2012 deaths

Édouard Leclerc (French pronunciation: [edwaʁ ləklɛʁ]; born 20 November 1926 in Landerneau – died 17 September 2012 in Saint-Divy, Brittany) was a French businessman and entrepreneur who founded the French supermarket chain E.Leclerc in 1948. From his first store, Leclerc's chain has multiplied into more than 550 locations in France and 114 stores outside the country, as of 2012.Leclerc was born in the commune of Landerneau, Finistère, in the region of Brittany on 20 November 1926. He died in Saint-Divy, Finistère, on 17 September 2012, at the age of 85.

Gerrit Jan Komrij (30 March 1944 – 5 July 2012) was a Dutch poet, novelist, translator, critic, polemic journalist and playwright. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s, writing poetry that sharply contrasted with the free-form poetry of his contemporaries. He acquired a reputation for his prose in the late 1970s, writing acerbic essays and columns often critical of writers, television programs, and politicians. As a literary critic and especially as an anthologist he had a formative influence on Dutch literature: his 1979 anthology of Dutch poetry of the 19th and 20th centuries, reformed the canon, and was followed by anthologies of Dutch poetry of the 17th and 18th centuries, of Afrikaans poetry, and of children's poetry. Those anthologies and a steady stream of prose and poetry publications solidified his reputation as one of the country's leading writers and critics; he was awarded the highest literary awards including the P. C. Hooft Award (1993), and from 2000 to 2004, he was the Dutch Dichter des Vaderlands (Poet Laureate). Komrij died in 2012 at age 68.

Michel Daerden (16 November 1949 – 5 August 2012) was a francophone Belgian politician, a member of the Parti Socialiste, and a finance auditor.
Daerden was born in Baudour, Belgium. With a reputation as a 'bon vivant', his undenied penchant for a drink (especially Pomerol) led him to be nicknamed "the Gainsbourg of Belgian Politics" both by himself in a famous TV interview and by Belgium's much respected weekly news magazine Le Vif/L'Express.

Richard Descoings (French: [ʁiʃaʁ dekwɛ̃]; June 23, 1958 – April 3, 2012) was a French civil servant. He was serving as the Director of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: Institut d'études politiques de Paris or Sciences Po Paris), and as such as the Chief Administrator of the National Foundation of Political Science (Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, FNSP). These two entities are collectively referred to as Sciences Po (see Use of Sciences Po), and are two of the most prestigious public policy research and teaching bodies in Europe. Descoings was also a senior member of the Conseil d'État.

Claude Miller (20 February 1942 – 4 April 2012) was a French film director, producer and screenwriter.

Rémi Ochlik (16 October 1983 – 22 February 2012) was a French photojournalist who was known for his photographs of war and conflict in Haiti and the Arab Spring revolutions. Ochlik died in the February 2012 bombardment of Homs during the 2011–2012 Syrian uprising along with veteran war correspondent Marie Colvin.

José Hermano Saraiva GCIH • GCIP (3 October 1919 – 20 July 2012) was a Portuguese professor, historian and jurist. He was most known as a television personality in Portugal, having been the author and presenter of several documentary series of historical divulgation from 1971 to 2003 on the Portuguese television.

Joseph P. Muranyi (January 14, 1928 – April 20, 2012) was an American jazz clarinetist, producer and critic.
Muranyi studied with Lennie Tristano but was primarily interested in early jazz styles such as Dixieland and swing. After playing in a United States Army Air Forces band, he moved to New York City in the 1950s, and attended the Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University. In the 1950s he played under Eddie Condon, collaborating with Jimmy McPartland, Max Kaminsky, Yank Lawson, Bobby Hackett, and Red Allen. During that decade he also played with the Red Onion Jazz Band (1952–54), Danny Barker (1958), and Wingy Manone.
In 1963, Muranyi played with The Village Stompers, a Dixieland band which reached the pop charts with its song "Washington Square". From 1967 to 1971 he was the clarinetist with the Louis Armstrong All-Stars. Armstrong, after initially struggling to pronounce Muranyi's Hungarian family name, introduced him on stage as "Joe Ma Rainey", to Muranyi's own amusement. Following this he played with Roy Eldridge, World's Greatest Jazz Band (1975), Cozy Cole, Lionel Hampton, Herman Autrey, Wild Bill Davison, Zutty Singleton, and others.
Muranyi did extensive work as a record producer, and wrote liner notes for hundreds of albums. He was also an enthusiastic vocalist and played both soprano and tenor saxophone.

Donald Lee Leshnock (November 25, 1946 – May 5, 2012), was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, in 1972.Leshnock’s entire big league career consisted of one inning of relief, for Detroit, on June 7, 1972, when the Tigers hosted the California Angels. He did not allow an earned run, giving up two hits, and no walks, while striking out two of the five batters he faced.
Leshnock attended Youngstown State University, where he played college baseball for the Penguins, (1965, Junior Varsity) and (1966–1968, Varsity) and was inducted into the Youngstown State Athletic Hall of Fame, in 1986.
Besides Leshnock‘s brief MLB stint, he pitched eight seasons of Minor League Baseball, from 1968 to 1975.

Norman Michael Hershberger (October 9, 1939 – July 1, 2012) was an American professional baseball player and outfielder for the Chicago White Sox (1961–1964, 1971), Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1965–1969) and Milwaukee Brewers (1970) during an 11-season Major League Baseball career. Born in Massillon, Ohio, he threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).
He signed with the White Sox in 1959 after graduating from Massillon High School and attending the University of Cincinnati. He held down a starting corner outfielder job in the majors for seven straight years (1962–1968), and in 1966 led the American League in sacrifice flies (7) during his tenure with the Athletics.
In his 11 MLB seasons, Hershberger played in 1,150 games and had 3,572 at bats, 398 runs, 900 hits, 150 doubles, 22 triples, 26 home runs, 344 runs batted in, 74 stolen bases, 319 walks, .252 batting average, .316 on-base percentage, .328 slugging percentage, 1,172 total bases, 33 sacrifice hits, 28 sacrifice flies and 19 intentional walks.
He died in Massillon on July 1, 2012, following a brief illness.