Kinga Choszcz (33) Polish-born author of Led by Destiny: Hitchhiking Around the World, a book about her experiences when she hitch-hiked around the world in 5 years with her partner and coauthor Chopin. The pair recently visited Africa, where Choszcz died of cerebral malaria in Accra, Ghana on June 9, 2006.

Frederick Franck (97) artist and author whose sculptures, sketches, paintings, and more than 30 books reflect a constant search for the core of spirituality. Franck died of congestive heart failure in Warwick, New York on June 5, 2006.

Kenneth Jack (81) quintessential Australian landscape artist. Jack's work ranged from intensely atmospheric oil paintings in the '50s and '60s to, later, meticulous watercolors capturing the dusty ramshackle main streets of small outback towns, abandoned mines, and isolated farmsteads. He died of cancer in Melbourne, Australia on June 10, 2006.

Arnold Newman (88) photographer whose environmental portraits of artists and politicians revealed their souls through evocative settings and lighting. Newman died of a heart attack in New York City on June 6, 2006.

Bjoern Wiinblad (87) Danish ceramicist best known for his pottery decorated with native fairy characters and trademark cherubic maidens. Wiinblad died in Copenhagen, Denmark on June 8, 2006.

Thomas G. Arthur (84) entrepreneur whose idea to sell a foot-long hot dog to baseball fans led to the creation of the iconic Dodger Dog. Arthur ran the food concessions at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for 29 years, beginning when the venue opened in 1962. He died of a heart attack in St. Louis, Missouri on June 8, 2006.

Ralph Paul Gernhardt (72) pioneering publisher who cofounded Gay Chicago magazine in 1976. Gernhardt died of lung cancer in Chicago, Illinois on June 4, 2006.

Wulff-Dieter Heintz (76) Swarthmore College astronomer, a leading investigator of the fiery evolution of linked pairs of stars. Heintz studied visual double stars to calculate the orbit of each star in a pair. He died of lung cancer in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania on June 10, 2006.

Margaret Karcher (91) wife of Carl N. Karcher who helped him to build the Carls Jr. restaurant chain. Margaret Karcher died of liver cancer in Scottsdale, Arizona on June 6, 2006.

Frank C. Lanza (74) chairman, chief executive, and cofounder of defense contractor L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. Lanza died suddenly in New York City while recovering from recent surgery, on June 7, 2006.

Don Lemmon (37) nutritionist and bodybuilder who sold health products over the Internet. Lemmon had been happily married for less than three years to former porn star Asia Carrera. They had a 1-year-old daughter and Carrera was 8 months pregnant with a son. Lemmon was killed when his Jeep flipped over while returning from a Las Vegas business trip to his home in Washington, Utah, on June 10, 2006.

Joe Restivo (54) onetime stand-up comic and former longtime co-owner of Vitellos restaurant in Studio City, California, where actor Robert Blake and his wife dined the night she was killed. Restivo died of lung cancer in West Hills, California on June 6, 2006.

John Roberts (73) founder of Multiplex, the Australian construction group responsible for the troubled and long-delayed rebuilding of Wembley stadium in Britain. Roberts died in Perth, Australia on June 8, 2006.

Roland Seidler Jr. (77) member of the family that formerly owned the Los Angeles Dodgers and founder of the California investment firm the Seidler Companies. Seidler died in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2006.

Leslie Alcock (81) British pioneer of "Dark Age" archaeology who led the team that excavated Cadbury Castle in Somerset, England, the best known and most interesting of the reputed sites of King Arthur's Camelot. Alcock wrote several books on his work, including Arthur's Britain (1971). He died in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England on June 6, 2006.

Mary Martin McLaughlin (87) internationally renowned scholar of the Middle Ages who spent the last 40 years working almost entirely outside academe. McLaughlin's research focused on the roles of women, children, and families in the Middle Ages. She died of cancer in Millbrook, New York on June 8, 2006.

Hubertus Czernin (50) Austrian journalist, a key figure in efforts to return five multimillion-dollar paintings looted by Nazis in World War II to their rightful owner in Los Angeles. Czernin died of mastocytosis, a rare cell disorder, in Vienna, Austria on June 10, 2006.

Robert Donner (75) comedian and character actor known for his roles on TV shows such as Mork & Mindy and The Waltons, and for appearances in movies including Cool Hand Luke. Donner died of a heart attack in Sherman Oaks, California on June 8, 2006.

Joseph Dorfman (65) Russian-Israeli composer of new music, concert pianist, and scholar of composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Dorfman died of a heart attack after performing a tribute at a concert commemorating the centennial of Shostakovich's birth, in Encino, California on June 7, 2006.

Louise Garforth (26) bass player for the punk band Snitch who had recorded several songs including "Fallen Angel" and "Hoist the Sails." Garforth died after giving birth to her daughter Annabelle in Zürich, Switzerland on June 10, 2006.

German Goldenshteyn (71) celebrated traditional clarinetist, a native of eastern Europe considered a kind of folk hero of the klezmer revival in America. Goldenshteyn died of a heart attack while fishing on Long Island, New York on June 10, 2006.

John E. Horton (87) film industry consultant for Hollywood producers needing a submarine, an F-14 Tomcat, or the latest combat weaponry from the Pentagon. Horton was Hollywood's man in Washington for nearly 50 years. He died of liver failure on Seabrook Island, South Carolina on June 4, 2006.

Richard Kapp (69) symphonic conductor who founded and led the Philharmonia Virtuosi, a chamber orchestra, and released a series of classical greatest hits records. Kapp died of cancer in Danbury, Connecticut on June 4, 2006.

