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News and Entertainment Jennifer Alward - Television producer and founder of production company Morgan Hill Films, who developed movies and miniseries such as “David’s Murder” and “The Chippendales Murder”, died on Sept. 20 of an apparent heart attack at the age of 53. Elliot Bernstein - Broadcast journalist and news producer who won an Emmy in 1984 for “60 Minutes” and who produced the news shows "Sunday Morning", “West 57th” and “The CBS Morning News”, died on Aug. 26th of multiple myeloma at the age of 68. Alan Brandt - Songwriter best known for “That’s All”, recorded my Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee, who became a playwright at age 75 penning the successful Off-Broadway play “2 ½ Jews”, died Sept. 6 of cancer at age 78. Scott Brinker - Master puppet-maker who was responsible for creating all the puppets and marionettes on the Howdy Doody show (except Howdy Doody himself) including Phineas T. Bluster and the Flub-A-Dub as well as most of the props on the show, died Sept. 25 at age 90. Mark Bucci - Winner of the Julliard School’s first Irving Berlin scholarship in 1948, who went on to write several musical adaptations such as “Cheaper By the Dozen” and “Our Miss Brooks” as well as recording albums for Epic and Decca, died of natural causes on Aug. 22 at the age of 78. Rafael Druian - Violinist and conductor who served as concertmaster for symphony orchestras in four American cities (Dallas, Minneapolis, New York, Cleveland), died on Sept. 6 at the age of 80. Mike Henson (real name Kenneth Seymour) - Porn star in gay films in the 1980's in early 1990's in such films as "Powertool 2" and "Big Guns", died of a herion overdose Sept. 20 at age 38. Peter Kowald - German bassist who became a master of free-jazz improvisation, and traveled the world performing in endless duo and trio improvisation formats, died Sept. 21 of a heart attack at the age of 58. Florence Lessing - Dancer in nightclubs and on Broadway in shows like “Kismet” and “Windy City”, who was often cast as femme fatales because of her exotic appearance, died on Sept. 5 of kidney failure at age 86. Norman Levy - Former vice chairman for 20th Century Fox who was known for acquiring offbeat and independent films like “Porky’s” and “The Lords of Flatbush”, died of cancer Sept. 17 at age 67. Arthur Lord - Emmy-winning news producer at NBC who covered the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars for the network, as well as the Iran hostage crisis, and who later became a vocal critic of the sensationalism in today’s news programs, died Sept. 25 after a long illness at age 60. John McGrody - Radio producer and host of the weekly radio show "The New Releases" on WFMT-FM in Chicago, died Sept. 19 of self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 49. Val Press - Veteran NBC television journalist who worked for NBC for 50 years and was a field producer for the Huntley-Brinkley Report and was a news writer and producer at WMAQ-TV in Chicago for many years, died of lung cancer Sept. 11 at the age of 74. Tim Rose - Blues-folk singer, guitarist and songwriter who was known for his early association with Cass Elliot in The Big Three and recorded six solo albums from 1967 to 1997, died of bowel cancer on Sept. 23 at age 62. Jimmy Stoneman - Bass, fiddle and guitar player (and also singer) for the Stoneman Family, a family hillbilly music group having roots that go back to the 1920’s whose reincarnation in the 60’s appeared at the Grand Ole Opry and had their own syndicated TV program “Those Stonemans”, died of ALS on Sept. 22 at the age of 65. Paul Williams - R&B saxophonist and bandleader who scored a mammoth hit on the R&B charts in 1949 with “The Huckle-Buck” (14 weeks at number 1), and who worked as a house musician at Atlantic records throughout the 60’s, died on Sept. 14 of cardiac arrest at the age of 87.
