The Blog of Death

Francis Crick

Francis Harry Compton Crick, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and biochemist who co-discovered the "double-helix" structure of DNA, died on July 28 after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 88.

Crick was born in Northampton, England, with an insatiable curiosity about the world. After reading a children's encyclopedia his parents gave him, he began to worry that everything would be discovered by the time he grew up. He graduated from University College of London with a degree in physics and mathematics then worked as a scientist for the British Admiralty during World War II.

While pursuing his doctorate at the University of Cambridge in 1951, Crick joined forces with a 23-year-old American named James Watson. Two years later, Crick and Watson entered a nearby pub and announced that they had found "the secret of life." In reality, they had determined that a DNA molecule resembled a twisted ladder, or double helix shape. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the genetic blueprint that determines the physical and hereditary make-up of all living organisms. Using pieces of wire, sheet metal, colored beads and cardboard, they constructed a 3-D model of the molecule.

Their research would change the course of history.

Over the next half century, this DNA discovery would become the foundation for a multi-billion dollar biotechnology industry. It would enable law enforcement officials to solve crimes using DNA evidence, help doctors genetically detect future diseases and aid farmers in engineering healthy crops that no longer required the use of pesticides. For their efforts, Crick and Watson received the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1962. Watson's book, "The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA," became a bestseller six years later.

Crick remained at Cambridge until 1977. A dreamer with a penchant for pondering grand ideas, he spent the rest of his days studying the neurobiological basis of consciousness at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. Crick also published numerous books, including "Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul," in which he redefined the mystical explanation of a soul by describing an individual's personality, identity and ambitions as simply the behavior of nerve cells and their associated molecules, and "Life Itself: Its Origin and Nature," in which he suggested that aliens from a more advanced civilization created life on Earth. His memoir, "What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery," was published in 1988.

•Complete Coverage From NPR

•Complete Coverage From The New York Times

William A. Mitchell

William A. Mitchell, the food scientist who invented Pop Rocks, died on July 26 of congestive heart failure. He was 92.

The development of the exploding candy was actually an accidental affair. In 1956, Mitchell was trying to create an instant soft drink. He mixed some sugar flavoring with carbon dioxide and tasted the results. Instantly, the concoction began to pop in his mouth.

Mitchell patented Pop Rocks in 1956. The candy hit the market almost two decades later and became an instant hit. Pop Rocks were so popular that kids actually started spreading urban myths about the small, fruit-flavored sweets. One suggested that mixing the candy with soda pop would cause a person's stomach to explode. Another claimed that the actor who played the character of Mikey in LIFE cereal commercials had actually died by mixing the candy with Coca-Cola.

Both rumors were false.

General Foods battled the "exploded kid" myths by printing full-page ads in 45 major publications and writing 50,000 letters to school principals around the U.S. Mitchell even toured the country to show parents and kids that Pop Rocks actually generate less gas than half a can of soda. And John Gilchrist, the actor who played Mikey, is still very much alive.

As a chemist with the Eastman Kodak Company, Mitchell helped devise a chemical process to develop the color green. From 1941 to 1976, he worked at General Foods Corp. in White Plains, N.Y. There he obtained over 70 patents, including inventions related to Cool Whip, Jell-O and Tang. During World War II, he also created a popular tapioca substitute.

Naomi Shemer

Naomi Shemer, one of Israel's most prolific songwriters, died on June 26 of cancer. She was 74.

Born on Kibbutz Kinneret, Shemer took piano lessons as a child and continued her musical studies at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. She returned home to teach rhythm classes at her kibbutz school and performe with the Israel Defense Forces Nahal Brigade.

In the 1950s, Shemer wrote the words to the musical "Hamesh-Hamesh" (Five-Five) and released her first record. Over the next half a century, she composed dozens of songs for a wide variety of singers. Shemer was best known for penning the ballad "Jerusalem of Gold," which became the country's unofficial national anthem. When Prime Minister Yizhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995, she honored him by translating the Walt Whitman poem, "Oh Captain, My Captain," into Hebrew and putting it to music.

Known as the "First Lady of Israeli Song," Shemer received the Israel Prize in 1983.

Cotton Fitzsimmons

Lowell "Cotton" Fitzsimmons, an NBA coach who won 832 games in 21 seasons, died on July 24 of lung cancer. He was 72.

Born in Hannibal, Mo., Fitzsimmons launched his coaching career in 1958 at Moberly Junior College. During his nine seasons there, he led the basketball team to two national titles and was twice named junior college coach of the year. Fitzsimmons coached at Kansas State for two seasons, guided the Wildcats to the conference title and earned Big Eight coach of the year honors in 1970.

Fitzsimmons was lured away from college hoops and into the National Basketball Association that same year. He coached Phoenix for two seasons, then Atlanta (1972-1976), Kansas City (1978-1984) and San Antonio (1984-1986). Known for transforming struggling teams into respectable athletic franchises, Fitzsimmons returned to Phoenix in 1988 and helped the Suns win 55 games, 21 more than the previous season.

Over the next four years, Phoenix played four straight 50-win seasons and reached the Western Conference finals twice. Fitzsimmons moved to the Suns' front office in the early 1990s, but temporarily returned to coaching the team when Paul Westphal was fired in 1996. Fitzsimmons' final years were spent working as an executive vice president of the Suns and as a television and radio commentator for the team.

A two-time NBA Coach of the Year (in 1979 with Kansas City and in 1989 with Phoenix), Fitzsimmons was inducted into the Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame, the National Junior College Hall of Fame and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

• Career Statistics From BasketballReference.com

Yoko Watanabe

Yoko Watanabe, a Japanese opera singer who starred at several of the world's top opera houses, died on July 15 after a four-year battle with cancer. She was 51.

Watanabe originally planned to become a dancer. She began studying Japanese dance at three, and ballet when she was six. But her hopes for a professional dancing career were dashed by instructors who told her she was too tall and broad-shouldered. At 16, she attended a performance of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" that changed her life.

An accomplished singer and pianist, Watanabe graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1976. She studied opera in Italy for two years before making her European debut at the age of 25. For the next two decades, the graceful soprano played leading roles in operas by Bizet, Mozart and Verdi.

In the 1980s, Watanabe tackled the part of Cio-Cio-San, the geisha who is wooed then abandoned by an American naval officer, in "Madama Butterfly." It became her signature role, one she would perform with the Fujiwara Opera in Japan, and in her debuts with the Royal Opera in London, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Watanabe is survived by her husband, Italian tenor Renato Grimaldi.

Douglas Gageby

Douglas Gageby believed that members of the media should cover the elite, not become a member of it. For more than three decades, the Irish journalist and editor rarely gave television interviews or socialized with those in power. Instead, he focused his attentions on transforming The Irish Times into one of Ireland's most respected newspapers.

A Protestant from Belfast, Gageby studied at Trinity College Dublin, and served in the Irish Army during World War II. He joined the Irish Press in 1945, moved up to an assistant editor position with the Sunday Press in 1949, then became the editor-in-chief of the Irish News Agency in 1951. Three years later, he launched and edited the Evening Press.

When Gageby first took over the reins of The Irish Times, the newspaper was struggling financially and had little clout in media circles. As editor from 1963 to 1974, and again from 1977 to 1986, he transformed the daily into one of Ireland's premiere publications.

