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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Oldest U.S. citizen dies at 114, daughters say

From Wire Reports

Edgefield, S.C. – A 114-year-old South Carolina woman who was the oldest living U.S. citizen has died, two of her daughters said Saturday.

Mamie Rearden, of Edgefield, who held the title as the country’s oldest person for about two weeks, died Wednesday at a hospital in Augusta, Ga., said Sara Rearden, of Burtonsville, Md., and Janie Ruth Osborne, of Edgefield. They said their mother broke her hip after a fall about three weeks ago.

Gerontology Research Group, which verifies age information for Guinness World Records, listed Mamie Rearden as the oldest living American after last month’s passing of 115-year-old Dina Manfredini, of Iowa.

Mamie Rearden, who was married to her husband Oacy for 59 years until his death in 1979, raised 11 children, 10 of whom survive, Sara Rearden said. She lived in the family homestead with a son and a daughter on land that had been in the family since her father’s accumulation of acreage made him one of the area’s largest black landowners.

Critics group names ‘Amour’ best picture

New York – The National Society of Film Critics selected “Amour” as the best picture of 2012 during its annual meeting Saturday.

The critics chose the star of “Amour,” Emmanuelle Riva, as best actress, and Daniel Day-Lewis was chosen best actor for “Lincoln.”

The group of 60 prominent movie critics from around the country met at Lincoln Center in New York City to make its picks.

Austrian director Michael Haneke won best director for “Amour.” The French-language movie depicts the slow deterioration of the elderly woman played by Riva. It has been praised as an unflinching look at old age and life’s end.

Playwright Tony Kushner won best screenplay for “Lincoln.”