Sue Alexander (74) author who wrote stories for children in popular books such as Nadia the Willful and championed the efforts of other writers. Alexander was a founding member of the Los Angeles-based Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Over a 35-year career she wrote about 25 books for children and scores of stories aimed at young readers for magazines and newspapers. She died in West Hills, California on July 3, 2008.

Ralph Burgard (81) leader in a movement to create arts programs in communities around the country. Burgard was the first director of the Arts Councils of America (1965-70), an organization (now known as Americans for the Arts) that brings together private groups, government agencies, educators, and donors to build local cultural programs. He died of cancer in Duxbury, Massachusetts on July 3, 2008.

Thomas M. Disch (68) author, poet, and critic who took science fiction to new, darker places. Disch's work also included poetry; children's and historical fiction; opera librettos and plays; and criticism of theater, films, and art. One of his best-known works is The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances (1986), in which a toaster, a clock radio, and an electric blanket come to life. After several years of personal misfortune and suffering from diabetes and sciatica, Disch shot himself to death in New York City on July 4, 2008.

William Studebaker (61) poet, author, and photographer who wrote about a dozen books of poetry and nonfiction, including Short of a Good Promise (1999), a reminiscence of growing up in the remote Idaho backcountry after World War II. Studebaker was last seen boating with his friends on the Salmon River's East Fork of the South Fork. His body was later recovered after a kayaking accident in Yellow Pine, Idaho on July 4, 2008.

Janwillem van de Wetering (77) Dutch-born author who wrote a popular detective series set in his home country. Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Van de Wetering created the popular "Grijpstra and de Gier" series of detective novels set in Amsterdam that drew from his experience as a police officer. He moved to Maine in 1975 and enjoyed a passion for Zen Buddhism, motorcycles, and jazz. He died of cancer in Surry, Maine on July 4, 2008.

William R. Bennett Jr. (78) physicist who helped to develop one of the first lasers nearly 50 years ago. In 1960, Bennett, Ali Javan, and Donald Herriott built the first gas laser, which generated a continuous infrared beam from a mixture of helium and neon, at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. Bennett later developed nearly a dozen additional lasers; his research helped to lead to the use of lasers in modern technology, in things such as CD players, supermarket scanners, surgical tools, and weapons navigation systems. The argon laser helped to provide an effective treatment for the prevention of blindness in diabetes and remains widely used. Bennett died of esophageal cancer in Haverford, Pennsylvania on June 29, 2008.

Hortensia Magaña (70) former vice president of Diana's Mexican Food Products, her family's $30-million corporation. When she learned that hospitals routinely charged the uninsured more than those covered by insurance companies, Magaña launched a battle to eliminate the inequity. As chairwoman of the consumer group Consejo de Latinos Unidos, she helped to spark a congressional inquiry and her work ultimately resulted in lower health-care prices for many uninsured workers. She died of cancer in Rancho Palos Verdes, California on July 1, 2008.

Isaac Starkman (70) founder of the Jerry's Famous Deli chain with the 1978 opening of its Studio City (Calif.) location. The chain, which has a nominal Broadway theme, now includes nine Jerry's restaurants in southern California and one in Miami Beach. Starkman died of a heart attack in Miami, Florida on July 3, 2008.

Abdel-Wahab al-Meseri (70) professor at Cairo's Ain Shams University who led an Egyptian movement demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's rule. al-Meseri was also considered one of the Arab world's leading experts on Jewish and Israeli affairs. He viewed Israel as a colonial stronghold imposed by Western powers to defend their interests in the Middle East. He died of cancer in Cairo, Egypt on July 2, 2008.

John D. Minton Sr. (86) former president of Western Kentucky University and father of the new chief justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court. Minton Sr. became the fifth president of Western Kentucky in 1979 and was responsible for implementing Title IX there. His son, John D. Minton Jr., was sworn in as Kentucky's chief justice on June 27. Minton Sr. died in Bowling Green, Kentucky on June 29, 2008.

William Sanders (82) Penn State University archaeologist (1959-93) who used an approach called "cultural ecology" to study the interactions of culture and environment. Sanders investigated the settlement patterns of rural areas and small villages, land use and ancient population patterns. One of his projects focused on the extensive mapping and excavations of the Maya city of Copan in Honduras in the early '80s. He died from complications of a fall, in State College, Pennsylvania on July 2, 2008.