After Gageby stepped down in 1987, Conor Brady became the first Catholic to edit the newspaper. Gageby continued working as a columnist, however, anonymously writing the paper's nature column, "In Time's Eye." He was known only as "Y."

Gageby died on June 24. Cause of death was not released. He was 85.

J. Gordon Edwards

J. Gordon Edwards was a mountain climber, an author, a park ranger and an educator, but he also held an unofficial title: the patron saint of climbing at Glacier National Park.

The San Jose, Calif., resident served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Although Edwards was trained as a mountaineer in preparation for an invasion of Italy, he actually spent two years toiling as a combat medic in the European theatre.

From 1949 to 1956, Edwards worked as a ranger and naturalist at Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana. For the next four decades, he taught biology and entomology at San Jose State University. His expertise and extensive collection of insects were acknowledged with a museum named in his honor.

As a skilled hiker and climber, Edwards literally blazed trails to more than 70 peaks. His 1961 book, "A Climber's Guide to Glacier National Park," has become a favorite text of area climbers. He also released the guide's copyright to the Glacier Natural History Association, and donated all royalties from its many reprints to the nonprofit organization. A founding member of the Glacier Mountaineering Society and a member of the prestigious Explorers' Club in New York, Edwards' final years were spent leading tourists on climbs and sharing his knowledge of the park.

Edwards died on July 19 of a heart attack while hiking up Divide Mountain with his wife, Alice. He was 84.

Jerry Goldsmith

Jerrald Goldsmith, an Academy Award-winning composer, died on July 21 after a long battle with cancer. He was 75.

The Los Angelino was only six years old when he first began to study music. Trained by famed pianist Jacob Gimpel and pianist/composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Goldsmith originally planned to enjoy a career in classical music. But a passion for movie scores blossomed after he viewed the 1945 Alfred Hitchcock thriller, "Spellbound," at the University of Southern California. The film featured an Oscar-winning score written by his professor, Miklos Rozsa.

Goldsmith landed his first job in show business in 1950 as a typist at CBS. He eventually revealed his talent for writing music and was hired to create scores and theme songs for live radio programs and early TV shows, including "The Twilight Zone," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "The Waltons" and "Dr. Kildare."

The prolific and versatile composer's film career took off in the early 1960s when he composed music for "Lonely Are the Brave" and "The Blue Max." Over the next four decades, Goldsmith created hundreds of scores, building melodies and moods in films such as "Planet of the Apes," "Patton," "Chinatown," "Poltergeist," "Basic Instinct," "Forever Young," "First Knight," "Mulan," "The Mummy," "L.A. Confidential" and the "Star Trek" movies.

Goldman was nominated for 17 Academy Awards, and won one for the 1976 horror film, "The Omen." He received nine Golden Globe nominations and took home five Emmys. Goldsmith also taught a graduate course in music composition at the UCLA School of Music and composed the cantata, "Christus Apollo," from the epic 1969 poem written by Ray Bradbury.

• Filmography

• Listen to NPR's Appreciation of Goldsmith

Richard Bloch

Richard Adolf Bloch helped millions of taxpayers weather the grueling process of filing annual income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service.

He and his brother Henry launched the tax preparation service, H&R Block Inc., in 1955 to aid Americans in compiling their receipts and W-2 forms into accurate accounts of earnings and tax payments. The Kansas City-based company is now the world's largest tax preparer, with 21 million customers in 11 countries.

Bloch was only 16 when he attended the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics then ran several entrepreneurial ventures before joining forces with his brother. In 1978, Bloch was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and told he had only three months left to live. After undergoing two years of aggressive treatment, he managed to beat the disease. This experience inspired Bloch to sell his interest in the company and become a passionate advocate for cancer patients.

He and his wife, Annette, launched the R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation, the R.A. Bloch Cancer Management Center and the R.A. Bloch Cancer Support Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The couple created the Cancer Hotline, one of the first free phone services staffed by experienced volunteers to help cancer patients find available treatment resources, and penned three books. In the late 1980s, he also survived a bout of colon cancer.

Bloch died on July 21 of heart failure. He was 78.

Carlos Kleiber

Carlos Kleiber was a brilliant and eccentric Austrian conductor who preferred variety to stability. Although his baton led the Bavarian Opera from 1968 to 1973, he usually chose to work as a guest conductor rather than lead a single orchestra.

Born in Berlin, Kleiber was the son of an American mother and renowned conductor Erich Kleiber. His family fled Nazi Germany to Argentina, and schooled him in English-language institutions. He was only nine years old when he composed his first piece, yet entered the music business against his father's wishes. To avoid embarrassing the elder Kleiber, Carlos adopted the name Karl Keller for his European debut in 1954. He eventually returned to his legal moniker.

Kleiber's demanding style and long rehearsals brought out the best in his musicians, and earned him praise from performers and critics alike. He conducted several operas, including Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" and Verdi's "Otello," and occasionally recorded select symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert.

Many considered Kleiber to be one of the greatest conductors of the past 40 years, despite the fact that he had a reputation for canceling appearances at leading European opera houses with little notice. Consequently, his concerts became musical events that quickly sold out whenever they were scheduled. He was a voracious reader, fluent in six languages and played several instruments, but was also reclusive and rarely gave interviews to the press.

Mercurial, demanding and talented, Kleiber spent the majority of his life living in Munich and performing when it suited him. In 1996, he agreed to lead the Bavarian State Orchestra in exchange for a $100,000 Audi sports car. His final performance was in 1999.

Kleiber died on July 13. Cause of death was not released. He was 74.

• Discography

• Listen to a Tribute From NPR

Download "Carlos Kleiber: Schubert, Brahms & Wagner"

George Snyder

Decades before the Americans With Disabilities Act passed in 1990, George Howard Snyder was an outspoken advocate for physically handicapped people. He understood the cause intimately, having become a quadriplegic in 1961 while serving with the Navy in the Philippines.

After moving from New Jersey to Fort Lauderdale in 1966, Snyder joined forces with the Paralyzed Veterans Association of Florida. He served two terms as president of the nonprofit organization, and actively worked to improve the lives of veterans with spinal cord injuries. By writing letters and speaking to government officials, Snyder was able to explain the unique needs of the handicapped community and offer suggestions on how to create better accessibility. He also served as the chairman of the Broward County Advisory Board for the Disabled.

Snyder won gold medals in the air gun, bowling and javelin events, a silver in the discus and a bronze in the shot put at the 1993 Veterans Wheelchair Games in Texas. In his spare time, he participated in the American Wheelchair Bowling Association, and invented a ball holder attachment for wheelchairs.

Snyder died on June 20. Cause of death was not released. He was 65.

Doug Hanson

Douglas Roger Hanson, a World War II veteran and inventor, died on July 19 in a work-related accident. He was 83.

Hanson was stationed in Africa as a B-17 crew chief for the Army Air Forces during World War II. Although he wanted to become a pilot, the military rejected him for medical reasons (he had red-green color blindness). Upon his return to Minnesota, Hanson worked as a farmer, but in his spare time he tinkered with machines.