Sports Hobbs Adams - Former football head coach at Kansas State in 1940-41 and 1946 who was a 3-year letterman end at USC in the 20’s and captain of their 1925 football team, died Sept. 24 at age 99. Bill Bishop - Sports director at KFKA radio in Greely Colorado who was the color analyst for Northern Colorado University football games, had a heart attack and died during the pre-game show on Sept. 28. He was 56. Frank Corkin - College basketball referee and baseball umpire who worked Division I games throughout the Northeast during the 60’s and 70’s and went on to become a sportswriter in Connecticut, died after a long illness Sept. 25 at the age of 87. Larry Costa - New York-based racer who drove super trucks and stock cars was killed on Sept. 22 while celebrating a victory when he fell off the back of a moving golf cart and suffered head trauma (a little ironic I guess). He was 49. Miles Dabord - Brother of Bison Dele and formerly known as Kevin Williams, and suspected in the killings of Dele, his girlfriend Serena Karlan and boat captain Bertrand Saldo while sailing in French Polynesia, and who was found in a coma after overdosing on insulin, and removed from life support on Sept. 27, leaving authorities and family in the dark as to what happened to the missing 3. He was 35. Bison Dele - NBA player formerly known as Brian Williams, who played center for the 1996-97 champion Chicago Bulls during an 8 year NBA career, who was sailing from New Zealand to Hawaii on a catamaran and was last heard from on July 6, is missing along with his girlfriend Serena Karlan and skipper Bertrand Saldo, and presumed murdered by Dele’s brother Miles Dabord. Dele was 33. Harrison Smith Glancy - The second-oldest U.S. gold-medal winner, who was the lead swimmer on the 800-meter swim team at the 1924 Olympics (Johnny Weissmuller was also on that team) that won the gold medal and set a world record, and who also won a gold medal at the 1928 Olympics, died on Sept. 22 at age 98. Eduard Gufeld - Soviet chess Grandmaster, the highest title awarded by the World Chess Federation, who competed from the 1950’s until his death and was a top trainer when the Soviets dominated the chess world in the 70’s and 80’s, died of a stroke Sept. 23 at the age of 66. Leon Hart - 6’4” 260 lb. Heisman trophy winner at Notre Dame in 1949, who dominated the college game as a lineman on both offense and defense (one of only 2 lineman to win the Heisman), and who played in the NFL for three Detroit Lion championship teams, died Sept. 23 of causes related to prostrate cancer and heart problems at age 73. Ray Hayworth - Major league baseball’s oldest surviving player, who spent 15 years as a catcher (mostly with Detroit) and won two World Series with the Tigers in 1934 and 1935, died Sept. 25 at age 98 (98-yr-old Paul Hopkins is now the oldest MLB player). Ed Hommer - First double-amputee to climb Mount McKinley in 1999 (he lost his legs to frostbite when his plane crashed on Mt. McKinley in 1981), who recently made one attempt to climb Mt. Everest and was training for another attempt, was killed by a falling rock Sept. 23. He was 46. Serena Karlan - Girlfriend of former NBA player Bison Dele who is missing and presumed dead along with Bison and skipper Bertrand Saldo, murdered by Dele’s brother Miles Dabord. Ms. Karlan was 30. Al Lightner - Former minor-league baseball player who became a respected college basketball referee, who officiated 11 NCAA regional tournaments and 4 Final Fours in a 34 year officiating career, died Sept. 20 at the age of 87. Lewis Oehmig - The oldest golfer to win a U.S. Golf Association event when he won the Senior USGA championship in 1985 at the age of 69, and is the only golfer to win 3 senior championships, died Sept. 25 at the age of 86. Teddy Petty - Professional wrestler known as “Flyboy” Rocco Rock who also wrestled as The Cheetah Kid, Komodo Dragon II, Col. DeKlerk and as part of the tag team duo Public Enemy, died of a heart attack shortly after a show in New Jersey on Sept. 21 at the age of 49. Mike Reasor - Golfer who competed on the PGA tour from 1966 to 1990 and had three top five tournament finishes never winning, but who was best known for shooting two of the worst rounds of golf in PGA history at the Tallahassee Open in 1974 (123 and 114 – he was recovering from injuries at the time and needed to compete to qualify for the next event), died of a heart attack on Sept. 19 while competing in a Senior PGA event in Oregon at age 60. Mike Webster - Hall of Fame center for the Pittsburgh Steelers who helped them win four Super Bowls and is generally considered one of the best centers ever to play football, but whose hard and rugged play took its toll after retirement as he lived in constant pain and was plagued by drug and health problems, died of undisclosed causes on Sept. 24 at age 50.
