obituary

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Paul Newman Dead at 83
 Paul Newman Dead at 83 
Sep 27, 2008 9:47 AM CDT

Paul Newman Dead at 83

Legendary actor struggled with cancer, spokeswoman says

(Newser) - Paul Newman, the Academy-Award winning actor who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario and the anti-hero of such films as Hud, Cool Hand Luke and The Color of Money, has died after a long battle with cancer, the AP reports. He was 83. In May, Newman...

Knut's Surrogate Dad Dead at 44

Police doubt foul play in death of Dörflein, long ill

(Newser) - Thomas Dörflein, the Berlin zookeeper who raised polar bear Knut after his mother rejected him, was found dead in his apartment today, Der Spiegel reports. He was 44. Authorities said there was no evidence of foul play; Dörflein had been very sick. The keeper’s contact with Knut...

Motown Great Norman Whitfield Dies
Motown Great Norman Whitfield Dies
obituary
Sep 18, 2008 10:24 AM CDT

Motown Great Norman Whitfield Dies

Grammy-winner who wrote 'Heard it Through the Grapevine' was 67

(Newser) - Norman Whitfield, the visionary producer who helped shape the Motown era, has died at 67 from diabetes complications, the Los Angeles Times reports. Whitfield produced most of the Temptations’ recordings, and co-wrote dozens of Motown standouts, including Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.” It was...

Founding Member of Pink Floyd Dead at 65

Wright gave the band its signature moody keyboard sound

(Newser) - Founding Pink Floyd member Richard Wright died today of cancer in London at age 65, the London Times reports. A keyboardist who gave the group its moody, dreamy sound, Wright co-authored many Floyd songs including ones on their masterpiece, Dark Side of the Moon. He left after The Wall in...

'Fletch' Author Dead at 71
 'Fletch' Author Dead at 71 
Obituary
Sep 11, 2008 11:01 AM CDT

'Fletch' Author Dead at 71

Boston Globe scribe succumbs after long cancer battle

(Newser) - Novelist and ex-Boston Globe reporter Gregory Mcdonald is dead at 71, Variety reports, succumbing after a long battle with cancer. Mcdonald is best known for his best-selling Fletch mystery novels, which comprise 15 of his 26 books. Four of his books have been turned into movies, including Fletch, Fletch Lives,...

W. Deen Mohammed: Black Muslim Leader Dies

(Newser) - Imam W. Deen Mohammed, son of the late Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad and one of the nation's top black Muslim leaders, has died at age 74, the Chicago Tribune reports. "Brother Imam"—once banished by his father for remaining close to Nation of Islam critic Malcolm...

Country's Jerry Reed Dies at 71

(Newser) - Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol' boy actor in car chase movies like Smokey and the Bandit, has died of complications from emphysema at 71. As a singer in the 1970s and early 1980s, Reed had a string of hits that included "Amos Moses," "...

What We'd Like Steve Jobs to Do Before He Dies
What We'd Like Steve Jobs to Do Before He Dies
OPINION
Aug 29, 2008 11:35 AM CDT

What We'd Like Steve Jobs to Do Before He Dies

Leaked obit of Apple's still-living founder inspires wish list

(Newser) - No word from Steve Jobs on whether he made it through all 17 pages of his own obituary, published prematurely by Bloomberg on Wednesday, but news organizations all over have been having fun at Bloomberg's expense. Forbes went one step farther last night, posting a list of the five things...

Genre-Setting Travel Author Dies at 47

Dave Freeman visited about half the sites on his adventurous list

(Newser) - Dave Freeman, co-author of 100 Things to Do Before You Die, died at age 47 after falling and hitting his head at his California home last week, the Los Angeles Times reports. Published in 1999, the free-spirited travel guide, among the first to offer a sight-seeing agenda based on adventure...

Thomas Weller, Who Won Nobel for Polio Work, Dead at 93

Work paved way for Salk, Sabin vaccines

(Newser) - Thomas Weller, whose research on polio won him a share of a Nobel Prize in 1954, died this weekend at 93, the Boston Globe reports. Weller, along with colleagues John Enders and Frederick Robbins, discovered that the polio virus preyed on muscles, not nerve tissue as had been previously thought....

Mao Successor Hua Dies at 87
 Mao Successor Hua Dies at 87
Obituary
Aug 20, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Mao Successor Hua Dies at 87

'Gang of Four' arrest credited with preventing civil war

(Newser) - Hua Guofeng, the man who succeeded Mao Zedong as China’s second Communist leader, died today at age 87, the Daily Telegraph reports. Guofeng was most noted for arresting the “Gang of Four,” a group of radicals, led by Mao’s widow, bent on miring China in isolated...