After creating a better bread-slicing contraption for a local company, he opened Bake Star Inc. For more than three decades, Hanson developed commercial baking machinery for major manufacturers, such as Bakers Square and Sara Lee. He held more than a dozen patents for machines that could shave chocolate into decorative scrolls, imprint shapes into dough and remove flour or dust from unbaked goods.

A member of the American Society of Bakery Engineers and the Coon Rapids (Minn.) VFW, Hanson was killed at work while fixing the shop's hydraulic brake press. According to his son Gary, Hanson stuck his head inside the machine to watch its downward motion, but when he tried to pull back, a piece of metal caught him by the neck and the press crushed him.

Robert Burchfield

If you've ever wondered how to spell or define a word, Robert William Burchfield was the ideal person to ask for help.

Burchfield had a passion for the constantly evolving nature of the English language. A pre-eminent lexicographer, he became the editor of the four-volume "Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary" in 1957. During his three decades in publishing, including 13 years as the chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, Burchfield spearheaded a campaign to expand the OED's World English offerings to include terminology from Australia, the Caribbean, India, North America, Pakistan and South Africa. He even published words in Maori, the Oceanic language spoken by the Maori people of his native New Zealand.

Despite what may have appeared to be a rather tame desk job, Burchfield occasionally received death threats from folks who were offended by his decision to publish sexist slang and racial/ethnic colloquialisms. He even went to court to defend the OED's right to define terms some people felt were derogatory.

Prior to his illustrious career as a linguistic scholar, Burchfield graduated from Wanganui Technical College and attended Victoria University College in Wellington. His academic career was interrupted by World War II; for five years, he fought with the Royal New Zealand Artillery. After the war ended, Burchfield completed his master's degree and won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University, where he studied under C.T. Onions, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. A medieval scholar and author, Burchfield also penned "The Spoken Word," a guide for broadcasters, and served as president of the English Association.

Burchfield, who was appointed a Commander of Order of the British Empire, died on July 5. Cause of death was not released. He was 81.

Charles W. Sweeney

Brig. Gen. Charles William Sweeney was a 25-year-old major when he helped end World War II.

On Aug. 6, 1945, Sweeney piloted a B-29 observer plane known as the "Great Artiste." He was flying beside the Enola Gay when it dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, an attack that killed at least 80,000 people.

Three days later, Sweeney and his co-pilot Fred Olivi were given a second mission. Flying in the B-29 known as the "Bock's Car," they bombed Nagasaki, Japan. The city of Kokura was the primary target, but clouds and smoke forced Sweeney to bomb Nagasaki instead. It was the first bomb he had ever dropped on an enemy target.

"The shock explosion was felt by those of us in the strike plane. The turbulence of the blast was greater than that at Hiroshima. Even though we were prepared for what happened, it was unbelievable," Sweeney once wrote. According to the Nagasaki City Atomic Bomb Records Preservation Committee, more than 73,800 people died from the blast. Six days later, Japan surrendered.

The Massachusetts native always had a passion for flying. He graduated from high school and joined the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet in 1941. Sweeney worked his way up the ranks to become a brigadier general in 1956; he retired from the military two decades later. Sweeney received numerous honors, including the Silver Star, the Air Medal, the National Defense Medal and the Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal with two bronze stars.

A stout defender of the atomic bombings, Sweeney spent his final years speaking to the media and at college and universities about his participation in the war. He also published the book, "War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission."

Sweeney died on July 15. Cause of death was not released. He was 84.

Sis Cunningham

Agnes "Sis" Cunningham, a singer/songwriter who co-founded Broadside magazine, died on June 27. Cause of death was not released. She was 95.

Born in Watongo, Okla., Cunningham studied to become a teacher at Commonwealth College. There she wrote the song, "How Can You Keep on Movin' Unless You Migrate Too?" which became a popular tune in Woody Guthrie's library of "Dustbowl Ballads."

Considered a rabble-rouser for mixing music with politics, Cunningham married Communist George Friesen in 1941 and left the Deep South. When World War II ended, they struggled to find work after being blacklisted for their political beliefs. The couple then moved to New York City to live in the communal Almanac House in Greenwich Village. Some of their roommates and guests included Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs and Nina Simone. Cunningham also joined the Almanac Singers as an accordion and guitar player, and toured with Guthrie for several years.

Cunningham and Friesen launched Broadside, a mimeographed journal, in 1962. Touted as a "national topical song magazine," Broadside published more than 1,000 protest songs, ballads and opinion pieces from numerous folk artists during its 26-year print run. Some of Bob Dylan's earliest songs were recorded in the couple's living room.

In 2000, songs from the magazine were collected into a five-CD box set called "The Best of Broadside, 1962-1988." The collection received Grammy nominations for best historical album and best liner notes. Cunningham spent the final years of her life writing her memoirs with Friesen, who died in 1996. "Red Dust and Broadsides," was published three years later.

• Listen to a Tribute From NPR

Betty Oliphant

Dance icon Betty Oliphant, a founder of Canada's National Ballet School, died on July 12. Cause of death was not released. She was 85.

Born in England, Oliphant studied classical ballet with Russian dance tutors Tamara Karsavina and Laurent Novikoff. Too tall to perform on the world stage, she decided to teach instead. At 21, Oliphant immigrated to Canada and established her own ballet school. She became the ballet mistress of the newly formed National Ballet of Canada in 1951.

Oliphant joined forces with Celia Franca, the founder of the National Ballet, to launch the National Ballet School in 1959. There "Miss O" taught thousands of dancers how to master their technique and achieve artistic freedom. Several of her students -- Frank Augustyn, Karen Kain, Veronica Tennant -- became distinguished dancers with the company. She retired in 1989.

Oliphant was one of the first women to be awarded the Order of Napoleon. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1973 and promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada 12 years later. In 1988, the National Ballet School named its new theatre in her honor. Oliphant published her memoirs, "Miss O: My Life in Dance," in 1997.

Elma Corning

Elma Grace Corning, the oldest Californian, died on July 13 of natural causes. She was 112.

Born on Feb. 22, 1892, Elma Grace Tennis was raised on her family's farm near Oskaloosa, Iowa. After graduating from high school in 1910, she earned a teaching certificate in domestic science from Iowa State Teacher's College and taught home economics in junior high schools. She married Duane Corning, a World War I Army pilot, in 1917. He died in 1956.

The couple moved to Los Angeles and had a son, Russell. Corning became a full-time mother and homemaker, but she also explored an interest in music. She took cello lessons in the late 1930s and played with the Glendale Symphony Orchestra for several years. Corning went back to work in 1943, and spent the next 17 years as a receptionist at the welfare office in Los Angeles County. She retired in 1960 at the age of 68.

The second half of the supercentenarian's life was filled with church activities, travel and bridge parties. Corning continued driving until she was 96, stopping only once her eyesight began to fail.

Frances Hansen

Frances Mabel Hansen had a knack for word play. She could take an original poem or a famous piece of literature and turn it into a complex crossword puzzle.

The New Jersey native never really had an interest in crosswords until the mid-1950s when she began casually solving them. The New York Times rejected the first puzzle she created in 1964. Undaunted, Hansen spent the next eight months writing a crossword based on Lewis Carroll's book, "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There." The newspaper published this literary puzzle at the end of that year.

