulties connecting to the electorate as he had a reputation of being a "rich man's son", as the nephew of Old Guard minister Lim Kan San. Despite being a three-cornered fight, it was apparent that the main opposition candidate was J. B. Jeyaretnam, who was a veteran opposition at the time, having previously came close in winning the seat at Telok Blangah Constituency, which is of close proximity to Anson. The rising costs of housing and upcoming public bus fares was a source of unhappiness among voters. PAP lost the Anson seat with a 37-point swing in just 10 months since the last general election, marking the first time since Independence that PAP had lost a seat. This watershed event prompted rumours within the PAP of the end of Goh's political career. While Lee Kuan Yew was worried that Goh lacked political sensitivity towards the electorate, as he failed to detect the possible loss of the seat and remained overconfident until very close to polling day, he did not blame Goh for the loss, as he reflected in his memoir From Third World to First.

In 1985, Goh became Deputy Prime Minister and began to assume the responsibility of the government in a carefully managed leadership transition. According to Lee Kuan Yew, his preferred successor was Tony Tan. However, Goh was selected by the second generation of PAP leaders that included Tony Tan and Ong Teng Cheong; Lee accepted their decision. However, during the 1988 National Day Rally, Lee Kuan Yew publicly discussed his preferred choice of successor to the nation – ranking Goh as his second below Tony Tan, and while praising his 'faster mind', criticized Goh's indecisiveness and softer and consultative approach to leadership. This led to Goh feeling humiliated and astonished, as he recounted in his 2018 memoir, Tall Order: The Goh Chok Tong Story.

Prime Minister
On 28 November 1990, Goh succeeded Lee Kuan Yew and became the second Prime Minister of Singapore. During the first year of Goh's premiership, Lee remained as secretary-general of the PAP. Lee also remained an influential member of Goh's Cabinet, holding the post of Senior Minister. The 1991 general elections, the first electoral test for Goh, led to the party winning 61% of the popular vote, the all-time low for PAP since independence. Because of the drop in share of the popular vote, and losing an unprecedented four seats in Parliament to the opposition, Goh had to quell rumours about his potential resignation to the international news media. In 1992, Lee handed over the post of Secretary-General of the People's Action Party (PAP) to Goh, successfully completing the leadership transition.

Goh's Deputy Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong and Ong Teng Cheong were both diagnosed with cancer in 1992, which prompted the prime minister to call an by-election in his own constituency of Marine Parade in 1992, just over a year after the 1991 elections, citing the need for 'political self-renewal' and to get 'ministerial calibre' people to join the government. By calling the by-election, Goh became the first Prime Minister of Singapore to vacate his seat to contest a by-election. The vacation also produced a real risk of Goh losing the premiership in the event the PAP lost. Teo Chee Hean, who is currently one of the core leaders of the third generation of members of PAP and a Senior Minister, was one of the new politicians brought in to contest in the by-election.. The PAP retained Marine Parade GRC with 72.9% of the popular vote, allowing Goh to continue on as Prime Minister, eventually for the next decade.

As Prime Minister, Goh promised a more open-minded and consultative style of leadership than that of his predecessor. This greater openness extended also to the socio-economic spheres of life, for instance, in his support for the rise of "little bohemias" in Singapore, enclaves where more creativity and entrepreneurship could thrive.

Goh's administration introduced several major policies and policy institutions, including:

During the period under Goh's administration, Singapore has experienced several crises, such as the aircraft hijack of Singapore Airlines Flight 117 in 1991, the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998, threats of terrorism in 2001 including Singaporean victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York City by Al-Qaeda and the Singapore embassies attack plot by Jemaah Islamiyah, the 2001–2003 economic recession, 2003 SARS outbreak, and other events. Goh's access to Bill Clinton's White House was blocked because of the Michael Fay incident; it did not deter Goh from reaching out to the US President to pitch his idea for a free trade agreement (FTA) between Singapore and the US, as he did not believe Clinton to be aware of the diplomatic freeze. With the help of American businessman Joe Ford, Goh managed to reached out to President Clinton during the 1997 APEC summit, where he played golf with Clinton, ending the diplomatic freeze.
 * Medisave
 * Non-Constituency Members of Parliament
 * Government Parliamentary Committees
 * Group Representation Constituency
 * Nominated Members of Parliament
 * Vehicle Quota Scheme
 * Elected President
 * Singapore 21

On September 1998, Goh had a meeting with Clinton in the White House and agreed to contribute to the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization which helped build strong ties between the two Koreas. The considerable improvement in this bilateral relationship had great impact on Singapore's economic recovery from the Asian Financial Crisis as several trade negotiations, part of "The Millennium Round", failed during the 1999 Seattle WTO protests and Doha Round. As international trade was three times Singapore's GDP at that time, securing trade treaties was paramount to Singapore's economic survival, with the US as its most desired trading partner. By riding on the improved relations with the Clinton administration, Goh personally reached out to President Clinton during the annual summit at Brunei in November 2000, near the end of Clinton's second term of his presidency. After a midnight golf session with Clinton after the banquet, Goh successfully convinced Clinton on a Singapore-USA FTA, with Clinton suggesting an FTA similar to the US-Jordan FTA. The FTA with the USA was eventually signed in 2003, and it was the USA's first FTA with an Asian country, with Goh exalting this FTA as the "crown jewel" of Singapore's international trade.

As Secretary-General, Goh led the PAP to three general election victories in 1991, 1997, and 2001, in which the party won 61%, 65% and 75% of the votes respectively. After the 2001 general election, Goh indicated that he would step down as Prime Minister after leading the country out of the recession.

During an interview with Time magazine in July 2003, Goh surprised Singaporeans by announcing that his government was openly employing homosexuals, even in sensitive jobs, despite homosexual acts remaining illegal under Section 377A of the Penal Code.

Senior Minister

In October 2003, Goh announced that he would step down when the economy recovered from a downturn that was caused by the SARS. Eventually on 12 August 2004, Goh stepped down as Prime Minister and held a new position as Senior Minister in the Cabinet of his successor, Lee Hsien Loong. On 20 August 2004, Goh assumed the position of Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. After a number of threats of terrorism in Singapore, Goh met local Islamic religious leaders in 2004 and made a visit to Iran, where he met Iranian president Mohammad Khatami and visited local mosques.

Goh subsequently visited other Middle Eastern countries as Senior Minister, with a view to improving diplomatic relationships and thus gaining wider opportunities for Singaporean businesses, especially in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait.

On 1 February 2005, Goh was appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honour, "for eminent service to Australia-Singapore relations".

On 19 May 2005, Goh signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Israel's Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to Israel, superseding the agreement signed in 1971. Improvements in the agreement include enhancements to the withholding tax rate on interest income, which was reduced from 15% to 7%. This would benefit Singaporean businessmen with investments in Israel and vice versa, by ensuring they are not taxed twice.

Goh is a founding patron for the Institute of Policy Studies, a government think tank.

In the 2006 general election, Goh was tasked to help the PAP win back the two opposition wards of Hougang and Potong Pasir. However, he was unsuccessful in this task, as Low Thia Khiang and Chiam See Tong retained their respective wards.

In 2006, Goh was briefly considered for the job of United Nations Secretary-General but he lost out and the job eventually went to Ban Ki-moon.

In 2008, Goh was invited to join the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government, an independent international organisation of former world leaders.

On 24 January 2011, Goh announced that he would continue to seek re-election to Parliament at the 2011 general election. Over the following months, he progressively released snippets prior to the election on the importance of grooming a successor who could be part of the fourth generation PAP leadership to helm Marine Parade GRC in the long run.

Emeritus Senior Minister
After the 2011 general election in which the opposition made unprecedented gains by winning a group representative constituency in (Aljunied), Goh and Lee Kuan Yew announced that they were retiring from the Cabinet in order to give Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the rest of his team a clean slate from which they can make a fresh start in the new parliamentary term.

On 18 May 2011, Lee Hsien Loong announced that Goh was to be appointed a senior adviser to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and would be given the honorary title of "Emeritus Senior Minister".

On 24 June 2011, Goh was awarded the 1st Class, Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government.

On 4 May 2012, Goh was appointed as Patron for Advancement of the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

In 2018, Goh's first volume authorised biography book titled Tall Order: The Goh Chok Tong Story was published. It details Goh's life from his childhood to until he took office as Singapore's second prime minister in 1990.

In an interview in 2019, Goh stated that he believed a 75% to 80% majority in Parliament, in the future, would constitute a 'strong mandate' for the Singapore government. In the same interview, he noted that he does not believe the electoral system needed any further tweaking.

On 4 August 2019, Goh made a Facebook post stating that he felt saddened by how his long-time friend, former PAP politician Tan Cheng Bock, had "lost his way" by forming a new political party, Progress Singapore Party (PSP), to contest in the next general election.

On 25 June 2020, Goh made a Facebook post announcing his retirement as a Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC after 44 years of service and will therefore retire from politics.

A second volume of his biography titled Standing Tall: The Goh Chok Tong Years was released in April 2021 to mark his 80th birthday. The sequel consists of the 14 years which Goh was the Prime Minister of Singapore.

Honours

 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia:
 * Johor:
 * Order of the Crown of Johor ribbon bar.svg Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor (11 May 1991)
 * 🇦🇺 Australia:
 * AUS Order of Australia (civil) BAR.svg Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (1 February 2005)
 * 🇯🇵 Japan:
 * JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR.svg 1st Class, Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (24 June 2011)

Personal life
Goh is married to Tan Choo Leng and they have a son and a daughter, who are twins. Their son, Goh Jin Hian, is a physician and their daughter, Goh Jin Theng, lives in London with her husband. In his biography Standing Tall, Goh described himself as having no religion; he was brought up with traditional Chinese religions and "nominally practise ancestor worship". His wife is a Tibetan Buddhist while both his children are Methodist Christians.

