The Blog of Death

Tulley Brown

Tulley Brown, the founder of an influential after-school program for at-risk youths, died on Nov. 13 of heart failure. He was 72.

The Los Angeles native earned a political science degree from Occidental College in California, served in the Army for two years, then did missionary work in Hong Kong. He returned to Los Angeles in the 1960s and landed a job as a sales executive. In his spare time, Brown built a library for a halfway house that helped troubled teens.

When a thief stole his car in 1967, and he learned that the criminal was both an orphan and a high school dropout, Brown decided to develop a program that would keep disadvantaged children off the streets. A year later, he founded Direction Sports, an after-school program for children age 7 to 19.

Using college students as tutors and coaches, Direction Sports drew hundreds of participants from all over Los Angeles. The children studied before basketball practice and competed academically during weekend games. A typical activity involved answering spelling or math questions while shooting hoops. Correct answers were required for each basket to count.

"There are lots of programs out there to teach or give youth quality time, but not many know how to empower. Giving them a sense of their own worth develops the reservoir from which every other good endeavor flows," Brown said in a 1992 interview with The Christian Science Monitor.

Within 10 years, Direction Sports became one of the most successful urban programs in America. A UCLA study showed that students who went through the program had better test scores than students who didn't receive the specialized tutoring. In 1974, the program began working with juvenile offenders. Two years later, the Los Angeles Probation Department reported that delinquent graduates of the Direction Sports programs in Watts and Compton had a recidivism rate of 2 percent; the national average at that time was 50 percent.

Direction Sports expanded to nine other cities, but was scaled back in the 1980s after many of its government grants were cut during the Reagan administration. The program was shut down entirely in the mid-1990s when private funding dried up and Brown took time off to care for his wife, Jackie. She died of cancer in 1997.

Larry Brown

Using simple, elegant language, William Larry Brown described the gritty lives of rural Southerners.

The Mississippi native developed his minimalist style of fiction in the 1980s while working as a firefighter with the Oxford Fire Department. His second published story, "Facing the Music," appeared in Mississippi Quarterly in 1987, and caught the eye of Shannon Ravenel, an editor at Algonquin Publishing. Looking to fill the anthology "New Stories From the South," Ravenel contacted Brown and asked if he had any other stories in need of publication. Brown wrote back and said he had nearly a hundred. Algonquin published his first short story collection, "Facing the Music," in 1988.

Brown's debut novel, "Dirty Work," an anti-war story about two Vietnam veterans from Mississippi recuperating in adjacent hospital beds, was published in 1989. He followed it up with the short story collection, "Big Bad Love," which was adapted to the big screen in 2001 and starred Debra Winger and Arliss Howard. Brown later penned four more novels ("Joe," "Father and Son," "Fay," and "The Rabbit Factory"), a collection of essays about writing ("Billy Ray's Farm") and an autobiography ("On Fire").

A two-time recipient of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award, Brown also won the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Literature, The Thomas Wolfe Award and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Award. "The Rough South of Larry Brown," a documentary about his life, premiered in 2000.

The son of a sharecropper father and a postmaster mother, Brown served in the Marines for two years. He worked a wide variety of odd jobs -- carpenter, house painter, hay hauler, fence builder, lumberjack -- before becoming a firefighter in 1973. Although he took one writing course at the University of Mississippi, he was mostly a self-taught writer.

Brown died on Nov. 24 of an apparent heart attack. He was 53.

• Listen to Brown Read From His Short Story "Old Frank and Jesus"

• Listen to a Tribute From NPR

Arthur Hailey

Arthur Hailey, a bestselling author and screenwriter, died on Nov. 24 of a stroke. He was 84.

Born in Luton, England, Hailey began writing poetry and short stories as a child. He learned to type and take shorthand, but dropped out of school in his teens when his family was unable to afford a college education.

Hailey served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II, then immigrated to Canada, where he hoped to become a professional writer. Breaking into fiction proved difficult, however, and he worked for several years as a real estate agent, an advertising executive, an editor and a sales promotion manager.

In his spare time, Hailey wrote fast-paced stories and television scripts featuring detectives and doctors, heroes and womanizers. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation produced his first screenplay "Flight Into Danger" about a planeload of people surviving a harrowing flight. The TV production sold well overseas and its proceeds allowed Hailey to write full-time. He started each day at 6 a.m., and didn't stop working until he'd typed 600 words.

Hailey's first novel, "The Final Diagnosis," was published in 1959. His next 10 books received lukewarm reviews from critics, but were hits with the public. Today, more than 170 million copies are still in print.

Although several of his books ("Hotel," "Wheels," "The Moneychangers" and "Strong Medicine") were made into TV shows and films, Hailey was best known for writing "Airport," which stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for 65 weeks. "Airport" was adapted to the big screen in 1970 and helped launch the disaster movie genre. Hailey didn't write its three sequels, but he received more than $100,000 for each of them. He also sold the feature film rights to "Flight Into Danger"; it eventually inspired the humorous 1980 spoof, "Airplane!"

After making millions as a writer, Hailey moved to the Bahamas in 1969 to live in tax exile. He retired from publishing in 1997 and spent his final years enjoying a life of leisure.

Terry Melcher

Terry Melcher, a producer and songwriter who helped craft the sound of California surf, rock and folk music, died on Nov. 19 after a long battle with cancer. He was 62.

The son of actress/singer Doris Day and trombonist Al Jorden, Terry adopted the surname Melcher after his mother married her third husband, Martin Melcher. In his 20s, the New York native took on the stage name "Terry Day" and teamed up with future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston to form two bands: Bruce & Terry and The Rip Chords.

