JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mildred Nungester Wolfe, a Jackson artist for more than a half-century whose evocative landscapes in oil and watercolor captured Mississippi's regional beauty, has died following a long illness. She was 96.

Wolfe's family said she had been in failing health since October 2004 when she was hospitalized with congestive heart disease. Until that time, she had continued to paint at her home and studio.

The family said she was at home at the time of her death. Plans for services are incomplete.

One of Wolfe's best known paintings was her portrait of Eudora Welty, the Jackson writer who was a close friend, which she painted for the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. It was one of three portraits she painted of Welty; the others were displayed at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and at the state Department of Archives and History in Jackson.

Her other works have been displayed throughout the South, notably in the Municipal Art Gallery in Jackson and the Mississippi Museum of Art, but also in banks, public buildings and doctors' offices, as well as tucked away in private homes.

"I care about the beauty," she said in an earlier interview. "I just look for the beautiful."

What interested her were flowering shrubs, towering pines, riverbanks, and rolling farmland, as well as children, back yards, and blossoming trees. She said she was influenced by the European masters, the Impressionists and the Post-Impressionists, but she would have nothing to do with the abstract distortions of modern art.

Although primarily an oil and watercolor artist, she worked in a wide range of media, including ceramics and glass. Among her monumental pieces were stained glass windows in the Baptist Church in Hazlehurst and the Belhaven College art center in Jackson. Mosaics depicting the Stations of the Cross, created in 1958-9 for St. Richard's Catholic Church in Jackson, were featured in a special exhibition in 2004 at the Mississippi Museum of Art.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman officially launched her bid to seek the Republican nomination for California governor on Monday, capping a yearlong tour on the political stage after leaving her high-profile Silicon Valley job.

The 52-year-old political neophyte began testing her affinity for politics after leaving a 10-year stint with the online auction site last January. She served as finance chairwoman for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and then as a national co-chair of John McCain's.

"California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history - a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses and an exploding state budget deficit," Whitman said in a statement on her Web site. "California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it fail."

Whitman was not available for interviews Monday, said her spokesman, Mitch Zak.

Whitman will face Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, another wealthy former Silicon Valley executive, and former Rep. Tom Campbell, in the Republican primary in June 2010.

Whichever candidate emerges from the GOP field will face a stiff challenge in the 2010 general election as the party continues to lose voters. Republicans accounted for 31.4 percent of registered voters last November, a slide of more than 3 percentage points since the 2004 elections. The party, which has grown more conservative in recent years as California voters have become more centrist, has been shedding voters for more than a decade as the ranks of independents in California has grown.

President Barack Obama defeated Republican challenger John McCain by 24 percentage points last year, the widest margin in a California presidential race since World War II.

Former GOP Gov. Pete Wilson, who will serve as Whitman's campaign chairman, said the party needs a compelling candidate like Whitman to revive itself.

"I think that she will be sort of a classic California Republican who demands that money be spent wisely, and not too much of it, and not more than we have," Wilson said in an interview Monday. "She will definitely be a taxpayer's friend and a friend to the people who create jobs."

Whitman promoted her financial experience during the presidential campaign, but has not revealed her positions on social issues such as abortion, stem-cell research and the death penalty. She supported the gay marriage ban approved by California voters in November.

Poizner is also considered a social moderate. His communications director, Kevin Spillane, said Whitman's decision is a sign of strength for the state GOP.

"Campaigns are about differences and we look forward to Meg Whitman and other Republican candidates joining Steve Poizner in a vigorous discussion about who has the hands-on experience, innovative ideas and conservative instincts to save California," Spillane said in a statement.

Whitman's announcement Monday that she had formed an exploratory committee is the first step toward an official run for governor. She had not reported any financial contributions to the secretary of state's office as of Monday.

Within hours of her announcement, a conservative attorney who is seeking the state party's nomination as vice chairman, filed a complaint with the state's elections watchdog, the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Thomas Hudson alleges that Whitman has been running a de facto campaign for months but has failed to report thousands of dollars in spending as required by California law.

