Robert Jordan (58) author, born James Oliver Rigney Jr., whose Wheel of Time series of 11 fantasy novels sold millions of copies. Jordan was working on a 12th volume in the series when he died of a rare blood disease that caused the walls of his heart to thicken: complications from primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, in Charleston, South Carolina on September 16, 2007.

Joseph V. Noble (87) former director of the Museum of the City of New York who earlier exposed three famous works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMoA) as fakes. In 1967, Noble, then an administrator at the MMoA with a fervent interest in antiquities, discovered that three large, supposedly ancient terra-cotta Etruscan warriors were forgeries. Analysis and testing determined that the sculptures, thought to be about 2,500 years old at the time, had actually been forged in Italy (1914-18). Noble died of heart failure in West Orange, New Jersey on September 22, 2007.

Alfred Russell (87) New York School painter who adapted abstraction into a Surrealistic figurative style. During the late '40s and early '50s, Russell was active in abstract circles in New York and Paris. His finely structured images, in which small planes seemed to splinter around a central vortex, combined aspects of the abstract styles of both cities. He died of cancer in New York City on September 22, 2007.

Rollie Froehlig (65) president, chief executive, and chairman of National Fulfillment, a long-time presence in direct response marketing. Over the past seven months, Froehlig had been under intense scrutiny after Tennessee Attorney General Robert E. Cooper Jr. filed a civil suit against him, alleging that Froehlig and his company were guilty of identity theft. He was found dead from a single gunshot wound (suicide) in his office in Lebanon, Tennessee on September 19, 2007.

Herbert Gallen (92) founder and owner of the women's clothing label Ellen Tracy, which began as a blouse company and evolved into a sophisticated line for professional women. Gallen started Ellen Tracy in 1949 selling blouses for as little as $28.50 a dozen wholesale. As women began entering the work force in greater numbers, the company introduced a line of more stylish clothing for the workplace that sold in hundreds of department stores nationwide. Gallen died in Demarest, New Jersey on September 22, 2007.

Norman G. Gaylord (84) versatile industrial chemist who helped to develop a safe and permeable material for hard contact lenses that allowed oxygen to reach the eye, thus avoiding corneal edema, a common lens problem. When lenses stayed in place for long periods, earlier acrylic materials sometimes blocked the passage of oxygen to the cornea, leading to blurred vision, swelling of the eye, and even nerve damage. Gaylord developed a rigid material, siloxane-methacrylate, that was both permeable and suited to the production of lenses. He died in Boynton Beach, Florida on September 18, 2007.

Edna Hipps Hamrick (89) cofounder of the Hamrick's Inc. clothing store chain with her husband. The family business, which started out in 1945 as a grocery store in a mill community, grew to include 20 clothing stores in Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Virginia. Hamrick's makes its own lines of ladies' clothes under several brand names, including Links, N Touch, Southern Lady, Company Collection, and Nikki. Edna Hamrick died in Gaffney, South Carolina on September 17, 2007.

Dr. Bruce Pancake (??) prominent plastic surgeon and ENT physician who regularly advertised on TV and appeared on many programs, including WDEF News 12. Pancake was also the father of local golfer Brooke Pancake and Miss Tennessee 2006 Blair Pancake. He was facing a disciplinary hearing on October 3 involving five malpractice charges. He was found dead in his office of unknown causes in Chattanooga, Tennessee on September 16, 2007.

Dr. Edmund H. Sonnenblick (74) cardiologist whose research formed a basis for the modern treatment of heart failure, which has extended the lives of millions of people. Sonnenblick's findings about the structure and function of heart muscle cells and how the heart muscle contracts and relaxes contributed to the development by others of a new class of lifesaving drugs, called ACE inhibitors. He died of esophageal cancer in Darien, Connecticut on September 22, 2007.

Dr. Mitchel Covel (90) cardiologist and philanthropist whose fund-raising efforts for the University of California at Los Angeles were recognized when the university named Covel Commons at the Sunset Village campus housing area for Covel and his wife, Susan. Covel was associate dean of development and community relations at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA until he retired in 1996. He died in Bel-Air, California on September 21, 2007.