In December 2020, Goh stated in a Facebook post that he would be undergoing four weeks of radiotherapy following the removal of a lump in his larynx, in order to ensure that all cancer cells are eliminated. It was the latest in a series of health issues faced by Goh in recent years.

In 2021, now retired and talking about his health, Goh indicated that he plans to try to live until at least 93 years of age, much like his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad.

Legacy
Having served as prime minister between the Lee Kwan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong eras, Goh has often been referred to in Singaporean political jokes as part of the trinity of "father, son, and the holy Goh".

In October 2014, the Madame Tussauds Singapore museum unveiled a wax figure of Goh. At its opening, Goh posed for pictures with his statue.

The Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards by Mediacorp Enable Fund is named after him.

title: Goh Chok Tong


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Kenny Loggins

Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His early soundtrack contributions date back to A Star Is Born in 1976, and he is known as the King of the Movie Soundtrack. As a solo artist, Loggins experienced a string of soundtrack successes, including an Academy Award nomination for "Footloose" in 1985. Finally Home was released in 2013, shortly after Loggins formed the group Blue Sky Riders with Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman. He won a Daytime Emmy Award, two Grammy Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Early life
Loggins was born in Everett, Washington, the youngest of three brothers. His father, Robert George Loggins, was a salesman of English and Irish ancestry, while his mother, Lina (née Massie), was a homemaker of Italian descent, from Avezzano. They lived in Detroit and Seattle before settling in Alhambra, California. Loggins attended San Gabriel Mission High School, graduating in 1966. He formed a band, The Second Helping, that released three singles during 1968 and 1969 on Viva Records. Greg Shaw described the efforts as "excellent punky folk-pop records" that were written by Loggins who was likely to be the bandleader and singer as well; Shaw included "Let Me In" on both Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 2 and the Pebbles, Volume 9 CD.

Loggins had a short gig playing guitar for the New Improved Electric Prunes in 1969 before writing four songs for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band that were included on their album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy. During his early 20s, he was in the band Gator Creek with Mike Deasy. The first recorded version of "Danny's Song" (later recorded by Loggins and Messina and a No. 7 Hot 100 hit for Anne Murray in 1973) was included on their only album, released on Mercury Records.

Loggins and Messina
Jim Messina, formerly of Poco and Buffalo Springfield, was working as an independent record producer for Columbia Records in 1970 when he was introduced to Loggins, then a little-known singer-songwriter who was signed to ABC-Dunhill.

The two recorded a number of Loggins's compositions in Messina's home living room. When Columbia signed Loggins (with Messina's help) to a six-album contract, recording began in earnest for Loggins's debut album, with Messina as producer. He assembled The Kenny Loggins Band by summoning his old friends bassist Larry Sims and drummer Merel Bregante (both formerly of the Sunshine Company, a disbanded 1960s group from Los Angeles), violinist/multireedist Al Garth and multireedist Jon Clarke. Keyboardist Michael Omartian also played on the album and despite dropping out at the start of the touring, continued to play keyboards on the next two albums. Los Angeles–based session percussionist Milt Holland, described by Messina as an ethnomusicologist, also contributed.

Messina originally intended to lend his name to the Loggins project only to help introduce the unknown Loggins to Messina's well-established Buffalo Springfield and Poco audiences. But by the time the album was completed, Messina had contributed so much to the album in terms of songwriting, arrangement, instrumentation and vocals that an "accidental" duo was born. Thus the full name of their first album was Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin' In. The album's first single release, the Caribbean-flavored "Vahevala", found top 3 success on WCFL on May 18, 1972.

Although the album went unnoticed by radio upon release, it eventually found success by fall 1972, particularly on college campuses where the pair toured heavily. Loggins and Messina's vocal harmonies meshed so well that what was begun as a one-off album became an entity in itself. Audiences regarded the pair as a genuine duo rather than as a solo act with a well-known producer. Instead of continuing to produce Loggins as a sole performer, they decided to record as a duo, Loggins & Messina.

"When our first album, 'Sittin' In', came out, we started receiving a lot of excitement about the music and good sales", Messina recalled in 2005. "We had a choice. It was either I now go on and continue to produce him and we do the solo career or we stay together and let this work. For me, I did not desire to go back out on the road. I had had enough of that and I wanted to produce records. But Clive Davis (then president of the record company) intervened and said, 'You know, I think you'd be making a mistake if you guys didn't take this opportunity. Things like this only happen once in a lifetime. It may merit you sleeping on it overnight and making a decision that will be in your best interest.' He was absolutely correct. Kenny made the decision as well. It delayed his solo career, but it gave him an opportunity, I think, to have one."

Both members of the duo were guitarists: Loggins played rhythm guitar with both acoustic and electric guitar and harmonica and Messina played lead guitar with both acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin and Dobro. Over the next four years they produced five more albums of original material in the studio, plus one album of covers of other artists' material and two live albums. They sold 16 million records and were the most successful duo of the early 1970s, surpassed later in the decade only by Daryl Hall & John Oates. Their work also included Lynn Anderson's "Listen to a Country Song", which was released in 1972 and reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and "Danny's Song" and "A Love Song" for Anne Murray, which reached No. 7 and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 1973 and 1974 respectively. The latter two songs also hit No. 1 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart. Later studio albums often found Loggins and Messina more as two solo artists sharing the same record than as a genuine partnership. As they both noted in 2005, their collaboration eventually became more a competition. Following their January 1976 release of Native Sons and a final concert in Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 25, 1976, the pair amicably and quietly parted to pursue solo careers. A greatest-hits album, The Best of Friends, was released in November 1976. Two months later, a live album, Finale was released, more by record company decision than one intended by the artists, one year after the duo had come to an end.

Solo career
In 1977, Loggins produced his first solo album, Celebrate Me Home, which included the successful song "I Believe in Love", originally sung by Barbra Streisand in A Star Is Born. Nightwatch, a popular album released in 1978, included the hit song "Whenever I Call You Friend", a duet with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, co-written with Melissa Manchester. Loggins followed that in 1979 with Keep the Fire and in 1982 with High Adventure. The latter contained his rock duet with Journey frontman Steve Perry, "Don't Fight It", which rose to No. 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Loggins abandoned the harmonica in his solo career but continued to play guitar, just as he had done with Loggins & Messina.

With Michael McDonald
Loggins also co-wrote the song "What a Fool Believes" with Michael McDonald. Each recorded his own version of it, with McDonald recording as a member of the Doobie Brothers. Loggins' version was released first, but the Doobie Brothers' version achieved greater success, reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100 and earning Loggins and McDonald the 1980 Grammy for Song of the Year.

In 1979, Loggins and McDonald wrote "This Is It". The song was a love song and ultimatum to a woman having an affair and stringing her lover along, while refusing to make a final decision. Every phrase or verse in the song implies, "It's him or me" and the lyrics state, "Leave him behind". There is much confusion about this song, because Loggins dedicated the song to his father, who was struggling with cancer. Because the lyrics are so empowering, they might be used for any purpose to imply "victim to victory"...for example, a sports team anthem. The song earned Loggins the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. NBC used the song as theme music for its coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 1980 and 1981.

Soundtracks
During the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he became known as the King of the Movie Soundtrack. It began with "I'm Alright" from Caddyshack. Hits followed with "Footloose" (his only solo No. 1) and "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)" from Footloose; "Meet Me Half Way" from Over the Top; and "Danger Zone" and "Playing with the Boys" from Top Gun. Loggins also performed "Nobody's Fool" for the film Caddyshack II. He performed as a member of USA for Africa on the famine-relief fundraising single "We Are the World", which led to an appearance performing "Footloose" at the Philadelphia leg of the July 13, 1985, Live Aid famine-relief dual-venue charity concert and global television broadcast.

During the 1990s, Loggins continued his album career, including the popular 1994 children's album Return to Pooh Corner, which included the title single, a reworking of "House at Pooh Corner", written for his newborn son Luke.

In 1991, Loggins recorded and produced Leap of Faith, which included the single "Conviction of the Heart". Vice President Al Gore called this song "the unofficial anthem of the environmental movement". On Earth Day 1995, Loggins performed at The National Mall in Washington, D.C., before a live audience of 500,000.

In 1997, Loggins released the album The Unimaginable Life, based on a book he co-wrote with his then-wife Julia. Tracks include "Now That I Know Love", "The Art of Letting Go" and "One Chance at a Time". The album was produced by Loggins and Randy Jackson with background vocals by Skyler Jett, Lamont VanHook and Howard Smith.

In 1998, Loggins recorded a version of the Sesame Street song "One Small Voice" for the ABC television special Elmopalooza, which was included as a track on the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack album.

Other work
Loggins scored a No. 1 single on the Billboard adult contemporary chart in 1997 with "For the First Time" (his Oscar-nominated song from One Fine Day). In 2000, he performed the theme song for Disney's The Tigger Movie, "Your Heart Will Lead You Home", which he co-wrote with Richard and Robert Sherman.

In 1999, he appeared as himself on the television show Dharma & Greg in the episode "Tye-Dying the Knot", performing at Abby and Larry's wedding. In 2004, Loggins appeared as himself in episode three, "Well Well Well," of Fox TV's Method & Red. In 2005, Loggins and Messina gave a nationwide tour that resulted in the CD and DVD Loggins and Messina Sittin' In Again. The tour's concerts were three hours long with an intermission and included an acoustic set in the middle. Complete with a set change that turned the stage into an old gas station setting, the show had a large IMAG video screen that showed old footage of the band, as well as tribute footage of recently deceased former L&M bandmate Jon Clarke. In 2007, Loggins joined the new recording company 180 Music for the release of his album How About Now. That year he was also inducted into Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard RockWalk.

