Raymond Kennedy (73) writer known for his dark novels set largely in his native New England. Kennedy wrote eight novels, among them My Father's Orchard (1963), The Flower of the Republic (1983), Ride a Cockhorse (1991), and The Romance of Eleanor Gray (2003). His books were characterized by their bleak settings (western Massachusetts was a favorite), baroque prose, and grotesquely comic characters. He died of a stroke in Brooklyn, New York on February 18, 2008.

Stephen Marlowe (79) author best known for a series of books featuring private detective Chester Drum. Marlowe began his career as a writer of pulp and science fiction and wrote more than 50 novels. His series featuring Drum began with The Second Longest Night (1955) and concluded with Drumbeat Marianne (1968). His more recent work included fictionalized biographies. He died in Williamsburg, Virginia on February 22, 2008.

Magda Cordell McHale (86) artist, one of the founding members of the Independent Group in London in the early '50s who later became a sociologist and writer in the field of futurism. With her first husband, Frank Cordell, later a prominent British musician and composer, and artist John McHale, who became her second husband, Magda McHale helped to assemble the London-based group that started British Pop Art. She died in Buffalo, New York on February 21, 2008.

Robin Moore (82) nonfiction author best known for writing The French Connection and The Green Berets. The French Connection (1969) was about a New York drug bust. It inspired a movie starring Gene Hackman that won five Oscars in 1971, including best picture. The Green Berets (1965) was made into a movie starring John Wayne in 1968. Moore also cowrote, with late singer Barry Sadler. "The Ballad of the Green Berets," which became the signature song of the Special Forces unit. He died in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on February 21, 2008.

Alain Robbe-Grillet (85) avant-garde author, a pioneer of the postwar "new novel" movement in France. Robbe-Grillet was among the most prominent of France's "new novelists" who emerged in the '50s. The group's experimental works ignored traditional literary conventions like plot and character development, narrative and chronology, chapters and even punctuation. Robbe-Grillet's best-known works of fiction included Les Gommes (1953; The Erasers), a novel about a detective investigating an apparent murder who ends up killing the victim. He died at Caen University Hospital in western France, where he had been admitted over the weekend for cardiac problems, on February 18, 2008.

Douglas A. Fraser (91) former president of the United Auto Workers who led the union through hard times in the '70s and '80s and was instrumental in saving Chrysler from bankruptcy with a union campaign for $1.5 billion in federal loan guarantees for the automaker in 1979. Fraser had emphysema and went into the hospital with breathing problems. He died in Southfield, Michigan on February 23, 2008.

Eugene Freedman (82) creator of Precious Moments figurines. Freedman was founding chairman and former president and chief executive of Enesco Group Inc., a gift and collectibles company based in Itasca, Illinois. He envisioned that Samuel J. Butcher's two-dimensional art on greeting cards could become a success as porcelain figurines. Freedman retired from the gift business in 2005 but consulted for small gift companies until his unexpected death in Hawaii on February 19, 2008.

Jonathan Maslow (59) journalist and naturalist whose travels took him from the rain forests of Central America to the steppes of central Asia. Maslow's books were concerned in particular with the survival of rare, beautiful, or otherwise beguiling animals in the wild, often in remote places. He died of cancer in Greenwich, Connecticut on February 19, 2008.

Max Raab (81) trend-setting clothes manufacturer whose apparel company helped to extend the button-down preppy look of the early '60s to women's clothing. Raab invented the shirt-dress, owned Villager clothes, and later produced several films, including A Clockwork Orange. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 21, 2008.

Paul Tilley (40) managing director and top creative executive at advertising agency DDB's Chicago office who led the creative teams that came up with Dell Computers' "Dude, You're Gettin' a Dell" campaign. Tilley had overseen commercials and campaigns for marquee clients such as Budweiser and McDonald's, including part of the fast-food chain's "I'm Lovin' It" series. He jumped to his death from the upper floors of the Fairmont Chicago Hotel in an apparent suicide, in Chicago, Illinois on February 22, 2008.

Marie Cowan (69) dean of the UCLA School of Nursing, credited with restoring its reputation as one of the nation's top 10. Cowan stressed research and recruited 22 researchers, doubling the faculty. She also developed the first UC online degree program in nursing administration and set up a bioscience curriculum for the doctoral nursing degree. She died after a 10-year battle with colon cancer, in Los Angeles, California on February 22, 2008.