Although Hansen never attended college, her crosswords later appeared in The Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and in books published by Dell, Random House and Simon & Schuster. A charter member of the American Crossword Puzzle Constructors Hall of Fame, Hansen was particularly adored for her Christmas crosswords. Her final Yuletide puzzle will run in The New York Times on Dec. 25, 2004.

Hansen died on July 9 from complications of a stroke. She was 85.

• Complete Some of Hansen's Puzzles

Arthur Kane

Arthur Harold "Killer" Kane Jr., a bass player and charter member of The New York Dolls, died on July 13 from complications of leukemia. He was 55.

In 1971, five cross-dressing musicians combined glam rock and punk to form The New York Dolls. After building a dedicated following and touring with The Faces in Great Britain, the group's drummer Billy Murcia drowned in his bathtub. The Dolls hired Jerry Nolan as a replacement, signed with Mercury Records in 1973 and released its self-titled debut, an album that heavily influenced future punk rockers.

Their sophomore effort bore the prophetic title: "Too Much Too Soon." It met with disappointing sales and critical disregard. With the help of manager Malcolm McLaren, the band revamped its image, but failed to nab another record deal. Guitarist Johnny Thunders left the group to form the Heartbreakers while frontman David Johansen and guitarist Syl Sylvain fired Kane. The Dolls eventually disbanded and focused on other projects.

Thunders died from a drug overdose in 1991. Nolan died from a stroke in 1992. Johansen recorded several solo albums as lounge singer named Buster Poindexter, and launched a movie career. Kane went on to play bass with The Corpse Grinders and The Idols.

Earlier this year, Johansen, Sylvain and Kane re-formed the band and performed at Morrissey's Meltdown Festival in London. The new version of The Dolls, which included former Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin and ex-Libertines drummer Gary Powell, had planned to release an album in September and tour with the White Stripes later this year.

Download Songs From "New York Dolls"

Joe Gold

Bodybuilding pioneer Joe Gold died on July 11 of congestive heart failure. He was 82.

Born in East Los Angeles, Gold developed an interest in bodybuilding as a teenager. He began visiting Muscle Beach, a Santa Monica site frequented by stuntmen and bodybuilders, on a regular basis and defined his own body with regular workouts. After high school, Gold moved to New Orleans and worked as a merchant marine.

He enlisted in the Navy, and served on a ship stationed near the Philippines during World War II. Gold spent six months in a veterans' hospital after a torpedo explosion during the 1944 Battle of Leyte left him severely injured. He recovered from his wounds but continued to suffer debilitating pain for the rest of his life. His final years were spent confined to a wheelchair.

Upon his return to the states, Gold again built up his body. His bulging muscles and defined physique attracted the attention of actress Mae West, who hired him to work on her all-male chorus line, the Mae West Revue. He also appeared in the 1956 films "The Ten Commandments" and "Around the World in 80 Days."

Gold founded the gym that bears his name in 1965; he designed and welded most of the weightlifting equipment as well. Located in Venice, Calif., Gold's Gym catered to hundreds of local bodybuilders, including a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, who later became a movie star and the state's governor. Gold sold the gym and the rights to the Gold name in 1971. The new owners franchised Gold's Gym into a health club empire with more than 550 facilities in 25 countries.

Gold got back into the gym business in 1977 when he founded World Gym International in Santa Monica. The company has since expanded to include 290 health and fitness centers worldwide. The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association named Gold its man of the year in 1999. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Fitness Trade Association in 2001.

• Listen to a Tribute From NPR

Laurance Rockefeller

Laurance Spelman Rockefeller, the grandson of oil tycoon John Rockefeller, was worth more than $1.5 billion. Ranked 377th on Forbes' 2004 list of the World's Richest People, he helped launch Eastern Airlines and was an early investor in both Apple Computer and Intel. But Rockefeller will long be remembered for his philanthropic endeavors.

Rockefeller's affinity for the environment led to the establishment of the American Conservation Association in 1958. His funding helped create or enlarge national parks in California, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, Wyoming and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He chaired the White House Conference on Natural Beauty, the New York Zoological Society and the Historic Hudson Valley organization.

A long-time supporter of cancer research, Rockefeller also served as chairman of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1960 to 1982. He split a parcel of land in half, donating one portion to the state of New York and the other to the cancer center. When the state bought Memorial Sloan-Kettering's half for $13.4 million, the entire parcel became part of the 850-acre Rockefeller Park Preserve.

The Princeton graduate spent two years at Harvard Law School before enlisting in the Navy to fight in World War II. His giving nature was honored with the Chairman's Award from the National Geographic Society, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park Medal of Honor, the Lady Bird Johnson Conservation Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. He was also the first recipient of the American Cancer Society's Alfred P. Sloan Memorial Award.

Rockefeller died on July 11 of pulmonary fibrosis. He was 94.

Isabel Sanford

Isabel Sanford, the first black actress to win an Emmy Award in a lead comedic role, died on July 9 of natural causes. She was 86.

The New York native always wanted to act. Her mother was against the idea so Sanford snuck out of the house to perform in nightclubs. After winning third place in an amateur contest at the Apollo Theatre, she confessed her extracurricular activities and became a cleaning lady.

Sanford then married William "Sonny" Richmond, had three children and worked as a keypunch operator in the New York City welfare department. She was in her late 20s when the desire to act became a reality. Sanford joined the American Negro Theater, and in 1946, made her stage debut in the play, "On Strivers Row."

She moved to Los Angeles in 1960 to launch a movie career. Sanford acted in bit parts on TV shows such as "Bewitched" and "The Mod Squad," and had a semi-regular spot on "The Carol Burnett Show," but it was her performance in the 1965 Broadway production of "Amen Corner" that caught the eye of director Stanley Kramer. He cast her as the sharp-tongued maid, opposite Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, in the 1967 film classic "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?"

Three years later, TV producer Norman Lear hired Sandford to play the recurring role of Louise "Weezy" Mills Jefferson, Archie Bunker's neighbor on the hit TV show "All in the Family." In 1975, the characters of Weezy and her husband George Jefferson (played by Sherman Hemsley) were given their own spin-off sitcom. "The Jeffersons," a comedy about a black couple who move from blue-collar Queens to the tony Upper East Side, aired for 11 seasons. In 1981, Sanford won the Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

Although the show was canceled in 1985, Sanford and Hemsley continued to appear together in commercials for Old Navy stores, Denny's restaurants and Nick at Nite, the cable network currently running "The Jeffersons" in syndication. In recent years, she also made cameos on shows such as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "The Young and the Restless." Sanford was honored with five Golden Globe nominations and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Bill Randle

Time Magazine once called Bill Randle the No. 1 disc jockey in America. At the height of his popularity in the mid-1950s, "The Pied Piper of Cleveland" commanded a 54 percent share of the listening audience. He used that power to turn Elvis Presley into a star.

Born William McKinley Randle Jr., the Detroit native was still a teenager when he launched his broadcasting career. He played small parts in radio dramas like "The Green Hornet" and "Hermit's Cave," then traveled across the Midwest, spinning records and promoting jazz acts. When he landed in Cleveland in 1949, Randle earned $100/week as a DJ for WERE-AM. Within six years, he was making more than $100,000/year, and owned part of the radio station.