In 2009, he recorded a new children's album, All Join In, but it was not released due to complications with his record company. In 2009 Loggins and Messina toured the United States and Canada, reviving their "Sittin' In Again tour". In 2011, he performed a short tour in South East Asia including Manila, Philippines and Singapore. On June 3, 2011, he performed at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles, Illinois. He stopped by the Eddie and Jobo Show in Chicago to talk about his music, his personal life and what kind of show you can expect from him.

The 2016 parody film Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie features an original song by Loggins, The Art of the Deal, written specifically for the film. In July 2016 Loggins performed on ABC's Greatest Hits.

In January 2017 Loggins was featured with McDonald on Thundercat's single "Show You the Way". Loggins made a cameo appearance as himself in episode 1 of season 3 of the television show Grace and Frankie. In October 2018, he received the inaugural Music Icon Award at the San Diego International Film Festival.

On September 22 and 24, 2022, Loggins and Messina reunited at the Hollywood Bowl for a 50-year anniversary weekend celebration of when they played the Bowl supporting their debut album, Sittin' In. The opening set featured the golden sound of the 1970s with songs like "Danny's Song" and "House at Pooh Corner". Loggins took the second act on his own, performing some of his greatest hits such as "I'm All Right", "Footloose", and "Danger Zone".

Blue Sky Riders
Loggins is a member of Blue Sky Riders, a country music trio also featuring Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman. They released their debut album, Finally Home, on January 29, 2013. The band released a special pre-release edition of their second studio album, Why Not, in 2015 to Kickstarter backers.

Other media
Loggins appears in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V playing himself as the host of an in-game radio station called Los Santos Rock Radio. He also lends the songs "Danger Zone" and "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)" and sings station jingles.

In 2014, Loggins appeared as himself in the episode "Baby Shower" of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Archer. His song "Danger Zone" had been a recurring joke in the show. At the end of the episode and during the credits, Loggins also performs a country version of "Danger Zone" as a duet with the character of Cherlene. Loggins stated in a later interview that his in-show nickname 'K-Log' is a complete creation of the show, stating, "It was always a joke. That's why it works, because it's so absurd."

In 2018, Loggins lent his voice to a caricature of himself on the animated comedy series Family Guy, in the episode titled "Veteran Guy". He also voiced himself in 2019 in "Yacht Rocky" from season 18 and in 2021 in the episode "80's Guy" from season 20.

In 2022, the Mall of America overlayed their Log Chute attraction into the "Kenny Loggins Chute" for April Fools Day, with the animatronic Paul Bunyan being redressed as Loggins.

Personal life
Loggins was married to Eva Ein from 1978 to 1990; they had three children: Crosby, Cody and Isabella. In 2007, the oldest, Crosby Loggins, produced his first CD, We All Go Home. In 2008 Crosby Loggins was voted the winner of the MTV reality show Rock the Cradle. Cody was born in 1983 and Isabella in 1988. As of 2009, Isabella was a music major in college.

When Loggins experienced health problems in 1982, he was referred to Julia Cooper. They felt an immediate connection. They were both married but unhappy in their relationships. Loggins then had one child and his wife was pregnant with their second. Their relationship was limited to a close friendship for many years. Near the end of the 1980s, Loggins separated from his wife at nearly the same time Julia left her husband and they began a deeper relationship. Loggins's divorce was made final in 1990; he and Cooper married in July 1992. In 1994 they became involved with Equinox International, a multi-level marketing organization and created a promotional video for the company, as did Ted Danson and Dave Parker.

The couple had two children: Lukas, born in 1993 and Hana, born in 1997. After several years of marriage, they assembled material from the journals each kept, which included poems, songs and letters. They authored a 1997 book, The Unimaginable Life, about their relationship. Its purpose was to offer an alternative to typical relationships where spouses feel they cannot be completely honest. Later on, they faced possible bankruptcy.

The couple divorced in 2004. Loggins said in 2009, "I got pretty blindsided by Julia's decision to leave. She's a very impulsive woman and she found herself going through a midlife crisis and she didn't know what to make of it and it changed her life."

Loggins has a home in the hills north of Santa Barbara, California, and has lived there for several decades. He is known locally as a generous fundraiser for numerous charities. Loggins is a second cousin to singer-songwriter Dave Loggins.

Studio albums

 * Celebrate Me Home (1977)
 * Nightwatch (1978)
 * Keep the Fire (1979)
 * High Adventure (1982)
 * Vox Humana (1985)
 * Back to Avalon (1988)
 * Leap of Faith (1991)
 * Return to Pooh Corner (1994)
 * The Unimaginable Life (1997)
 * December (1998)
 * More Songs from Pooh Corner (2000)
 * It's About Time (2003)
 * How About Now (2007)
 * All Join In (2009)

With Loggins and Messina

 * Sittin' In (1971)
 * Loggins and Messina (1972)
 * Full Sail (1973)
 * Mother Lode (1974)
 * So Fine (1975)
 * Native Sons (1976)

With Blue Sky Riders

 * Finally Home (2013)
 * Why Not (2015)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Kenny Loggins


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Pemex

Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to Mexican Petroleum in English; ) is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expropriation of all private oil companies in Mexico at the time of its formation. Pemex had total assets worth $101.8 billion in December 2019 and as of 2009 was Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue, surpassed only by Petrobras (the Brazilian national oil company). The company is the seventh most polluting in the world according to The Guardian.

History
Asphalt and pitch had been worked in Mexico since the time of the Aztecs. Small quantities of oil were first refined into kerosene around 1876 near Tampico. By the early 20th century, commercial quantities of oil were being extracted and refined by subsidiaries of the British Pearson and American Doheny companies and had attracted the attention of the Mexican government who then claimed all mineral rights for the state as part of its Constitution.

In 1938, President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–40) sided with oil workers striking against foreign-owned oil companies for an increase in pay and social services. On March 18, 1938, citing Article 27 of the Constitution of 1917, President Cárdenas embarked on the state-expropriation of all resources and facilities, nationalizing the United States and Anglo–Dutch operating companies. He is famous in saying in his speech addressing the nation,

"I ask the entire nation to furnish the necessary moral and material support to face the consequences of a decision which we, of our own free will, would neither have sought nor desired."

Pemex was established by Cárdenas's decree of June 7, 1938.

He framed expropriation as a necessary national response to the injustice of the operations of foreign companies operating on Mexican soil. Expropriation was not outright confiscation since the Mexican government promised to compensate companies. However, in retaliation, many foreign governments closed their markets to Mexican oil until the Allies demand for petroleum in World War II caused the boycott to be dropped. In spite of the early boycott, Pemex developed into one of the largest oil companies in the world.

In an interview on the oil news website in November 2005, a Pemex employee spoke anonymously of the company's inability to grow production, stating that the company and country is at Hubbert's Peak. The person interviewed believed export levels could not be recovered once peak had passed, as the size of current fields that have been discovered or are coming online represent a fraction of the size of the oilfields going into terminal decline. Annual production has dropped each year between 2004 and 2007. Furthermore, it has been reported the 2005–2006 daily oil production was down by approximately 500000 oilbbl/d (a large proportion of the country's 4,500,000 barrels) on the previous year. Pemex averaged 3.71 MMBPD in 2006. Pemex has never produced 4 MMBPD or higher for a yearly average. Pemex was replaced as Latin America's largest company by Petrobras, according to a Latin Business Chronicle ranking of Latin America's Top 500 companies.

To help capitalize the company, former President Vicente Fox brought forward the possibility of making shares of Pemex available to Mexican citizens and pension funds, to complement a current project-specific investment setup known as "Proyectos de Inversión Diferida En El Registro del Gasto" (Deferred Investment Projects in the Expenditure Registry). The proposal, which intended to alleviate Pemex's tax burden and create a substantial budget increase, met opposition in Congress. President Felipe Calderón made clear at the beginning of his presidency that he would try his best to open up the sector to private investment. Pemex is Latin America's second-largest company measured by revenues, according to a ranking of the region's 500 largest companies by Latin Business Chronicle, behind Brazilian oil company Petrobras. In June 2009, Pemex has asked for an extra $1.5 billion state aid to finance oil fields investments, reported Bloomberg.

President Calderón called for a change in Mexico's oil industry after output at Pemex fell at the fastest rate since 1942. His comments came after Petrobras and London-based BP said they made a "giant" oil find of as much as 3 Goilbbl in the Gulf of Mexico, southeast of Houston. According to Mexican Energy Minister Georgina Kessel, Mexico may seek to emulate Brazilian Oil rules that strengthened Petroleo Brasileiro SA as it considers regulation changes to revive the oil industry.

In January 2014, Pemex signed a cooperation agreement with the Russian oil company Lukoil focusing on oil production and field exploration as well as exchange of knowledge in the aforementioned areas, including actions for ecological preservation and environmental protection.

In February 2016, Emilio Lozoya Austin stepped down as CEO of Pemex and was replaced by José Antonio González Anaya.

On November 27, 2017, José Antonio González Anaya was appointed to be the Secretary of Finance and Public Credit. Carlos Alberto Treviño Medina was appointed CEO, sequentially.

In July 2021, it was announced that PEMEX.UL for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution was to be created. Even though Pemex is highly indebted, it is still determined to assist the poor that are affected by the rising energy prices. n a rare turn of events, Pemex saw profits of $719 million in the second quarter of 2021. Also in July 2021, the SENER appointed Pemex as the operator for the Zama oil field which was originally discovered by Talos Energy in 2017. The two companies shall work together for the final development of Zama. In September that year, Talos disputed the governments decision, since Pemex doesn't have the required $2 billion for the oil fields development.