Derby-Winning Filly Dead at 31
 Derby-Winning Filly Dead at 31 
Aug 18, 2008 4:42 PM CDT

Derby-Winning Filly Dead at 31

Genuine Risk only filly to finish in top 3 of all Triple Crown races

(Newser) - Genuine Risk, one of only three fillies to win the Kentucky Derby, died this morning in Virginia. She was 31. The 1980 Derby winner died peacefully after eating a hearty breakfast and being turned out in her paddock, said an administrator at Newstead Farm, adding that the chestnut mare had...

Music Giant Jerry Wexler Dead at 91

(Newser) - Jerry Wexler, a music industry giant who coined the term "rhythm and blues" and worked to bring black popular music into the mainstream, died today at age 91, the New York Times reports. Wexler, a producer at Atlantic Records in its heyday, worked with new artists such as Aretha...

Oldest Working CEO Dead at 107
 Oldest Working 
 CEO Dead at 107 
OBITUARY
Aug 14, 2008 5:30 PM CDT

Oldest Working CEO Dead at 107

'Papa Jack' Weil, a Denver fixture, was 'to Western shirts what Henry Ford was to cars'

(Newser) - Jack A. Weil, the Henry Ford of Western shirts who was thought to be the oldest working CEO, died yesterday at age 107, the Denver Post reports. “Papa Jack,” as he was known in the Denver community, popularized the Western shirt as we know it. The sawtooth pocket...

Palestinian Poet Dead at 67
 Palestinian Poet Dead at 67
OBITUARY
Aug 10, 2008 7:56 PM CDT

Palestinian Poet Dead at 67

'Poet of resistance' depicted life under Israelis, supported and slammed PLO

(Newser) - Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish died yesterday from heart surgery complications in Houston at age 67, the Los Angeles Times reports. Considered Palestine’s unofficial poet laureate, Darwish penned the territory’s symbolic Declaration of Independence in 1988 and depicted life under Israeli rule in his work. "He was the...

Singer Isaac Hayes Dead at 65
 Singer Isaac Hayes Dead at 65 
OBITUARY
Aug 10, 2008 3:45 PM CDT

Singer Isaac Hayes Dead at 65

'Shaft' composer found unresponsive at home

(Newser) - Legendary singer/songwriter Isaac Hayes, whose "Theme from Shaft" claimed Academy Awards and Grammys alike, died early today at the age of 65, reports WMC-TV in Memphis. Hayes' wife found him lying unresponsive next to a still-running treadmill at their Memphis home; attempts to revive him failed and he was...

'The World Just Got a Little Less Funny'
 'The World
 Just Got a
 Little Less 
 Funny'
Appreciation
Aug 9, 2008 1:30 PM CDT

'The World Just Got a Little Less Funny'

Friends lament comedian's loss

(Newser) - Hollywood has woken up to a world without Bernie Mac, who died early today from complications of pneumonia. Here’s what the stars who knew him are saying, reports E!:
  • George Clooney: “The world just got a little less funny. He will be missed dearly.”
  • Chris Rock: “
...

'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' Scribe Dies
 'Girls Just Want
 to Have Fun'
 Scribe Dies
APPRECIATION
Aug 7, 2008 1:31 PM CDT

'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' Scribe Dies

Hazard, 59, best known for writing Lauper hit

(Newser) - Philadelphia music icon Robert Hazard, best known for writing the Cyndi Lauper hit “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” died at the age of 59 on Tuesday from cancer complications, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. "He was one of the biggest local performers ever," Hazard's former...

Remembering Russia's Prophet
Remembering Russia's Prophet
Appreciation
Aug 4, 2008 1:05 PM CDT

Remembering Russia's Prophet

Reflections on Solzhenitsyn's life reveal complex legacy

(Newser) - Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died yesterday at 89, left a complicated legacy and an unassailable record as one of the great writers of the 20th century. Three takes on the Nobel laureate:
  • The National Review, which on occasion published Solzhenitsyn’s work, says he may have been the man of the
...

Russian Writer Solzhenitsyn Dead at 89

Nobel winner revealed the horrors of Soviet work camps

(Newser) - Nobel-prize winning Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn died today of heart failure at 89, AFP reports. Two of his key works, One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich and The First Circle, revealed the horrors of Soviet gulags and got him expelled from the country in 1974. After 20 years...

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