Tina Allen (58) sculptor whose monumental bronze statues and busts of prominent blacks throughout history—including abolitionist Sojourner Truth and author Alex Haley—fill public spaces across the US. Allen is shown above with her life-size statue of George Washington Carver. She died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California on September 9, 2008.

Marian Griffiths (86) for 20 years director of the Sculpture Center in its original Manhattan location, transforming it into a dynamic exhibition center that helped to draw public attention to the medium. Griffiths died in New York City on September 8, 2008.

Simon Hantaï (85) reclusive French painter whose work explored ideas of absence and silence. Hantaï took those ideas so seriously that he disappeared completely from view for 15 years. He was known in particular for abstract, often huge canvases that crackled with bold, saturated color punctuated by unfilled areas of pure white. He died in his sleep in Paris, France on September 11, 2008.

Stephen A. Kliment (78) architect and editor who guided Architectural Record through the '90s. Since 2002 Kliment had been editorial director of Oculus, the journal of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and eOculus, the chapter's electronic newsletter. He died of cancer in Ebersberg, Germany on September 10, 2008.

Gregory Mcdonald (71) author whose best-selling "Fletch" mystery books also were made into films. Fletch (1974) was the first in a series of books about an investigative reporter named Irwin M. Fletcher; actor Chevy Chase portrayed the lead character in the 1985 movie Fletch and the '89 sequel Fletch Lives. Mcdonald died of cancer in Pulaski, Tennessee, about 60 miles southwest of Nashville, on September 7, 2008.

David Foster Wallace (46) author best known for his 1996 novel Infinite Jest. Wallace taught creative writing and English at Pomona College. His wife found her husband had hanged himself at their Claremont, California home on September 12, 2008.

Bob Winquist (85) former director of the character animation program at California Institute of the Arts who greatly influenced several animators now working in Hollywood. Winquist died in Simi Valley, California on September 10, 2008.

Marilyn Fithian (87) influential sex therapist and researcher known for her studies on nudity and sexual dysfunction. With colleague and longtime companion William E. Hartman (d. 1997), Fithian founded the Center for Marital & Sexual Studies in Long Beach, where they conducted research and treated people with sexual problems. Fithian died of pneumonia four days after her 87th birthday, in Long Beach, California on September 11, 2008.

Klaus J. Jacobs (71) German-born billionaire entrepreneur who built the world's leading chocolate seller and temporary staffing firm. Jacobs, who became a Swiss citizen, played a key role in building Barry Callebaut into the top chocolate seller and Adecco SA into the world's leading temp employer. He died of cancer in Kuesnacht, Switzerland on September 11, 2008.

Mark Miller (89) magazine illustrator-turned-vintner who built a world-class winemaking region in the rocky soil of the Hudson River Valley. Miller owned (1957-2003) Benmarl Vineyards in Marlboro, New York, about 70 miles north of New York City, and was widely regarded as the father of the winemaking renaissance in the Hudson Valley, home to winemakers since the 1600s but long since fallen into disrepute. He died in Wilmington, North Carolina on September 9, 2008.

John Peragallo Jr. (76) curator of the organs at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. One of the country's most highly regarded organ builders and restorers, Peragallo was president of his family business, the Peragallo Pipe Organ Co., founded by his father in Paterson, New Jersey in 1918. In the '90s, Peragallo oversaw a complete restoration of the organ at St. Patrick's, a monumental instrument that comprises three separate organs. He died of cancer in Wayne, New Jersey on September 12, 2008.

Olin J. Stephens 2nd (100) one of the most prominent naval architects of the 20th century, a designer who created more than 2,200 cruising and racing yachts over decades of innovation in sailing. Pictured above is Stephens' first design, the Dorade, a 52-foot yawl that prompted a ticker-tape parade in New York after winning the 1931 Trans-Atlantic Race. He died in Hanover, New Hampshire on September 13, 2008.

Dr. Paola Timiras (85) physician and researcher who pioneered the study of the physiology of aging and taught molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley for more than 50 years. Timiras died of heart failure in Berkeley, California on September 12, 2008.