"It has been widely reported in the press that candidate has retained, hired and fired numerous campaign consultants, press assistants, pollsters, attorneys and campaign organizers over the last many months," Tom Hudson wrote.

Zak said: "The complaint is a political stunt and has no merit."

Hudson has endorsed Poizner, and Poizner likewise supports Hudson for the party nomination.

The Republican nominee will face a crowded Democratic field that is expected to include former governor and current Attorney General Jerry Brown, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Lt. Gov. John Garamendi. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has not said whether she will run or remain in Congress.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is prohibited from running again under the state's term-limits law and will leave office in January 2011. His moderate social and fiscal positions have often put him at odds with the state Republican Party and the Bush administration.

Whitman launched her campaign Monday on her Web site, www.megwhitman.com.

She recently settled her lawsuit against a Santa Monica man who beat her legal and political experts to five Internet domains with Whitman's name, including whitmanforgovernor.com, whitman2010.com and megwhitman2010.com. Her attorneys had sought to force Tom Hall to return the domain names to her, but the World Intellectual Property Association ruled last December that Whitman's name is not famous enough to prove she has her own unique brand.

Hall confirmed Monday that he had reached an "amicable settlement" with Whitman but said he could not discuss it.
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On the Net:

Whitman for Governor: www.megwhitman.com

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WS-02-09-09 1930EST

WASHINGTON - Johnnetta Cole has been named director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, effective March 2.

Cole is the board chair of the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute, founded at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C. The mission of the nonprofit institute is to create, communicate and continuously support the case for diversity and inclusion in the workplace through education, training, research and publications.

"We are delighted that a scholar, author, educator and leader of such international stature will lead the National Museum of African Art at this opportune time," said Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian. "I have known Johnnetta for many years, and I look forward to working with her in her new role and in finding opportunities to use her talents to help with pan-Institutional activities."

"It will be a privilege and a joy to work with the board, the staff and all stakeholders of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art," said Cole. "Serving as the director of this museum will bring together my passion for African Art, respect for an anthropological knowledge of the people and cultures of the African continent and my involvement in the world of education."

Cole served as president of the Bennett College for Women (2002-2007) where she completed a $50 million campaign, opened an art gallery and initiated programs in Africana women's studies and global studies. Before that, she served as Presidential Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Women's Studies and African American Studies (1998-2001) at Emory University in Atlanta. In 2002, she served as co-curator of the exhibition titled Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity at the Carlos Museum at Emory.

Cole was president of Spelman College in Atlanta (1987-1997) where her appointment generated a $20 million gift from Bill and Camille Cosby. In addition, she completed a $113 million capital campaign. Under her leadership, Spelman College was named the number-one ranked liberal arts college in the South.

BOSTON (AP) - A street artist famous for his red, white and blue "Hope" posters of President Obama has been arrested on warrants accusing him of tagging property with graffiti, police said Saturday.

Shepard Fairey was arrested Friday night on his way to the Institute of Contemporary Art for a kickoff event for his first solo exhibition, called Supply and Demand.

Two warrants were issued for Fairey on Jan. 24 after police determined he'd tagged property in two locations with graffiti based on the Andre the Giant street art campaign from his early career, Officer James Kenneally said. One of the locations was the railroad trestle by the landmark Boston University bridge over the Charles River, police said.

Fairey, 38, of Los Angeles, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Brighton District Court, said Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney. Wark said Fairey would also be arraigned on a default warrant related to a separate graffiti case in the Roxbury section of Boston.

Fairey has spent the last two weeks in the Boston area installing the ICA exhibit and creating outdoor art, including a 20-by-50 foot (6-by-15 meter) banner on the side of City Hall, according to a statement issued Saturday by the museum.

The museum said Fairey was released a few hours after his arrest. Boston police confirmed Fairey had been released, but did not know exactly when or the amount of his bail.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes is auctioning the gloves he wore when he caught the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII to benefit a charity that is close to his heart.

