English teacher and TV personality Mark Selikoff passed away on Oct. 25, his wife, Huang Ying-hui (黃英惠), said in a post on her blog.
Selikoff, 43, was left brain damaged following a motorcycle accident in Taoyuan in 2006.
The American had undergone more than 20 operations and remained bed-ridden, although at one point he gave hope to family and friends with signs of improvement.
His wife thanked everyone who had helped Mark and his family, a news report in the Chinese-language China Times said.
Selikoff appeared on a number of local TV shows, most notably It’s a Different World (世界大不同) hosted by Alex Tung (董至成), where foreigners talk about their experiences of living in Taiwan.
Tung was saddened to lose “an outstanding friend from the US,” he said.
“Mark liked Taiwan very much, and he also wanted to become a TV celebrity. However, before he could realize his dream, the accident took everything away,” the China Times quoted him as saying.
Tung had visited Selikoff in the hospital: “He tried hard to say something to us, but it was difficult because he suffered damage to his vision and brain in the accident.”
Selikoff’s death leaves his wife to care for their two young children, and she was grief-stricken for not being at his side when he died.
She wrote in her blog: “My husband Mark is gone, it happened too suddenly ... but there was not too much pain ... For all this time, I knew he might go away, but unfortunately when it happened, I was not there to see him for the last time.”
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit