Mary Stolz (86) noted author for children and adolescents whose novels won critical praise for the seriousness with which they viewed the problems of young people. The author of more than 60 books, Stolz was an early practitioner of the young-adult novel. She died in Longboat Key, Florida on December 15, 2007.

Allan Stone (74) New York City art dealer who combined a broad expertise in Abstract Expressionism with a zeal for junk sculpture and realist painting and was almost as well known for collecting art as for selling it. Stone’s gallery (like his home) teemed with primitive and folk art, no matter what exhibition was on view. He died in his sleep in Purchase, New York on December 15, 2006.

Larry Zox (69) artist known for his work in the color-field movement of the '60s. Zox's paintings involved the splicing of a color field to give the sensation of shifting planes. In the early '70s he had a studio on 20th Street in New York City known as a colorful gathering place for an eclectic crowd of artists, boxers, and bikers. He died of cancer in Colchester, Connecticut on December 16, 2006.

Henry M. Beachell (100) plant breeder whose cultivation of a remarkably fecund new rice plant led to greatly increased yields of the crop in developing countries of Asia. While working for the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, the Philippines, in the '60s, Beachell and others crossed rice plants from Taiwan and Indonesia to produce a new variety, shorter and sturdier than its progenitors, less prone to damage during harvest, and quicker to cultivate. Beachell died in Pearland, Texas on December 13, 2006.

Sheldon Fox (76) part of the founding triumvirate of Kohn Pedersen Fox, one of the country's most successful architectural firms. Fox was operations manager of a partnership that began in 1976 and quickly rose to the top rank of American architectural firms with international reach. He died of brain cancer in Fairfield, Connecticut on December 16, 2006.

C. Peter McColough (86) business executive who sharply increased the size and prominence of the Xerox Corporation as its chief executive until his retirement in 1982. McColough was a fixture in American commerce; besides Xerox executive posts, he also served on the boards of the New York Stock Exchange, Citibank, Union Carbide, and Knight Ridder. He died of cardiac arrest in Rye Brook, New York on December 13, 2006.

Earl B. Olson (91) founder of Jennie-O Foods. Olson launched what would become Jennie-O in Minnesota in 1949, under the name Farmer's Produce Company. In 1950, he began focusing solely on turkeys. The company took the Jennie-O name in 1953, named for Olson's daughter Jennifer. Olson died of cancer in Willmar, Minnesota on December 11, 2006.

Alan Shugart (76) cofounder of hard-drive maker Seagate Technology LLC. Shugart helped to pioneer the multibillion-dollar hard-drive industry, in which Seagate now holds the leading market position. He died of complications from heart surgery performed six weeks earlier, in Monterey, California on December 13, 2006.

Eileen Caddy (89) cofounder of the "New Age" Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, which she established in 1962 with her then-husband Peter Caddy, a retired RAF officer, and a friend, Dorothy Maclean. The foundation was described as "an international center for spiritual education." Eileen Caddy said she was guided by the voice of God. She died in Findhorn, Scotland on December 13, 2006.

Peter Boyle (71) actor who changed from an angry working man in Joe to a tap-dancing monster in Young Frankenstein (1974) and finally the comically grouchy father on the TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. A former monk in the Christian Brothers religious order who turned to acting, the tall, prematurely balding Boyle gained notice in the title role of the sleeper hit Joe (1970), playing an angry, murderous bigot at odds with the emerging hippie youth culture. Boyle suffered from multiple myeloma and heart disease. He died in New York City on December 12, 2006.

Iliff Omar Burleson (30) up-and-coming Colorado rapper known as Dat Boy O or D-B-O whose song "Don't Blow Me Up" had been getting play on the local hip-hop radio station. Burleson was shot to death by an unknown gunman outside his motel in Colorado Springs, Colorado on December 16, 2006.

Kenny Davern (71) radically traditional jazz clarinetist and soprano saxophonist whose liquid tones linked him to the classical sound of New Orleans. A professional on several instruments since his teens, Davern became nationally known in the '70s when, with pianist Dick Wellstood and another soprano saxophonist, Bob Wilber, he formed the Soprano Summit. The band toured the world and recorded several well-received albums. Davern died of a heart attack in Sandia Park, New Mexico on December 12, 2006.

Severino ("Sivuca") Dias de Oliveira (76) white-maned accordionist and composer. Rooted in the accordion-driven "forro" style of Brazil's northeast, Sivuca played with a wide range of musicians around the world, including jazz star Toots Thielmans and South African singer Miriam Makeba. Sivuca died of throat cancer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on December 14, 2006.

Jay ("Jaybird") Drennan (78) Akron disk jockey whose baritone voice was well known to country music fans for decades. Drennan was on the air at WSLR-AM for 27 years. He retired in 1992 but stayed active, hosting charity auctions. He broke his ankle and died from a blood clot that formed after surgery, in Akron, Ohio on December 10, 2006.