All proceeds from the auction will benefit the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America Inc. As mentioned to Jay Leno during Holmes' appearance on The Tonight Show, the football star's 6-year-old son, Santonio III, has the blood disease, for which there are treatments but no widely available cure.

ROCHESTER, New York (AP) - Seated by a window in the Illinois state Capitol in 1860, a beardless, bow-tied Abraham Lincoln held still for 25 seconds for what would become a classic campaign portrait of the soon-to-be president.

It was undoubtedly a personal favorite, and now that it is on display, the public can judge whether Lincoln was right when he wrote: "That looks better and expresses me better than any I have ever seen."

Lincoln, who had recently launched his 1860 run for the White House as the Republican nominee, said in a letter to photographer Alexander Hesler. "If it pleases the people, I am satisfied."

Twenty years later, images of the slain Civil War leader were in high demand. Hesler's wet-plate collodion negative was used to create a high-definition, silver-gelatin interpositive - a new-technology format from which several thousand prints were generated and sold in the late 19th century.

CORNUCOPIA, Wis. (AP) - Michael Coughlin didn't know it, but he picked a great time to buy old printing presses.

Lined up side by side in his print shop in this tiny Bayfield County community on the shore of Lake Superior are eight letterpresses and one offset press dating from the 1880s to the 1960s. There's also a Linotype machine, large drawers containing metal and wood type in various sizes and fonts, and a bookbinding machine with four spools of white thread on top.

Much of his hardware was stuff others didn't want.

"I got into it at a fortunate time when people were dumping out of it," said Coughlin, who began acquiring presses in the early 1980s and has operated Superior Letterpress Co. in Cornucopia for a decade. "But now the worm has turned, and it's in vogue like antique cars."

Although Coughlin, 63, prints small press runs of books, newsletters, labels and other commercial print jobs, he's carved out a niche for himself in letterpress wedding invitations.

Letterpress printing features impressions in the paper, and it's growing in popularity for folks who want their business cards or wedding invitations to have an antique feel to them. Plus, a shout-out to letterpress invites from home decorating maven Martha Stewart helped when she began writing about them in her magazine a decade ago.

DALLAS - Heritage Auction Galleries has added Steve Borock to its staff of comic experts, the Dallas-based firm announced Jan. 29.

"Steve is one of the best-known and most respected figures in the vintage comic hobby, and we couldn't be more pleased to have him on board," said Ed Jaster, vice president of Heritage. "Steve's expertise is only going to further cement our status as the leading auctioneer of vintage comics and original comic art. Steve will help us with major collections and private clients, and will help us take our ComicMarket for third-party sellers at HA.com to the next level."

Borock was a key figure in introducing third-party certification to the comic book hobby. He was hired by Comics Guaranty Corp. as its primary grader when the firm started up in 1999 because of his knowledge of vintage comic books and, said Jaster, the trust he enjoyed among both sellers and buyers. He was promoted to president of CGC soon thereafter, a post he held until late 2008.

During his tenure at CGC, Borock had the final word on every grade that CGC assigned, and his reputation for fairness, honesty and impartiality was the key component in CGC's gaining acceptance among the community of collectors and dealers. It was Borock, along with colleague Mark Haspel, who established the grading standards used by CGC and - these days - most of the collecting community as well.

In the 36th edition of his annual Comic Book Price Guide, Bob Overstreet stated: " ... probably the most important event (in our hobby) to date was the arrival of comic book certification with CGC."

Prior to his time at CGC, Borock was a high-end collector who has owned, bought or sold many of the most sought-after high-grade and pedigree comic books in the hobby. He is known for taking new collectors under his wing and teaching them the subtleties of collecting to ensure a safer and friendlier hobby. Borock had also graded for Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses in the days before the founding of CGC, when auction firms would use panels of experts to determine accurate grades.  