In 1955, Randle arranged a concert in Cleveland featuring Pat Boone and Bill Haley and the Comets; Elvis Presley was the opening act. The show was filmed as a segment for a documentary on Randle, and became part of music history. The following year, he put Elvis on the radio in Ohio and New York, and introduced the King of Rock 'n' Roll to a national audience on the TV variety program, "Stage Show." Randle also helped the careers of other musicians, including Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Darin, Fats Domino and Johnnie Ray.

Randle left radio in the 1960s and went back to college. In addition to his undergraduate degree from Wayne State University and a law degree from Oklahoma City University, Randle earned a doctorate in American studies, a master's degree in sociology from Western Reserve University, a master's degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master's degree in education from Cleveland State University. After passing the Ohio bar at 64, he opened a law firm in Lakewood, Ohio, and practiced for 16 years.

Randle later became an educator, teaching sociology and mass communication classes at Kent State, the University of Cincinnati, Columbia University and Phillips University. He was unable to walk away from broadcasting entirely, and hosted radio programs whenever a microphone was offered to him. His final show was aired over the weekend on WRMR, and will be rebroadcast on July 17.

Randle died on July 9 of cancer. He was 81.

• Listen to a Tribute From NPR

Paula Danziger

Paula Danziger had a gypsy sensibility. She wore long, flowing outfits and rings on every finger. Her favorite color was purple. And she traveled more than 30,000 miles a year. But to millions of children, she was the beloved creator of Amber Brown, Matthew Martin and Marcy Lewis.

A best-selling author who penned more than 25 books for young readers, Danziger had a knack for telling stories about humorous and serious life situations. Few could bypass her books on library shelves without doing a doubletake at titles such as "Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice?" "There's a Bat in Bunk Five," "Earth to Matthew" and "The Pistachio Prescription." Her first picture book, "Barfburger Baby, I Was Here First," is due out later this year.

Born in Washington, D.C., Danziger always wanted to be a writer. As a child, she made up stories about strangers and imagined the sorts of lives they could be living. Although her mother wanted her to become a nurse, science did not excite her. Instead, Danziger studied education at Montclair State College in New Jersey. There she met John Ciardi, a poet who soon became her mentor.

In 1970, Danziger was teaching junior high school English when she suffered two back-to-back car accidents. Convinced a third was around the corner, Danziger decided to make writing her full-time career. She published her first novel, "The Cat Ate My Gymsuit," four years later.

Danziger's books received many honors, including a Parents' Choice Award, a California Young Reader Medal and a Nene Award. She also hosted a children's book segment on the BBC show "Live & Kicking," and co-wrote epistolary novels with Ann M. Martin, the author of "The Baby Sitters Club" series.

Danziger died on July 8 from complications of a heart attack. She was 59.

• Listen to Danziger Read the First Chapter of "United Tates of America"

Dan Cracchiolo

Dan Cracchiolo, a film producer who worked on numerous blockbusters, died on June 14 from injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident. He was 39.

The Los Angeles native launched his career in Hollywood as an agent trainee at International Creative Management. Working with famed agent Ed Limato, Cracchiolo learned the ins and outs of the movie business.

In 1991, Cracchiolo joined Silver Pictures as Joel Silver's assistant. After working on "Lethal Weapon 3," he was promoted to associate producer of the HBO series "Tales From The Crypt," and its two feature film offshoots ("Demon Knight" and "Bordello of Blood"). For the next decade, Cracchiolo helped develop, cast and co-produce blockbusters like "Lethal Weapon 4," "Assassins," "Conspiracy Theory" and "The Matrix." He launched his own production company, Opus Communicae, in 2002.

"Animated, enthusiastic and absolutely blinding at times with his right-side-of-the-brain constructs, Cracchiolo had a truly untethered mind, which is not an abundant attribute among mainstream Hollywood producers," Jeffrey Wells, a journalist who covers Hollywood, said.

Outside of work, Cracchiolo had a passion for architecture and interior design. His restoration of Pierre Koenig's "Case Study House 21" was featured in Architectural Digest.

Paul Klebnikov

Paul Klebnikov, an American journalist who launched the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was murdered in a drive-by shooting on July 9. He was 41.

Klebnikov was standing outside his Moscow office when a car carrying at least two assailants opened fire. Shot four times, he died at the hospital. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, more than a dozen members of the media have been slain in Russia since 2000; none of the killers have been brought to justice.

The son of Russian immigrants, Klebnikov graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and the London School of Economics. He became a hard-hitting journalist who was unafraid to investigate the relationships between politics, religion and crime. Fluent in French and Russian, Klebnikov joined the American edition of Forbes in 1989, and worked his way up to a senior editor position.

Over the course of his career, the New York native made many enemies, including Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky. In 1996, Klebnikov published a profile of Berezovsky in Forbes, linking him to the murder of a Russian media mogul. Berezovsky sued Forbes for libel, but withdrew the complaint in 2003 after the magazine printed a correction.

Klebnikov also published "Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the Looting of Russia," a book that described how the Russia economy was criminalized by Berezovsky and other tycoons involved with the Russian mob. Although the Russian government has charged Berezovsky with fraud, he was granted political asylum in Great Britain.

Klebnikov launched a Russian edition of Forbes in April. A month later, the magazine attracted attention for publishing a list of the country's wealthiest people. Although the Forbes 400 is published each year without incident in the U.S., the publication of "The Golden Hundred of the Richest Businessmen of Russia" caused a stir overseas.

"Paul was a superb reporter -- courageous, energetic, ever-curious. I eagerly anticipated reading his stories. The information was always fresh, insightful, fascinating. He exemplified the finest traditions of our profession and served his readers well," stated Steve Forbes, the publication's president and editor-in-chief.

[Update, March 1, 2005: Russian prosecutors have charged Muslim Ibragimov, a Chechen also known as Kazbek Dukuzov, with Klebnikov's murder.]

[Update, May 25, 2006: Two suspected Chechen hit men, Kazbek Dukuzov and Musa Vakhaev, were acquitted of Klebnikov's murder last week. Jury tampering is suspected, and the case has been appealed to the Russian Supreme Court.]

Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith, the United Methodist minister who shot to stardom in the 1980s as the "The Frugal Gourmet," died on July 7 of natural causes. He was 65.

The Tacoma, Wash., native earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound and a master's degree from Drew University. Ordained as a minister in 1965, Smith spent the next six years as a chaplain at the University of Puget Sound, where he taught a course called "Food as Sacrament and Celebration."

From 1972 to 1983, Smith owned and operated the Chaplain's Pantry Restaurant and Gourmet Shop, an establishment that also served as a catering service and cooking school. His teaching skills, kind demeanor and culinary acumen were so renowned that the local PBS affiliate, KTPS-TV, offered him his first show, "Cooking Fish Creatively." It was later renamed "The Frugal Gourmet."

Smith moved the show's production to Chicago in the early 1980s, then made a promotional appearance on "The Phil Donahue Show" that garnered more than 45,000 orders for his cookbook. Soon "The Frugal Gourmet" was the most-watched cooking show in the United States, drawing up to 15 million viewers on 300 stations. His 12 cookbooks sold millions of copies and became best-sellers in that genre. He ended every show with his trademark sign-off: "I bid you peace."