With debts still at over $100 billion by September 2021, Pemex and the finance ministry of Mexico's relationship was strengthened as the government decided to continue to support the company, but would not change the laws in order to directly reflect their debt. some speculation was made that the government may use International Monetary Fund (IMF) money to lighten Pemex's debt. Budget increases of 17% over 2021 amounts were proposed, with a 14% reduction of its profit-sharing duties, for 2022's exploration and production processes.

An agreement between Pemex and Braskem (BRKM5.SA) was reached in September 2021 for a new gas supply agreement and also to build a $400 million ethane terminal to be located in Laguna de Pajaritos, in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.

In October 2021, Pemex was in debt with a recorded loss of $3.7 billion in profits for the third quarter compared to the previous year. In the last quarter of 2021, production was 4.5% higher than that of the last quarter of 2020. Due to tax payments and the currency being weak against the dollar, Pemex still reported a net loss of $6.05 billion. In order to reduce the debt Pemex is working on a plan to domestically refine its oil and reduce exports by 2023.

February 23, 2023, three major fires broke out at three different Mexico and U.S. operated Pemex facilities.

In March 2023, Pemex and U.S. based, Talos Energy submitted to develop an offshore oil field. The two companies have been partnered since 2022. The platform that was submitted was for two offshore platforms and 46 wells with oil and gas from Zama would filter into the Pemex-run terminal at Dos Bocas.

In June 2023, Pemex received bids for the renewal of the Dos Bocas wastewater treatment plant (PTE) which was originally built in 1970 and is no longer capable of treating the oily waters.

Pemex's credit rating changed to from stable to negative in July 2023 due to the ongoing debt accumulation. The government assistance from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is said to likely continue until the end of his term in 2024. In September 2023, it was announced that Pemex would receive capital allocations from the federal government of Mexico to assist in paying off over $11 million in accumulated debt.

Exploration
Proponents of Calderón's energy policy stated that Pemex lacks the equipment, technology and financial means to explore for new reserves in deep water or shale gas; hence, a reform to Mexican law is needed. In addition to a failing infrastructure, dwindling reserves have created urgency in completing some type of reform. Only 20% of Mexico has been extensively explored for further reserves and it has been argued that Pemex will need the help of some form of foreign investment to successfully explore new reserves, including in the Gulf of Mexico.

In February 2015, the board approved a $4.16 billion spending cut, pulling the company's budget down 11.5 percent from the 2015 budget approved by Mexico's congress. The company also said it will delay deepwater exploration plans and cut jobs in response to weak oil prices. In December 2019, the company stated the discovery of a deposit in southeastern Mexico that could produce 500 million barrels of crude, the largest discovery in more than 30 years.

Financial status
Taxes on Pemex revenue provide about a third of all the tax revenues collected by the Mexican government. Pemex has a debt of $42.5 billion, including $24 billion in off-balance-sheet debt. The state-owned company pays out over 60% of its revenue in royalties and taxes. Mexico exports crude oil, but imports more expensive gasoline. National Hydrocarbons Commission, created in 2008 by the Mexican Congress to increase regulatory oversight, has increased scrutiny over Pemex in 2012.

As of July 2019, Pemex is the most indebted oil company in the world.

Incidents
In 1979, Pemex's Ixtoc 1 exploratory oil well in the Bay of Campeche suffered a blowout resulting in one of the largest oil spills in history. Pemex spent $100 million to clean up the spill and avoided most compensation claims by asserting sovereign immunity as a state-run company.

On November 19th, 1984, a series of BLEVE's at a Pemex LPG storage facility occur in the heavily populated outskirts of San Juan Ixhuatepec, near Mexico City, resulting in the deaths of around 500-600 residents and up to 7000 injured by the explosions, ensuing fire and shrapnel from exploding tanks. It is considered among the deadliest industrial accidents in world history.

Pemex was blamed for a series of 1992 gas explosions in Guadalajara.

On September 19, 2012, an explosion at the Pemex gas plant in Reynosa, Tamaulipas killed 30 and injured 46 people. Pemex Director Juan Jose Suarez said that there was "no evidence that it was a deliberate incident, or some kind of attack".

On January 31, 2013, an explosion occurred at the administrative offices of Pemex in Mexico City. At least 37 people were killed and at least 126 were injured. The cause has not been confirmed. Local media reported that machinery exploded in the basement of an administrative center next door to the 52-story Pemex tower.

On April 1, 2015, a fire occurred on platform Abkatun A in the southern Gulf of Mexico which killed 4 workers.

On April 20, 2016, a large explosion and fire at the company's Chlorinate 3 plant in Coatzacoalcos killed at least 28 people.

On September 24, 2016, a fire broke out on the oil tanker "Burgos", off the coast of Boca del Río, Veracruz, forcing all the crew (31 members) to be evacuated safely. The tanker was carrying 80,000 barrels of diesel and 70,000 barrels of gasoline.

On January 18, 2019, an explosion occurred on a pipeline passing through the village of Tlauhuelilpan, Hidalgo killing at least 137 people. Several hundred people were gathering around an illegal pipe drain in order to get fuel. Images of the event shows people collecting fuel with buckets and small containers from a waterfall of gasoline. Military and police forces were present during the event for several hours before the explosion but were unable to stop the people from stealing fuel. The pipeline was not closed on time even after the fuel drain was reported.

On July 2, 2021, a natural gas pipeline owned by Pemex burst in the Gulf of Mexico. The natural gas was then ignited, causing a "fireball" to appear on the water's surface. The blaze was extinguished with nitrogen after approximately five hours. With two explosions at offshore platforms during the summer of 2021, Pemex's security and maintenance procedures are being questioned.

On August 24, 2021, an oil rig fire killed five workers.

On July 7, 2023, an explosion followed by a fire on the Nohoch Alfa oil platform offshore Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident was classified as "serious". There were 180 workers on the platform. Two people were killed, another was missing, several were injured. The platform personnel have been evacuated.

On April 6, 2024, an explosion followed by a fire on the Akal Bravo oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident was classified as "serious". There were 28 workers on the platform. There was one person killed and at least 13 others were injured

Controversies
In 2009, the U.S. Justice Department reported that some U.S. refineries had bought millions of dollars' worth of oil stolen from Mexican government pipelines. Criminals, especially drug gangs, tap remote pipelines and sometimes build their own pipelines to siphon off hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of oil each year. One oil executive has been charged and has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. The U.S. Homeland Security Department will return $2.4 million to Mexico's tax administration—the first money seized during a binational investigation into smuggled oil that authorities expect to lead to more arrests and seizures. In 2010 the former president of Houston-based Trammo Petroleum was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen goods.

There have been various allegations of corruption in Pemex for over a decade. These range from political contributions to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) (over $200 million), "no show" jobs – individuals who receive a salary while performing no duties – various forms of fraud, embezzlement and even under-the-table fuel sales. It has been estimated these various forms of corruption contribute to the loss of over $1 billion a year.

Pemex has a long history of alleged violation of human and labour rights regarding engineers, unrightfully considered to be "trusted workers" who have tried to unionize since 1995 and succeeded, after several repression episodes, in doing so in 2008 and 2009, although at a high human cost. This included the death of a person who was refused medical service at one of Pemex's hospitals because his son had just been sacked for belonging to this union, the Unión Nacional de Técnicos y Profesionistas (shorthand UNTyPP). It also included forcing union members to resign from the Union from their hospital beds, as happened to three cancer patients in 2009. Up to date and in spite of pressure by the Mexican Congress, the International Labour Organization, the Global Compact, the Industrial Global Union and thousands of citizens all over the world, workers fired in 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 have not been all reinstated nor has there been any other reparation. Pemex has denied these accusations.

On November 10, 2019, the institution suffered a cyber attack and its computers were infected with DoppelPaymer ransomware.

In November 2021, the arrest of former CEO Carlos Trevino was order after he did not show for his hearing, in which he was being charged with criminal association and money laundering. Testimony was presented by other ex-CEO, Emilio Lozoya, who was initially placed in witness protection. In January 2022, Lozoya was formally charged with money laundering, bribery and criminal association, which could amount to 39 years in prison.

Odebrecht corruption investigation of EPN and the ex-director of Pemex Emilio Lozoya Austin
Odebrecht is a Brazilian conglomerate that like Pemex also operates in the field of petroleum. Back in 2010–2012, Emilio Lozoya Austin was part of the PRI's team supporting Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN) in his presidential campaign. After EPN won the elections, Lozoya was promoted to director of Pemex, a role in which he served for most of EPN's presidency. In 2017, Brazilian newspaper O Globo claimed that Odebrecht helped finance EPN's presidential campaign, by giving $10 million to Emilio Lozoya as a bribe during times close to the 2012 elections. Soon after EPN won the elections in 2012, Lozoya became a director of Pemex and Odebrecht "won" huge contracts from Pemex and the Mexican government.

The news of the controversy surfaced in 2017, revealing Lozoya bought a $38 million house with a single payment even before he was named a director of Pemex. Such a house did not fit with his salary at the time. In October 2017, it was confirmed by the presidency that EPN himself also met with Odebrecht four times during his presidential campaign. This directly tied EPN into the scandal, albeit EPN claimed not to have received any bribes. A document from Brazil reported Lozoya received $5 million in November 2014.

Santiago Nieto, in charge of the (FEPADE), an office in charge of investigating electoral crimes, was controversially fired soon after the Odebrecht scandal began. He was said to be receiving too much pressure from EPN and Lozoya to stop the investigation. The firing was criticized by ex-president Felipe Calderon's wife and independent 2018 presidential candidate Margarita Zavala.