Arts and Literature Patricia Carlon - Reclusive and secretive Australian author who wrote 14 crime novels published in Australia, the U.S. and England, about whom little has been known, died Sept. 11 after a stroke at the age of 75. (Her family revealed that she had been profoundly deaf since age 11, surprising her agent and publishers, and explaining many of main characters). Dr. Robert Forward - Scientist and science fiction writer who used his Ph.D. in physics to write "hard" science fiction novels, where the science is as accurate as possible, including the classic “Dragon’s Egg”, died of brain cancer Sept. 21 at the age of 70. Jan de Hartog- Dutch novelist and playwright who used his experiences as a runaway, sailor and escapee from the Nazis to inspire books like “The Lost Sea” and “The Hospital” and the very successful play "The Fourposter", died Sept. 22 at the age of 88. Joseph Nathan Kane - Author who wrote numerous books filled with often trivial facts like “Famous First Facts”, “More First Facts” and “1,000 Facts Worth Knowing”, some of which have remained in print for nearly 70 years, died on Sept. 22 at the age of 103. John Kappas - Hypnotherapist who wrote the best-selling “Improve Your Life Through Self-Hypnosis” in 1984 and who was married to actress Florence Henderson, died Sept. 26 of cancer at age 77. Eduardo Gudiño Kieffer - Argentinean writer known more for his humorous view on current events in Argentina than his numerous novels like “Comerte Mejor” ("All the Better to Eat You With") and "Fabulario" ("Fables"), died Sept. 20 at the age of 66. James Mitchell - British novelist and TV screenwriter known for a series of books featuring the intelligence agent Callan, which was turned into a popular TV series of the same name (he also wrote for “The Avengers” TV show), died of undisclosed causes on Sept. 15 at age 76. Jack Potter - Illustrator in the 1950’s who introduced a novel impressionistic style using black crayon and charcoal, but who achieved his greatest influence as a teacher of drawing at the School of Visual Arts, died Sept. 14 of a heart attack at age 74. Stephanie Reinhart - Co-director of the American Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (with her husband Charles) who scoured the world for modern dance troupes to introduce to American audiences, died Sept. 23 of leukemia at age 58. Glen Rounds - Author and illustrator of dozens of children’s books, many dealing with life on the plains, from "Ol' Paul, the Mighty Logger" in 1936 to "Beaver" in 1999, died Sept. 26 at age 96.
Politics and Military Murray Baron - President of the conservative journalism group Accuracy In Media, who as a political activist has been a leader in the Liberal Party, been a member of the socialist party, worked in the Dept. of Labor under John F. Kennedy, ran for senate in New York against Jacob Javits, and took on Dan Rather after “60 Minutes” criticized corporate greed, died Sept. 23 at the age of 94. Henry Bell-Irving - Canadian WW2 hero who commanded troops during the liberation of the Netherlands, and served as lieutenant governor of Canada from 1978 to 1983, died on Sept. 21 at age 89. Warren Burnett - Texas attorney famous for sensational trials, big jury awards, defending and winning impossible murder cases, fighting for school integration for Chicanos and defending the La Raza activists, died Sept. 23 of a heart attack at age 75. Frances Humphrey Howard - Social activist and last surviving sibling of the late former Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, whose long career in activism started with a post as assistant to Eleanor Roosevelt and led to positions in various agencies in Washington for 60 years, died Sept. 23 of congestive heart failure at age 88. Sen. Robert Lee - Idaho state senator who was an expert on his state’s water issues, and known as well for his attempts to pass legislation to censure PBS in Idaho, died Sept. 27 of cancer at age 70. Rep. Patsy Mink - Hawaiian congresswoman for the last 24 years, who won the democratic primary just a week ago, and was considered one of Congress’s most liberal member, died of viral pneumonia stemming from chicken pox on Sept. 28 at age 74. Roman Pucinski - Democratic congressman from Chicago and staunch ally of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, who spent 13 years in Congress but lost the election for U.S. Senate in 1972, died Sept. 25 of pneumonia at age 83. Faith Buchner Richards - Pioneer woman aviator who one of an elite group of women who flew bombers during WW2 as a member of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, died Sept. 20 at age 81. Thomas Smith - New Jersey’s oldest state Assembly member and only black Republican, who announced in April that he would not run for another term, died Sept. 26 of undisclosed causes at age 84. Youssouf Togoïmi - Former interior and defense minister in Chad who has headed a movement to overthrow the government of President Idriss Deby as head of the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad, died Sept. 24 of injuries suffered when his vehicle struck a mine on August 28. His age is unknown. Zerah Warhaftig - One of only two living original signers of the Israel declaration of independence (signed in 1947, there were originally 37 and only Meir Wilner now still lives – you know you wanted to know!), died Sept. 26 at the age of 96.