Walt Crowley (60) political commentator and prominent citizen historian who in the late '90s cofounded an online encyclopedia of Washington state history. Slow to catch on at first, today Historylink.org gets about 4 million hits a month and is considered a model for similar sites across the country. Crowley had battled cancer of the larynx and recently underwent surgery to remove a small growth linked to a recurrence of the disease when he suffered a stroke on September 20. He died the next day in Seattle, Washington on September 21, 2007.

Richard F. Rosser (78) former president of DePauw University (1977-86) in Greencastle, Indiana. Under Rosser's leadership, DePauw restored East College, renovated Asbury Hall and Roy O. West Library, and built the Lilly Physical Education & Recreation Center. The university's endowment grew from $19.4 million to $83.2 million. Rosser died in Maine on September 21, 2007.

James F. Clarity 3rd (75) reporter who covered crime, politics, sports, and wars in 40 years of newspapering, mostly for the New York Times. Clarity was a scholarly reporter and stylish writer who moved easily from politics in New York City to conflicts in Ireland to everyday life in Moscow. He died of a heart attack in Long Branch, New Jersey on September 20, 2007.

Mahlon Clark (84) clarinetist who performed on the soundtracks of numerous Hollywood movies and recorded with artists as varied as Lawrence Welk and Madonna. Clark also played a well-known clarinet solo in recordings of Henry Mancini's "Baby Elephant Walk," featured on the soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated movie Hatari! (1962), starring John Wayne. While a member of Welk's orchestra (1962-68), Clark married Kathy Lennon, one of the four singing Lennon Sisters on the Welk TV show. He died in Van Nuys, California on September 20, 2007.

Larisa Fayad (31) technical and lighting director with the Vancouver dance troupe Erasga, well known in British Columbia's arts community. Fayad was vacationing in Thailand after touring with the troupe in the Philippines. She was among 88 passengers killed when a One-Two-Go Airlines plane skidded off the runway while landing in driving wind and rain, split in two, and caught fire, on Phuket, Thailand on September 16, 2007.

Albert Fuller (81) influential harpsichordist, conductor, teacher, and author, and the founder of two important early-music organizations. In the '60s and '70s, when the period-instrument revival was gathering force, Fuller was one of several early-music specialists who helped to build an audience for Baroque music, training two generations of performers in early-music technique and interpretation. He died of congestive heart failure in New York City on September 22, 2007.

Alice Ghostley (81) Tony-winning actress best known on TV for playing Esmeralda on Bewitched and Bernice on Designing Women. Ghostley made her Broadway debut in Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952, a landmark revue that also showcased the then-unknown talents of Paul Lynde, Charlotte Rae, Eartha Kitt, and Carol Lawrence, among several others. Ghostley won her Tony as best featured actress in The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (1964). Her film credits include To Kill a Mockingbird, The Graduate, and Grease. She died after a long battle with colon cancer and a series of strokes, in Studio City, California on September 21, 2007.

Floria Lasky (84) influential lawyer in the theater world who represented some of its biggest names. Lasky's clients over the years included Jerome Robbins, Elia Kazan, Tennessee Williams, Burl Ives, David Merrick, Gypsy Rose Lee, Jule Styne, Frederick Loewe, and Carson McCullers. Lasky died of cancer in New York City on September 21, 2007.

Brennen Leath (25) stage actor, a cast member of the off-Broadway musical Walmartopia, also recently seen in R-E-S-P-E-C-T at New York Stage & Film. Leath had also appeared in Happy End and A Christmas Carol, both at San Francisco's ACT, and in Mother Courage at Berkeley Repertory, in the past year. His other stage credits include Richard III, Romeo & Juliet, Henry IV, Part I, Born Yesterday, and Camelot. He died of complications from diabetes after an evening performance of Walmartopia, in New York City on September 22, 2007.