After performing on the seminal Beach Boys album "Pet Sounds," Melcher decided to become a music producer. He joined Columbia Records in 1962 and made a name for himself by producing several hits for the Byrds ("Mr. Tambourine Man," "Turn, Turn, Turn"). Melcher chose his next projects wisely, producing records with Paul Revere & the Raiders, Wayne Newton, Pat Boone, Glen Campbell and The Mamas & The Papas. Melcher also auditioned a young songwriter named Charles Manson, but decided against offering him a recording contract.

In 1969, Manson ordered some of his followers to break into the Los Angeles house actress Sharon Tate and director Roman Polanski sublet from Melcher, and kill everyone inside. Susan Atkins, a member of the "Manson Family" who was convicted of murdering Tate and her four friends, later said she and her co-conspirators were sent to the house on 10050 Cielo Drive to "instill fear into Terry Melcher, because Terry had given us his word on a few things and never came through with them." The police discounted this theory after learning that Manson knew Melcher no longer lived there.

From 1968 to 1972, Melcher served as the executive producer on his mother's CBS series "The Doris Day Show." He later recorded two unheralded solo albums ("Terry Melcher" and "Royal Flush"), co-produced the 1985 cable show "Doris Day's Best Friends" and worked as the director and vice president of the Doris Day Animal Foundation. He and his mother also co-owned the Cypress Inn, a small hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., with Dennis LeVett.

In 1988, Melcher earned a Golden Globe nomination for co-writing the song "Kokomo" with the Beach Boys. The tune was featured in the Tom Cruise film "Cocktail" and rose to number one on the pop charts that year.

Download "Kokomo"

Cy Coleman

Cy Coleman, an accomplished jazz pianist and prolific composer of Broadway show tunes, died on Nov. 18 of heart failure. He was 75.

Coleman was born in the Bronx and given the birth name Seymour Kaufman. A child prodigy on the piano, he was only seven years old when he made his debut at Carnegie Hall. Coleman studied classical music at the High School of Music and Art and the New York College of Music, but in his spare time, he played jazz on Manhattan's club circuit.

Coleman soon developed a reputation for writing up-tempo pop songs. Many of these tunes -- "Big Spender," "If My Friends Could See Me Now," "Witchcraft," "The Best Is Yet to Come" -- became standards for singers such as Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole.

In 1953, Coleman found his calling when he wrote the music for the Broadway production of "John Murray Anderson's Almanac." For the next five decades, he wrote or co-wrote the music for more than two dozen shows, including "Wildcat," "Little Me," "Seesaw" and "Sweet Charity." The 1978 score for "On the Twentieth Century" earned Coleman his first Tony Award. He won two more Tonys for "City of Angels" and "The Will Rogers Follies." Coleman's final Broadway production was the 1997 play "The Life," however, two other Coleman musicals -- "Like Jazz" and "The Great Ostrovsky" -- were performed during the 2003-2004 season in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, respectively.

In addition to his work in the theatre, Coleman also wrote film scores for the movies "Father Goose," "The Art of Love," "The Heartbreak Kid," "Garbo Talks" and "Family Business." He won three Emmys and two Grammys, and received an Academy Award nomination (for the 1969 Hollywood adaptation of "Sweet Charity"). The recipient of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame Johnny Mercer Award and The ASCAP Foundation's Richard Rodgers Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Musical Theater, Coleman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1981.

The lights of Broadway theaters dimmed for one minute last Friday to honor Coleman's memory. A revival of "Sweet Charity," is slated to open in New York in spring 2005.

Download "The Best Is Yet to Come"

Download "Witchcraft"

J.T. Rogers

Barry Thomas "J.T." Rogers, an actor who specialized in gay pornography, committed suicide on Nov. 7. He was 39.

Born in Milledgeville, Ga., Rogers was raised by fundamental Baptists and attended Bob Jones University in South Carolina. He moved to California in the late 1980s to pursue an acting career.

Rogers spent the next decade making a name for himself in the gay sex film industry. In 1993, he won Gay Video Guide’s Best Supporting Actor Award for his role as a mafia don in the film "Body Search." Two years later, Rogers won a second supporting actor award for his performance in "All About Steve." He appeared in over 35 adult films and was best known for playing the character Johnny Rahm.

Rogers moved to Atlanta in 1999 and tried working in stand-up comedy, but struggled financially. According to the Atlanta Police Department, he hung himself on the fence line of the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Red Rountree

J.L. Hunter ''Red" Rountree was in his 80s when he became a bank robber. At the time, he said, robbery sounded like a good way to make money -- and get some revenge against the banking industry.

The Texas native was once a successful businessman. He made millions running the Rountree Machinery Co., but became financially strapped after a Corpus Christi bank called in a business loan and forced him into bankruptcy. Rountree's first wife died in 1986; a year later he married a 31-year-old drug addict. After spending $500,000 putting her through rehab, they divorced in 1995.

Living off Social Security didn't suit Rountree so he began robbing banks. He was 86 when he robbed the SouthTrust Bank in Biloxi, Miss., in 1998. Ten minutes after making his getaway, however, the police caught him. Rountree was sentenced to three years probation and a $260 fine, and ordered to leave Mississippi.

In 1999, Rountree was robbing a NationsBank in Pensacola, Fla., when two customers thwarted his efforts. He was convicted again and sentenced to three years in prison. Rountree was released in 2002, but a life of crime still appealed to him.

