Sports
Duane Allen - NFL running back who played for the Rams, Steelers and Bears during the 1960’s, who scored touchdowns on five of his first seven receptions with the Rams, died May 7 in Pasadena, CA of a heart attack at age 65.
Steve Atkinson - Right wing in the NHL from 1968 to 1975, who played four seasons for the Buffalo Sabres also briefly played for the Bruins and Capitols, died May 6 in Niagara Falls, Ontario of a heart attack at age 54.
Don Johnson - Hall of Fame bowler and two-time Player of the Year on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour, who won 26 Tour titles (tied with Dick Weber for seventh-most all-time), who set a record for most consecutive years with at least one tournament win with 12 (later broken by Earl Anthony), and who was voted the 8th best bowler of the century by the American Bowling Congress in 1999, died May 3 of an apparent heart attack in his Las Vegas home at age 62.
Dottie Key - Second baseman and center fielder with the Rockford Peaches in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League for 10 years, who was one of the inspirations for “All The Way” Mae in the film “A League of Their Own” played by Madonna, and who appeared in the documentary feature for the film, died May 8 of cancer in Rockford, IL at age 80.
Sam Lacy - Sportswriter for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper and a key figure in the integration of major league baseball, who was the first black to become a member of the Baseball Writer's Association of America, was inducted into the writer's wing at the baseball Hall of Fame in July 1998, and continued to write columns until the end, died May 8 in Washington, DC at age 99.
Theodis “Trey” McMiller - Freshman wide receiver at Western Kentucky University, who caught four passes for the 2002 NCAA Div. I-AA champion Hilltoppers, drowned on May 4 after his canoe capsized in a lake in Laurel County, GA while fishing with a friend. He was 19 years old and was not wearing a life jacket.
Ray “The Deacon” Murray - Major league catcher from 1948 until 1954 for the Indians, A’s and Orioles, best known for his antics during a game in 1954 when after becoming annoyed with calls by home plate umpire Ed Hurley, removed his mask and chest protector and spread them over home plate, got down on his knees, stretched his arms, looked heavenward and said, “Lord, help this poor SOB. I got two good eyes. Give him one of mine”, died April 9 in Dallas at age 83.
Jackie Nichols - Wrestler and wrestling promoter who competed from the 1940’s to the 1960’s, who held the World Light Heavyweight Title in 1948 and 1949 and the world tag team title (with Roger MacKay) in 1956, died April 22 in Maine at the age of 92.
Kurt Von Poppenheim - Professional wrestler active from 1937 until 1964, who was name Wrestler of the Year five times in the Pacific Northwest, is reported to have died May 1 in Oregon at age 89.
Tom Wilhelm - College football player at Syracuse who played a key role in the Orangemen’s 1963 victory over national champion Notre Dame, and who played for one season in the NFL with the Denver Broncos, died May 5 in Chester, VT at age 60.
David Woodley - NFL quarterback for the Dolphins and Steelers, who started for Miami in the 1983 Super Bowl loss to the Washington Redskins, who is third in Dolphins history in career passing yards and pass completions, and who is referred to (rather strangely I might add) by ESPN.com as “without a doubt, the worst QB ever to start a Super Bowl”, died May 3 in Shreveport, LA of undetermined causes at age 44.

Art and Literature
Geoffrey Bardon - The Australian art teacher who in the 1970’s ignited an artistic revolution, when after studying the designs Aborigines drew on their bodies and the ground, supplied board, canvas and acrylic paint to tribal leaders in the Aboriginal settlement of Papunya, which became the starting point for the multi-million Aboriginal fine-art industry, who discovered artists like Clifford Possum and Kaapa Tjampitjinpa and who in 1999 was named one of the South Pacific’s most influential people, died May 6 of cancer in Taree, Australia at age 62.
Alexander "Skunder" Boghossian - Noted Ethiopian painter, whose work was described as “a perpetual celebration of the diversity of blackness”, whose work is on display throughout the world including the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, died May 4 of unknown causes at his home in Washington, DC at age 65.
Fred J. Cook - Investigative reporter who wrote dozens of exposés in books like “The Warfare State”, “The F.B.I. Nobody Knows” and “The Great Energy Scam”, and whose book “Goldwater: Extremist on the Right” led to the Supreme Court decision in what is known as the Red Lion case, after he was attacked by evangelist Billy James Hargis on his radio broadcast “Christian Crusade”, died April 4 in Interlaken, NJ at age 92.