Marcel Marceau (84) world's best-known mime artist who for decades moved audiences around the world. Wearing white face paint, soft shoes, and a battered hat topped with a red flower, the world-famous Marceau played the entire range of human emotions onstage for more than 50 years, never speaking a word. Offstage, he was famously chatty. The Frenchman's extensive tours and appearances on camera brought his silent art to people across the globe. His comic and tragic sketches appealed on a universal level, with each audience interpreting his performance in its own way. A French Jew, Marceau survived the Holocaust—and worked with the French Resistance to protect Jewish children. His biggest inspiration was Charlie Chaplin. In turn, Marceau inspired countless young performers—Michael Jackson borrowed his famous "moonwalk" from a Marceau sketch, "Walking Against the Wind." Marceau died in Paris, France on September 22, 2007.

John Hulen Murphy (94) news executive who oversaw the expansion of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association over a 30-year tenure with the organization. A former journalist, Murphy traveled the state recruiting member newspapers (which grew from 31 to 98 during his tenure), helping to conduct training for staffers and working on legislative issues. He died in Houston, Texas on September 22, 2007.

Mikel Pippi (60) arts producer and coordinator who helped to arrange for the 1992 Rose Parade float that recognized "sister city" status between Los Angeles and St. Petersburg, Russia. Pippi also helped to arrange for the parade to be broadcast in Russia. He later worked in Moscow for Turner Broadcasting System and arranged for screenings of the film Gone with the Wind (1939) in Russian movie theaters. He died of a brain aneurysm in Carmel Valley, California on September 16, 2007.

Eudice Shapiro (93) violinist, chamber musician, recording artist, and University of Southern California faculty member since 1956. Born in Buffalo, New York, Shapiro moved to Los Angeles in 1941 to begin a 23-year career playing in Hollywood studios for Paramount, United Artists, and RKO. She was the first female concertmaster in any studio orchestra, beginning at RKO, and by March 1943 was concurrently concertmaster at Paramount. She died in Studio City, California on September 17, 2007.

Sgt. Edmund ("Eddie") Jeffers (23) US Army soldier assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Combat Team, on his second tour in Iraq. In February Jeffers wrote an essay, supporting the war, that gained wide notice, for the conservative Free Republic web site: "Hope Rides Alone," which suggested that the American public was ungrateful. He was killed in a vehicle accident in Taqqadum, Iraq on September 19, 2007.

Lord Ian Gilmour (81) British Conservative lawmaker, a thorn in the side of Margaret Thatcher when she was Britain's prime minister. While holding the Cabinet-level post of deputy foreign secretary, Gilmour was fired by Thatcher in 1981 after he warned her that hard-line tactics would lose voters' support. He then declared that Thatcher was steering "full speed ahead for the rocks," and for his next 11 years in the House of Commons he relentlessly attacked her dismantling of the welfare state. Gilmour died in West Middlesex, England on September 21, 2007.

Christian A. Herter Jr. (88) lawyer and longtime public servant who in the '60s was first chairman of the New York Urban Coalition. Herter was the son of Christian A. Herter Sr., a former secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The younger Herter died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Washington, DC on September 16, 2007.

Vlatko Pavletic (77) former speaker of Croatia's parliament who served as acting president for two months. A member of the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union, Pavletic took over presidential duties in December 1999, when President Franjo Tudjman died. The new president, Stipe Mesic, was inaugurated in February 2000. Pavletic also wrote essays and books on literature. He died in Zagreb, Croatia on September 19, 2007.

Calvin L. Rampton (93) Utah's longest-serving governor at three terms. A lifelong Democrat, Rampton was governor (1965-77) and the first one in Utah elected to three four-year terms. (In 2000, then-Gov. Mike Leavitt was elected Utah’s second three-term governor but didn’t complete a full third term because he left to become head of the US Environmental Protection Agency.) Rampton considered his most significant accomplishment the consolidation of more than 150 state agencies. He died of multiorgan failure in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 16, 2007.

Steve Reynolds (87) former Georgia state senator and Transportation Board chairman. Beginning in 1968, Reynolds served 14 years in the State Senate, including 12 years as chairman of the Transportation Committee. After leaving the Senate, he served for 20 years on the state Transportation Board, many of them as chairman. He died of lung cancer in Lawrenceville, Georgia on September 17, 2007.