Martin Tytell (94) typewriter expert whose knowledge of typewriters was a boon to American spies during World War II, a tool for the defense lawyers of convicted spy Alger Hiss, and a necessity for authors who relied on him to keep their Royals, Underwoods, and Olivettis (and their computer-resistant pride) intact. When he retired in 2000, Tytell had practiced his vanishing craft for 70 years. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease but died of cancer in the Bronx, New York on September 11, 2008.

Robert Glasgow (83) considered among the most respected American organists and a professor at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater & Dance (1962-2005). Glasgow had an illustrious performing career in the US, Canada, and abroad. Especially renowned for his interpretations of the music of Cesar Francke, he was selected as the featured recitalist at the Mormon Tabernacle after a major renovation of its historic organ. He died in Ann Arbor, Michigan on September 10, 2008.

David Chipp (81) former chief editor of Britain's Press Association and of Reuters news service. Chipp was Reuters' first resident correspondent in Beijing after the Communist takeover and became the agency's editor in 1968. In 1969, he was appointed editor in chief of the Press Association, a British news agency. He retired in 1986 and apparently died in his sleep in London, England on September 9, 2008.

Chris Dudek (42) original drummer for the German trash metal band Sodom. Dudek made a special guest appearance on Sodom's latest album, The Final Sign of Evil, which included some re-recordings from one of their first classic EP tracks, In the Sign of Evil, and was released as a double LP material bonus package via SPV Records earlier this year. He died unexpectedly in Germany on September 7, 2008.

Dino Dvornik (44) Croatian pop singer whose songs were widely popular throughout the former Yugoslavia. Dvornik shook the ex-Yugoslav music scene in the early '80s with songs influenced by funk, soul, techno, pop, and house music. He said he had been addicted to heroin but had stopped using drugs. He died in his sleep in Zagreb, Croatia on September 7, 2008.

Patrick Flynn (72) music director of the Riverside County (Calif.) Philharmonic for 19 years who also guest-conducted ballet, opera, and classical orchestras around the world. Flynn died of a pulmonary embolism in Los Angeles, California on September 10, 2008.

Vernon Handley (77) Welsh conductor who championed British composers and made many premiere recordings of neglected music. Handley was best known to American audiences through his catalogue of more than 150 discs, which include premiere recordings of more than 80 works by British composers. He died in Monmouthshire, Wales on September 10, 2008.

Nina Lawson (82) former head (1956-87) of the Metropolitan Opera's wig department who created the elaborate hairpieces—and stroked the egos—of legendary singers like Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, and Roberta Peters. Lawson died of pernicious anemia in Ayr, Scotland on September 9, 2008.

Bobby Mallon (89) former child actor, one of the very last Our Gang comedy actors playing Bobby in 13 of the early silent shorts (1926-32). Mallon died in Simi Valley, California on September 10, 2008.

Richard Monette (64) longest-serving (1994-2007) artistic director of Canada's Stratford Shakespeare Festival, the largest repertory theater in North America. During his tenure, Monette improved the theater's economic stability and guided it to record levels of attendance. He died of a blood clot in the lung in London, Ontario, Canada on September 9, 2008.

George Putnam (94) broadcasting pioneer whose bombastic style and arch-conservative political views made him one of the nation's highest-paid TV news anchors and one of its most widely lampooned. Putnam was one of the inspirations for The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Ted Baxter character, played by the late Ted Knight. In the '50s-'70s, Putnam was a top-rated—and often controversial—news anchor for such Los Angeles radio stations as KTTV, KCOP, KTLA, and KHJ (now KCAL); his salary in the early '60s, $300,000 a year, was said to be the highest of any TV newscaster in the country at the time. He died of heart failure in Chino, California on September 12, 2008.

Ruedi Rymann (75) Swiss farmer and cheesemaker renowned in his home country as a yodeler and the man who recorded what came to be known as "Switzerland's greatest hit," the traditional folk song, "Dr Schacher Seppli." Rymann had been suffering from liver cancer and decided in June to end chemotherapy treatments. He died in Giswil, Switzerland, south of Zürich, on September 10, 2008.