"You want to know why I rob banks? It's fun. I feel good, awful good. I feel good for sometimes days, for sometimes hours," Rountree once said in an interview with The Associated Press.

In 2003, Roundtree hit the First American Bank in Abilene, Texas. Although the robbery was successful -- he got away with nearly $2,000 -- Rountree was captured that same day and later sentenced to 12 years in prison. Considered the nation's oldest known bank robber, Roundtree was transferred last January to the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo. He died on Oct. 12 at the age of 92. No family members came forward to claim Rountree's body so he was buried in a cemetery near the prison.

Samuel Billison

Samuel Billison, a Navajo code talker and educator, died on Nov. 17 of heart complications. He was believed to be 79 or 80.

Billison was born on a Navajo reservation in Ganado, Ariz. After finishing high school in 1943, he enlisted in the Marines. Billison's fluency in English and in the complex Navajo language made him the perfect candidate for a "code talker." During World War II, these Marines were trained to use a secret code based on the Navajo language to encrypt orders relayed over walkie-talkies. Billison and five other Navajo code talkers transmitted more than 800 error-free messages at Iwo Jima. Neither the Germans nor the Japanese ever cracked their code.

Billison later earned an associate's degree from Bacone College in Bacone, Okla., a bachelor's degree from East Central State University in Ada, Okla., a master's degree from Oklahoma University and a doctorate in education from the University of Arizona. He became a certified K-12 teacher, a high school principal and the superintendent of the Navajo Area School Board Association.

After the war, the Department of Defense ordered the code talkers not to discuss their military experiences. Though honorably discharged, their contributions remained classified until 1968. For the next four decades, however, Billison traveled around the world sharing tales of the code talkers' World War II exploits. He served as the president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association, and provided the voice of Hasbro's Navajo Code Talker GI Joe doll. In 2001, he received the Congressional Silver Medal.

Joe Bushkin

Joseph Bushkin, a world renowned jazz pianist and composer, died on Nov. 3 of pneumonia. He was 87.

The native New Yorker started playing the piano when he was only 10 years old. By the time he was 20, Bushkin had performed at the Roseland Ballroom in Brooklyn and at the Famous Door Club in Manhattan.

Over the course of his seven-decade career, Bushkin accompanied the Bunny Berigan Boys, Eddie Condon, Muggsy Spanier, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Judy Garland. He appeared on Billie Holiday's first recording under her own name, and played with the Tommy Dorsey band during its most celebrated years. In 1941, he and John DeVries wrote "Oh! Look at Me Now," the song that helped launch Frank Sinatra's solo career.

Bushkin was drafted into the Army Air Corps during World War II and spent his service years directing musical revues and playing the trumpet. Upon his return to civilian life, he headlined at numerous New York nightclubs and recorded dozens of records. The eight "mood albums" he produced with a full orchestra became standards in jazz circles. Bushkin also played Frankie J in the Broadway show "The Rat Race," then reprised the role in the 1960 film adaptation, starring Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds.

Although he technically retired in the 1960s, Bushkin accompanied Bing Crosby on the crooner's 1977 tour and occasionally performed at the Carlyle and St. Regis hotels in New York. In later years, he raised thoroughbred horses in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Download Music by Joe Bushkin

Fred Hale

Fred Harold Hale Sr., the world's oldest man, died in his sleep on Nov. 19. He was 113.

Born on Dec. 1, 1890, in New Sharon, Maine, Hale delivered mail by train from Boston to Bangor for 39 years. Although he retired from the postal service in 1957, Hale lived up to his name by gardening, hunting, traveling and beekeeping. When he was 107, a local news crew filmed him shoveling the snow off his roof.

The Guinness World Records acknowledged Hale as the oldest living man in March. He held the record for being the world's oldest driver as well. Hale attributed his longevity to heredity -- both of his parents lived into their 90s -- and to eating a teaspoon of bee pollen every day. A lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox, he lived long enough to watch the team win the World Series in 1918 and 2004.

Hale resided in Maine for 109 years, then moved to Syracuse, N.Y., to be near his 82-year-old son, Fred Jr. He outlived his wife Flora, who died in 1979, and three of his five children. The supercentenarian also had nine grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.

Norman Rose

Norman Rose, a veteran actor whose velvety baritone was often called "the Voice of God," died on Nov. 12 of pneumonia. He was 87.

The Philadelphia native attended George Washington University before moving to the Big Apple in the 1940s. Rose honed his craft at the Actor's Studio Drama School, then landed parts in plays on- and off-Broadway. During World War II, he was recruited by the Office of War Information to work as a radio newscaster.

In 1948, Rose co-founded New Stages, an off-Broadway repertory company, with producer David Heilweil. New Stages presented the American debut of Jean-Paul Sartre's best-known play, "The Respectful Prostitute," prior to its run on Broadway.

After the war, Rose lent his distinctive voice to radio programs such as "Dimension X," "The Martian Chronicles" and "CBS Radio Mystery Theater." He narrated the short film "Harold and the Purple Crayon" in 1959, and provided several of the voices on the CBS cartoon "Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales." From 1969 to 1974, Rose stepped in front of the camera to portray the same character -- psychiatrist Dr. Marcus Polk -- on two ABC soap operas ("One Life to Live" and "All My Children").

A former drama instructor at The Juilliard School, Rose lived up to his reputation in 1975 when he provided the voice of God in the Woody Allen film "Love and Death." The prolific performer later narrated the 70th anniversary broadcast of the Academy Awards and recorded numerous books for the blind, but he was most famous for giving a voice to Juan Valdez, the long-time advertising spokesman for Colombian coffee.