Vunies High (92) sister of heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis (d. 1981). High spent 25 years as a teacher and counselor in Detroit Public Schools. A sufferer of Alzheimer's disease, she was found frozen to death outside her apartment at an assisted-living center, dressed only in pajamas and one shoe. An autopsy showed she died of hypothermia in Southfield, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, on February 18, 2008.

Richard Baer (79) TV writer who contributed to dozens of sitcoms over 30 years, including Bewitched, That Girl, and The Munsters. The series for which he wrote the most scripts was Hennesey, an early '60s comedy-drama that earned him an Emmy nomination. He wrote more than 30 episodes of the CBS show, which starred Jackie Cooper as a Navy medical officer. Baer died of complications from a heart attack suffered in early January, in Santa Monica, California on February 22, 2008.

Natalia Bessmertnova (66) Soviet-era prima ballerina who danced with the Bolshoi Ballet for decades. Bessmertnova was a top dancer at the Bolshoi (1961-95) until she and other performers staged a one-night strike after the ballet's longtime artistic director Yuri Grigorovich, her husband, quit during a dispute with management amid plans for his replacement. The refusal to perform Romeo & Juliet prompted the first cancellation in the ballet's more than 200-year history. Bessmertnova died of reported kidney disease in Moscow, Russia on February 19, 2008.

Ben Chapman (79) actor who never landed a star-making role. Chapman had small parts in only a few films, including an uncredited bit part in Ma & Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955). But he nevertheless achieved a degree of movie immortality—and did it without uttering a word of dialogue or even showing his face. The 6-foot-5 ex-Marine played the title character in Creature from the Black Lagoon, the classic 1954 3-D monster movie that quickly developed a cult following. For Chapman, later a retired Honolulu real estate salesman, playing the so-called Gill Man in Creature was the role of a lifetime. He died of congestive heart failure in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 21, 2008.

Rubens de Falco (76) Brazilian actor who rose to stardom for his portrayal of a slave owner in the 1976 telenovela The Slave Isaura. The elegant, mustachioed De Falco became famous around the world for his role as Leoncio Almeida in Escrava Isaura, as the show is called in Portuguese. The story of a coffee-plantation owner's passion for one of his slaves, the show drew loyal followers across South America, eastern Europe, Africa, and China. De Falco died of heart failure in São Paulo, Brazil on February 22, 2008.

Joe Gibbs (65) influential reggae music producer who helped to create the '70s hit "Two Sevens Clash" for Culture, which became popular on the British punk scene. Gibbs opened a recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica in the late '60s and began producing records with noted reggae recording engineer Lee Perry. He later worked with coproducer and engineer Errol Thompson, and they became known as the Mighty Two. They had success with Dennis Brown's "How Can I Leave," J. C. Lodge's cover of Charley Pride's "Someone Loves You Honey," and many other reggae and dub recordings with Gibbs's house band, the Professionals. He died of a heart attack in Jamaica on February 20, 2008.

Hans Janitschek (73) Austrian journalist who spent years as a United Nations consultant and was secretary-general of Socialist International. Janitschek died suddenly at UN headquarters of an apparent heart attack, in New York City on February 21, 2008.

Baird Jones (53) promoter and would-be gossip columnist who once asked playwright Arthur Miller about sex with Marilyn Monroe and nearly got punched out for it. Jones sometimes sold gossipy tidbits about A-list celebrities but more often peddled what he said were transcripts of question-and-answer sessions with less famous stars—B- or even C-listers. He was found dead in his East Village, New York apartment on February 21, 2008.

Yegor Letov (43) father of Russian punk music. Letov was lead singer of the noisy, confrontational group Grazhdanskaya Oborona, notorious in the late '80s as the Soviet Union was gripped by social and political changes. He died of heart failure in the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia on February 19, 2008.

Dennis Letts (73) retired professor and regional actor who made his Broadway debut last December in his son's acclaimed production of August: Osage County. The play, written by Tracy Letts, opened to some of the year's best reviews. In it, Dennis Letts played an Oklahoma patriarch whose disappearance prompts a bitter family reunion. He was an English professor for 30 years, mostly at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, and took up acting as a career after retiring. His film credits include Where the Heart Is (2000), based on a novel written by his wife, Billie. On stage, Letts performed eight shows a week while receiving cancer treatment, until the end of January. He died in Tulsa, Oklahoma on February 23, 2008.

Teo Macero (82) record producer, composer, and saxophonist most famous for his role in producing a series of albums by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in the late '60s and early '70s, including editing that almost amounted to creating new compositions after the recordings were made. Macero died in Riverhead, New York on February 19, 2008.