Erik ("Buck") Townsend (71) operatic tenor who sang professionally all over North American and Europe before founding Modesto's Townsend Opera Players, which he directed for 26 years. TOP is a resident company at the Gallo Center for the Arts and has featured both community members and up-and-coming singing talent from throughout the country in dozens of operas and musicals. Townsend died of lung cancer in Modesto, California, his birthplace, on September 9, 2008.

Charlie Walker (81) Grand Ole Opry star who became a popular disk jockey in Texas as he built a career as a honky-tonk singer. Walker became a top country music deejay on San Antonio's KMAC in the '50s while he recorded regional hits, including "Only You, Only You"; his breakthrough came in 1958 with Harlan Howard's "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down." Walker was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and died in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tennessee on September 12, 2008.

John Walter (61) founding editor of USA Today in 1982 and former executive editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1989-2002). Walter had lived in Martha's Vineyard since 2002, where he edited and published the Vineyard Gazette. He and his wife, Jan Pogue, opened a custom book publishing company, Vineyard Stories, in 2005. Walter died of complications from surgery in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 11, 2008.

Joan Winston (77) superfan of the original '60s Star Trek TV series who organized the first conventions for fans (Trekkies) after the show was canceled by NBC in 1968. Winston died of Alzheimer's disease in New York City on September 11, 2008.

Peter Camejo (68) Green Party leader, a third-party candidate in three California gubernatorial elections before becoming Ralph Nader's running mate in the 2004 Presidential race. Camejo ran for the state's top office (2002-03, '06), supporting abortion rights, the legalization of marijuana, universal health care, and a moratorium on the death penalty. He had been battling lymphoma and died in Folsom, California, outside Sacramento, on September 13, 2008.

Nathan Green Gordon (92) US Navy pilot awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing 15 downed airmen under enemy fire in the Pacific during World War II. Gordon later became lieutenant governor of Arkansas. He died while being treated for pneumonia and other ailments, in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 8, 2008.

Allyn Overton Kreps (78) Los Angeles lawyer who managed California Democrat Alan Cranston's 1968 campaign for the US Senate. Kreps served in Washington with Cranston (1977-81). He chaired a bipartisan commission to help select candidates for federal judgeships and US attorneys in the state and was a member of the senator's foreign policy advisory staff. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease in Glendale, California on September 9, 2008.

Nouhak Phoumsavanh (98) former president of Laos (1992-98) and a founding member of its ruling Communist party. Nouhak was considered the No. 2 figure in the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party from the late '50s into the '90s. He died after many weeks in a coma, in Vientiane, Laos on September 9, 2008.

Beverly Ann Burr (80) mother of missing Tacoma, Washington girl, Ann Marie Burr (8), last seen in 1963. No trace of her was ever found, and her disappearance was one of the most puzzling unsolved crimes in the Pacific Northwest, made all the more sensational by a possible connection to a former neighbor, serial killer Ted Bundy (executed in 1989). Burr and her husband, Donald (d. 2003), spent most of the rest of their lives focusing on other abducted children. Beverly Burr died of congestive heart failure in Tacoma, Washington on September 13, 2008.

Rev. Simmie Lee Harvey (90) fiery New Orleans Baptist preacher and civil rights stalwart who worked alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and helped to plan the March on Washington in 1963. Harvey was a cofounder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, created in 1957 for advancing racial equality. He had been hospitalized for about two weeks before his death from a stroke in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 10, 2008.

Dean R. Hoge (71) sociologist of American religion best known for his studies of an aging and dwindling Roman Catholic priesthood. For 32 years, Hoge, a Presbyterian, was a professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He died of stomach cancer in Baltimore. Maryland on September 13, 2008.