Jules Tygiel (59) historian and self-confessed "baseball nut" whose Brooklyn upbringing inspired his highly regarded scholarship on Jackie Robinson and the integration of American society as seen through the great American pastime in his best-known work, Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson & His Legacy (1983). Tygiel died of cancer in San Francisco, California on July 1, 2008.

Edward D. Casey (77) executive editor of Capital-Gazette Newspapers in Maryland for 30 years (1971-2001). Casey was a past president of the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association and a Pulitzer Prize juror. He had been suffering from lung cancer and died while in Columbus, Ohio for his grandson's wedding, on June 29, 2008.

Don S. Davis (65) Missouri-born former college professor who found a second career as a character actor, attracting attention for his roles on TV's Stargate: SG-1 and Twin Peaks. Davis left the academic world for full-time acting in 1987 and retired in 2007 because of a heart condition. He died of a heart attack in Gibsons, Canada on June 29, 2008.

Clay Felker (82) editor widely credited with inventing the formula for the modern magazine with a glossy weekly named for and devoted to the city that fascinated him. In 1964, Felker started New York magazine as a Sunday supplement to the New York Herald Tribune. When the newspaper folded in 1968, the magazine reemerged on its own and inspired similar trendy big-city magazines across the US. Felker had been battling cancer of the throat and mouth and died in New York City on July 1, 2008.

Joseph E. Fields (53) pianist, conductor, and composer, a former music director and principal conductor (1998-2004) at Dance Theater of Harlem. One of Fields's major contributions there came during the company's 2003 Lincoln Center Festival premiere of St. Louis Woman, a ballet based on the 1946 Broadway musical of that title, for which he provided orchestration and arrangements of the original score by Harold Arlen and other songs, while also writing some original music. Since 2005, Fields had been orchestra director and administrator of the music school at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he died on July 4, 2008.

Denise Gallagher (51) philanthropist and wife of conservative talk show host Mike Gallagher. Denise Gallagher founded Gallagher's Army as part of The Mike Gallagher Show Charitable Foundation, which provided food and gift items for military families. She died of cancer in Dallas, Texas on June 29, 2008.

Lee Grivas (26) aspiring photographer romantically linked to actress Christina Applegate, best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married with Children. The pair had a rocky, intermittent relationship, reportedly because of Grivas's longtime drug-related problems. He was found dead in his apartment of an apparent heroin overdose in Hollywood, California on July 1, 2008.

Larry Harmon (83) man behind Bozo the Clown for more than 50 years. Harmon was not the original Bozo but portrayed the clown in numerous appearances over the years. He bought the copyright and trademark to the clown in the '50s and was responsible for keeping Bozo popular in the entertainment industry. Harmon died of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles, California on July 3, 2008.

Clive Hornby (63) British actor best known for his longest-serving role as farmer Jack Sugden on the popular soap opera Emmerdale. In 2001, Hornby won two British Soap Awards for his supporting character role during his nearly 28-year career on the series. He began playing the part in 1980, and his final episode aired in February. He died unexpectedly in Leeds, England on July 3, 2008.

Evelyn Keyes (91) actress who played Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister Suellen in Gone with the Wind (1939) and counted director John Huston and bandleader Artie Shaw among her famous husbands. Keyes later played the Ruby Keeler role as Al Jolson's wife in The Jolson Story (1946) and starred in several B pictures later praised by movie critics as prime examples of film noir. She died of uterine cancer in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, California on July 4, 2008.

Ben Kinsella (16) younger brother of former EastEnders soap actress Brooke Kinsella, best known for playing Kelly Taylor on the popular BBC-TV program (2001-04). Ben Kinsella was stabbed to death after an argument with a group of black youths during a party at a pub in London, England on June 29, 2008.

Bill Lofthouse (68) primary builder of Rose Parade floats who as owner of Phoenix Decorating Co. over more than 50 years helped to upgrade the once-boxy creations through elaborate animation and simple materials besides flowers. Shown above is an award-winning float Lofthouse built for American Honda in 2003. He died of pancreatic cancer in Arcadia, California on July 5, 2008.

Murphy Martin (82) North Texas broadcasting legend who covered Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and provided news coverage after the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy while working as a correspondent for ABC News in the '60s. Martin was later public address announcer for the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium in the '80s. He died just one hour shy of his 83rd birthday, in Dallas, Texas on July 3, 2008.

Tommy Milburn (20) drummer of the local Vancouver post-hardcore band The SSRIs who joined the group in February and had just finished recording a soon-to-be-released CD with the unit, but have been put on hiatus for upcoming shows. Milburn died two days after falling through the skylight of a restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on July 1, 2008.