During his time at CGC, to ensure neutrality, he decided to withdraw from buying and selling vintage comics and began to collect original comic art, an area in which he's also extremely knowledgeable. As a lifelong comic fan, however, he never stopped buying the latest new comic books at his local comic shop, and he avidly reads and enjoys them to this day.

Borock takes particular pride in being on the board of the comic hobby's greatest charity, the Hero Initiative, a not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need.

"I believe that if we all enjoy comic books, we should help those in need that brought us such joy to our lives," he said.

Hero provides a financial safety net for yesterday's comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.

"I am really looking forward to my next journey in the comics field at Heritage," Borock said. "They've been innovators in our hobby for the last nine years, bringing live and Internet auctions to an entire new level while setting record prices. Not only that, but the transparency that Heritage offers to the collecting community, especially with their on-line archives, makes me feel secure in the fact that I am in the correct place to help our hobby grow in the right direction. Comic books and the friends I have made in this hobby are very important to me, and I have to be somewhere I know will be beneficial to all of us."  

"Steve is a real comic book ambassador who knows just about everyone in the hobby, and incidentally he's also one of the nicest guys in the hobby," said Jim Halperin, Heritage co-chairman of the board. "He was a major factor in CGC's success, and we expect him to have an equally strong impact at Heritage."

Steve Borock can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

FREDERICK, Md. - Veteran antique toy dealer and previous auction company co-owner Keith Spurgeon has formed a new auction house venture, Mosby & Co., specializing in antique and vintage toys, and pop culture memorabilia of all types. Based in Frederick, Md., Mosby & Co. Auctions will conduct its first major sale in mid May.

Spurgeon plans to produce two major cataloged auctions per year. All will be absentee-style auctions, with bids accepted exclusively by phone, fax, Internet and mail.

Originally from northern Virginia, Keith Spurgeon has had a 25-year involvement with antique toys, starting as a collector and evolving into a knowledgeable and well-respected dealer. He has been a regular on the antique toy show circuit for 20 years, developing a particular expertise in 1930s Disney and comic character toys.

In 2006, Keith Spurgeon co-founded Old Town Auctions with Matt Protos. The company held several successful live auctions in Maryland.

NEW YORK - After serving nine years as Sotheby's Senior Vice President and Director of the Collectibles Department (1999-2008), Leila "Lee" Dunbar has founded Leila Dunbar LLC, offering consulting, appraisal, auctioneering, lecturing and media services to private clients, auction houses, corporations, media and institutions.

Recent institutional clients include the Baseball Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ronald Reagan Museum and Library, the Auction Network, and Sotheby's.

In her nine years at Sotheby's, Dunbar's department sold more than $75 million worth of memorabilia via live and online auctions of collectibles, largely in the areas of entertainment memorabilia, sports memorabilia, toys, animation art, comic art and movie posters.

High-profile entertainment highlights included:

• Estate of Katharine Hepburn ($6 million)
• Estate of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash ($4 million)
• Property from the Collection of Cher ($3.5 million)

HOUSTON - The Heritage Society of Houston has announced it is bring back antiques experts Leslie Keno and Leigh Keno as the featured speakers at the Feb. 12, 2009 Houston Heritage luncheon. This year's luncheon will be held at the River Oaks Country Club, 1600 River Oaks Blvd., Houston.

The Keno brothers are premier antiques dealers of 18th- and 19th-century American furniture, decorative arts and paintings. Their interest in antiques was cultivated at a young age, and they have became celebrities from their appearances on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow. Leigh and Leslie also host their own PBS series, Find!

The Kenos' appearance at the 2008 luncheon was so well received, they were asked to speak again at this 2009 event. Ticket prices start at $200 per person. Proceeds from the luncheon will raise funds for The Heritage Society to preserve Houston's past through restoration of historic structures, exhibition of historical artifacts, and presentation of educational programs that focus on the past and its relationship to the present and the future.