Jhonn Balance

Jhonn Balance, founder of the experimental industrial band Coil, died on Nov. 13 in a fall. He was 42.

Born Geoffrey Laurence Burton in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, he took the surname Rushton as a boy after his mother remarried, but later adopted the stage name Jhonn Balance. A singer and percussionist, he played in several bands until 1982 when he launched Coil as a solo project. Balance broadened the band's scope after joining forces with Throbbing Gristle keyboardist Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson.

Coil's 17-minute single, "How to Destroy Angels," was released in 1984 and touted as "ritual music for the accumulation of male sexual energy." A year later, Balance and Christopherson recorded "Scatology," a full-length album of electronic music and primitive themes.

The band spent the mid-1980s focused on visual media. The video for its cover of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" was widely banned for graphic imagery, yet it was archived in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Coil created the soundtrack for the 1985 film "The Angelic Conversation," released the records "Horse Rotorvator" and "The Anal Staircase," then produced material for the Clive Barker horror flick "Hellraiser." When Hollywood decided to use different songs on the soundtrack, Coil released "The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser" in 1987.

Coil rocked the techno/rave scene in 1991 with "Love's Secret Domain," a music collection The Rare Vinyl Network described as "psychotic dance tracks and freaked-out industrial experimentalism." In 1992, the band signed with Nothing, a record label owned by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, and released songs under its own name and under the pseudonyms ElpH, Eskaton, Time Machines and Black Light District.

Peg Linstroth

For over 60 years, Margaret "Peg" Linstroth's face has adorned millions of pasta boxes.

Her father, James T. Williams, bought a Minneapolis macaroni manufacturer in 1908. Four years later, he invented the first quick cooking elbow macaroni and patented the name Creamette. Williams printed a cartoon of his daughter Peg wearing a white hat with a big red bow on the company's boxes of elbow macaroni and spaghetti. She became known as the "Creamettes Girl," and her childhood image still appears on store shelves today.

Linstroth earned a bachelor's degree from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn., and served as a member of The Creamette Macaroni Co. board of directors until the company was sold to the Borden Foods Corp. in 1979. Although she was primarily a homemaker, Linstroth tripled the value of the J.T. Williams Family Trust.

Linstroth died on Nov. 14 at the age of 89. She is survived by her six children, 18 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Harry Lampert

In collaboration with writer Gardner Fox, Harry Lampert created the first incarnation of The Flash.

Inspired by Hermes, the fleet-footed messenger of the Greek gods, Lambert drew the DC Comics superhero wearing a metal helmet with wings on it. The Golden Age Flash was born out of a lab experiment with hard water fumes and heralded in print as the "fastest man alive." In 1940, "Flash Comics #1" sold for only 10 cents; a copy in very good condition is now worth thousands.

Lambert dedicated much of his life to art. The native New Yorker was just a teenager when he began drawing professionally. At 24, he inked Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons at the Max Fleischer animation studio. Although Lambert eventually drew other comic book characters, such as The King and Red, White and Blue, his favorite illustrations were the gag cartoons he sold to Time, Esquire and the Saturday Evening Post.

From 1947 to 1951, Lambert taught at the New York School of Visual Arts. He later founded the Lambert Agency, a New York advertising firm that produced ads for Hanes Hosiery and Seagram.

Lambert retired from cartooning in 1976 and moved down to Florida. There he became a bridge instructor and the author of four gaming books. A former president of the American Bridge Teachers Association, he received the ABTA's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Lampert died on Nov. 13 of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 88.

Lennox Miller

Dr. Lennox "Billy" Miller, an Olympic sprinter and dentist, died on Nov. 8 of cancer. He was 58.

The Kingston native ran track in high school and won an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California. While studying for his bachelor's degree in psychology, he worked on the USC grounds crew to cover expenses. Miller also served as the anchor on the school's sprint relay team. He and his teammates O.J. Simpson, Earl McCullouch and Fred Kuller set a world record in 1967 when they ran the 440-yard relay in 38.6 seconds.

At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Miller represented Jamaica and won the silver medal in the 100-meter dash. Four years later, he took home the bronze medal in the same event at the Munich Olympics.

Miller graduated from the USC School of Dentistry in 1973 and ran a successful practice in Pasadena, Calif., for 30 years. He is survived by his wife Avril, and their two daughters, Inger and Heather. Inger Miller captured a gold medal in the 400-meter relay at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The Millers were the first father and daughter to win Olympic track and field medals.

• View a Tribute From Go-Jamaica.com

O.D.B.

Rap artist O.D.B., a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan, collapsed and died on Nov. 13 in a Manhattan recording studio. Cause of death was not released. He was 35.

Although his legal name was Russell Tyrone Jones, O.D.B. went by many monikers: Ol' Dirty Bastard, Dirt McGirt, Joe Bannanas, Osiris, Unique Ason and Big Baby Jesus. In 1992, he helped form the Wu-Tang Clan, a Staten Island-based hip hop collective that was designed to showcase the talents of its nine MCs.

Buoyed by the success of the group's debut, "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)," O.D.B. signed with Elektra and released his first solo effort, "Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version," in 1995. His free-associative rhymes pushed the singles "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" and "Brooklyn Zoo" up the charts and afforded him the opportunity to live large. With a gold record under his belt, the Brooklyn native soon developed a reputation for being wild, controversial and thoroughly unpredictable.