Social and Religion Robert Buell - Ohio man convicted of abducting, raping and strangling 11-year-old Krista Harrison in 1982, who claimed he was innocent up until the end, was executed by lethal injection Sept. 25 at the age of 62. Calvin King - Texas man who while on a crack cocaine binge in 1994 stabbed crack dealer Billy Wayne Ezell to death to steal a roll of money Ezell was carrying, was put to death by lethal injection on Sept. 25 at age 48. Verena Loertscher - Swiss woman who was completely paralyzed and living on a respirator after being stricken with polio in 1956, who defied all odds by living for 46 years and chronicled her experience in the book “Paralyzed But Alive”, died August 22 at the age of 73. Rex Mays - Former clown who was convicted of stabbing to death 7-year-old Kynara Carreiro and her friend 10-year-old Kristin Wiley in 1992 because they refused to turn down some loud music, on the same day he had lost his job in a warehouse, was executed by lethal injection (Texas) on Sept. 24 at the age of 42. Chester Lee Miller - Philadelphia teenager who was found starving and wandering in Florida four days after being put on a bus by his stepfather who told him to go look for his real dad, died of malnutrition at a hospital in Milton, FL on Sept. 25 at the age of 18. Woodrow Wilson Sayre - Philosophy professor and grandson of president Woodrow Wilson who was known for his unauthorized 1962 attempt to climb Mount Everest, chronicled in his book "Four Against Everest", died Sept. 16 at the age of 82. Cardinal John Baptist Wu - Head of Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic Diocese who led the church through the transition from British to Chinese Rule, died on Sept. 23 of multiple myeloma at the age of 77. Mark Zach - Nebraska state trooper upset because he botched a background check of one of the killers in the U.S. Bank holdup where 5 people were shot to death, and allowed the man to go free with a gun used in the killings, committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot on Sept. 27. He was 35 years old and leaves behind a wife and six children. Victims of the Norfolk bank robbery - Shot to death in the robbery of the U.S. Bank in Norfolk, Nebraska, were bank customer Evonne Tuttle, 37, and bank employees Lola Elwood, 43, Jo Mausbach, 42, Samuel Son, 50, and Lisa Bryant, 29.
Business and Science Nils Bohlin - Swedish inventor who as a safety engineer for Volvo in 1959 invented the three-point safety belt, the design that has saved thousands of lives, and who was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, OH on the day he died, died Sept. 21 of the effects of a stroke at the age of 82. Robert Cardoza - Recently re-elected chairman of American Automobile Association (AAA), and founder of the charitable organization The Cardoza Foundation, died Sept. 27 of cancer at age 59. J. Wayne Cole - Organic chemist who helped establish a process to create synthetic estrogen in the laboratory in the late 1930’s, which led to the development of the birth control pill, died of lung cancer Sept. 12 at the age of 88. Dr. William Figueroa - Lung specialist who published the landmark report linking lung cancer with the chemical compound CME, that led to regulations that ended employees exposure to it, died of ALS on Sept. 22 at the age 66. Allen Parkinson - Business entrepreneur who made a fortune when he created the sleep aid product Sleep-Eze and who later founded the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, CA, and was often seen around Hollywood schmoozing with the stars, died of cancer Aug. 19 at the age of 83. Bob Radonich - Owner for 47 years of Tacoma, WA, landmark Bob’s Java Jive, the café in the building shaped like a big coffeepot, died Sept. 25 after a series of strokes at the age of 83. James Raugh - Internationally known expert in natural flavors who developed better ways to extract vanilla from the vanilla bean, died of cancer on Sept. 22 at age 62. Eugene Reed - Civil rights activist who became the president of New York State Conference NAACP, and who was a friend and associate of Medgar Evers, died Sept. 25 of a heart attack at age 79. Robert Robinson - Plant researcher who was the first to suggest sunflower seeds as a commercial food in the 1940's (sunflowers were considered a weed until then), which now has become a multi-million dollar annual crop, died after a fall on Sept. 13 at age 82. William Rosenberg - Franchise pioneer who founded the Dunkin’ Donut chain which opened as the Open Kettle in 1948 and spread to a chain of about 5,000 locations today, and who also developed the “canteen truck”, the flip-open open stainless steel truck catering to factories and construction sites, died of bladder cancer Sept. 20 at age 86. Clyde Stormont - Professor of genetics and serology who was an expert in DNA testing of animals, and authored a number of publications on the subject of blood groups in the American buffalo, died of an aortal aneurysm on Sept. 10 at the age of 86. Dr. Thomas Turner - Dean of the John’s Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1957 to 1968, during which time the school tripled its full-time faculty and built numerous facilities to support its research, died Sept. 22 at age 100. Bob Wallace - PC pioneer who joined a group of microcomputer enthusiasts while at the University of Washington that included Bill Gates that in 1978 evolved into the Microsoft Corporation (it’s rumored that the company was named after Wallace’s cat ‘Microsoft’), and who was responsible for coining the term “shareware”, died unexpectedly on Sept. 20 at age 53. Bruce Wallace - Co-founder of biotech giant Amgen, Inc. in Thousand Oaks, CA, who started the company in 1980 and retired in January 2002, was killed on Sept. 20 when his paraglider crashed into the face of a cliff. He was 54 years old.