For more information, contact Helen Sutton at 713.655.1912, ext 112 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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The Heritage Society is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit organization and is located in Sam Houston Park, 1100 Bagby in downtown Houston. The Heritage Society is funded in part by a grant from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bob May, who donned The Robot's suit in the hit 1960s television show Lost in Space, has died. He was 69.

May died Sunday of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Lancaster, said his daughter, Deborah May.

He was a veteran actor and stuntman who had appeared in movies, TV shows and on the vaudeville stage when he was tapped by Lost in Space creator Irwin Allen to play the Robinson family's loyal metal sidekick in the series that debuted in 1965.

"He always said he got the job because he fit in the robot suit," said June Lockhart, who played family matriarch Maureen Robinson. "It was one of those wonderful Hollywood stories. He just happened to be on the studio lot when someone saw him and sent him to see Irwin Allen about the part. Allen said, 'If you can fit in the suit, you've got the job.'"

Although May didn't provide the robot's distinctive voice (that was done by announcer Dick Tufeld), he developed a following of fans who sought him out at memorabilia shows.

LONDON - Bloomsbury Auctions' managing director, Rupert Powell, has announced the passing of the company's co-founder, David Stagg, who died on Jan. 17. He was 61 years old and had been suffering from cancer.

"Although we all knew that his illness was very severe and that his condition had deteriorated quite rapidly in the last few weeks, it still came as a big shock to hear that 'the irrepressible Stagg' had finally succumbed...," said Powell.

Together with Lord John Kerr and Frank Herrmann, Stagg co-founded Bloomsbury Auctions in 1983. He was a major driving force behind the start-up, growth and more recent flourishing of the firm, which is regarded by many as the world's leading auction house of rare books and manuscripts. According to a Bloomsbury corporate statement, the company sells more lots of books each year, ranging from Incunabula (books printed before 1500) through to modern titles like Harry Potter, than any other auctioneers in the world. Bloomsbury's has auctioned a number of important collections, such as the Yablon collection of Hebraica, the angling libraries of Jeffrey Norton and David Beazley; the Weinreb Computer collection, the library of Egyptologist Ricardo Caminos and that of the Orientalist David Loman.

"[David Stagg's] influence on all members of the Bloomsbury team and on many others in the book world, past and present, has been immense," said Powell. "He was truly devoted to Bloomsbury and worked extremely hard, and without fuss and fanfare put in the hard graft and late hours which have over the years contributed significantly to our success."

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Kimbell Art Museum has appointed Eric McCauley Lee-director of the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati-as its next director. Dr. Lee will become only the fourth director in the Museum's history and will succeed Timothy Potts, who left in 2007 for the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Dr. Lee will assume his post at the Kimbell in early spring 2009.

"We are thrilled to hand over the reins of the directorship to Dr. Lee," said Kay Fortson, who is president of the Kimbell's Board of Directors. "An extensive search yielded many outstanding candidates, but in Dr. Lee we found the perfect fit:  an experienced museum director and accomplished art historian with the leadership qualities to guide the Kimbell in an exciting new era. I am confident that he will thrive here, bringing fresh vision and sound judgment to the Kimbell of the future."

Brenda Cline, executive vice president for the Kimbell Art Foundation, commented, "Dr. Lee has demonstrated a commitment to the highest standards of scholarship and museum professionalism. He is a strong, experienced executive whose passion for art is contagious. He will be a welcome addition to our talented staff and a new point of pride for the Fort Worth community."

"I am deeply honored to be chosen as the next director of the Kimbell Art Museum, an institution I have long admired and loved," said Dr. Lee. "With its iconic building by Louis Kahn and its extraordinary collections, exhibitions, and programs, the Kimbell has a magic that places it at the forefront of American museums. It is a living, evolving institution that continues to grow through spectacular acquisitions and, now, with the addition of a new building by one of the world's great architects, Renzo Piano. I look forward to working with the Kimbell's board and staff in charting the course of the next chapter in the Kimbell's distinguished history."