Obits in Brief

Jesse Fortune

Jesse Fortune, the veteran Chicago blues singer who was most active in the 1950s and 60s, died on 31 August at the age of 79. He collapsed on stage while performing at a West Side club, Gene's Playmate Lounge, in his home town.

Fortune, better known as the "Fortune Tellin' Man," was born in Macon, Mississippi, in February 1930, and migrated to Chicago in 1952. Perhaps best known for his 1963 recording "Too Many Cooks," which became a minor hit, he later worked with Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon.

"He was one of the great Chicago blues singers," said the blues guitarist Dave Specter, who wrote the song "Fortune Tellin' Man" for Fortune and recorded an album by that title with him in 1993. "He had an amazingly powerful voice, kind of in the style of early B.B. King. He had so much presence he almost didn't need a microphone."

John Panton

The Scottish golfer John Panton, who died on 24 July aged 92, was a member of the Great Britain Ryder Cup team on three occasions, 1951, 1953 and 1961, during a period of American dominance of the transatlantic competition.

Born in Pitlochry in October 1916, Panton turned professional in 1935, working in the local golf club shop. He served in the army during the Second World War, and went on to win many prestigious tournaments including the 1956 PGA Match Play Championship.

He later won the PGA Seniors Championship twice, in 1967 and 1969, and the World Seniors Championship in 1967, beating the great American Sam Snead 3 and 2 in the final. His daughter Catherine Panton-Lewis was a founding member of the Ladies European Tour.