O.D.B. launched the Osirus Entertainment record label, started his own clothing line and released his second solo album, "Nigga Please." In 1998, he helped save a little girl's life after she was hit by a car (he and his friends physically lifted the vehicle off of her).

A few days after the rescue, however, O.D.B. received a great deal of negative publicity when he behaved like a sore loser at the Grammy Awards. Upset that rapper P. Diddy (then known as Puff Daddy) won the award for best rap album, O.D.B. stormed the stage during singer Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech, took over the microphone and complained that he had spent a lot of money on his clothes because he thought the Wu-Tang Clan was going to win. He later apologized for his behavior.

O.D.B. also had an extensive arrest record that included making terrorist threats, illegal possession of body armor, failure to pay child support, driving with a suspended license, shoplifting, lewd behavior and assault. He was ordered to attend drug rehabilitation in 2000, but left the Los Angeles clinic before completing the program. In 2001, he was sentenced to two to four years in prison for drug possession, plus two concurrent years for escaping from rehab.

Upon his release from prison in 2003, O.D.B. made a cameo appearance on Mariah Carey's pop song, "Fantasy." The father of 13 children, he was working on a comeback album at the time of his death.

Download "Shimmy Shimmy Ya"

Download "Brooklyn Zoo"

Iris Chang

Iris Shun-Ru Chang, a best-selling author, historian and journalist, committed suicide on Nov. 9. She was 36.

Born in New Jersey, Chang grew up in Champaign-Urbana, Ill., listening to stories of how her grandparents narrowly escaped the 1937 massacre in Nanking, China. But when she visited the local library to learn more, she couldn't find any history books that detailed the event. In time, she would write one.

Chang earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois. She spent a summer interning with The Associated Press and a year working as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune before going back to school to obtain a master's degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University.

In 1995, Chang published her first book, "Thread of the Silkworm," an unauthorized biography of Tsien Hsue-shen, the physicist who pioneered China's missile program. Two years later, she achieved critical acclaim and commercial success with "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II," a historical retelling of how Japanese soldiers raped, tortured and killed more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. Last year, she published "The Chinese in America," which chronicled the history of Chinese immigrants and their descendants in the United States.

When she wasn't writing, Chang gave lectures to human rights groups and university students interested in World War II history and the Asian-American experience. She made appearances on "Nightline," "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," "Charlie Rose" and "Booknotes," and received a Woman of the Year Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans.

Chang was researching her fourth book when she experienced a mental breakdown. Although she was briefly hospitalized for depression, the condition worsened after her release. On Tuesday, Chang was found inside her car on a rural road south of Los Gatos, Calif., the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot. In a note to her family, Chang asked to be remembered as someone "engaged with life, committed to her causes, her writing and her family."

She is survived by her husband, Brett Douglas, and their two-year-old son, Christopher.

[Update, June 2, 2006: An essay contest to raise awareness of the importance of remembering history has been named in honor of Iris Chang. The Iris Chang Memorial Essay Contest offers a $1,000 first prize. Deadline is July 31, 2006.]

• Listen to a Tribute From NPR

Don Briscoe

Cecil Donald Briscoe, an actor best known for playing a vampire and a werewolf on the gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows," died on Oct. 31 of heart disease. He was 64.

The Mississippi native graduated from the prestigious Phillips Exeter prep school in New Hamphire. He moved to New York City in 1958 and earned a master's degree in English from Columbia University. Briscoe's brooding good looks and acting talent attracted the attention of an agent, and soon he was performing in small, off-Broadway productions.

Briscoe was cast as Tony Merritt on the NBC daytime drama "Days of Our Lives" in 1966, and did a guest shot on "I Dream of Jeannie" the following year. He also appeared in TV commercials for Camel Cigarettes, Folger's Coffee and Palmolive Gold Bar Soap.

In 1968, Briscoe joined the cast of ABC's "Dark Shadows," a paranormal soap opera and pop culture phenomenon. He originally portrayed Tom Jennings, a handyman-turned-vampire. But after his character was staked, he played Tom's twin brother, Chris, who suffered from a werewolf curse.

While shooting "Dark Shadows," Briscoe acted in the off-Broadway play "Boys in the Band," and in the 1970 feature film "House of Dark Shadows." Ninety-five episodes into the series, Briscoe suffered a mental breakdown. He left the show, traveled to California and dabbled in the drug culture before moving to Memphis. In recent years, he gave up acting and became a bit of a recluse. Although most of the "Dark Shadows" cast later hit the convention circuit, Briscoe opted to remain out of the public eye.

Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian people and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, died on Nov. 11 of complications from an unknown blood disease. He was 75.

Born Mohammed Yasser Abdul-Ra’ouf Qudwa Al-Husseini, he studied engineering at the University of King Faud I in Cairo and served as a second lieutenant in the Egyptian army. Arafat was working for a contracting firm in Kuwait in 1957 when he and several Palestinian refugees founded Fatah, a secular movement committed to the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Fatah spent the next decade training insurgent groups in Europe, Africa and the Middle East to commit international acts of terrorism.

In the mid-1960s, Fatah joined the Palestine Liberation Organization, an umbrella group of political and paramilitary Palestinian Arabs. When Israel won the 1967 Six-Day War and began attacking Palestinian resistance groups, the PLO responded by hijacking airplanes and shooting up airports. Arafat became the supreme commander of the Palestine Liberation Army, the military arm of the PLO, in 1970 and relocated to Lebanon.