Mohammed Dib - Prolific novelist and poet who was one of Algeria's best known writers, who produced nearly 20 books including the lauded trilogy “La Grande Maison” and “L.A. Trip”, died May 2 in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France at age 82.
Jack Gelber - Playwright best known for 1959’s groundbreaking “The Connection”, which graphically depicted the life of drug addicts and sent shock waves through contemporary American theatre, died May 9 of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia in New York at age 71.
Ted Joans - Beat Generation poet who melded the rhythm of jazz, the humor of Surrealism and the oral tradition of African American storytelling to create a voice entirely his own, whose career was enjoying a renaissance with the recent publication of the anthology "Teducation" and "Our Thang", a collection of his poems and paintings by his friend Laura Corsiglia, died April 25 of diabetes complications in Vancouver at age 74.
Walter Koschatzky - Prominent art historian who directed Vienna's Albertina collection of graphic art for 24 years, and who published books now considered standard works in the fields of graphics, drawing, watercolor and photography, died in Vienna, Austria after a long illness at age 81.
Mary Chase Morrison - Octogenarian author who in 1998 published the book “Let Evening Come: Reflections on Aging” about both the loss and joy associated with growing old, died April 19 of heart failure in Kendal, PA at age 92.
Allan Sack - Speed-reading educator and author who taught fast ways to absorb information from the printed page, who founded the Speed Reading Institute in New York in 1951 and taught adult speed reading using his structural-analytical approach, died April 27 in San Diego at age 88.
Waly Salomao - Brazilian poet known for his frequent collaborations with the Tropicalista movement (musicians who combined traditional Brazilian rhythms with other influences like rock ’n’ roll), who wrote lyrics for leading Tropicalista musicians, and who published several volumes of poetry, died May 5 of cancer in Rio De Janeiro at age 59.
Carl Upchurch - Former gang member who became a social activist and founded the Council for Urban Peace and Justice, who told his life story in the book “Convicted in the Womb” which was made into a 2002 movie on Showtime, and who also recently published the book “Breaking the Chains”, died May 2 in Columbus, OH of undisclosed causes at age 53.

Politics and Military
J.B. "Jack" Bennett - Man believed to be the oldest living veteran in the United States, who was stationed in Wexford, Ireland during World War I in 1917, died May 7 in Tifton, GA at age 110.
Sam Bockarie - Sierra Leone warlord who was under indictment for brutal crimes against civilians during Sierra Leone's 1989-1996 civil war and was being sought by authorities, who was formerly a professional disco dancer, was killed on May 5 in a gunfight with Liberian troops at the Liberia-Ivory Coast border. His age was unstated.
Anna Buckley - Massachusetts state senator from 1972 until 1988, who worked her way up to vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, and who fought for issues like subsidized day care and a range of veterans' issues, died May 3 in Boston of esophageal cancer at age 79.
Aureliano Chaves - Brazilian civilian vice president who lead a dissident wing that eventually helped to unseat Brazil's military dictatorship in the 1980’s, and who ran unsuccessfully for president of Brazil in 1989, died April 30 after heart surgery in Rio De Janeiro at age 74.
Loreen Gephardt - Mother of Missouri congressman and Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt, who was an avid campaigner for her son throughout his political career, died May 9 of heart ailments in St. Louis at age 95.
Art Houtteman - Major league pitcher from 1945 until 1957, who pitched for the Tigers, Indians and Orioles, winning 19 games for the Tigers in 1950, and who pitched for the Cleveland in the 1954 World Series the year they won 111 games, died May 6 of a heart attack in Rochester Hills, MI at age 75.
Olivier Long - Swiss diplomat who was one of the leaders in free world trade in the 1970’s, who as general director of GATT helped bring about the largest reductions in tariffs since WW2, died March 19 in Geneva at age 87.
Russell B. Long - Longtime U.S. Senator from Louisiana who served from 1948 through 1986, longer than any other Louisiana Senator, who greatly influenced the nation’s tax laws during his tenure, and who is the only Senator ever preceded in the Senate by both parents (father Huey P. Long and mother Rose McConnell Long), died May 9 of heart failure in Washington, DC at age 84.