Simone Ortega (89) Spanish chef and cookbook writer. Ortega's best-known book, 1,080 Recetas de Cocina (1,080 recipes), sold about 3 million copies and went through 49 printings since it was published in 1972. Ortega won top culinary awards both in Spain and France. She was the widow of Spanish publisher José Ortega Spottorno. Ortega died in Madrid, Spain on July 2, 2008.

Kenneth Reich (70) retired Los Angeles Times reporter who, in his 39 years (1965-2004) at the paper, covered politics, earthquakes, and preparations for the 1984 LA Olympic Games. Reich had been in failing health for the last several years with diabetes and heart disease. He died in his sleep in Sherman Oaks, California on June 30, 2008.

Johnny Schou (22) bass guitarist with the Denver, Colorado-based indie rock band Tickle Me Pink who had just made a few appearances on the Vans Warped Tour. The quartet was set to celebrate the release of their debut album, Madeline, with an in-store appearance in Denver this week. Schou was found dead at his home in Fort Collins, Colorado on July 1, 2008.

Natasha Shneider (52) Moscow-born singer/songwriter who collaborated with former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell and rock band Queens of the Stone Age. Shneider, her husband Alain Johannes, and Jack Irons formed the rock band Eleven in 1990. They released five albums, the best known of which was a 1993 self-titled disc for Disney's Hollywood Records. "Reach Out," a single from the set, became Eleven's only track to hit the Billboard charts, reaching No. 40 on the airplay-based Mainstream Rock list. Shneider and Johannes later recorded and toured with Queens of the Stone Age. Shneider died of cancer in New York City on July 1, 2008.

Elizabeth Spriggs (78) British character actress best known for her first notable role as the Fat Lady in the painting that guarded the entrance to Gryffindor House in Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). Spriggs made frequent appearances as a supporting actress in nearly 100 episodes of English TV drama and comedy series, including Midsomer Murders, Doctor Who, Tomorrow People, HBO's Tales from the Crypt, and most recently Jane & Prudence. She died in London, England on July 2, 2008.

Angel Tavira (83) one-handed violinist who dedicated his life to Mexican folk music and won a Cannes Film Festival award for portraying the patriarch of a family of street musicians in his first movie, The Violin (2005), at age 82. Tavira started playing the violin at age 6; when he was 13, he lost his right hand while setting off fireworks at a fair. He pursued his music career nonetheless, playing the violin with the bow tied to his stump. He died of kidney problems three days before his 84th birthday, in Mexico City, Mexico on June 30, 2008.

Sir Charles Wheeler (85) British newsman who reported from Washington, Berlin, and other capitals during a long and distinguished broadcasting career with BBC radio. Wheeler covered the Hungarian uprising in 1956, the flight of the Dalai Lama from Tibet in '59, and the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in '68. Knighted in 2006, he died of lung cancer in London, England on July 4, 2008.

Betty and D. J. Wright (58, 14) wife and grandson of gospel singer Rev. Timothy Wright (61), who has released more than a dozen gospel recordings, including his latest album, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus (2007). Betty Wright died in a three-car accident that also killed wrong-way suspected drunk driver John Pick (44) and critically injured her husband, their teenage grandson D. J. Wright, and another passenger in Loganton, Pennsylvania on July 4, 2008. D. J. Wright later died at a hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania on July 5.

Donald Graves (79) former Cold War researcher in the Soviet internal affairs division of the US State Department's Bureau of Intelligence & Research who scoured Soviet newspapers for information on that secretive nation. In 1986, Graves predicted that the Soviet Union would collapse internally in the near future. His insight proved accurate in 1991. He died of salivary cancer in Washington, DC on July 2, 2008.

Jesse Helms (86) former US senator (R-NC, 1973-2002), uncompromising champion of the conservative movement who spent 30 turbulent years in Congress, where he seemed to enjoy his battles against liberals, Communists, and occasionally a fellow Republican. Helms won election to the Senate in 1972 and rose to become a powerful committee chairman before deciding not to seek a sixth term in 2002. An iconic figure of the South, he was remembered for his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He died in Raleigh, North Carolina on July 4, 2008.

John Renteria (56) Utah Latino activist and former Salt Lake City mayoral candidate. A longtime community activist, Renteria was known for his strong and controversial opinions. He twice made unsuccessful mayoral bids and sought a state Senate seat. He collapsed and died at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 29, 2008.