During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, a Palestinian paramilitary group known as Black September kidnapped and killed 11 Israeli athletes. Once the international community condemned the massacre, Arafat disassociated himself and the PLO from the event and denied any involvement in its planning. He also ordered members of the PLO to stop committing acts of violence outside of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but the attacks continued.

Arafat took his place on the world stage in 1974 when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City and made an emotional appeal for the Palestinian cause. Within two years, the Arab heads of state declared the PLO the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinians and granted the organization full membership in the Arab League.

Arafat left Lebanon in 1982 and set up operations in Tunisia. With assistance from Iraq, he was able to shore up his organization and launch more attacks on Israel. In 1988, he accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242, which called for him to renounce "terrorism in all its forms" and agree to the establishment of an Israeli state and a Palestinian state. Five months later, however, Arafat was elected president of the proclaimed State of Palestine, an entity that laid claim to the entire region, including lands owned by Israel.

The relationship between Israelis and Palestinians remained fractious until 1994 when Arafat shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn and affirmed a new Mideast peace accord. The deal formally recognized Israel's right to exist and granted the Palestinian people limited self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The pact earned Arafat, Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres the Nobel Peace Prize. Accusations of treaty violations and years of distrust led to a new round of violence in 2000. Since then, more than 4,800 people have been killed in the region, three-quarters of them Palestinians.

Although many of Arafat's people revered him as a freedom fighter and statesman, his enemies considered him a corrupt, ineffective leader at best, and at worse, a master terrorist. In recent years, his influence was weakened by the rise of Hamas and other Palestinian Islamic jihad organizations, and his inability to stop these groups from committing acts of violence on Israel. In 2001, the Israeli military confined the Palestinian leader to his West Bank headquarters. Arafat is survived by his wife Suha Tawil, and his daughter Zahwa.

• Complete Coverage From The New York Times

Cara Dunne-Yates

Cara Dunne-Yates was blinded by cancer, but that didn't stop her from obtaining an Ivy League education, raising a family or winning several medals as a Paralympic athlete.

Born and raised in Chicago, Yates was less than a year old when she was diagnosed with retinal cancer. Although she lost both her eyes to the disease by the time she was five, Yates still learned to ride a bike and ski on her own. Using a team skiing technique, however, Yates was able to participate in competitions by following the sound her of sighted partner's skis. In 1988, she won a bronze medal in alpine skiing at the Paralympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

With a guide dog by her side, Yates became president of her class at Harvard University and earned a bachelor's degree in East Asian studies. After graduation, she worked as a volunteer ski instructor at a school for the disabled in Utah. Yates was training for an upcoming winter event when cancer returned -- this time in her cheekbone.

After a year of treatment, she enrolled at UCLA Law School. Yates joined the university's cycling team and competed as a tandem racer with her sighted partner Scott Evans at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics. There she won a silver medal in the mixed tandem kilometer race and a bronze medal on the 200-meter sprint. She also met Spencer Yates, the sighted partner of another blind cyclist. They wed in 1998.

Yates had just finished competing in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia, when she was diagnosed with cancer for a third time. While undergoing chemotherapy, she received the 2002 True Hero of Sports Award from Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society. She served as co-president of the New England Retinoblastoma Family Foundation and recently began writing her memoirs.

Yates died on Oct. 20 of cancer at the age of 34. She is survived by her husband and two young children.

Howard Keel

Howard Keel, an actor who starred in MGM musicals and on the TV soap opera "Dallas," died on Nov. 7 of colon cancer. He was 85.

Born Harold Clifford Leek in Gillespie, Ill., Keel was raised by a religious mother and an abusive, alcoholic father. His parents banned entertainment of any kind so he left home in his late teens and moved to California.

At 20, Keel attended a concert at the Hollywood Bowl featuring famed baritone Lawrence Tibbett. The performance inspired Keel to take voice lessons and enter local talent shows. During World War II, he worked as a mechanic at the Douglas Aircraft Company. He also sang for his supper at the Paris Inn Restaurant in Los Angeles.

After the war ended, Keel auditioned for Oscar Hammerstein II and landed understudy roles in two Broadway musicals. He became the darling of the British theatre in 1947 when he starred as Curly in the London production of "Oklahoma!" On opening night, Keel received 14 encores.

In an effort to lift the country's spirits, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ramped up its musical factory in the 1950s. The studio signed Keel to a seven-year contract and repeatedly cast him as a leading man. With his ruggedly handsome face, broad shoulders and booming bass-baritone, Keel added masculine appeal to movies like "Annie Get Your Gun," "Kismet," "Calamity Jane," "Kiss Me Kate," "Show Boat" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." He later performed in stage versions of his musical standards and in several action films and westerns.

In 1981, the producers of the hugely popular CBS soap "Dallas" offered Keel the patriarchal role of Clayton Farlow, "Miss Ellie" Ewing's husband and stepfather to Bobby, Gary and J.R. Ewing. He worked on the show until it ended in 1991.

Keel married and divorced actress Rosemary Cooper and dancer Helen Anderson. He is survived by his third wife, former airline stewardess Judy Magamoll, and his four children.

Download MP3s of Keel's Music

Johnny Warren

Australian soccer legend Johnny Warren died on Nov. 6 of lung cancer. He was 61.

Born in the Sydney suburb of Botany, Warren studied economics at the University of New South Wales. From 1966 to 1974, he played for the Socceroos in 42 competitions and was captain in 1974 when the team made its only appearance in the World Cup finals.