Ronald D. McMahan (70) former editor and owner of the defunct Knoxville Journal and one-time press secretary to former Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.) in the '70s during the Watergate hearings. McMahan delivered the Journal as a boy and became a general assignment reporter there in 1958. He fulfilled a lifelong dream in the '80s by becoming editor and co-owner of the newspaper, named best paper in the state in 1983 by the Tennessee Press Association. McMahan sold it in 1988, and it folded in '91. He died of cancer in Naples, Florida on February 19, 2008.

Mihaela Mitrache (52) Romanian film and theatre actress who had won the best actress award at the Jerusalem Movie Festival for portraying a leading role in the acclaimed film Mily Way (1997). Mitrache died of cancer in Bucharest, Romania on February 18, 2008.

Lydia Sum (61) veteran Hong Kong actress known for her iconic black-rimmed glasses and heavy build. Born in Shanghai, China, Sum made her movie debut at age 13. She acted in more than 100 movies in Hong Kong and hosted more than 5,000 episodes of variety shows. Her credits also include a starring role in the Singaporean English-language sitcom Living with Lydia. She reportedly had been suffering from a bile duct condition and died in Hong Kong on February 19, 2008.

Suzanne Wangler (42) former Michigan TV news anchor accused of embezzling from a man she dated and advised financially. Wangler resigned last week from Lansing station WLAJ, where she worked under the name Suzanne Page. She had been arraigned on felony charges of embezzlement by an agent and larceny by conversion. Each charge carried a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. She was found dead in her home in suburban Royal Oak, Michigan on February 23, 2008.

David Watkin (82) innovative British cinematographer who won an Oscar for Out of Africa (1985) and whose many films included Chariots of Fire (1981). Watkin was also credited with developing a system of lights for night shooting that effectively simulates natural light. He died of cancer in Brighton, England on February 19, 2008.

Richard Westenburg (75) choral conductor who founded the Musica Sacra Chorus & Orchestra in 1964 and made it one of the most renowned choruses in New York by the end of the '70s. Westenburg's signature work was Handel's "Messiah," in which he led Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall most years at Christmastime. He died of colon cancer in Norwalk, Connecticut on February 20, 2008.

Mel Zelnick (83) jazz drummer whose career began as a boy in a Harlem drum corps and led to stints with Benny Goodman and as a studio musician for Capitol Records, where he played for such recording artists as Peggy Lee, Patti Page, Ray Charles, and Nat ("King") Cole. Zelnick had been in declining health since undergoing heart bypass surgery several years ago. He died of a heart attack in Prescott, Arizona on February 21, 2008.

German Chupina (86) former Guatemalan police director (1978-82) wanted in Spain for crimes against humanity. Chupina was arrested in November 2006 after Guatemalan Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu levied charges of genocide, torture, and state terror in a Spanish court against him and seven other ex-military and ex-government officials. Human rights groups accused Chupina of the nation's worst abuses and said he was behind a 1980 fire at the Spanish embassy that killed more than 30 people, including Menchu's father. Although he denied guilt, Chupina was held for more than a year but finally released after Guatemala's constitutional court ruled in December 2007 that Spain had no jurisdiction in the case. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease, liver and renal problems, and fractures caused by old age. He died in Guatemala City, Guatemala on February 17, 2008.

Pearl Cornioley (93) British woman who parachuted into France in September 1943 as a secret agent to help arm and organize the Resistance. Bored by her desk job at the Air Ministry in London, Cornioley volunteered for the Special Operations Executive and became one of Britain's greatest agents operating behind German lines during World War II. She died in the Loire Valley, France on February 23, 2008.

Russell Dickenson (84) former director of the National Park Service who started his career as a ranger and worked his way up to the top for five years in the early '80s. Dickenson died of cancer in Bellevue, Washington, east of Seattle, on February 19, 2008.

Janez Drnovsek (57) former Slovenian president (2002-07), a popular politician who helped to lead the country to independence in 1991 and later to European Union and NATO membership. Drnovsek had a cancerous kidney removed in 1999. In 2005, he admitted that doctors had diagnosed what he described as "formations"—apparently cancer—on his lungs and liver a year before he was elected president. In recent years, as he battled the disease, Drnovsek won the hearts of many of his countrymen again for his radical shift to a holistic lifestyle and his authorship of New Age-influenced books. He died of cancer in Zaplana, a village on the outskirts of the capital, Ljubljana, Slovenia, on February 23, 2008.