Rita Turpin (87) Scottish-born mother-in-law of Luci Baines Johnson Turpin, younger daughter of former US President Lyndon B. Johnson (d. 1973), and a longtime close friend of Lady Bird Johnson (d. 2007). Turpin had worked as a public health nurse in Great Britain during World War II and for nearly 40 years after. She died of a stroke in Austin, Texas on June 30, 2008.

Brooke Bennett (12) Vermont girl reportedly last seen alive with her uncle at a convenience store on June 25. Police arrested the uncle, registered sex offender Michael Jacques (42), on kidnapping charges, and Brooke's former stepfather Ray Gagnon (40) on unrelated sexual assault charges involving another minor after an unidentified 14-year-old witness told investigators that Brooke's uncle brought her to his home to initiate her into a child sex ring the day she vanished. Her body was found in a field not far from her uncle's home in Randolph, Vermont on July 2, 2008.

Kathleen ("Kat") Kinkade (77) cofounder in 1967 with her second husband, her daughter, and five others of the rural Twin Oaks commune in Louisa County, Virginia; 85 adults and 15 children now live at Twin Oaks. Each member gets food, housing, health care, and personal spending money from the community, which derives most of its income from making rope hammocks, casual furniture, and tofu. Kinkade died of bone cancer at Twin Oaks on July 3, 2008.

Thich Huyen Quang (87) patriarch of an outlawed Buddhist church in Vietnam who spent more than 20 years in and out of house arrest. Leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and an outspoken proponent of religious freedom and human rights, Quang had long been confined to the Nguyen Thieu Monastery in the southern province of Binh Dinh, Vietnam, where he died of multiple organ failure on July 5, 2008.

Mark Dean Schwab (39) Florida child killer sentenced to die for the 1991 rape and murder of 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez a month after being released from a prison sentence for raping a 13-year-old boy in '87. The case prompted Florida's Junny Rios-Martinez Act of 1992, which bars sex offenders from early prison release. Schwab's attorneys had appealed to the US Supreme Court for a stay, arguing that new execution procedures set by the state during a recent moratorium can still cause severe pain and suffering, as in the botched execution of Angel Diaz in December 2006. Schwab was executed by lethal injection in Starke, Florida on July 1, 2008.

Ronnie White (19) Maryland inmate with a long criminal record, charged with first-degree murder in the June 27 death of Prince George's County police officer Richard Findley (39), struck and dragged by a reportedly stolen truck after a traffic stop. White was one of four people taken into custody by authorities when the truck was found at a nearby apartment complex shortly after Findley was killed, but three others were questioned and released. He was found strangled in his cell in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on June 29, 2008.

Clayton Beck (37) former free-style ski coach and owner of Nevada's Tahoe Athletic Adventures. Beck was a mentor to some of the world's leading skiers, including 2002 Winter Games silver medalist Shannon Bahrke and Olympic gold medalist Johnny Mosely. After a recent retirement, Beck became a person of interest in a 2007 Colorado sexual assault case. Police said the alleged sexual contact might not have been an isolated incident and would eventually lead to other incidents in Utah and California. An experienced pilot, Beck was killed in an experimental airplane accident outside Truckee, California on July 2, 2008.

Dan Cook (81) San Antonio sportswriter who helped to popularize the phrase, "...the opera ain't over 'til the fat lady sings." Cook was also sports anchor at San Antonio TV station KENS for 44 years. He uttered the now-ubiquitous phrase while discussing an NBA playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Washington Bullets on a 1978 newscast. The Yale Book of Quotations later concluded it was first quoted in print in 1976, attributed to Texas Tech sports information director Ralph Carpenter, and was a variation on an old Southern saying. Cook died in San Antonio, Texas on July 3, 2008.

Elliott Galloway (87) father of former US Olympic runner and best-selling author on running, Jeff Galloway. The elder Galloway founded and directed the Galloway School. An avid runner like his son, Elliott Galloway ran part of Atlanta's Peachtree Road Race on July 4 but went home midway through because he didn’t feel well. After a break, he decided to resume running and fell, hitting his head. He died the next day in Atlanta, Georgia on July 5, 2008.

John Pont (80) college football coach who guided Indiana University to its only Rose Bowl appearance in 1968 and coached at Northwestern, Yale, and Miami of Ohio. Pont coached the Hoosiers (1965-72); in 1967, Indiana was 9-2 and represented the Big 10 Conference in the Rose Bowl in '68, where the Hoosiers lost 14-3 to USC's national championship team that featured running back O. J. Simpson. Pont was named Division I-A coach of the year. He died of cancer in Oxford, Ohio on July 1, 2008.