President Peña Nieto said Santiago's restitution fate depended on the Mexican Senate. The organization Borde Politico had published weeks before that 116 out of the 128 Mexican senators were incompetent.

title: Pemex


text:
S. R. Nathan

Sellapan Ramanathan  (3 July 1924 – 22 August 2016), often known as S. R. Nathan, was a Singaporean politician and civil servant who served as the sixth president of Singapore between 1999 and 2011. Nathan won both the 1999 presidential election and the 2005 presidential election thanks to an uncontested walkover due to ineligible candidates. He was the longest-serving president in Singapore's history and the only one to serve two full terms.

In January 2010, Nathan surpassed his predecessor Benjamin Sheares to become Singapore's longest-serving President. In August of that same year, he surpassed Yusof Ishak as Singapore's longest-serving Head of State. Nathan was reportedly considering a re-election and decided not to run.

Nathan suffered a stroke on 31 July 2016 and was taken to Singapore General Hospital before he died in the hospital on 22 August 2016, at the age of 92.

Early life and education
Nathan, who was of Tamil Indian descent, was born in Singapore on 3 July 1924. He spent his childhood with his parents, V. Sellapan and Abirami, and two older brothers in Muar, Johor, in a house overlooking the sea. Nathan would eventually be one of seven siblings; his three older brothers died in childhood. His father had been posted to the Malayan town as a lawyer's clerk for a firm that serviced rubber plantations, but the Great Depression and rubber slump of the 1930s sent the family's fortunes crashing. Nathan's father accrued debts and eventually committed suicide when Nathan was eight.

Returning to Singapore, Nathan received his primary education at Anglo-Chinese Primary School and Rangoon Road morning School, and his secondary education at Victoria School. However, he was expelled from school twice and, after quarrelling with his mother, ran away from home at the age of 16. During the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Nathan learned Japanese and worked for the Japanese civilian police as a translator. After the war, whilst working, he completed his secondary education through a correspondence course with Wolsey Hall, Oxford, and entered the University of Malaya (then in Singapore), where he became the secretary of the University Socialist Club in his second year of university. He graduated in 1954 with a Diploma in Social Studies (Distinction). He earned a diploma from the University of Malaya in Singapore in 1954. This was followed by a long career in the Singapore Civil Service, which he joined in 1955. Between 1962 and 1966 he was seconded to the National Trades Union Congress, and then worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs. He was with the Security and Intelligence Division of the Defence Ministry when the Laju incident happened in 1974, and was among the government officers who agreed to accompany terrorists who had bombed petroleum tanks to Kuwait to secure the release of civilian hostages and ensure the terrorists' safe passage. He served as First Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry from 1979 to 1982.

Nathan left the Civil Service in 1982 to take up the executive chairmanship of the Straits Times Press; he also held directorships in other companies. Between 1988 and 1996 he served as Singapore's High Commissioner to Malaysia and Ambassador to the United States, before his 12-year term as President of the Republic from 1999 to 2011.

Following retirement, Nathan turned to writing and also became a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the School of Social Sciences of Singapore Management University (SMU), and at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He died in 2016 and was accorded a state funeral by the Government.

Among the awards and honours Nathan received were the renamed of Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) School of Human Development and Social Services to S R Nathan School of Human Development (NSHD) in 2018, Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Star) in 1964, the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Perak) (Public Administration Medal, Silver) in 1967, the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Meritorious Service Medal) in 1975, and the Darjah Utama Temasek (Order of Temasek) (First Class) in 2013; and honorary degrees from the National University of Singapore and SMU.

Civil Service career

Nathan began his career in the Singapore Civil Service as a medical social worker in 1955. He was appointed Seamen's Welfare Officer the following year. In 1962, he was seconded to the Labour Research Unit of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), first as assistant director and later as director of the Labour Research Unit until January 1966. Nathan negotiated Singapore's membership of the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation. He later served as a member of the NTUC's Board of Trustees from 1983 to April 1988.

In February 1966, Nathan was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He served as Assistant Secretary and rose to be Deputy Secretary before being appointed Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs in January 1971. On 6 August of the same year, Nathan moved to the Ministry of Defence where he was Director of the Security and Intelligence Division (SID). In the Laju incident on 31 January 1974, members of the terrorist Japanese Red Army and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine bombed petroleum tanks on Pulau Bukom off the coast of Singapore; Nathan was among a group of government officers who volunteered to be held hostage by the JRA and flown to Kuwait to secure the release of civilian hostages and ensure the terrorists' safe passage. For his bravery, in August 1974 he was awarded the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Meritorious Service Medal).

In February 1979, Nathan returned to the Foreign Ministry and became its First Permanent Secretary until February 1982, when he left to become the Executive Chairman of the newspaper company the Straits Times Press. The appointment was viewed dimly by journalists who felt that the Government was trying to limit freedom of the press; they wore black armbands in protest. According to Nathan in a 2010 interview, " When they saw I was not doing what they expected me to do, they began to have confidence." At various times between 1982 and 1988, Nathan also held directorships of several other companies, including the Singapore Mint, The Straits Times Press (London), Singapore Press Holdings and Marshall Cavendish. He held a directorship in the Singapore International Media between September 1996 and August 1999. He was Chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Singapore, a ship-repairing and engineering joint venture with the Mitsubishi Group of Japan, from 1973 to 1986. From 1983 to April 1988, Nathan was Chairman of the Hindu Endowments Board. He was a founding member of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), and its term trustee until August 1999.

In April 1988, Nathan was appointed Singapore's High Commissioner to Malaysia, and in July 1990 he became Ambassador to the United States, serving until June 1996. On his return, Nathan was made an Ambassador-at-Large and was concurrently Director of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at the Nanyang Technological University. He resigned as ambassador and director of the institute on 17 August 1999 to become an independent candidate in the 1999 Singapore presidential election.

Presidency (1999–2011)
During the 1999 presidential election, as two other prospective candidates were found to be constitutionally ineligible, Nathan was elected unopposed as president on 18 August 1999 and was ex officio appointed Chancellor of the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University.

His candidacy was supported by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and former President Wee Kim Wee. Nathan succeeded Ong Teng Cheong as the president of Singapore, and was sworn in on 1 September 1999.

Nathan launched the annual President's Challenge charity fundraising initiative in 2000. Continued in 2012 by his successor, President Tony Tan, and as of 2016 about S$160 million had been raised by the movement.

During the 2005 presidential election, the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) declared Nathan as the only eligible candidate on 13 August, rejecting three other applications based on constitutional criteria. Thus, Nathan was elected unopposed for a second term on 17 August 2005. He was sworn in for a second term of office on 1 September 2005, and as of 2016, is the only person who has served two terms as president. On 21 January 2009, Nathan approved in principle the Government's request to draw $4.9 billion from the nation's past financial reserves to fund the Government's Resilience Package consisting of two schemes aimed at preserving jobs and businesses during the financial downturn: the Jobs Credit scheme, which provided employers with financial assistance to pay employees' salaries; and the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative, which helped mid-sized companies to obtain credit. This was the first time the President's discretionary powers had been exercised for this purpose. The President's formal approval of the drawdown was subsequently signified in two notifications dated 13 March 2009.

Post–presidency (2011–2016)

On 1 July 2011, Nathan announced that he would not be seeking a third term in office as president. He cited his age as one of the reasons, as he did not believe he could undertake indefinitely the heavy responsibilities and physical demands of the position of head of state at 87. He left office on 1 September that same year and was succeeded by Tony Tan. A few weeks later, on 19 September, his book An Unexpected Journey: Path to the Presidency was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. At the same time, the S. R. Nathan Educational Upliftment Fund was inaugurated to provide bursaries, scholarships and other forms of financial assistance to needy Institute of Technical Education, polytechnic and university students.

As President, Nathan was the patron of Singapore Management University from 2000 to 2011, and after completing his term of office he became a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the SMU School of Social Sciences. Additionally, he was also a patron of the Singapore University of Social Sciences from 2006 to 2011. He held a similar position at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He was also the first patron of the Inter-Religious Organisation from 2012 till his death in 2016.

Personal life
On 15 December 1958, Nathan married Urmila Nandey (born 1929) and had one son and one daughter.

Illness and death
Nathan suffered a stroke on the morning of 31 July 2016 and was taken to Singapore General Hospital's Intensive Care Unit. He died in hospital on 22 August that year at 9:48 pm SST, aged 92. He was survived by his wife Urmila Nandey (known as Umi), their daughter Juthika and son Osith, three grandchildren, and his sister Sundari.

As a mark of respect, the Government directed that the National Flag would fly at half-mast from all government buildings from 23 to 26 August. Nathan's body lay in state at Parliament House on 25 August to enable members of the public to pay their respects.

On 26 August, a state funeral was held to honour Nathan. His body was conveyed by a ceremonial 25-pounder gun carriage from Parliament House to the University Cultural Centre of the National University of Singapore (NUS). The state funeral procession passed by landmarks of significance to his life, including City Hall, where he had attended three National Day Parades; The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, formerly the Fullerton Building which had housed the Marine Department where he had worked; and NTUC Centre, recalling Nathan's time in the labour movement. Speakers who delivered eulogies at the state funeral included Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Ambassadors-at-Large Tommy Koh and Gopinath Pillai. The music played at the ceremony included the song "Thanjavooru Mannu Eduthu" ("Taking the Sands of Thanjavur") from the Tamil film Porkkaalam (Golden Age, 1997), about a dollmaker who moulds a doll of a beautiful lady with sand, clay and water from different lands, and eventually gives life to the doll. It was Nathan's favourite song as he saw it as a metaphor for Singapore's multiracial heritage.