Ahmet Ertegun (83) Turkish ambassador's son who helped to define American music as founder of Atlantic Records, a label that popularized the gritty rhythm-and-blues of Ray Charles, the classic soul of Aretha Franklin, and the British rock of the Rolling Stones. Ertegun fell, suffered a head injury, and was hospitalized in October. He later slipped into a coma and died in New York City on December 14, 2006.

Mike Evans (57) actor best known as Lionel Jefferson on the TV sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons. With Eric Monte, Evans also created and wrote for Good Times, one of the first TV sitcoms that featured a primarily black cast. He died of throat cancer in Twentynine Palms, California on December 14, 2006.

Kathryn Fleming (41) leading audiobook reader and actress. Fleming founded the book recording company Cedar House Audio in 2004 and recorded more than 200 novels under the name Anna Fields. She drowned after a torrent of rainwater poured into her windowless basement studio during the windstorm that devastated the Seattle area, while she was trying to save the equipment in her basement, in Seattle, Washington on December 14, 2006.

Frank Johnson (63) one of the most remarkable talents in British journalism over the last 30 years. Johnson’s natural gifts enabled him to forge a successful career as a reporter, columnist, and foreign correspondent. He was deputy editor of the Sunday Telegraph and later editor (1995-99) of The Spectator. He died of cancer in London, England on December 15, 2006.

Oscar Klein (76) Austrian-born jazz legend who fled when the Nazis took power and recorded with Lionel Hampton and other greats during a career that spanned 40 years. Best known for his aggressive and expressive Chicago-style trumpeting, which made him a fixture on the European club and festival scene, Klein also played clarinet, guitar, and harmonica. He died in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany on December 12, 2006.

Homer Ledford (79) bluegrass musician, an Appalachian bandleader who crafted hundreds of banjos and guitars. Ledford completed an estimated 5,776 dulcimers, 475 banjos, 26 mandolins, 26 guitars, 18 ukuleles, and four violins, among other instruments. After battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, which causes progressive paralysis, he died of an apparent stroke in Winchester, Kentucky on December 11, 2006.

Tina Mayfield (77) guardian of the blues who treated its performers as if they were family and the music as if it were a precious heirloom. The widow of blues great Percy Mayfield (d. 1984), promoter Tina Mayfield fought for performers' royalties, provided them with money in lean times, offered them opportunities to perform, and visited them when they were sick and aging. She died of gallbladder cancer in Palmdale, California on December 14, 2006.

Micaela Nelligan (47) actress who had a recurring role on Treat Williams' TV series Everwood. Nelligan also appeared in the current theatrical release Unaccompanied Minors (2006). Her other credits include Firestarter 2, Touched by an Angel, and In the Line of Duty: Siege at Marion. She died of fibromyalgia in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 11, 2006.

Duina Zacchini Norman (82) member of a famed circus family who joined the human cannonball act when her brothers were drafted. The Flying Zacchinis had traveled Africa and Europe during the '20s and '30s performing a cannonball routine perfected by her father, Edmundo Zacchini. When Norman's brothers went off to fight in World War II, her father trained his two daughters to take their place as human projectiles in the cannonball show. Norman died in Nashville, Tennessee on December 13, 2006.

Walter Ward (66) lead singer of the Olympics, a rhythm-and-blues group whose biggest hit was the 1958 novelty tune "Western Movies." At a time when America was preoccupied with western-themed movies and TV shows, "Western Movies" told the story of a man who lost his girl to the horse operas on the tube. The song peaked at No. 8 on Billboard’s pop charts. Ward died in Northridge, California on December 11, 2006.

Joseph Bernard Zak (80) failed country music lyricist who found an unlikely second career in song after 70: Zak became a lyricist and occasional singer for a punk rock band on the Lower East Side of New York City called Team Spider. His fans called him the oldest punk rocker in history. At his death, he left behind 40 cardboard boxes of lyrics still awaiting their music. He died in New York City on December 13, 2006.

Anton Balasingham (68) chief negotiator for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels. Balasingham had represented the rebel group in peace talks with successive Sri Lankan governments since 1985, after a violent separatist war flared up in '83, trying to transform the group's militaristic image into a political one. He died of cancer in London, England on December 14, 2006.

William H. Booth (84) former New York City judge who challenged racial discrimination in employment, housing, education, and other fields as a civil rights leader and as Mayor John V. Lindsay's man at the helm of the city's Commission on Human Rights in the late '60s. Booth died of complications from a stroke suffered in 2005, in Kissimmee, Florida on December 12, 2006.

Loyola de Palacio (56) former Spanish minister and European Union politician. De Palacio was a former agriculture minister and deputy president of the European Commission. She died of cancer in Madrid, Spain on December 13, 2006.