In 1997, Smith's television career ended in scandal when seven men filed a lawsuit claiming he had sexually abused them when they were teenagers. Although Smith denied the allegations and was never charged with a crime, his cooking show was pulled off the air. Smith and his insurance company eventually settled the suit for $5 million.

Syreeta Wright

Syreeta Wright, a Motown singer/songwriter, died on July 6 after a long battle with cancer. She was 58.

The Pittsburgh native began singing when she was only four years old. She launched her musical career as a secretary at Motown Records in the 1960s. Motown's founder, Berry Gordy, eventually signed her to the label as Rita Wright. She released the record "I Can't Give Back the Love I Feel for You," then became a sought-after backup vocalist for artists such as Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.

Wright married Wonder in 1970; they divorced two years later. Although she later wed bassist Curtis Robertson Jr., Wright and Wonder remained friends and continued collaborating together. She co-wrote several of his hits, including "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," "Superwoman" and "If You Really Love Me." In return, Wonder produced two of Wright's albums -- her 1972 debut "Syreeta," and her sophomore effort, "Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta."

The R&B vocalist also sang with Michael Bolton and Quincy Jones. Her duet with Billy Preston, "With You I'm Born Again," reached the top 5 on the pop charts after it was featured in the 1979 film, "Fast Break." In 1994, Wright played the role of Mary Magdalene in the national tour of "Jesus Christ Superstar."

• Discography

Bill Parks

William Parks, a renowned barbecuer in El Paso, Texas, died on June 23. Cause of death was not released. He was 78.

The North Carolina native's grandmother taught him how to cook. He served in the U.S. Army, and retired in 1963 as a master sergeant. After moving to El Paso and working for Southwest Airlines, Parks decided to enter the barbecue business.

Bill Parks Bar-B-Q was known for its friendly atmosphere and tasty home-cooked menu. For more than three decades, Parks earned rave reviews from customers and critics alike for his mesquite-pecan-and-oak-smoked pork and beef, southern vegetables, apple cobbler, banana pudding and sweet potato pie. The landmark eatery was named one of the 50 best barbecue joints in the state by Texas Monthly Magazine. It closed a few years ago when Parks retired.

Stewart Richardson

Stewart Richardson, a former editor-in-chief at Doubleday, died on July 7 of a lung infection. He was 78.

Richardson was the executive editor and later editor-in-chief of Doubleday during the 1960's and 70's. He worked with many prominent authors, including James Dickey, William Goldman, Robert F. Kennedy, Rose Kennedy and John Updike.

Richardson also edited Wallace Stegner's 1971 novel, "Angle of Repose," and William H. Goetzmann's nonfiction text, "Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and the Scientist in the Winning of the American West," both of which won a Pulitzer Prize. In 1985, he added Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to his roster of writers.

Richardson is survived by his wife Sally Richardson, the president and publisher of St. Martin's Press, and two children.

Winona Sullivan

Before she became a mystery writer, Winona Yahn Sullivan was a fashion model and a spy.

The New York native earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Manhattanville College and a master's degree in education from New York University. She did some modeling in Manhattan and studied Russian at the University of Leningrad, then decided to launch a career in espionage.

In 1965, Sullivan wrote a letter to the Central Intelligence Agency, asking to become a government spy. Impressed with her language skills, the Agency hired her as a Russian intelligence analyst. She spent the next two years tracking suspected Russian agents and interpreting intelligence.

Sullivan later mastered the balancing act of raising seven children and writing cozy mystery novels. She penned half a dozen books, including the popular Sister Cecile series about a nun who moonlights as a private investigator. The first book in the series, "A Sudden Death at the Norfolk Cafe," won the 1991 Best First Private Eye Novel Contest, sponsored by the Private Eye Writers of America and St. Martin's Press. In recent years, she also taught at the University of Miami and Florida International University.

Sullivan died on June 24 of lung cancer. She was 61.

Barbara Brent

Barbara K. Brent always believed in fighting for peace and equality. While attending Valparaiso University, the Oak Park, Ill., native participated in demonstrations supporting the Equal Rights Amendment. Thirty years ago, she marched in Washington, D.C. to protest the Vietnam War. More recently, she braved oppressive temperatures, and chemotherapy-induced exhaustion, to oppose the War in Iraq.

Brent was working with battered women in the early 1980s when she first became aware of the plight of the homeless. As the first executive director of the DuPage Public Action to Deliver Shelter program in Wheaton, Ill., Brent convinced local religious leaders to open their houses of worship and provide food and shelter to the homeless population. Known for her compassion and determination, she was nicknamed "Our Fearless Leader" by her co-workers.

Brent earned a bachelor's degree in political science and sociology from Elmhurst College, and a master's degree in human service administration from National-Louis University. She later worked as a probation officer, volunteered with the DuPage Women Against Rape organization and taught a class at the College of DuPage. In 1996, she was named the Wheaton Kiwanis Club's Citizen of the Year.

Brent died on June 20 of complications from non-Hodgkins lymphoma. She was 52.

Bernard Grant

Bernard Grant, a fixture on daytime television in the 1960s and '70s, died on June 30 from complications of lymphoma and pneumonia. He was 83.

The New York native was bitten by the acting bug in his youth. He studied drama at the American Theater Wing and performed in church groups and neighborhood theatres. Grant was working as a radio announcer on WPAT-AM in New York when World War II began. He enlisted in the U.S. Army, served for three years and reached the rank of sergeant.

Upon his return to civilian life, Grant acted in numerous radio plays before making the transition to television. He spent more than a decade playing Dr. Paul Fletcher on the soap opera, "The Guiding Light," then portrayed Duke Manson on "The Edge of Night" and Steve Burke on "One Life to Life."

In later years, Grant provided the dubbed voice in English translations of foreign films. He also appeared in guest shots on TV shows like "Barney Miller," "All in the Family" and "Law & Order." Grant is survived by his wife, actress Joyce Gordon, and their two children.

Thomas Klestil

Thomas Klestil, the president of Austria, died on July 6 of multiple organ failure. He was 71.

Born in Vienna, Klestil studied economics at the College of World Trade. After earning a doctorate in commercial sciences, he took a civil service job with the Austrian Federal Chancellery. During the 1960s, Klestil worked as an attaché at the Austrian Embassy in Washington and established the Austrian General Consulate in Los Angeles.

Klestil was appointed ambassador to the United Nations in 1978; he was named the Austrian ambassador to the United States four years later. Called back to Vienna in 1987, he next became the Secretary General for Foreign Affairs, the highest-ranking diplomat in the Foreign Ministry.

In 1992, Klestil received the Austrian People's Party's nomination for the federal presidency and won the election with 56.9 percent of the vote. His first term in office was dedicated to strengthening Austria's ties with Central and Eastern Europe. In an effort to bolster relations with these countries, he organized the 1996 "European Economic Summit" in Salzburg, a gathering that granted political representatives from Central and Eastern Europe access to internationally acclaimed economic leaders. Austria joined the European Union in 1995.

On the domestic front, Klestil focused on civil rights and environmental issues. He also spoke out against Austria's Nazi complicity during World War II, and traveled to Israel to express his sympathy for Holocaust victims. The popular leader was re-elected in 1998 and dedicated his second term in office to improving global trade relations. Barred by the country's constitution from seeking a third term, Klestil's presidency was scheduled to end on July 8.

