Reggie Fleming

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) _ Reggie Fleming, a former Chicago Blackhawks player, died Saturday. He was 73.

Fleming died at a suburban Chicago hospital, his son Chris Fleming said.

Fleming spent four of his 12 National Hockey League seasons with the Blackhawks. From 1960 to 1964, the Montreal native registered 455 penalty minutes and 47 points in 261 career regular-season games and 84 penalty minutes and five points in 37 postseason appearances.

In 1961, Fleming helped the 'Hawks capture the Stanley Cup.

Fleming also spent two seasons with the World Hockey Association's Chicago Cougars from 1972 to 1974.

Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon says that while Fleming was a fierce competitor on the ice, he was caring and gentle off it.

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Jimi Flowers

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) _ Jimi Flowers, a U.S. Paralympic swim coach, died Friday. He was 47.

Flowers died in a climbing accident on Capitol Peak near Aspen, Colo., the United States Olympic Committee said.

USOC acting CEO Stephanie Streeter said the organization was shocked and saddened by Flower's tragic death.

Streeter said Flowers developed numerous Olympic and Paralympic champions. She also said he was "an inspiration to athletes, colleagues and all who knew him."

Flowers was USA Swimming's national team director from 1989-93. He also worked at Auburn and the USOC.

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Paul Hemphill

ATLANTA (AP) _ Atlanta writer Paul Hemphill, who chronicled the blue-collar South with his memoir "Leaving Birmingham" and wrote a biography of country singer Hank Williams, died Saturday. He was 73.

Hemphill, who had cancer, had spent some time in hospice care, according to A.S. Turner & Sons funeral home.

The son of a long-distance trucker, Hemphill grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and served with the Alabama Air National Guard. He worked in public relations and newspapers, arriving in Atlanta in 1964 with the Atlanta Times.

He was hired away by the Atlanta Journal as a columnist.

During a Nieman Fellowship in 1968-69, he wrote "The Nashville Sound," which sold 75,000 copies in hardcover as a groundbreaking look at country music and the Grand Ole Opry.