Zhang Dingfa (63) Chinese naval officer promoted to commander in China's navy after a submarine accident that killed 70 sailors. Zhang was appointed a navy commander in 2003, weeks after a mysterious submarine accident that killed 70 sailors in the Yellow Sea—the first fatal submarine accident disclosed by China's secretive military and one of its deadliest known mishaps. He died in Beijing, China on December 14, 2006.

Mario Llerena (93) Cuban intellectual, an early representative of Fidel Castro in the US who broke with the dictator before he took power because of Castro's shift toward communism. Llerena met Castro in Mexico in the mid-'50s as Castro was preparing for an invasion of Cuba to overthrow military dictator Fulgencio Batista. Llerena died of pneumonia in Miami, Florida on December 10, 2006.

Gen. Augusto Pinochet (91) Chilean general who overthrew that country's democratically elected Marxist president in a bloody coup and ruled the Andean nation for 17 years (1973-90). At least 3,197 people were killed for political reasons during his rule, but after leaving the presidency Pinochet escaped hundreds of criminal complaints because of his declining physical and mental health. He suffered a heart attack a week earlier and underwent an angioplasty. He died in Santiago, Chile on December 10, 2006.

Raymond P. Shafer (89) former Pennsylvania governor (1967-71), a Republican who oversaw tax hikes to finance social programs and later pushed for federal decriminalization of personal marijuana use. By the time his term ended, the state's finances were in shambles, partly because of large spending increases Shafer pushed through. He died in Meadville, Pennsylvania on December 12, 2006.

Elizabeth ("Lizzie") Bolden (116) recognized as the world's oldest person. Bolden was born on Aug. 15, 1890, the daughter of freed slaves. She married Lewis Bolden in 1908 and bore the first of seven children in ’09. She outlived her husband by more than 50 years and all but two of her children. She died in Memphis, Tennessee on December 11, 2006.

Richard Carlson (45) author of the best-selling self-help book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. A psychologist, Carlson advocated tackling life with good humor, positive thinking, and perspective. He died of cardiac arrest after falling ill while on his way to New York City as part of a tour to promote his new book, Don't Get Scrooged, about handling holiday stress, on December 13, 2006.

Angel Nieves Diaz (55) convicted Florida killer who took more than half an hour to die in the state's death chamber (most executions take 15 minutes) and required a rare second dose of lethal chemicals. Prison officials said Diaz's liver disease had slowed his metabolism of the drugs. He was convicted of the murder of a Miami topless bar owner in 1979 and was executed in Starke, Florida on December 13, 2006.

Mary Forni (91) Maine woman who had a key role in a little-known incident in World War II when she spotted two Nazi spies who arrived by U-boat (submarine) along the Maine coast. Forni reported that on November 29, 1944, she saw the two men on a rural road. In January 1945, then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover announced the capture of the two men as spies in New York City. Forni died in Hancock, Maine on December 16, 2006.

Cheryl Green (14) Los Angeles girl allegedly shot and killed by two Latino gang members in a racially motivated gang-related shooting while standing with three of her friends, who were also wounded, on the streets. Green died in Los Angeles, California on December 15, 2006.

Shane Halligan (16) student at Springfield Township (Pa.) High School who fired several shots into the ceiling in the science-wing hallway, forcing other students to scatter, then shot himself to death, after receiving a bad report card and being told by his parents to limit extracurricular activities. No other students were injured. Halligan died in Erdenheim, Pennsylvania on December 12, 2006.

Hersel Isadore (35) Missouri man suspected of fatally shooting his cousin Alisandria Davis (35) before he shot and killed his girlfriend Shanika King (32) and his three children, MyKzee Isadore (13 months), Amaya King (14), and Dovian King (8), at their home. Isadore apparently had been suffering from depression and had been acting irrationally for weeks. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound (suicide) in Kansas City, Missouri on December 16, 2006.

Scott Medeiros (35) Massachusetts man who gunned down strip club manager Tory Marandos and doorman Bobby Carreiro, shot two cops and a patron, then committed suicide. Medeiros and Carreiro had dated the same bartender, and the rampage was the result of an ongoing feud between the two men that escalated when Medeiros was banned from the Foxy Lady strip club. Medeiros died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in New Bedford, Massachusetts on December 12, 2006.

Angelo ("Sonny") Mercurio (70) member of the New England Mafia who helped the FBI to bug a mob induction ceremony for the first time, leading to the prosecution of dozens of people. Mercurio was living under the witness protection plan in Little Rock, Arkansas when he died of a pulmonary embolism on December 11, 2006.