The state funeral was followed by a private cremation at Mandai Crematorium.

Legacy

 * In 2018, the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) School of Human Development and Social Services has renamed the S R Nathan School of Human Development (NSHD) in honor of Singapore's sixth president, Mr S. R. Nathan to recognise his advocacy of social and community causes when he was patron of SUSS.

Honours
In addition to the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Meritorious Service Medal) he was awarded in 1975 for his actions during the Laju incident, Nathan was conferred the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Star) in 1964 and the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Perak) (Public Administration Medal, Silver) in 1967. On 8 August 2013, Nathan was conferred the Darjah Utama Temasek (Order of Temasek) (First Class). On 2006 he was conferred with Order of the Bath.

Nathan, who had been chancellor of NUS from 1999 to 2011 during his presidency, was conferred an Eminent Alumni award by the university in 2007, and an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) on 5 July 2012. SMU also conferred on him an honorary D.Litt. on 14 July 2014. In 2015, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of NUS gave him its Distinguished Arts and Social Sciences Alumni Award for lifetime achievement.

Nathan was the Singapore Scout Association's Chief Scout when he was president. He received the Asia-Pacific Regional Distinguished Scout Award in 2005, and the Association's Distinguished Service Award (Gold) in 2010.

Nathan's achievements were also recognised abroad. During a state visit to Bahrain on 22 November 2010 he was given the Al-Khalifa Order, and while on a state visit to Mauritius in June 2011 he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) degree by the University of Mauritius for his contributions to education and culture. In 2012, the Government of India conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Award) to Nathan in recognition of his contribution in building closer links between Singapore and India.

title: S. R. Nathan


text:
Zelda

Zelda may refer to:

Places

 * Zelda, Kentucky, unincorporated community, United States

People

 * Zelda (given name), a female given name

Media

 * The Legend of Zelda, a video game franchise
 * Zelda (Game & Watch), a 1989 Game & Watch system
 * Zelda (band), a Japanese rock band in the 1980s and 1990s
 * Zelda (film), a 1993 television movie
 * Zelda, a 1970 book by Nancy Milford about Zelda Fitzgerald

Fictional characters

 * Princess Zelda, the titular character in The Legend of Zelda video game series
 * Zelda, in Stephen King's book Pet Sematary and the film adaptation
 * Zelda, the main villainess in the British TV series Terrahawks
 * Zelda, the main villainess in the 1998 direct-to-video film The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom
 * Zelda, the dog mascot of Nickelodeon Magazine
 * Zelda, the pet vulture in the 1964 TV series The Addams Family
 * Zelda Cruz, a character in the American web series Zombie College
 * Zelda Gilroy, in the 1959–1963 TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
 * Zelda Kay, in the Island at War television mini-series
 * Zelda Reginhard, in the anime and manga series Lotte no Omocha!
 * Zelda Schiff, Head Librarian in the TV series The Magicians
 * Zelda Spellman, Sabrina's aunt in Sabrina the Teenage Witch
 * Zelda Spooner, in Billy Wilder's 1964 comedy film Kiss Me, Stupid
 * "Zelda the Great", an episode and eponymous villain in the 1966 TV series Batman

Other uses

 * Zelda (turkey), the wild turkey resident in Battery Park, Manhattan
 * Zelda (זלדה), Israel Defense Forces soldiers' nickname for the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier
 * Typhoon Zelda, two tropical cyclones

title: Zelda


text:
Holy Smoke!

Holy Smoke! is a 1999 independent romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jane Campion, and starring Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel. Its plot follows an American exit counselor (Keitel) who attempts to deprogram a young Australian woman (Winslet) who has been indoctrinated into a new age cult in India. Julie Hamilton, Tim Robertson, Daniel Wyllie, and Pam Grier appear in supporting roles.

Director Jane Campion wrote the screenplay for the film with her sister, Anna Campion. The film was a co-production between Australia and the United States. The film premiered at the 56th Venice International Film Festival and was shown at the New York Film Festival and the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival before being released theatrically.

Plot
During a trip to India, Ruth Barron has a spiritual awakening and embraces the teachings of a guru named Baba. Back home in the Sydney suburb of Sans Souci, her parents are appalled to learn their daughter now answers to the name Nazni and has no intention of returning. They concoct a tale about her father Gilbert having had a stroke and being on the verge of death, and her mother Miriam travels to India in hopes of persuading her to come home, with no success until she suffers a serious asthma attack. Ruth agrees to accompany her to Australia on her return flight.

Meanwhile, Miriam has arranged a phony reunion with Gilbert in the Outback, claiming to Ruth that he is recuperating there. Gilbert, as well as Ruth's brothers Robbie—along with his promiscuous wife Yvonne—and Tim—along with his male lover, Yani—all convene at a nearby resort. There, they meet with P.J. Waters, a famous American exit counselor who deprograms members of religious cults. Ruth arrives, and goes to visit her father at a farm; there, she is confronted by her family along with P.J., who have staged an intervention. Ruth is defiant and attempts to fight them, but ultimately relents and agrees to accompany P.J. for a treatment session, under the provision that she may return to India once they have finished.

Ruth departs with P.J. to a remote cabin where he isolates her and begins to challenge her faith in Baba, exposing that Baba's doctrines have been directly copied from Hinduism. During the first night, Yvonne, who is staying nearby, arrives to bring a change of clothes for Ruth, and performs oral sex on P.J. The following morning, Ruth is angered when she finds P.J. has strung her sari up in a tree, and retaliates by forming a "HELP" signal out of stones. Later, P.J. takes Ruth to visit her family, and they all screen a documentary exposing the tactics of cults, including the Manson family, Heaven's Gate, and the Rajneesh.

That night, after returning to the cabin, P.J. awakens to find a distressed, naked Ruth has lit the tree and her sari on fire. Ruth propositions P.J., and the two have sex; Ruth asks P.J. "Don't come, don't come", but P.J. still comes. In the morning, Yvonne, Tim, and Yani arrive to bring Ruth to a party, which P.J. accompanies her on. When they return, a drunken Ruth insults P.J.'s manhood before ordering him to perform oral sex on her. The next morning, P.J's assistant and lover, Carol, arrives from the United States, chastising him for screening her phone calls, and demanding he return home. She ultimately agrees to the deprogramming session lasting one more day. Ruth begins to taunt P.J. and emasculates him by making him wear a dress, but relents when he responds by writing the phrase "Be Kind" on her forehead; she is suddenly overcome with guilt and begins crying, confessing that she does not allow anyone to become emotionally close to her.

Ruth decides to leave, but P.J., who believes himself to be in love with her, attempts to stop her. The two have a physical altercation in which he punches her, knocking her unconscious. P.J. leaves with an unconscious Ruth in the boot of his car. On the road, he encounters Tim, Robbie, and Yvonne en route to the cabin. P.J. tells them Ruth has fled, and that they should separate and search for her. Yvonne insists she accompany P.J., who reluctantly allows her in the car. As they drive, Yvonne hears Ruth banging on the lid of the boot, and orders him to stop the car. She lets Ruth out of the boot, and she begins running into the bush, with P.J. pursuing her on foot, proclaiming his love for her. P.J. eventually collapses of exhaustion in the heat, and has a vision of Ruth as the Durga before Yvonne, Tim, and Robbie come to his and Ruth's aid. Ruth departs with Yvonne, Tim, and Robbie, along with P.J., whom they place in the bed of the truck. During the drive, Ruth asks them to stop the truck. She gets into the bed with P.J., and comforts him.

A year later, Ruth writes to P.J. from Jaipur, where she is now living with her mother, after her father left her for his secretary. Ruth explains to P.J. that she is still seeking spirituality, and has recently completed reading the Bhagavad Gita. She now has a boyfriend, but confesses she still loves P.J. "from afar." Back in the United States, P.J. responds to Ruth, explaining that he and Carol now have twin sons, though he too confesses a love for her.

Production
The film was made on location in Paharganj in Delhi and Pushkar in India and Sydney and Hawker in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Interiors were filmed at Fox Studios Australia.

Angelo Badalamenti's soundtrack is performed by artists including Annie Lennox, Alanis Morissette, Burt Bacharach, Neil Diamond and Chloe Goodchild.

Box office
In the United States, the film was initially given a limited release on 3 December 1999, earning $33,307 its opening weekend. The release expanded to a total of 93 cinemas, ultimately grossing $1,758,780 at the U.S. box office. The film earned a further $1,380,029 during its theatrical release in Australia. The film's worldwide box office gross totaled $3,580,723.

Critical response
Holy Smoke! received mixed reviews from critics, holding a 45% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 82 reviews. The critical consensus on the website reads, "Superb performances hindered by weak script and incoherent story." On Metacritic, it receives an average score of 57 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

In her review in The New York Times, Janet Maslin said, "As Holy Smoke moves from its early mix of rapture and humor into [the] more serious, confrontational stage, it runs into trouble . . . the screenplay . . . threatens to become heavy-handedly ideological beneath its outward whimsy . . . it turns out to be more fundamentally conventional than might be expected . . . Shot so beautifully by Dion Beebe that it seems bathed in divine light, [the film] has a sensual allure that transcends its deep-seated ponderousness. The richly colored Indian scenes have a hallucinogenic magic, while exquisite desert vistas radiate an attunement with nature. And the steamily claustrophobic look of the intense scenes between Ms. Winslet and Keitel have an eroticism that will not surprise viewers of The Piano."