William D. Rogers (80) Washington lawyer and Latin America expert who became a top advisor to then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the mid-'70s and later worked with him as an international consultant. Rogers played prominent roles in sensitive negotiations, including planning the US hand-over of the Panama Canal and applying financial and political pressure to help end Ian Smith's white regime in majority-black Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He died after suffering a heart attack during a fox hunt near Upperville, Virginia on September 22, 2007.

Suzanne Sauvage (52) younger sister of Democrat congressional hopeful Niki Tsongas, facing Republican candidate Jim Ogonowski for the seat vacated by US Rep. Martin Meehan. Sauvage died in her sleep in Brooklyn, New York on September 21, 2007.

Ed Smith (56) Democrat operative who spent his life in a wheelchair while registering voters and working for civil rights. Smith never let his childhood bout with polio keep him from being a force in North Carolina Democrat politics, working on at least 60 political campaigns. He was a state cochairman for the 2000 Gore-Lieberman campaign, first vice chairman of the state Democrat Party, and later worked for John Edwards' 2004 Presidential campaign. He died of pneumonia in Raleigh, North Carolina on September 16, 2007.

Stanley C. van Ness (73) lawyer who, as New Jersey's and the nation's first state public advocate (1974-82), regularly stirred up the political scene in the '70s, often filing suits on controversial issues. Among the contentious issues Van Ness became involved in—usually resulting in settlements or legislation—were requirements that municipalities include zoning for low-income housing, that government funds be withheld from nursing homes that fail to meet state standards, and that shoreline municipalities open their beaches to the public. He died in Neptune, New Jersey on September 21, 2007.

David Carliner (89) influential left-leaning lawyer whose work for clients ranging from scholars and scoundrels to cooks and cabdrivers helped to define modern immigration law. Carliner was also a driving force behind achieving home rule for the District of Columbia, chairman of a human rights group now called Global Rights, and a founder of the Washington chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. He died of a heart attack in Washington, DC on September 19, 2007.

Lloyd Davis (79) longtime federal housing official who worked with Rev. Martin Luther King's widow to build Atlanta's King Center and establish the holiday honoring the civil rights leader, officially celebrated for the first time at the federal level on January 20, 1986. Davis came to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change around 1980 as executive vice president and chief operating officer, working alongside Coretta Scott King to maintain her husband's legacy. He died of cancer in Chevy Chase, Maryland on September 17, 2007.

Helen Elaine Freeman (75) conservationist who fell in love with two snow leopards when she was a volunteer at a zoo and eventually founded a leading advocacy organization working to preserve them. Freeman was the first chairwoman of the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan, a program dedicated to helping the animals breed in captivity. She died of lung disease in Bellevue, Washington on September 20, 2007.

Samuel A. Greene Jr. (63) founder of a monastery that closed amid scandal over the alleged sexual abuse of novice monks and a fraudulent weeping Virgin Mary painting. Greene, who founded the monastery in 1981, pleaded guilty in 2000 to indecency and was sentenced to 10 years' probation. He was due in court Sept. 14, where prosecutors planned to seek to have his probation revoked. His death was being investigated as a suicide. His body was found in his home on the grounds of Christ of the Hills Monastery in Blanco, Texas on September 17, 2007.

Rev. Rex Humbard (88) former itinerant preacher whose televangelism ministry once reached more parts of the globe than any other religious program. Humbard realized the potential of the new medium of TV in the early '50s and became known to millions by the '70s. He began with a renovated theater and eventually built the $4 million domed, 5,000-seat nondenominational Cathedral of Tomorrow, which included velvet drapes, a hydraulic stage, and a cross covered with thousands of red, white, and blue light bulbs. But financial overreaching eventually eroded his organization. He died near Lantana, Florida on September 21, 2007.

Clifford Kimmel (32) Texas man sentenced to death for the triple slayings of topless dancers Rachel White and Susan Halverstadt (both 22), and their friend, Brent Roe (29), at their San Antonio apartment in 1999, with robbery as his motive. Kimmel stole White's stereo, VCR, purse, and credit card; Roe's wallet, a jewelry box, a bong, a silver letter opener, and some music CDs, most of which he sold. He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas on September 20, 2007.