Salvatore Cardinal Pappalardo (88) former archbishop of Palermo who publicly denounced the Mafia during his 25-year tenure, which began in 1970, at a time when the Mafia operated virtually unchallenged in Sicily. The slayings of two prominent anti-Mafia prosecutors in 1992 pushed Pappalardo to his decision. He died in Palermo, Sicily on December 10, 2006.

Ellis Rubin (81) unorthodox defense attorney who made national headlines when he claimed that "TV intoxication" drove a teenage client to kill an elderly neighbor. Rubin was best known nationally for one of the nation's first televised trials, the sensational 1977 case of Ronny Zamora, 15 when he shot 83-year-old Elinor Haggart at her Miami Beach home in a robbery. Zamora was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Rubin died of cancer in Miami, Florida on December 12, 2006.

Richard Spicknall (34) Maryland man who confessed to the 1999 murders of his daughter Destiny (3) and son Richard (2) after he first told the police that a carjacker had attacked him. Prosecutors withdrew their request for the death penalty after Spicknall entered guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree murder. He was found dead in the state prison shower room, an apparent murder victim, in Jessup, Maryland on December 11, 2006.

Paul Arizin (78) early pioneer of the jump shot who led the Philadelphia Warriors to the 1956 National Basketball Association championship and was chosen as one of the 50 greatest NBA players. The Hall of Famer had an outstanding college career at Villanova University. Arizin died in his sleep in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 12, 2006.

Al Beye (24) first-team all-Big Sky selection last season as a senior at Montana State. A 6-foot-11 center, Beye averaged 11.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game last season for the Bobcats and was chosen the Big Sky’s co-Defensive Most Valuable Player. He was killed in a rollover accident, in a car driven by his brother, in Bozeman, Montana on December 16, 2006.

Bob Bronzan (87) football coach who coached Bill Walsh (who led the San Francisco '49ers to three NFL championships) and Dick Vermeil (who led the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl victory in January 2000) at San Jose State before becoming the school's athletic director. Bronzan was a football player and a professor during portions of 50 years at San Jose State, including seven seasons as the Spartans' head coach. He died in Lincoln, California on December 10, 2006.

Federico Crescentini (24) international football player and defender who made six appearances for the national San Marino team, most recently coming on as a substitute in the UEFA EURO 2008 qualifiers against the Republic of Ireland and the Czech Republic. Crescentini drowned while attempting to save a friend during his vacation in Acapulco, Mexico on December 15, 2006.

Lamar Hunt (74) pro sports visionary who owned the Kansas City Chiefs and came up with the term "Super Bowl." The son of Texas oilman H. L. Hunt, Lamar Hunt was a founder of the American Football League and one of the driving forces behind the AFL-NFL merger. He died of prostate cancer in Dallas, Texas on December 13, 2006.

Willie Posey (26) bodyguard for troubled Chicago Bears football defensive tackle Tank Johnson. Posey was recently arrested on a count of felony cannabis possession but was released after posting the $10,000 bond set by a Lake County (Ill.) Circuit judge. Posey had been scheduled to return to court on December 21. He was shot to death at a nightclub in Chicago, Illinois on December 16, 2006.

Clay Regazzoni (67) Italian former motor racing driver, one of the most admired competitors on the Grand Prix circuit in the '70s. Regazzoni's career came to a premature end in 1980 when the brakes on his Ensign failed during the American Grand Prix at Long Beach, California. He crashed into a concrete barrier, suffering serious spinal injuries and for the rest of his life was confined to a wheelchair. He was killed in a head-on collision with a truck near Parma, Italy on December 15, 2006.

Alessio Ferramosca & Riccardo Neri (both 17) youth players for the Italian football team and club Juventus FC, set to play in the game against Cesena in Italy's Series B this month. They were found drowned in a deep artificial lake, where they had been trying to retrieve a ball, near the club in Turin, Italy on December 15, 2006.

Flint ("Scotty") Schulhofer (80) Hall of Fame horse trainer who saddled two Belmont Stakes winners during a 40-year career. Schulhofer won the 1993 Belmont with Colonial Affair and sent out Lemon Drop Kid to win the '99 Belmont. He retired in 2001 with 1,119 victories from 7,157 starters, and his horses earned purses totaling more than $52 million. Schulhofer died of cancer in Miami, Florida on December 14, 2006.

Sarah Steele (28) women's volleyball coach at Tri-State University. Steele's team was 20-36 in her two seasons as coach. She had no previously known health problems but was found dead by her roommate in the apartment they shared in Angola, Indiana on December 11, 2006.

Cecil Travis (93) Washington Senators infielder, one of baseball’s leading hitters of the ’30s and early ’40s. A left-handed line-drive hitter, Travis batted over .300 in seven of his first eight full seasons and was a three-time All-Star. World War II interrupted his career, and he never regained his pre-war form. He died of congestive heart failure in Riverdale, Georgia on December 16, 2006.