Rodger Ward

Rodger Ward, who was the oldest living winner of the Indianapolis 500, died on July 5. Cause of death was not released. He was 83.

Born in Beloit, Kan., and raised in Los Angeles, Ward was only 14 when he built his first Ford hot rod from parts he scavenged in his father's junkyard. After serving as an Air Force fighter pilot in World War II, he returned to Southern California and began racing midgets.

Ward won the American Automobile Association stock car title in 1951. That same year, he finished 27th in his rookie test at Indianapolis. Ward spent the early 1950s honing his driving skills on the professional circuit, but considered dropping out of the sport in 1955 after participating in the horrific crash that took fellow driver Bill Vukovich Sr.'s life.

Vukovich was attempting to race his way into a third straight win at Indy. In lap 57, Ward's axel broke, causing his car to spin out of control and overturn. As driver Johnny Boyd tried to avoid Ward's overturned car, he drove right into Vukovich's path. Vukovich hit Boyd broadside, then sailed over the wall. His car flipped once, smashed nose-first into the ground and exploded.

Ward only returned to the track after Vukovich's family convinced him to continue racing. He went on to win the Indianapolis 500 in 1959, and again in 1962. His final Indy attempt occurred in 1966; he finished 15th. After the Victory Banquet, Ward announced his retirement. In later years, Ward worked with Composite Automotive Research, a Southern California firm that designed a low-priced car sold in Third World countries. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992.

With Ward's death, the oldest living Indy winner is now 75-year-old Jim Rathmann, who won the race in 1960.

Ruth Gmeiner Frandsen

Ruth Gmeiner Frandsen, the first female reporter to cover the Supreme Court, died on June 10 of pneumonia. She was 85.

The Pueblo, Colo., native earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri before joining the United Press as a dictationist in 1942. Her inquisitive nature earned her a promotion to a reporter position, and her tenacity made her one of only a handful of female journalists to cover Washington before and after World War II.

Under the byline Ruth Gmeiner, she worked a variety of beats -- from writing feature articles and health news to covering two first ladies (Eleanor Roosevelt and Bess Truman) and both the 1948 and 1952 political conventions. Gmeiner also reported on the House Un-American Activities Committee's investigation of accused spy Alger Hiss and the 1954 shooting in the the U.S. House of Representatives.

One of the last stories she filed was the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, which declared segregated schools unconstitutional. The veteran reporter was in the courthouse when the decision was read.

After resigning later that year, Gmeiner married UP Washington news editor, Julius Frandsen. She dedicated the rest of her life to promoting animal rights and lobbying for anti-cruelty laws. Her son, Jon Frandsen, later became a chief congressional correspondent for the Gannett News Service.

Linda Blue

When Linda Joy Blue joined the Metro Miami-Dade Police Department in 1970, female cops were still called "police women" rather than "police officers."

But Blue never let her gender become a hindering factor in her law enforcement career. Instead, she rose through the ranks to become one of the first female detectives in the homicide unit and an original member of the sexual battery unit. She also spearheaded a campaign to launch the department's domestic crimes bureau, which handles child exploitation, domestic violence, elderly abuse, Internet pornography and missing persons cases.

In the mid-1990s, Blue earned a promotion to the rank of major. She retired from the force in 2000 after being diagnosed with breast cancer. In her spare time, the Miami native founded a Reading Is Fundamental program, and donated quilts she created to shelters housing homeless children.

Blue lost her battle against cancer on June 17. She was 58.

Ralph Kent

Ralph E. Kent, the former chairman of Arthur Young & Co., died on June 26. Cause of death was not released. He was 88.

Kent graduated from Ohio State University in 1937. That same year, he landed a job with the accounting firm of Arthur Young & Co. in New York. Kent worked his way up the corporate ladder until 1965, when he was promoted to senior partner and chairman of the Ernst & Young predecessor firm. He remained in this position until his retirement in 1977.

Outside of the office, Kent was a dedicated member of his profession. He served on the consultant panel of the Comptroller General of the United States for 16 years. A life member of the American Institute of CPAs, Kent was also the organization's president from 1968 to 1969. A scholarship for students studying accounting has been established in his honor.

Dorothy Brown

Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown was a conduit for social change. She was the first black woman to become a surgeon in the South, the first black woman elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives and the first single adoptive parent in that state.

Born out of wedlock and abandoned by her mother, Brown's exact birth date is unknown. She was raised in orphanages and foster homes, but was smart enough to graduate from Bennett College for Women and Meharry Medical College.

Brown interned for a year at Harlem Hospital in New York City, yet was rejected when she applied for a surgical residency. At the time, many in the medical profession did not believe a woman, let alone a black woman, could handle the rigors of surgical training. Brown turned to Dr. Matthew Walker, Meharry Medical College's longtime chief of surgery, for help.

Against the advice of his staff, Walker asked Brown to join the faculty. She became a professor of surgery in 1957, a job she held until 1983, and was the second black woman to be named a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Brown also held the position of chief of surgery at Riverside Hospital in Nashville for 25 years.

Her tenure in the political arena was short-lived, but remarkable. During the height of the civil rights era, Brown was elected as an independent to the state House of Representatives. During her one term in office (1966-1968), she co-sponsored a bill that created "Negro History Week," which grew to become Black History Month. She also introduced legislation to legalize abortion in cases of rape or incest. Abortion wasn't fully legalized until the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973.

Brown never married, but in 1957, she became the first single parent to adopt a child in Tennessee. She named her infant daughter Lola Denise, and later adopted a son, Kevin, as well. For her many contributions to society, she received a humanitarian award from the Carnegie Foundation in 1993.

Brown died on June 13 of congestive heart failure. She was approximately 90 years old.

John Cullen Murphy

John Cullen Murphy, the illustrator who drew the "Prince Valiant" comic strip for more than three decades, died on July 2 of natural causes. He was 85.

Murphy always wanted to be a baseball player, but when his neighbor, illustrator Norman Rockwell, asked him to model for a "Saturday Evening Post" cover, he decided to become an illustrator instead. Under Rockwell's tutelage, Murphy earned a scholarship to the Phoenix Art Institute in New York. His first professional assignment was drawing sports cartoons that were used to promote boxing matches at Madison Square Garden.

Murphy continued drawing during World War II. While serving with the Army in the South Pacific, he sold some of his illustrations to the Chicago Tribune. After returning to the states, Murphy drew publicity pictures for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and began illustrating articles and stories in magazines such as Look, Collier's Sport, Reader's Digest and Esquire. When his magazine prospects started to dry up, Murphy spent 20 years illustrating the boxer comic strip "Big Ben Bolt" for King Features.

In 1970, he joined forces with Hal Foster to illustrate the historical comic strip, "Prince Valiant." Murphy illustrated the strip for 34 years, and turned the project into a family affair. His son, Cullen Murphy, has written the text of the strip since 1979. Cullen is also the editor of The Atlantic Monthly. His daughter, Mairead "Meg" Nash, provided the strip's lettering and coloring. Syndicated in more than 300 newspapers nationwide, "Prince Valiant" has spawned three feature films and numerous book collections. Murphy retired from the strip's daily duties in March; "Prince Valiant" is currently illustrated by Gary Gianni.