Barry Mirkin (91) former big-band road manager and charity dinner organizer who staged many events at the Beverly Hills Friars Club and helped to lead fund-raisers for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Mirkin died in Century City, California on September 20, 2007.

Carl Muecke (89) retired federal judge who handled many important decisions during his years based in Phoenix, including desegregating Arizona schools before the US Supreme Court made it federal law. Muecke, who had battled Alzheimer's disease and other ailments, died in his sleep in Flagstaff, Arizona on September 21, 2007.

Myra Nicholson (112) oldest verified person in Australia and the 11th oldest validated person in the world after the death of Marie-Simone Capony in France on September 15. Nicholson died in Blackburn, Victoria, Australia on September 20, 2007.

Ali-Muhammad Varqa (95) leader of the Bahai community. Varqa was the "Hand of the Cause," a lifetime appointment, for 52 years until his death. His main role was to assist the growth of the faith and to maintain its unity and cohesion. He died in the port city of Haifa, Israel on September 22, 2007.

Coral Eugene Watts (53) confessed serial killer who once told police he had murdered more than 80 people in Texas and Michigan. Watts said he targeted women with evil eyes. He was convicted in July of first-degree murder in the 1974 stabbing death of 19-year-old Gloria Steele, for which he received a second life sentence. He had previously been convicted of the same charge in 2004 for the '79 killing of Helen Dutcher (36) in the Detroit suburbs. He received immunity for 12 other killings to which he had confessed (11 in Texas, one in Michigan) as part of a 1982 deal with Texas prosecutors and was a suspect in 26 other slayings. An inmate at the Ionia (Mich.) Maximum Correctional Facility, Watts had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had been hospitalized all but one day since Aug. 28. He died in Jackson, Michigan on September 21, 2007.

H. Emory Widener Jr. (83) until recently the nation's longest-serving federal appeals judge with 35 years on the bench. Appointed to the Richmond, Va.-based appeals court by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972, Widener was the longest-serving federal appeals court judge until July 2007, when he took senior status, a form of semiretirement for judges 65 and older. He died in southwest Virginia on September 19, 2007.

Louis J. Willie Jr. (84) black insurance company executive who helped to defuse a racial dispute surrounding the 1990 Professional Golf Association Championship by becoming an honorary member at the host course, the all-white Shoal Creek Country Club in suburban Birmingham, even though he was not an avid golfer. Afterward, the PGA and other golf groups said they would no longer hold tournaments at clubs that lacked minorities or women as members. Willie died of Alzheimer's disease in Birmingham, Alabama on September 16, 2007.

Martha Gerry (88) breeder and owner of three-time Horse of the Year, Forego, one of racing's most successful and popular horses. Forego won 34 races for Gerry's Lazy F Ranch and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979. A member of the Jockey Club, Gerry was honored in August as an Exemplar of Racing by the National Museum of Racing & Hall of Fame—the first woman to be selected for the award and first to receive the honor since C. V. Whitney in 1991. Gerry died in New York City on September 17, 2007.

Ruth Jessen (70) professional golfer who won 11 times on the Ladies' Professional Golf Association Tour and twice finished second at the US Women's Open. Known for her extremely wide putting stance, Jessen competed on the LPGA tour for nearly 30 years (1956-85). Her best season was 1964, when she won five tournaments and came in second five times. She died of lung cancer in Phoenix, Arizona on September 21, 2007.

Garrard ("Buster") Ramsey (87) first coach of the Buffalo Bills. Ramsey played guard at William & Mary, where he was the school's first All-American. In the NFL, he was part of the Chicago Cardinals' team that won the 1947 championship. In 1959, he became coach of the newly formed Bills team of the old American Football League, where he was 11-16-1 in two seasons before being fired in 1962. He also held coaching positions with the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers. He died of pneumonia in Chattanooga, Tennessee on September 16, 2007.