The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • B6

flosAnflrics (Times LATIMES.COM IRWIN STAMBLER, 1924 2017 Lover of music chronicled his passion B6 By Steve Marble later a set of books on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space missions. But his fondness for music and curiosity about the artists who created it opened other avenue for his writing. His first effort to chronicle a musical genre was "The Encyclopedia of Popular Music," an expansive catalog on Broadway musicals that was published in 1965. He later wrote "The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country and Western" with the late Grelun Landon, a record industry publicist and confidant of Elvis Presley. The "Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul" arrived in 1974, becoming perhaps the first encyclopedia to dig into the personalities of rock musicians and explore their cultural impact.

In the pre-Internet days, it became a valued resource for academics and music fans alike. "Pop music had never been treated so scholarly," said Michael Ochs, the noted rock archivist and brother of the late folk singer Phil Ochs. Stambler was born Nov. 20, 1924, and grew up in Brooklyn. His mother was a piano teacher; his father owned a jewelry business.

In a house filled with music, his immigrant parents favored the classics while he leaned toward the harmonica and the emerging sound of rhythm and blues. Stambler attended New York University to study engineering but was drafted in 1944, serving in the Army during the final days of World War II. He later returned to NYU and earned a bachelor and master's degree in aeronautical engineering. Postwar New York was a bustling, diverse city filled with infinite possibilities, fresh ideas and adventuresome music. Lyndon Stambler said his father embraced it all.

"He was very much a product of his times," his son said. "He was there at the beginning in rock 'n' roll." Later in life, Stambler and his son teamed up to write "Folk Blues: The Encyclopedia." Lyndon Stambler, a journalism professor at Santa Monica College, said his father was a tough act to keep up with. The elder Stambler had a progressive ear for music, shifting seamlessly from Cole Porter to David Bowie to the Beatles and back to Elvis. When his father took him to a punk concert one night, Lyndon Stambler said, he stuffed tissue in his ears to dampen the decibel level of the music. His father looked at him and shook his head.

"Where's your toughness?" Irwin Stambler asked. Stambler is survived by his wife, Constance; daughters Amy Sprague Cham-peau and Alice Seidman; sons Barrett and Lyndon; nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. steve.marblelatimes.com Irwin Stambler, an aeronautical engineer whose love of music inspired him to write some of the earliest and most flavorful encyclopedias on pop music, has died at 92. Stambler died Feb. 10 of complications from sepsis in West Los Angeles, his family said.

A prolific author who wrote dozens of books on a variety of topics, including space exploration and biographies on treasured sports figures, Stambler took a particular interest in the roots of rock 'n' roll, the blues, and country and western music. In assembling "The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul" and other compendi-ums on music, Stambler would often do his own research, interviewing musicians and attending concerts, his son Lyndon Stambler said. The process gave the entries in his encyclopedias a folksy you-were-there quality. "He really wanted to give people a flavor of these artists," his son said. An engineer by training, Stambler arrived in Los Angeles as a correspondent for Space Aeronautics Magazine in 1954, just as the aeronautical industry began putting its first footprints on the Southern California landscape.

He wrote newsletters, a book on aviation, another on engineering, and Ken Fabrick FATHER-SON TEAM Irwin Stambler, left, and son Lyndon, a journalism professor at Santa Monica College, wrote "Folk Blues: The Encyclopedia" together. GEORGE 'THE ANIMAL' STEELE Wild man of the wrestling ring Steamboat's corner when Steamboat defeated Savage for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania III. Steele retired two years later but made occasional appearances after that. Steele also played Tor Johnson in the Tim Burton film "Ed Wood." World Wrestling Entertainment inducted Steele into its Hall of Fame in 1995. houston.mitchell latimes.com By Houston Mitchell WWE Hall of Famer George "the Animal" Steele died Thursday night after a lengthy illness.

He was 79. Steele, whose real name was Jim Myers, wrestled for many promotions but is best remembered for his time in WWE (then called WWF). With his stooped posture, bald head, green tongue CHARLES KRUPA Associated Press BALD HEAD, GREEN TONGUE George Steele bites a baseball before throwing out the first pitch of a game between Baltimore and Boston. Lobbyist faces fine Masseuse charged in buttock surgery death (which he got from chewing green breath mints before his matches) and mat of hair on his back, Steele would act like a wild man in the ring. He would bite off one of the corner turnbuckle pads during a match and throw the stuffing at his opponents.

His vocabulary was usually limited to one word, "Mine," which became so popular that fans in the arenas would say it with him. WWE eventually created a stuffed animal called Mine SANDRA Yaneth Perez-Gonzalez, above, performed an illegal buttock enhancement on Hamilet Suarez in February 2014. years ago. On the afternoon of Feb. 12, 2014, they were called to Areli's Beauty Salon in the 2000 block of Pacific Avenue to assist firefighters with a patient who had suffered cardiac arrest "under suspicious circumstances," police said.