Orin Lehman (88) longest-serving (1975-93) New York State parks commissioner and great-grandson of the founder of the Lehman Brothers investment firm. As an Army pilot during World War II, Lehman lost one leg and partial use of the other in Germany. That sparked a lifelong interest in the welfare of the disabled, and in 1947 he joined Eleanor Roosevelt and two others to found Just One Break, a not-for-profit employment service for people with disabilities. He died of pneumonia in New York City on February 21, 2008.

Evan Mecham (83) conservative who served 15 months as Arizona's governor before an impeachment trial removed him from office in 1988. A millionaire automobile dealer who served in the state Senate for two years in the '60s, Mecham ran for governor four times before he finally won a three-way race in 1986 with 40% of the vote. After taking office in January 1987, he rescinded a Martin Luther King Jr. state holiday, saying its creation had been illegal. He became the first US governor impeached and removed from office in 59 years when, in April 1988, the state Senate convicted him of obstructing justice and misusing $80,000 in state funds allegedly funneled to his Pontiac dealership to keep it afloat. Mecham had been in deteriorating health with symptoms of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases for years. He died in Phoenix, Arizona on February 21, 2008.

Pierre Smith (22) USAF airman from Mardela Springs, Maryland. Smith was found shot to death in a New Mexico motel. Police arrested another airman, Gerald Parvilus (23), being held on $2 million bond on murder, kidnapping, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault charges. An investigation revealed that Smith had an extramarital relationship with Parvilus's wife. Smith was murdered in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where he was stationed, on February 22, 2008.

Richard Tulisano (68) former longtime Connecticut Democrat state representative who championed constitutional issues and civil liberties. Tulisano pushed for legislation that provided compensation for crime victims, barred strip searches by police, and phased out Connecticut's supervised home release program. He had been ailing for some time and had to use oxygen. He died in Hartford, Connecticut on February 20, 2008.

Johnnie Carr (97) Alabama civil rights activist who joined childhood friend Rosa Parks in the historic Montgomery bus boycott. Carr succeeded Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as president of the Montgomery Improvement Association in 1967, a post she held at her death. The newly formed association led the boycott of city buses in the Alabama capital in 1955 after Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to whites on a crowded bus. In 1956 the US Supreme Court struck down racial segregation on public transportation. Carr had been hospitalized after a stroke on Feb. 11. She died in Montgomery, Alabama on February 22, 2008.

Larry Davis (41) Bronx, New York man, a hero to some and an outcast to others after waging a shootout in 1986 with police officers who tried to arrest him for murdering rival drug dealers. Davis was serving a sentence of 25 years to life at Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Ulster County, New York for the fatal shooting of a drug dealer, of which he was convicted in 1991. He was stabbed to death in a recreation yard by another inmate, Luis Rosado (42), at Shawangunk, about 80 miles north of New York City, on February 20, 2008.

John D. B. Lewis (64) son of Wall Street titan Salim L. Lewis who became a lawyer to fight for the rights of the poor and powerless, and in December 2007 won his toughest fight when he persuaded New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to pardon paroled convict Frederick Lake. John Lewis devoted his life to helping prisoners and other clients who could not pay him. He died of lung cancer in New York City on February 22, 2008.

Robert K. Skolrood (79) lawyer who battled for fundamentalist Christians on issues that included nativity displays and gay rights and often examined the intricacies of the US Constitution. One of Skolrood's biggest victories involved the case of Bridget Mergens, a high school senior in Omaha whose proposal to start an after-school Bible club was rejected by her principal. In 1990, the US Supreme Court ruled that if groups started and led by students were permitted, religious groups could not be excluded. Skolrood died of kidney cancer in Venice, Florida on February 20, 2008.

Tsuneyo Toyonaga (113) oldest verified person in Japan after the death of 113-year-old Shitsu Nakano in August 2007. Toyonaga was the fifth-oldest living person in the world, becoming one of the 90 longest-lived documented supercentenarians ever. She died in Tano, Kochi, Japan on February 22, 2008.

Herman ("Eagle") Day (75) quarterback at Mississippi in the '50s whose first college pass went for a 63-yard touchdown. The all-Southeastern Conference quarterback went 28-5-1 and won two league titles under coach John Vaught (1954-56). He was dubbed "The Mississippi Gambler" after setting up Ole Miss's 14-13 victory over Texas Christian University in the 1956 Cotton Bowl with a 25-yard scramble late in the game that helped the Rebels to win their first major bowl victory. Day also pitched for the Rebels baseball team and took Ole Miss to the College World Series in 1956. He spent 12 seasons in the Canadian Football League, where he was All-Pro (1961-62). He died in Nashville, Tennessee on February 22, 2008.