In his review, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2 and a half stars out of 4. He observed, "It's a little surprising, although not boring, when it turns from a mystic travelogue into a feminist parable . . . Winslet and Keitel are both interesting in the film, and indeed Winslet seems to be following Keitel's long-standing career plan, which is to go with intriguing screenplays and directors and let stardom take care of itself . . . A smaller picture like this, shot out of the mainstream, has a better chance of being quirky and original. And quirky it is, even if not successful."

In Variety, David Rooney stated, "Original in every sense, this often difficult film about family, relationships, sexual politics, spiritual questing, faith and obsession further explores the director's abiding fascinations in excitingly unconventional terms. Mainstream audiences may be unwilling to surrender to the pull of a unique journey that strips away its characters' masks and refuses easy solutions, and many men especially will find it too confronting. But others will embrace its thematic and stylistic complexity as qualities all too rare in contemporary cinema."

Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "Holy Smoke sometimes has the mentality, for better or worse, of an encounter group. It also has a terrific subject and the spirit to bring it off."

Accolades
At the Venice Film Festival, Jane Campion and Kate Winslet won the Elvira Notari Prize. Campion was nominated for the Golden Lion but lost to Zhang Yimou for Not One Less.

title: Holy Smoke!


text:
Larry McMurtry

Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936 –March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. His novels included Horseman, Pass By (1962), The Last Picture Show (1966), and Terms of Endearment (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34 Oscar nominations (13 wins). He was also a prominent book collector and bookseller.

His 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove was adapted into a television miniseries that earned 18 Emmy Award nominations (seven wins). The subsequent three novels in his Lonesome Dove series were adapted as three more miniseries, earning eight more Emmy nominations. McMurtry and co-writer Diana Ossana adapted the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain (2005), which earned eight Academy Award nominations with three wins, including McMurtry and Ossana for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2014, McMurtry received the National Humanities Medal.

In Tracy Daugherty's 2023 biography of McMurtry, the biographer quotes critic Dave Hickey as saying about McMurtry: "Larry is a writer, and it's kind of like being a critter. If you leave a cow alone, he'll eat grass.  If you leave Larry alone, he'll write books.  When he's in public, he may say hello and goodbye, but otherwise he is just resting, getting ready to go write."

Early life and education
According to the astrodatabank website, McMurtry's birth certificate states that he was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, the son of Hazel Ruth (née McIver) and William Jefferson McMurtry. He grew up on his parents' ranch outside Archer City. The city was the model for the town of Thalia which is a setting for much of his fiction. He earned a BA from the University of North Texas in 1958 and an MA from Rice University in 1960.

In his memoir, McMurtry said that during his first five or six years in his grandfather's ranch house, there were no books, but his extended family would sit on the front porch every night and tell stories. In 1942, McMurtry's cousin Robert Hilburn stopped by the ranch house on his way to enlist for World War II, and left a box containing 19 boys' adventure books from the 1930s. The first book he read was Sergeant Silk: The Prairie Scout.

Writer
During the 1960–1961 academic year, McMurtry was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, where he studied the craft of fiction under Frank O'Connor and Malcolm Cowley, alongside other aspiring writers, including Wendell Berry, Ken Kesey, Peter S. Beagle, and Gurney Norman. (Wallace Stegner was on sabbatical in Europe during McMurtry's fellowship year. )

McMurtry and Kesey remained friends after McMurtry left California and returned to Texas to take a year-long composition instructorship at Texas Christian University. In 1963, he returned to Rice University, where he served as a lecturer in English until 1969, and a visiting professor at George Mason College (1970) and American University (1970–71). He entertained some of his early students with accounts of Hollywood and the filming of Hud, for which he was consulting. In 1964, Kesey and his Merry Pranksters conducted their noted cross-country trip, stopping at McMurtry's home in Houston. The adventure in the day-glo-painted school bus Furthur was chronicled by Tom Wolfe in his book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. That same year, McMurtry was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

McMurtry won numerous awards from the Texas Institute of Letters: three times the Jesse H. Jones Award—in 1962, for Horseman, Pass By; in 1967, for The Last Picture Show, which he shared with Tom Pendleton's The Iron Orchard; and in 1986, for Lonesome Dove. He won the Amon G. Carter award for periodical prose in 1966 for Texas: Good Times Gone or Here Again? and the Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1984. In 1986, McMurtry received the annual Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award from the Tulsa Library Trust. He reflected on his 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Lonesome Dove, in Literary Life: A Second Memoir (2009), writing that it was the "Gone With the Wind of the West … a pretty good book; it's not a towering masterpiece."

McMurtry described his method for writing novels in Books: A Memoir. He said that from his first novel on, he would get up early and dash off five pages of narrative. When he published the memoir in 2008, he said this was still his method, although by then, he wrote 10 pages a day. He also wrote every day, ignoring holidays and weekends. McMurtry was a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books.

McMurtry was a vigorous defender of free speech and, while serving as president of PEN American Center (now PEN America) from 1989 to 1991, led the organization's efforts to support writer Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses (1988) caused a major controversy among some Muslims, with the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issuing a fatwā calling for Rushdie's assassination, after which attempts were made on his life.

In 1989, McMurtry testified on behalf of PEN America before the U.S. Congress in opposition to immigration rules in the 1952 McCarran–Walter Act that for decades permitted the visa denial and deportation of foreign writers for ideological reasons. He recounted how before PEN America was to host the 1986 International PEN Congress, "there was a serious question as to whether such a meeting could in fact take place in this country... the McCarran–Walter Act could have effectively prevented such a gathering in the United States." He denounced the relevant rules as "an affront to all who cherish the constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and association. To a writer whose living depends upon the uninhibited interchange of ideas and experiences, these provisions are especially appalling." Subsequently, some provisions that excluded certain classes of immigrants based on their political beliefs were revoked by the Immigration Act of 1990.

Antiquarian bookstore businesses
While at Stanford, McMurtry became a rare-book scout. During his years in Houston, he managed a book store called the Bookman. In 1969, he moved to the Washington, D.C., area. In 1970 with two partners, he started a bookshop in Georgetown, which he named Booked Up. In 1988, he opened another Booked Up in Archer City. It became one of the largest antiquarian bookstores in the United States, carrying between 400,000 and 450,000 titles. Citing economic pressures from Internet bookselling, McMurtry came close to shutting down the Archer City store in 2005, but chose to keep it open after great public support.

In early 2012, McMurtry decided to downsize and sell off the greater portion of his inventory. He felt the collection was a liability for his heirs. The auction was conducted on August 10 and 11, 2012, and was overseen by Addison and Sarova Auctioneers of Macon, Georgia. This epic book auction sold books by the shelf, and was billed as "The Last Booksale", in keeping with the title of McMurtry's The Last Picture Show. Dealers, collectors, and gawkers came out en masse from all over the country to witness this historic auction. As stated by McMurtry on the weekend of the sale, "I've never seen that many people lined up in Archer City, and I'm sure I never will again."

In April 2006, McMurtry was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.

Film and television
McMurtry became well known for the film adaptations of his work, which were seen by many viewers, especially Hud (from the novel Horseman, Pass By), starring Paul Newman and Patricia Neal; the Peter Bogdanovich–directed The Last Picture Show; James L. Brooks's Terms of Endearment, which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture (1984); and Lonesome Dove, which became a popular television miniseries starring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall.

In 2006, he was co-winner (with Diana Ossana) of both the Best Screenplay Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Brokeback Mountain, adapted from a short story by E. Annie Proulx. He accepted his Oscar while wearing a dinner jacket over jeans and cowboy boots. In his speech, he promoted books, reminding the audience the movie was developed from a short story. In his Golden Globe acceptance speech, he paid tribute to his Swiss-made Hermes 3000 typewriter.

Personal life
McMurtry married Jo Scott, an English professor who has authored five books. Before divorcing, they had a son together, James McMurtry. Both James and his own son, Curtis McMurtry, are singer/songwriters and guitarists.

In 1991 McMurtry underwent heart surgery. During his recovery, he suffered severe depression. He recovered at the home of his future writing partner Diana Ossana and wrote his novel Streets of Laredo at her kitchen counter.

McMurtry married Norma Faye Kesey, the widow of writer Ken Kesey, on April 29, 2011, in a civil ceremony in Archer City.

McMurtry died on March 25, 2021, at his home in Archer City, Texas. He was 84 years old.

It was announced in early 2023 that McMurtry's personal property including his writing desk, typewriters and personal book collection would be sold at public auction by Vogt Auction in San Antonio, Texas, on May 29, 2023.