After his professional playing career ended, Warren coached St. George and Canberra City in the National Soccer League, and became a popular television commentator on the Special Broadcasting Service network. Opposite sportscaster Les Murray, Warren offered forthright opinions and analysis of the game for nearly two decades. His passion for soccer was appreciable, but the world saw proof of it in 1997 when he cried on national television during the World Cup play-off match between Australia and Iran.

The unofficial ambassador of Australian soccer, Warren helped form the A-League (which will debut next year), and oversaw the launch of the Johnny Warren Soccer Academy, an elite soccer institute designed to help young players develop their skills. In 2002, he chronicled his affiliation with Australian soccer in the bestselling memoir "Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters." Earlier this year, Warren and Murray were the subject of the book "Mr. and Mrs. Soccer" by Andy Harper.

Warren was the first Australian soccer player made a Member (of the Order of the) British Empire. In addition, he received a Medal of the Order of Australia and the Federation Internationale de Football Association's Centennial Order of Merit. In 1988, he was inducted into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame.

Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), died on Nov. 2. Cause of death was not released. He was believed to be 86.

Born in Abu Dhabi town, Zayed was named after his famous grandfather, Zayed the Great, who ruled the emirate from 1855 to 1909. Zayed was the youngest of four sons of Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1922 to 1926. After his father's death in 1927, Zayed guided foreign crews into the desert to search for petroleum and served as the governor of Al Ain, an oasis area. In 1966, Zayed rose to power when his brother Sheikh Saqr was deposed in a bloodless coup.

Over the past four decades, Zayed turned Abu Dhabi into a progressive nation, one that welcomes expatriates of all faiths and allows a private media to thrive. As the country's oil revenues increased over time, Zayed funneled some of that wealth into a massive construction program to build schools, housing, hospitals, cities and roads. He also encouraged a society of sexual equality; women serve in the country's military and in law enforcement, and 99 percent of Abu Dhabi's girls attend school.

Although Zayed amassed a fortune worth an estimated $20 billion, he always lived modestly. He married six times and fathered at least 40 children. A passion for hunting with falcons led Zayed to write the book "Falconry: Our Arab Heritage," which was published in 1977. Zayed also supervised a program to breed 80 animal species and plant more than 150 million trees. The Worldwide Fund for Nature acknowledged his efforts in 1997 with the Gold Panda Award, its highest environmental prize.

Zayed has led the UAE since its formation in 1971. On Nov. 3, the UAE unanimously elected his eldest son Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan as the new president.

Virginia Muise

Virginia Muise, who was believed to be the oldest New England resident, died on Nov. 2 of natural causes. She was 111.

Listed by the Gerontology Research Group as the 31st oldest person in the world, Muise was born in Nova Scotia on July 27, 1893. During the 1917 ammunition ship explosion in Halifax, she was temporarily trapped in her home when the ceiling caved in. The incident eventually killed 2,000 people, injured another 9,000 and blew out windows all over the city.

Muise immigrated to Boston in 1923 and worked as a cook and housekeeper. She later served as the manager of the former Boston Lying-In Hospital cafeteria, where she remained until her retirement in 1958. Muise's husband, Charles, was a blacksmith; he died in 1977 at the age of 94.

A lifelong baseball fan, Muise frequently took advantage of the ticket discounts offered to women at Fenway Park. She kept a Red Sox cap in her bedroom and was thrilled to see her favorite team win the World Series last month.

On Muise's 110th birthday, New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson proclaimed July 27, 2003 to be "Virginia Muise Day." The supercentenarian is survived by four children, 18 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

Robert Merrill

Time magazine once described Robert Merrill as "one of the Met's best baritones."

The acclaimed opera singer performed for 31 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and tackled nearly every baritone role in the operatic repertoire, including Escamillo in "Carmen" and Figaro in "The Barber of Seville."

But Merrill was also known for treating baseball fans at Yankee Stadium to his stirring rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Beginning in 1969, he sang the national anthem at the season opener for three decades.

Born Moishe Millstein, Merrill decided to take singing lessons after sneaking into the Met and hearing a rehearsal of "Il Trovator." The Brooklyn native changed his name when he entered show business and began performing at resort hotels in the Catskills. Merrill made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1945 as Germont in "La Traviata." At 24, he was the youngest baritone ever to appear at the Met.

Merrill helped popularize opera by performing on radio and television, and at musical festivals all over the world. He also made numerous recordings for RCA, penned two autobiographies ("Once More From the Beginning," "Between Acts: An Irreverent Look at Opera and Other Madness") and wrote the 1978 novel "Divas." President Bill Clinton gave him the National Medal of Arts in 1993.

Merrill married soprano Roberta Peters, but their union only lasted for 10 weeks. In 1954, he wed pianist Marion Machno; they had two children together.

Merrill died on Oct. 23 while watching the first game of the World Series. He was 87.

• Listen to a Tribute From NPR

Download MP3s of Merrill's Music

Sergei Zholtok

Sergei Zholtok, a center for the Nashville Predators, died on Nov. 3 during a championship game in Belarus. He was 31.

Called Zholi by his teammates, Zholtok competed in 588 NHL games since his western debut on the ice in 1992. The skilled Latvian played with Boston, Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton and Minnesota before he was traded to Nashville in March. He played 11 games with the Predators, but returned to his home country once the NHL lockout was called.