Claude ("Grits") Gresham (85) noted outdoorsman, writer, and TV personality. Gresham was field host and producer of The American Sportsman TV series on ABC. His affable personality and love for the outdoors combined with his trademarks, a driftwood hat and white muttonchops, made him a recognizable figure around the world. Entertainers such as Bing Crosby, Burt Reynolds, Jonathan Winters, and Andy Griffith joined him on hunting and fishing trips, as did Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bruce Jenner. Gresham died at his home on the banks of Cane River Lake in Natchitoches, Louisiana on February 18, 2008.

Dusty Hicks (17) up-and-coming competitive swimmer at Woodford County (Ky.) High School, a promising member of the school's swim team. Hicks was expected to have a successful college athletic career but suffered neck injuries and became paralyzed after he jumped into a pond on July 4, 2007. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound (suicide) at his home in Louisville, Kentucky on February 17, 2008.

Bob Howsam (89) sports executive who gave baseball its Big Red Machine and Denver its beloved Broncos. Howsam's career covered two sports and several leagues, and even his short-term jobs were successful: Between cofounding the Broncos in 1959 and joining the Cincinnati Reds in '67, he was general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals when they won the '64 World Series against the New York Yankees. He pioneered the use of film to improve a hitter's swing, expanded the use of artificial turf, and orchestrated blockbuster trades, like bringing Joe Morgan to the Reds in 1971. Howsam died of heart disease in Sun City, Arizona on February 19, 2008.

Diego Lizardi (32) gymnast who represented Puerto Rico in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Lizardi won a bronze medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and a gold medal in the rings event at the ‘98 Central American & Caribbean Games in Venezuela. After retiring, he worked as a gymnastics coach and owned a chain of children’s gyms. He was killed in a car crash in San Juan, Puerto Rico on February 21, 2008.

Ethel ("Sunny") Lowry (97) seventh woman—and fourth Englishwoman—to swim the English Channel. On August 28-29, 1933, Lowry successfully swam from France to England in 15 hours and 41 minutes. It was her third attempt. She was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Association's Hall of Fame in 2003, one of only five British women to have successfully swum the Channel. She died in Warrington, Cheshire, England on February 21, 2008.

Billy Jack Murphy (87) longtime Memphis University football coach (1958-71) and athletic director (1966-81). The university credits Murphy for building up its little-known football program, including coaching the first undefeated football team in the school's history and winning the 1971 Pasadena Bowl. He died in Memphis, Tennessee on February 21, 2008.

Mickey Renaud (19) Canadian ice hockey player with the junior league Windsor Spitfires, son of former NHL player Mark Renaud. Mickey Renaud was in his third year with the Spitfires and had 21 goals and 41 points in 56 games this season. He collapsed at his home in Tecumseh, Ontario and was taken to a hospital with no vital signs. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead in Windsor, Ontario, Canada on February 18, 2008.

Paul Robbins (68) ski and travel journalist, the US Ski Team's primary writer for more than 20 years. Well known for wearing a Scottish tam, Robbins worked at eight Winter Olympics—every one since 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, where he was press chief for luge. At later Olympics he was a press officer for the US Ski Team and a commentator on Nordic sports for CBS and NBC. He died of an apparent heart attack in Weathersfield, Vermont on February 23, 2008.

Emmanuel ("Manno") Sanon (56) only soccer player to score a World Cup goal for Haiti. Sanon became a Haitian legend in 1974 when he scored a go-ahead goal against Italy in his country's lone World Cup appearance, taking a lead pass, outrunning the defender, and leaving goalie Dino Zoff on the ground. Sanon's kick snapped Zoff's record 1,142 minutes over two years without allowing a goal. But Italy scored three straight goals and won the game. On that same World Cup, Sanon also scored against Argentina before Haiti was eliminated with three losses. He died of pancreatic cancer in Orlando, Florida on February 21, 2008.

Shannon Veal (17) high school basketball star point guard recently named her district's most valuable leading player this season. Veal was averaging 14 points, 5-5 assists, and 2 steals and had received letters from more than 75 colleges, including LSU, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, and Tulane. She collapsed and died unexpectedly after stepping to the foul line late in the first half of a playoff game at Glen Oaks High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on February 18, 2008.