The former president of the National Cartoonists Society, Murphy won the organization's "Best Story Strip" award six times.

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando Jr., the legendary actor who was best known for playing Don Vito Corleone in "The Godfather" films, died on July 1 of lung failure. He was 80.

During his four-decade career, Brando influenced actors like Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson. Many in Hollywood and theatre circles considered the brooding, Academy Award-winning thespian to be the greatest actor of his generation.

Brando appeared in more than 40 movies, playing Marc Antony in "Julius Caesar" (1953), a motorcycle gang leader in "The Wild One" (1954), a sheriff in "The Chase" (1966), the Man of Steel's father in "Superman" (1978), an insane colonel in "Apocalypse Now" (1979), a bemused shrink in "Don Juan DeMarco" (1995) and a criminal in "The Score" (2001). Despite his hulking body and occasionally inarticulate diction, he radiated the kind of confidence women adored and men admired.

Born in Omaha, Neb., Brando's mother first inspired his interest in acting. After getting expelled from military school, he moved to New York City and began taking classes at the New School. Under the tutelage of acting teacher Stella Adler, Brando adopted a style known as Method Acting, a process by which actors behave in a spontaneous, realistic manner rather than emote in a dramatic fashion.

On-screen or on the stage, Brando's handsome features and strong, almost brutish performances were unforgettable. His embodiment of Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire," was so intensely memorable that many actors who played the role in future productions merely imitated his take on the part. His portrayal of Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront" earned him his first Oscar; Brando won a second Academy Award for Best Actor for "The Godfather," which he declined.

Although he won two British Film Academy Awards, five Golden Globes and an Emmy, Brando also developed a reputation in Hollywood for being a difficult actor to work with. He was unable or unwilling to memorize his lines and often refused to take direction.

In private, Brando preferred to live in seclusion and rarely made public appearances. He wed three times, each marriage ending in divorce, and fathered nine children. In 1991, his eldest son Christian was convicted of murdering his sister Cheyenne's boyfriend. Four years later, Cheyenne committed suicide. Brando's turbulent life was the subject of dozens of biographies, and his own cryptic memoir, "Songs My Mother Taught Me."

• Complete Coverage From The New York Times

• IMDb Filmography

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Hugh B. Cave

Hugh Barnet Cave, a veteran pulp writer and novelist, died on June 27 of complications from long-term diabetes. He was 93.

Born in Chester, England and raised in Boston, Cave first developed an interest in writing horror stories when his father was seriously injured in a streetcar accident. Hugh was only 15 when he won an honorable mention in a short story contest sponsored by the Boston Globe, and launched a seven-decade career in publishing.

Cave published his first short stories, "Island Ordeal" and "The Pool of Death," in 1929. More than 800 tales of adventure, horror, mystery, romance and the supernatural followed, most of which appeared in pulp magazines. Another 350 stories were published in national magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping.

In the 1940s, Cave wrote several nonfiction books, including the best-seller "Long Were the Nights," about PT boats at Guadalcanal. The prolific author also penned dozens of novels and short story anthologies. His most recent book, "The Mountains of Madness," was published earlier this year. Another novel is due out in 2005.

For his publishing endeavors, Cave received numerous awards, including the World Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award, the Bram Stoker Life Achievement Award and the Living Legend Award from the International Horror Guild. The biography, "Pulp Man's Odyssey: The Hugh B. Cave Story" by Audrey Parente was published in 1988; a second bio, "Cave of 1,000 Tales," by Milt Thomas, was recently released.

• Read "The Mission" by Hugh B. Cave

• A Mostly Complete Bibliography

Dick Durrance

Dick Durrance, a former Olympian and U.S. ski champion, died on June 13 of natural causes. He was 89.

Durrance spent his early childhood in Florida, but moved to Germany in his teens. He took up skiing and within five years won the German Junior Alpine Championship. Although his family returned to Florida, Durrance enrolled at Dartmouth College and continued skiing.

He became the first American to dominate a major European ski race when he won at Sestrier, Italy, in 1936. That same year, he placed eighth in the slalom and 11th in the downhill races at the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Durrance won three Harriman Cups, North America's largest ski race in the late 1930s, and triumphed at 17 national championships.

Once he stopped competing, Durrance took a job manufacturing skis in Denver, then became the general manager of the Aspen Skiing Co. To turn Aspen into a major skiing destination, Durrance contracted new lifts, ordered the building of new trails and designed the racecourse used for the 1950 FIS World Championships.

In later years, Durrance helped turn Sun Valley, Idaho and Alta, Utah into premier skiing locations. He also produced and directed more than 40 ski films, and trained the ski-borne troops of the military's 10th Mountain Division. Durrance's life was chronicled in the biography, "The Man on the Medal." He was married to skier and photographer Margaret "Miggs" Durrance, who died in 2002.

"Looking back, I realize that the great lesson I learned from my father is what a great champion can be. He did not define champion by what he said, for he never spoke of his accomplishments, but rather how he lived his life. He showed us as a ski racer, as a ski mountain developer, as a filmmaker, and most of all as a man, that a true champion is not measured by what he says, not even by what he does, but how he does it. My father will forever be a beacon that guides my life," his son Dick Durrance Jr. told the Aspen Times.

Charles Correll Jr.

Charles James Correll Jr., an Emmy Award-winning cinematographer and director, died on June 4 of pancreatic cancer. He was 60.

The California native was the son of Charles J. Correll, who voiced the character of Andy Brown on the "Amos & Andy" radio show. Charles Jr. launched his four-decade filmmaking career as a camera assistant on the 1950s TV crime drama, "Dragnet."

After honing his skills as a camera operator on shows such as "Columbo" and "Kojak," Correll became a cinematographer. He won an Emmy Award in 1983 for best cinematography for shooting the mini-series, "The Winds of War." Correll received a second Emmy nomination two years later for the TV movie "Wallenberg: A Hero's Story."

In recent years, Correll developed his directing resume by helming episodes of "Melrose Place," "MacGyver," "Stargate SG1," "Law & Order" and "Without a Trace." At the time of his death, he was shooting several episodes of "CSI" and "CSI: Miami."

Nathan Note

Bikini Island is a lush, tropical landmass in the Pacific that's part of an atoll of the same name. In 1946, the island's residents were evacuated from their homes at the behest of their chief so the United States government could test atomic and hydrogen bombs there. These tests lasted until 1958, and a decade later, the islanders were told they could return home.

Nathan Note was skeptical of the government's claims that the area was safe for human habitation. So he became an activist dedicated to warning Bikini Islanders about the dangers of radiation. Most of the Bikinians listened to Note's arguments and refused to return home. About 100 natives, however, believed that the U.S. government wouldn't put them in harm's way and returned to Bikini Island.

In 1978, those resettled residents were evacuated when new scientific data showed dangerous levels of residual radioactivity. Further tests revealed that they had ingested large amounts of radioactive cesium from crops and well water. High levels of radioactive cesium exposure can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding, coma and even death.

Note was part of the first Bikinian delegation to go to Washington D.C. and demand help for his people. After years of neglect, the U.S. government granted several multi-million dollar nuclear test compensation trust funds to the Bikini citizenry. To this day, Bikinians remain in exile.

Note died on June 19 of natural causes. He was approximately 85.