Zypora Spaisman, 86; Fixture in New York’s...

Zypora Spaisman, 86; Fixture in New York’s Yiddish Theater Scene

Zypora Spaisman, 86, a fixture in New York’s singular Yiddish theater scene for half a century, died Saturday of cerebral trauma in a New York hospital, said her son, Ben-Ami Spaisman.

Born Zypora Tanenbaum in Lublin, Poland, she began acting in the Polish State Theatre at age 10 and never stopped.

After attending nursing school and marrying Joseph Spaisman, she became a midwife.

The couple fled Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939 only to be interned in a Russian labor camp.

The midwife delivered more than 1,000 babies, and organized other internees to perform Yiddish theater in the barracks.

The Spaismans returned briefly to Poland, then moved to Paris and Montreal before settling in New York City in 1955.

Spaisman immersed herself in the Folksbiene (People’s Stage) Yiddish Theatre, founded in 1915 and the oldest continuous theater of its type in the world.

She acted, raised money and served as artistic director, single-handedly keeping the theater afloat for more than 40 years.

But after an acrimonious separation over modernizing management, Spaisman formed her own competing Yiddish Public Theatre in 1999.

Spaisman earned an Obie award, a Drama Desk award and a New York City People’s Choice award for her acting.

In addition to her extensive stage resume, she appeared in such films as “Enemies: A Love Story,” directed by Paul Mazursky and starring Anjelica Huston and Ron Silver, in 1989.

#S#

Marc Lindenberg, 56; University Dean and Humanitarian Activist

Marc Lindenberg, 56, dean of the University of Washington’s Daniel Evans School of Public Affairs and a noted humanitarian aid advocate, died May 17 of lung cancer in Seattle.

As dean, Lindenberg started the university’s first endowment and recruited top scholars.

He balanced his academic work with managerial posts in nongovernmental organizations, and from 1992 to 1997 oversaw $400 million in relief and development programs in 36 countries for CARE USA.

He also was a board member of Oxfam America and the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation.

Lindenberg grew up in Pittsburgh and earned his bachelor’s degree in political science at Oberlin College in Ohio.

He earned his master’s degree and doctorate at USC.

Lindenberg taught at the University of Washington and the University of Oregon in the early 1970s, and was assistant director for the American Friends Service Committee Programs for Southeast Asia.

For most of the 1980s, Lindenberg was dean and professor at the Central American Institute of Businessman Administration, founded in conjunction with Harvard Business School, with campuses in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

He later taught at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and joined the University of Washington in 1998.

The university plans to launch a center for the study of humanitarian action in his honor.

#S#

Mel Zikes, 74; Former Sports Writer, Boating Columnist for The Times

Mel Zikes, 74, a former sports writer and boating enthusiast who wrote a boating column for The Times four decades ago, died May6 of heart failure in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, said his wife, Kathy.

Born in Wichita, Kan., Zikes studied journalism at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

During World War II, he was a member of the Army’s highly decorated 101st Airborne Division, known as “the Screaming Eagles.” He was wounded during their assault on France.

After the war, Zikes wrote sports stories for newspapers in San Antonio and San Diego and for magazines.

He wrote a Times sports column called “Waterways” from 1961 to 1962, about yacht races and developments in sail and motor boating. Zikes later worked in public relations.

An avid boater, Zikes competed in outboard championship races at Lake Havasu and elsewhere around California.

In 1965, he suffered a punctured lung and two fractured ribs when he was thrown out of his speedboat in a turbulent wake at Lake Havasu.