Zholtok played for Riga 2000 in the championship match-up against Dinamo Minsk on Wednesday night. With five minutes left in the game, Zholtok walked back to the locker room and collapsed. He was pronounced dead in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

A member of the Latvian team that won the silver at the 1994 world championships, Zholtok was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in 2003. Over the course of his NHL career, he scored 111 goals and had 147 assists.

• Career Statistics From NHL.com

Charles F. Wheeler

Charles F. Wheeler landed his first job in show business on a polo field.

A former polo champion at the University of Southern California, Wheeler frequented the Riviera and Will Rogers polo grounds in Los Angeles during the 1950s. He encountered Walt and Roy Disney on the field one day, and struck up a conversation. The Disney brothers offered Wheeler a job as an apprentice cameraman -- and launched his five-decade career in Hollywood.

Wheeler served as a Navy combat photographer during World War II. The Memphis, Tenn., native covered the Pacific theater and helped document the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship Missouri in 1945. Twenty-five years later, Wheeler drew on his military experiences to film "Tora! Tora! Tora!" a 1970 picture about the attack on Pearl Harbor. He simultaneously guided five crews on the shoot and earned an Academy Award nomination for his cinematography.

Wheeler was the cameraman or director of photography on more than three dozen films, including "Inherit the Wind," "Judgment at Nuremberg," "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Silent Running," "Star Trek," "Freaky Friday" and "Brewster's Millions." He also shot numerous TV shows ("Gunsmoke," "The Twilight Zone," "The Paper Chase"), and earned an Emmy nomination for filming the 1975 TV movie "Babe." In 2000, Wheeler received the President's Award from the American Society of Cinematographers.

Wheeler died on Oct. 28 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease and a stroke. He was 88.

Theo van Gogh

Theo van Gogh, a controversial Dutch filmmaker, was murdered on Nov. 2 in Amsterdam. He was 47.

Born in Holland, van Gogh was the great grandson of Theo van Gogh, the famous Paris art dealer and brother of painter Vincent van Gogh. Theo van Gogh was only 24 when he directed the award-winning black and white film "Luger" in 1982. Nearly two dozen movies followed, including "1-900," which won the special jury prize and the critics' prize at the 1994 Holland Film Festival, and "Cool!" which earned him a 2004 Golden Calf Award for directing. He also directed the TV miniseries, "Najib and Julia," a retelling of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" featuring a Dutch girl hockey player and a Moroccan pizza delivery boy.

Van Gogh made headlines last summer for directing a short TV movie critical of some elements of the Islamic faith. When "Submission" aired on Dutch television in August, it caused a furor in the Muslim community in the Netherlands. The English-language film told the fictional story of four Muslim women who are forced into arranged marriages, then raped and beaten by their families. The screenplay was penned by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a member of the Dutch parliament and a former Muslim. She's currently under police protection.

Van Gogh wrote columns about the Islamic faith which appeared on his Website and in the Dutch newspaper Metro, and published "Allah Knows Better," a book that claims Muslim clerics hate women. He reportedly received death threats for airing his views, but refused to be silenced by his detractors. His next film, "06-05," about the 2002 assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, was scheduled to debut on the Internet next month.

Van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death on Tuesday morning while cycling in Oosterpark. The killer left a note on his body, the contents of which were not disclosed. A short time later, authorities engaged in a shootout with a 26-year-old man suspected of the filmmaker's slaying. Police then arrested the gunman, who suffered a minor injury in the firefight. His identity was not released.

On Tuesday evening, thousands of people gathered in the streets of Amsterdam to pay homage to van Gogh. Mourners banged pots and pans and blew horns and whistles in support of his right to exercise freedom of speech.

• Watch "Submission"

[Update - July 26, 2005: Mohammed Bouyeri, a 27-year-old radical Islamist, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Bouyeri said he acted out of religious conviction, and vowed to do the same again if given the chance. The Dutch court ruled the slaying "a terrorist act."]

[Update - March 26, 2007: Friends and fans of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh unveiled a memorial sculpture on March 18. The sculpture, created by Jeroen Henneman and titled "The Scream," depicts Van Gogh screaming near the spot where he was murdered in 2004 by an Islamic extremist.]

Vaughn Meader

Abbott Vaughn Meader's career skyrocketed during John F. Kennedy's tenure in the White House -- and ended the moment the president was assassinated in Dallas.

Meader was Camelot's court jester, known for gently poking fun at the Kennedys on the 1962 album "The First Family." The album was the fastest-selling record of its time. It sold 7.5 million copies and won the Grammy for album of the year and best comedy performance. The president even purchased 100 copies of the recording, and gave them away as Christmas presents.

As a young man, Meader served in the U.S. Army then moved to New York to launch a stand-up comedy career. A singer, comic and piano player, he began adding impersonations of the president to his act and soon landed a job playing Kennedy on "The First Family." His dead-on impressions of JFK led to appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and sold-out engagements in Las Vegas.

After Kennedy's death, all of Meader's shows were canceled. Stores pulled the comedy album off the shelves and friends stopped returning his phone calls. In 1964, he released "Have Some Nuts," a comedic record that had no Kennedy references. It didn't sell well.

Meader soon returned to his birth name, Abbott, and joined the counterculture movement. He became an alcoholic and a drug addict, but still attempted to work in show business. In 1971, Meader recorded the comedy album "The Second Coming." His impression of Jesus on a visit to Harlem earned critical acclaim, however, radio stations felt the material was sacrilegious and gave the album little air time.

In recent years, Meader managed a pub in Hallowell, Me., and played bluegrass and country music in area honky-tonk bars. He died on Oct. 29 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the age of 68.