When officers arrived, they found firefighters performing CPR on Suarez. She was taken to a hospital, where she died. According to police, officers were initially told that the 36-year-old Long Beach resident had gone to the salon for a massage but went into cardiac arrest before (with green tongue, naturally) that they would sell at events. In real life, Steele had a master's degree from Central Michigan University and became a high school teacher to supplement his wrestling income. His most famous feud was in 1986-87 with Randy Savage, after Steele developed a crush on Savage's manager, Miss Elizabeth, angering Savage.

It culminated with Steele in Ricky the massage started. Authorities said the details about Suarez's visit to the salon were inconsistent, so homicide detectives launched an investigation. They soon discovered that Perez-Gonzalez was renting a treatment room in the salon and had performed an illegal buttock enhancement on Suarez, authorities said. According to police, Perez-Gonzalez was a licensed massage therapist but was not licensed to perform medical beauty procedures, even though she had been advertising those services, police said. In her advertisements, authorities said, Perez-Gonzalez claimed she could perform buttock enhancements, lip augmentations and "vampire" facelifts a procedure in which a patient's blood is drawn and reinjected into their face.

During the investigation, detectives found multiple vials of drugs or chemicals used in beauty medical procedures, along with medical equipment, in Perez-Gonzalez's treatment room. Perez-Gonzalez was arrested at the time on suspicion of possessing controlled substances. veronica.rocha latimes.com Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA Lobbyist, from Bl the mayor, according to the investigation. Under city rules, registered lobbyists are barred from offering or giving gifts to elected officials. They are also prohibited from giving them to other city officials those who are not elected if they are seeking to influence decisions in their agencies.

City officials are also prohibited from accepting such donations, according to the Municipal Code. The Ethics Commission report did not identify which city officials attended the party, but indicated that those attendees had reimbursed Ek for their share of the party expenses $205.06 each after being contacted by investigators. By reimbursing Ek, a commission report stated, the city officials were "negating acceptance of the gift." Among the partygoers was City Councilman Mitch Englander, who was photographed alongside Ek at the event. A blog on local politics, Mayor Sam's Sister City, published the photo and dubbed the event the "L.A. Power Broker Party of the Weekend." Englander later reimbursed the lobbyist, his spokeswoman Stephanie Saporito said.

City Councilwoman Nury Martinez also attended the party and reimbursed Ek, spokesman Adam Bass said. Martinez knew attending the event amounted to a gift and had paid Ek back without being notified by the commission staff, Bass added. Ethics Commission staffers did not answer questions Thursday for information about who else had attended the event. Agency employees generally do not comment to the media on their investigations, which are supposed to be conducted confidentially under the City Charter. Representatives for Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Controller Ron Galperin and council members Herb Wesson, Mike Bonin, Bob Blu-menfield, Gil Cedillo, Joe Buscaino, Jose Huizar, Paul Krekorian, Paul Koretz and Mitch O'Farrell said Thursday that those elected officials did not go to the event.

A spokeswoman for Councilman Curren Price said he did not recall attending either. The birthday party occurred May 30, 2015, shortly before current councilmen David Ryu and Marqueece Harris-Dawson took office. Neither of them attended the event, according to their aides. Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said she didn't understand why the commission would not indicate which city officials had attended and accepted an improper gift.

"It's not at all clear to me what legitimate interest there is in hiding it from the public," Clark said. "If one person made a mistake, maybe you don't need new training. But if it's a substantial number of folks, that sounds like a systemic problem." Ek, who has been registered as a city lobbyist for more than two decades, referred requests for an interview Thursday to his spokesman Robert Alaniz. "Although we'd like to respond to your inquiry, it would be totally inappropriate to comment before the commission has had an opportunity to convene and act," Alaniz said in response to questions. The Ethics Commission, whose members are appointed by city officials, is scheduled to vote next week on the proposed fine.

Earlier this month, Ek signed an agreement to pay a proposed penalty of $11,380.83 for the violations, which represents half of the maximum possible fine. Investigators stated that the lower fine "takes into consideration the serious nature of the violations while also encouraging cooperation with the Ethics Commission investigations." Ek, who has no previous fines from the commission, had assisted investigators by providing documents that showed who had attended and how much the event cost, the staffers wrote. emily.alpert latimes.com Twitter: LATimesEmily Massage therapist who wasn't licensed to perform medical beauty procedures faces a murder count. By Veronica Rocha A Long Beach massage therapist was charged Thursday with the death of a woman who went into cardiac arrest while receiving a buttock augmentation three years ago, officials said. Sandra Yaneth Perez-Gonzalez, who also goes by Sandra Yaneth Slaughter, is facing one count of murder for the February 2014 death, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Perez-Gonzalez is being held on $2-million bail, authorities said. Perez-Gonzalez could face life in prison if convicted, he said. Perez-Gonzalez, 45, was arrested Tuesday on a warrant in connection with Hamilet Suarez's death, said Marlene Arrona, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department. Arrona declined to release details about the evidence that led to Perez-Gonzalez's arrest. Detectives began investigating Perez-Gonzalez three.