Bob Merkle - Flamboyant federal prosecutor who was nicknamed “Mad Dog” for his aggressive style, who successfully prosecuted drug baron Carlos Lehder and Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega, who also obtained indictments of three sitting Florida representatives, two judges, three prosecutors and dozens of bankers and attorneys in the Tampa-based Middle District, died May 5 in Tampa, FL of undisclosed causes at age 58.
Miodrag Perisic - Prominent member of the pro-democracy movement in Serbia that toppled Slobodan Milosevic, who became Serbia-Montenegro’s ambassador to Canada, died May 6 in Ottawa, Canada after a heart attack at age 55.
Walter Sisulu - One of Nelson Mandela's earliest political mentors and closest collaborators for half a century in the campaign against South Africa's racist political order, who led the African National Congress and twice stood trial on capital charges for his activities, and who served 26 years in prison, died May 5 in Johannesburg, South Africa at age 90.

Social and Religion
Svetlana Aronov - Wife of a wealthy New York doctor, who vanished blocks from her home while walking her father's cocker spaniel, Bim on March 3, and whose disappearance caused much speculation in the New York media, was found dead on May 6 in the East River still wearing a $3,600 Cartier Tank Française wristwatch and a gold ring. She was 44 years old.
Edward A. Dowey - Religious scholar and author, who was a longtime professor of Christian doctrine at Princeton Theological Seminary, and whose 1952 book “The Knowledge of God in Calvin's Theology” is considered among the best introductions to the study of Calvin, died May 4 in Princeton, NJ of Parkinson’s disease at age 85.
Christian Dubisky - Poster child for Shaken Baby Syndrome, who suffered blindness, seizures and cerebral palsy as a result of a 1996 attack by his father, and whose photo was featured on the materials for the “Never, Never Shake Your Baby” campaign, died May 1 of respiratory failure associated to his injuries in Titusville, FL at age 6 (his father is now facing murder charges).
Christopher Edley - Attorney and official in the Kennedy Administration who was president of the United Negro College Fund from 1973 until 1991, who raised more than $700 million to help aspiring students, and who is the father of prominent civil rights activist Christopher Edley, Jr., died May 5 of a heart attack in New Rochelle, NY at age 75.
Bernice Edwards - Publicist with the National Baptist Convention, who was involved in the late-1990’s scandal where she and NBC president Rev. Henry Lyons were charged with bilking corporations out of millions of dollars and using church funds to finance houses, jewelry and other luxury items, died May 5 at a federal prison in Pekin, IL of chronic pulmonary problams at age 46.
Will Forshay - Professional skydiver, who was a member of the Flying Elvi, the 10 parachutists who jump while dressed in Elvis Presley costumes, and who was featured in an episode of “Dream Chasers” last year on the A&E cable TV network, was killed in a plane crash on April 8 in Toledo, OH at age 37.
Carl Isaacs - Georgia man who was convicted of the 1973 shooting murders of six members of the Alday family of Donalsonville, who became the longest surviving death row inmate in American history since being sentenced in January 1974 for a crime he committed at age 19, was executed by lethal injection on May 6 in Jackson, GA at age 49.
Roger Vaughn - Texas man who escaped from a county jail in 1991 and then raped and strangled 66-year-old Dora Wakins, was executed by lethal injection on May 6 in Huntsville, TX at age 48.

Business and Science
Norbert Biehoff - Milwaukee music store owner credited with developing the “try before you buy” rental plan of musical instruments which is common in the industry today, that allowed children to attempt to learn a musical instrument without the hefty money outlay by the parents, died May 9 in Wauwatosa, WI at age 98.
William J. Goode - Noted sociologist who researched family life, marriage and divorce, who wrote several books including “After Divorce”, “World Changes In Divorce Patterns” and “Family”, and who served as president of the American Sociological Association in the 1970’s, died May 4 in Washington, DC of a blood clot at age 85.
George Morrow - Personal computer pioneer who formed the Microstuf company in Berkeley, CA, who in the mid-70’s introduced the Marrow computer to compete with the popular Osborne 1 computer, who was one of the members of the “homebrew club” of computer enthusiasts with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and who became a noted music preservationist upon his retirement from the computer industry, died May 7 of aplastic anemia in San Mateo, CA at age 69.