Ingo Preminger (95) literary agent, producer of the film M*A*S*H, and younger brother of the late filmmaker Otto Preminger. Ingo Preminger died in Pacific Palisades, California on June 7, 2006.

Billy Preston (59) exuberant keyboardist who landed dream gigs with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and enjoyed his own series of hit singles. Preston had received a kidney transplant in 2002, but the kidney failed and he had been on dialysis ever since. He died in Scottsdale, Arizona on June 6, 2006.

Hilton Ruiz (54) jazz pianist and composer who excelled in a wide variety of styles from Afro-Cuban rhythms to the blues. Ruiz had gone to New Orleans to work on a Hurricane Katrina benefit project. He had been comatose since he fell in front of a French Quarter bar early on May 19. He died in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 6, 2006.

Geoff Barkway (84) former British soldier who played an important part in the capture of Pegasus bridge, landing his glider only 100 yards from the bridge over the Caen Canal in Normandy on D-Day. Barkway died on June 8, 2006.

Robert ("Moose") Fumerton (93) Canadian who fought in the Battle of Britain, then became Canada's most successful night fighter pilot of World War II. Fumerton died in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada on June 10, 2006.

Reathel Odum (97) former personal secretary to First Lady Bess Truman. Odum spent 20 years with the Trumans and during that time had a up-close view of one of the most crucial Presidencies in US history. She died of congestive heart failure in Benton, Illinois on June 9, 2006.

Jamal Abu Samhadana (43) member of Hamas and founder of Popular Resistance Committees (held responsible for firing missiles into Israel), listed as No. 2 on Israel's most wanted terrorist list. Samhadana was killed by an Israeli air strike along with three others in Gaza, Israel on June 8, 2006.

Sir Peter Smithers (92) British politician, diplomat, and award-winning gardener who worked as a British spy during World War II and was said to have inspired the fictional character of James Bond, the suave Agent 007 in Ian Fleming's novels. Smithers died in Vico Morcote, Switzerland on June 8, 2006.

Louis B. Sohn (92) professor of international law who helped to draft parts of the United Nations Charter in 1945 and was a leader in later efforts to turn the UN into a true world government. Sohn died of a stroke in Falls Church, Virginia on June 7, 2006.

Leon Weil (109) one of the last surviving French veterans of World War I and a member of the Resistance in World War II, winning decorations for both conflicts. Weil died in Paris, France on June 6, 2006.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (39) self-proclaimed leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq who took responsibility on several audiotapes for numerous acts of violence in Iraq including the killing of civilians and the taking of hostages. Zarqawi was allegedly responsible for many other acts of violence including the beheading of hostages in Iraq (had beheaded Nicholas Berg in May 2004). He was killed by a US military air strike along with seven others in Baquba, Iraq on June 7, 2006.

Betty Beale (94) former society columnist whose writing graced the pages of the Washington Star for 40 years. Beale covered the official dinners and receptions of eight US Presidents starting with Harry S. Truman. She died in Washington, DC on June 7, 2006.

Agustin Contreras (17) student at Venice (Calif.) High School, shot and killed in an apparent gang-related dispute over a diamond necklace. Contreras died in Los Angeles, California on June 5, 2006.

Gita the Elephant (48) Asian elephant who came to southern California in 1959. Gita was one of three elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo, where critics had charged the animals were kept in unhealthy conditions. She died in Los Angeles, California on June 10, 2006.

Wayne Hage (69) rancher who came to epitomize the Nevada Sagebrush Rebellion as he battled for decades with the federal government over public lands and private property rights. Hage died at his ranch near Tonopah, Nevada on June 5, 2006.

Carlene Lewis (51) Houston lawyer whose early suspicions about the safety of the pain reliever Vioxx put her in the forefront of litigation against its maker, Merck. Lewis died of ovarian cancer in Houston, Texas on June 5, 2006.

Robert Ross (86) president and chief executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Association who recruited comedian Jerry Lewis for the organization's annual Labor Day telethon. Ross died of pneumonia after being hospitalized for a broken hip, in Tucson, Arizona on June 5, 2006.

William Merritt Steger (85) US district judge who handled more than 15,000 cases in 35 years on the federal bench. Steger died in Tyler, Texas on June 4, 2006.

Timothy Titsworth (34) former crack cocaine addict who killed his girlfriend with an ax in 1992. Titsworth was executed in Huntsville, Texas on June 6, 2006.

Moe Drabowsky (70) prankster pitcher who delighted in putting pythons in teammates' shoes and wound up as a World Series star for the Baltimore Orioles when they won their first championship in 1966. Drabowsky died of multiple myeloma in Little Rock, Arkansas on June 10, 2006.

Eric Gregg (55) baseball umpire who worked in the major leagues for more than 20 years while battling a craving for food and drink that spotlighted health concerns surrounding overweight umpires. Gregg had a stroke on June 4 and died a day later, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 5, 2006.

Charles Johnson (96) former Negro League baseball player, a pitcher and outfielder for the Chicago American Giants in the ’30s. After his playing career, Johnson pushed major league baseball to offer pensions to former Negro League players. He died of prostate cancer in Chicago, Illinois on June 10, 2006.

Mary Lutz (55) director of competitive riding for the physically challenged at the US Equestrian Federation. Lutz died after a fall from her horse, in Morristown, New Jersey on June 9, 2006.

Terry McCann (72) former University of Iowa wrestler, Olympic gold medalist, and one of the leading advocates for the sport. McCann died of mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure, in Iowa City, Iowa on June 7, 2006.