Stand-alone novels

 * 1982: Cadillac Jack
 * 1988: Anything For Billy (fictionalized biography of Billy the Kid)
 * 1990: Buffalo Girls (fictionalized biography of Calamity Jane). adapted for TV as Buffalo Girls
 * 1994: Pretty Boy Floyd (with Diana Ossana) (fictionalized biography of the titular gangster)
 * 1997: Zeke and Ned (with Diana Ossana) (fictionalized biography of the last Cherokee warriors)
 * 2000: Boone's Lick
 * 2005: Loop Group
 * 2006: Telegraph Days
 * 2014: The Last Kind Words Saloon

Thalia: A Texas Trilogy
Larry McMurtry's first three novels, all set in the north Texas town of Thalia following World War II.
 * 1961: Horseman, Pass By, adapted for film as Hud
 * 1963: Leaving Cheyenne, adapted for film as Lovin' Molly
 * 1966: The Last Picture Show, adapted for film under the same name

Harmony and Pepper series
The books follow the story of mother/daughter characters Harmony and Pepper.
 * 1983: The Desert Rose
 * 1995: The Late Child

Duane Moore series
The books follow the story of character Duane Moore.
 * 1966: The Last Picture Show – adapted for film as The Last Picture Show
 * 1987: Texasville – adapted for film as Texasville
 * 1999: Duane's Depressed
 * 2007: When The Light Goes
 * 2009: Rhino Ranch: A Novel

Houston series
The books follow the stories of occasionally recurring characters living in the Houston, Texas, area.
 * 1970: Moving On (characters Patsy Carpenter/Danny Deck/Emma Horton/Joe Percy)
 * 1972: All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers (Danny Deck/Jill Peel/Emma Horton)
 * 1975: Terms of Endearment (Emma Horton/Aurora Greenway) – adapted for film as Terms of Endearment
 * 1978: Somebody's Darling (Jill Peel/Joe Percy)
 * 1989: Some Can Whistle (Danny Deck)
 * 1992: The Evening Star (Aurora Greenaway) – adapted for film as The Evening Star

Lonesome Dove series

 * 1985: Lonesome Dove, 1986 Pulitzer Prize winner
 * 1993: Streets of Laredo
 * 1995: Dead Man's Walk
 * 1997: Comanche Moon

The Berrybender Narratives

 * 2002: Sin Killer
 * 2003: The Wandering Hill
 * 2003: By Sorrow's River
 * 2004: Folly and Glory

As editor

 * 1999: Still Wild: A Collection of Western Stories

Other writings

 * 1988: The Murder of Mary Phagan – TV movie
 * 1990: Montana – TV movie
 * 1992: Memphis – TV movie
 * 1992: Falling from Grace – film starring John Mellencamp
 * 2002: Johnson County War – TV miniseries
 * 2005: Brokeback Mountain (with Diana Ossana) – Oscar-winning screenplay (adapted from the short story by E. Annie Proulx)
 * 2020: Joe Bell (with Diana Ossana)

Nonfiction

 * 1968: In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas
 * 1974: "It's Always We Rambled" (essay)
 * 1987: Film Flam: Essays on Hollywood
 * 1999: Crazy Horse: A Life (biography)
 * 1999: Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections on Sixty and Beyond
 * 2000: Roads: Driving America's Great Highways
 * 2001: Sacagawea's Nickname – essays on the American West
 * 2002: Paradise – South-Pacific travelogue/memoir
 * 2005: The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley & the Beginnings of Superstardom in America
 * 2005: Oh What a Slaughter! : Massacres in the American West: 1846–1890
 * 2008: Books: A Memoir
 * 2009: Literary Life: A Second Memoir
 * 2011: Hollywood: A Third Memoir
 * 2012: Custer

Film

 * 1963: Hud (based on novel Horseman, Pass By from 1961)
 * 1971: The Last Picture Show (co-wrote screenplay, based on novel from 1966)
 * 1974: Lovin' Molly (based on the novel Leaving Cheyenne from 1963)
 * 1983: Terms of Endearment (based on novel from 1975)
 * 1990: Texasville (based on novel from 1987)
 * 1992: Falling from Grace (wrote screenplay and story)
 * 1996: The Evening Star (based on novel from 1992)
 * 2005: Brokeback Mountain (co-wrote screenplay with Diana Ossana and adapted from the short story by Annie Proulx)
 * 2020: Joe Bell (co-wrote screenplay with Diana Ossana)

Television

 * 1977: The American Film Institute's 10th Anniversary Special (writer)
 * 1988: The Murder of Mary Phagan (mini-series based on story)
 * 1989: Lonesome Dove (mini-series based on 1985 novel)
 * 1990: Montana (original screenplay)
 * 1992: Memphis (teleplay)
 * 1993: Return to Lonesome Dove (based on the fictional universe of the 1985 novel)
 * 1994–1995: Lonesome Dove: The Series (based on the fictional universe of the 1985 novel)
 * 1995: Buffalo Girls (based on 1990 novel)
 * 1995: Streets of Laredo (wrote teleplay, based on 1993 novel)
 * 1995–1996: Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years (based on the fictional world of the 1985 novel)
 * 1996: Dead Man's Walk (wrote teleplay, based on 1995 novel)
 * 2002: Johnson County War (wrote teleplay)
 * 2008: Comanche Moon (wrote teleplay, based on 1997 novel)

title: Larry McMurtry


text:
A Kid in King Arthur's Court

A Kid in King Arthur's Court is a 1995 adventure comedy fantasy film directed by Michael Gottlieb (in his final directorial film before his death in 2014). It is loosely based on the Mark Twain 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, previously filmed by Disney as Unidentified Flying Oddball in 1978. The film stars Thomas Ian Nicholas, Joss Ackland and Art Malik, and is notable for being one the first film roles of Daniel Craig and Kate Winslet.

Plot
In the Los Angeles suburb of Reseda, 14-year-old Calvin Fuller is at a baseball game, standing at bat for his team, the Knights, ready for yet another strike out. Suddenly an earthquake hits; as the others run for safety, the ground opens up under Calvin's shoes and he falls through the chasm. He eventually lands on the head of a 6th-century black knight. Upon hearing of his miraculous appearance, the elderly King Arthur, seeing him as the savior whose appearance Merlin has predicted, dubs him "Calvin of Reseda" and invites him to dine with the court.

Calvin begins his knight training under Arthur's top knight, Sir Kane, to help Arthur retain his crown. When the earthquake hit, Calvin had just grabbed his knapsack, a fact that enables him to dazzle the people of Camelot with his futuristic "magic", including an introduction to rock and roll via CD player, a Swiss Army knife, and inline roller skates. His work wins him adulation and renown, but it also rouses the jealousy and disdain of Arthur’s advisor Lord Belasco, who is secretly scheming to take over the throne. Meanwhile, Calvin finds himself spending time and developing a crush on young Princess Katey, while her elder sister, Sarah, is secretly in love with Sir Kane. Belasco moves forward with his plans and kidnaps Katey and tries to frame Calvin for murder and tells Sarah that if she does not marry him, Katey will die. As Belasco is about to arrest Calvin, Sarah rescues him, tells him Katey is alive and to find her father and show him the proof. Calvin goes to Arthur and shows the proof of Belasco's scheme. Playing along, Arthur misdirects the knights and helps Calvin escape and they disguise themselves to go rescue Katey.

Walking amongst the people, Calvin tells Arthur that Belasco has been stealing from them for years and they think Arthur does not care about them, and Arthur vows to be a better king. Calvin and Arthur find the castle Katey is being held captive; during the fight, Calvin renews Arthur's will to fight by giving him Excalibur (gifted to Calvin by Merlin). They release Katey, but Belasco' second-in-command, Richard, kidnaps her again and holds her hostage over the moat. Calvin uses a laser pointer from his CD player to blind Richard, causing him to fall and save Katey. Arthur knights Calvin as a Knight of the Round Table and arrive back in Camelot to stop Belasco from forcing Sarah into marriage. To take Belasco down for good, Arthur holds a jousting tournament for Sarah's hand.

During the tournament, Sir Kane defeats all the opponents and just him and Belasco are in the finals. Belasco uses a magnifying crystal to use the sunlight to beam it into Kane's eyes and nearly knock him out. Sarah runs off in anger and Calvin asks Arthur to stall Belasco. Belasco is close to declaring his victory if Kane does not return, but Kane does return and faces him in another joust; Belasco knocks Kane's helmet off, but the now headless Kane still jousts and makes a comeback victory by knocking Belasco off his horse. However, it is not Kane, but Calvin, who pokes his head out from the large armor. Belasco pulls Calvin off the horse and tries to kill him, but the black knight that Calvin encountered earlier appears and ambushes Belasco, saving Calvin. Forfeiting his victory to the black knight, Calvin, Arthur, and all of Camelot are surprised to see the knight is Sarah herself; an astounded but happy Arthur rewards his daughter with the right to choose her own hand in marriage, and she proudly chooses Kane. Belasco is banished from Camelot forever.

Now that he has helped Arthur keep the Crown, Calvin has Merlin uphold his end of the bargain and send him home, and he sadly bids Arthur and Katey farewell. He is returned to the 20th century just before the moment when he struck out. Once he steps up to the plate, this time, he is ready and hits a home run. He is greeted by his teammates, including Katey, and is looked on by Arthur, who is whittling a piece of wood with a pocketknife – the same knife Calvin gave to him. The ball meanwhile sails into a chasm where Merlin catches Calvin’s home run and then breaks the fourth wall by stating "Taught that kid everything he knows."

Production
Most of the 6th-century portion of the film was shot in Budapest, Hungary, while the majority of the 20th-century portion was filmed in late September 1994, at the softball field of London Central High School (LCHS), an American institution at RAF Daws Hill, High Wycombe, England.

Release
The film was theatrically released in North America on August 11, 1995. It was accompanied in theaters by Walt Disney Feature Animation's short film Runaway Brain, featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.

Reception
Upon its release, the movie was universally panned by critics. It currently holds a rating of 5% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The consensus reads: "Disappointing even by the relaxed standards of live-action children's entertainment, A Kid in King Arthur's Court stands as a rare near-total misfire from Disney." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Since its release, and since Kate Winslet and Daniel Craig went on to become major superstars in Hollywood, the film received slightly more attention. Despite the negative reviews, The Buffalo News replied "A must-see for the whole family!"

Box office
The movie debuted at No. 9. In the movie's second week it fell to No. 10.

Sequel
A sequel titled A Kid in Aladdin's Palace was released in 1998 as a direct-to-video with Nicholas reprising his role as Calvin Fuller. The cast also included Rhona Mitra as Scheherazade, Nicholas Irons as Ali Baba, James Faulkner as Luxor, Taylor Negron as the Genie, Aharon Ipalé as Aladdin and Diana Kent as Jasmine.

title: A Kid in King Arthur's Court