Roger Makley (74) attorney who represented Pete Rose when he sought reinstatement from Major League Baseball. Makley defended Rose beginning in the late '80s as baseball and IRS officials conducted investigations of the career hits leader. Rose agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 for betting on his own team, then applied for reinstatement in '97, a request that has since languished. Makley was US attorney in Dayton in 1969 and represented bank officials who faced prosecution after Cincinnati-based Home State Savings Bank collapsed in '85. He had been diagnosed with cancer and had suffered a stroke. He died in Dayton, Ohio on September 12, 2008.

Imam W. Deen Mohammed (74) son of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad (d. 1975), who renounced the black nationalism of his father's movement to lead a more traditional and racially tolerant form of Islam for black Muslims. Mohammed died in Chicago, Illinois on September 9, 2008.

Ralph S. Plaisted (80) insurance salesman turned explorer who in 1968 led the first expedition that indisputably reached the North Pole over the ice. Traveling by snowmobile, Plaisted and three other men reached the North Pole on April 19, 1968. A USAF weather plane verified their position a day later and gave them a lift back. The 1909 attempt to reach the North Pole by explorer Robert Peary, long credited as the first to make it there, was never validated by anyone outside Peary's party. Plaisted died in Wyoming, Minnesota, north of the Twin Cities, on September 8, 2008.

Betty Constable (83) squash player who used a powerful left-handed stroke to become the dominant woman squash player of the '50s and later posted a formidable record as Princeton's first women's squash coach. Constable won the national title five times (1950, '56-59). She died in Skillman, New York on September 9, 2008.

Eddie Crowder (77) All-American quarterback at the University of Oklahoma who later became football coach and athletic director at the University of Colorado. Crowder compiled a record of 67-49-2 in 11 seasons as Colorado's coach (1963-73). He became athletic director at the Boulder campus in 1965 and held the post until '84. He died of leukemia in Lafayette, Colorado on September 9, 2008.

Don Gutteridge (96) former baseman who played for four major league teams and managed the Chicago White Sox (1969-70). Gutteridge spent 12 years in the majors and debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 7, 1936, 72 years to the day before his death. He also played with the St. Louis Browns, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Boston Red Sox. He was the seventh-oldest living former player and the last living St. Louis Brown who played in the 1944 World Series. He died of pneumonia in Pittsburg, Kansas on September 7, 2008.

Don Haskins (78) Hall of Fame coach who transformed college basketball when he started five black players on a Texas Western team that defeated an all-white University of Kentucky squad for the 1966 NCAA championship. Haskins died of congestive heart failure in El Paso, Texas on September 7, 2008.

Sherrill ("Psycho") Headrick (71) former Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker. Nicknamed "Psycho" by his teammates for his aggressive play and personality, Headrick played eight seasons (1960-67) for the Texans/Chiefs franchise in the old AFL before it merged with the NFL. In recent years he was wracked by debilitating arthritis. He died of cancer in Fort Worth, Texas on September 10, 2008.

Domagoj Kapec (18) Croatian professional ice hockey player who had already played in multiple under-20 and -18 World Championship games in Croatia for the national ice hockey league KHL Medvescak Zagreb this past season. Kapec died three days after suffering injuries in a car accident in Zagred, Croatia, on September 10, 2008.

Frank Mundus (82) legendary shark fisherman said to have inspired the Captain Quint character in the movie Jaws (1975). In 1964, Mundus used a harpoon to snag a 4,500-pound great white and later bagged a 17-foot-long, 3,427-pound great white by rod and reel in '86. He suffered his first heart attack in 1998 and later had quadruple bypass surgery. He died after his second heart attack in four days, in Honolulu, Hawaii on September 10, 2008.

Evan Tanner (37) former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion. Tanner lost his last bout in June. He left for the desert last week to go camping and motorcycle riding but called a friend on Sept. 3 to say his dirt bike had run out of gas and he was stranded about 100 miles from the nearest town. He was found dead about two miles from his campsite in a remote area of the Palo Verdes Mountains, east of San Diego, California, where temperatures had reached 110 degrees, on September 8, 2008. A preliminary coroner's report suggested he died of heat exposure.