Deaths elsewhere

Irish poet and novelist Christopher Nolan, who refused to let cerebral palsy get in the way of his writing, has died.

Nolan, 43, choked on a piece of food Friday at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, according to a statement from his family carried in the Irish media. The hospital confirmed his death Saturday.

"Christopher Nolan was a gifted writer who attained deserved success and acclaim throughout the world for his work," Irish President Mary McAleese said in a statement, adding that his achievements were "all the more remarkable given his daily battle with cerebral palsy."

Nolan's brain was starved of oxygen during birth, leaving him unable to speak or control his arms or legs. He might have remained isolated from the outside world were it not for a drug, Lioresal, which restored some of his muscle function. His parents nurtured their partially paralyzed son's literary talent.

Using a "unicorn stick" strapped to his forehead to tap the keys of a typewriter, Nolan laboriously wrote out messages and, eventually, poems and books as well.

Bernadette Nolan, Christopher's mother, said her son was 11 when his writing first turned lyrical.

"He wrote of a family visit to a cave that was illuminated by electric lights: He said it was 'a lovely, fairy-like effect to the work of nature,'" she told the Associated Press in a 1987 interview. "It was just that turn of phrase," she said. "I thought, that's unusual for a kid of 11."

The next day Nolan wrote a poem packed with metaphors and peppered with alliteration, which his mother said showed a mind "just like a spin dryer at full speed."

His father, Joe, read his son poetry and passages from James Joyce's "Ulysses." Christopher took to writing early: He published "Dam-Burst of Dreams," a collection of poetry, at the age of 15. Even then critics compared it to Joyce.

His autobiography, "Under the Eye of the Clock: The Life Story of Christopher Nolan," won the prestigious Whitbread Award in 1988. The third-person account describes Nolan's longing for an education and the liberation of finally being able to type out his feelings. The book was a frank but sometimes hilarious account of his disability: He described his arm flying out to grab a woman's skirt and how his mouth sometimes remained stubbornly shut when he wanted to take communion.

Kelly Groucutt, 63, former bass player with the 1970s rock hitmakers ELO, died Thursday in Worcester, central England, after having a heart attack, the musician's management said.

Formed in Birmingham, England, in 1971 by local musicians Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood, ELO -- short for Electric Light Orchestra -- combined rock 'n' roll with orchestral arrangements replete with string sections, choirs and symphonic sweep.

Groucutt joined ELO in 1974 after leaving his previous band, Sight and Sound. He played bass and sang during ELO's heyday as one of the world's biggest rock acts. ELO had a string of British and U.S. chart hits during the 1970s and early 1980s, including "Livin' Thing," "Mr. Blue Sky" and "Don't Bring Me Down."

Groucutt left the band in 1983 but later toured with several successor acts, including ELO Part II and the Orchestra.

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