James Crumley (68) crime novelist whose detectives worked cases in dingy Montana bars and other rough hangouts around Big Sky Country. Crumley was perhaps best known for The Last Good Kiss, which Men's Journal in 2007 ranked No. 12 among its Top 15 Thrillers of All Time. He died after years of poor health, in Missoula, Montana on September 17, 2008.

Georgi Kitov (65) Bulgarian archaeologist whose discoveries helped to illuminate the culture of ancient Thrace, a confederation of tribes around southern Europe and Asia from the fifth century BC until AD 46, when it was conquered by Rome. But Kitov's digging methods—especially using bulldozers and backhoes—appalled his colleagues. He died of a heart attack in Starosel, Bulgaria on September 14, 2008.

Charlotte Kohler (99) longtime editor (1942-75) of the Virginia Quarterly Review, a quiet influence on the course of 20th-century American writing. Kohler died of congestive heart failure one day before her 100th birthday, in Charlottesville, Virginia on September 15, 2008.

Coleen Salley (79) teacher of children's literature who promoted children's writers for decades, then saw her own picture books published when she was in her 70s. Salley was well known in the children's book world before two of her books, Who's That Tripping over My Bridge and Epossumondas, were published in 2002. In 1964, Salley helped to found the library science program at the University of New Orleans, where she taught for 30 years. She died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 16, 2008.

Avraham Biran (98) archaeologist of biblical sites who excavated Tel Dan, an ancient city along Israel's northern border, and uncovered an unexpected stone fragment bearing what might be the earliest reference to the House of David. Biran died in Jerusalem, Israel on September 16, 2008.

John Burnside (91) inventor of a kaleidoscopelike device called the teleidoscope and an early gay movement activist who was the longtime partner of late gay rights pioneer Harry Hay. Recently diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer, Burnside died in San Francisco, California on September 14, 2008.

Philip E. Clapp (54) veteran US environmental activist who helped to bring high-powered business lobbying to issues like climate change. Clapp died of pneumonia while vacationing in the Netherlands, on September 17, 2008.

Didier Dagueneau (52) Loire Valley winemaker whose Pouilly-Fumés displayed a purity and subtlety far beyond that of most other sauvignon blanc wines. Dagueneau was killed when the ultralight plane he was piloting crashed after takeoff in the Dordogne region of France on September 17, 2008.

Hyman Golden (85) businessman, a cofounder of the Snapple Beverage Corp. and its chairman as Snapple's flavored teas and juices became a national phenomenon. By the time the company was sold to Quaker Oats Co. for about $1.7 billion in 1994, it had annual sales of $700 million, and its bottles of juices with their familiar blue-and-white logos could be found in delis, supermarkets, vending machines, and homes across the country. It is now owned by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. Golden died of a stroke in Great Neck, New York on September 14, 2008.

Dr. Robert Katzman (82) UC San Diego neuroscientist who pushed Alzheimer's disease into the public consciousness as a "major killer" and cofounded the activist Alzheimer's Association. Katzman played a major role in making San Diego one of the major centers for Alzheimer's research in the US, if not the world, bringing prominent neuroscientists and major funding to a program virtually nonexistent before his arrival in 1984. He died in La Jolla, California on September 16, 2008.

Lynn Kohlman (62) successful fashion model of the '70s whose slightly androgynous look became an inspiration for designers Perry Ellis and Donna Karan. Kohlman also worked as a design executive for Ellis and other fashion houses and later as a photographer. She died of brain cancer in New York City on September 14, 2008.

J. Patrick Rooney (80) health insurance innovator who pioneered the marketing of medical savings accounts and briefly sought the 1996 Republican nomination for governor of Indiana. Rooney became chairman, president, and chief executive of the Lawrenceville, Illinois-based Golden Rule Insurance Co. in 1976 and moved it to Indianapolis in the '80s. He apparently died in his sleep in Indianapolis, Indiana on September 15, 2008.

Dr. Robert Steinberg (61) physician who threw himself into the chocolate business, eventually joining with a former patient, John Scharffenberger, to make the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker brand into one of the most highly regarded fine American chocolates. Steinberg died of lymphatic cancer in San Francisco, California on September 17, 2008.

Henry Z. Steinway (93) great-grandson of the founder of the legendary piano-making company. Henry Zeigler Steinway was the last of his family to run the company founded by Henry Engelhard Steinway in 1853. The hand-crafted pianos were the instruments of choice for such greats as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Vladimir Horowitz, and Artur Rubinstein. In 1977 the company was sold to CBS Corp., which in '85 sold it to what is now known as Steinway Musical Instruments. Steinway died in New York City on September 18, 2008.

Siegfried Halbreich (98) Polish-born survivor of four Nazi concentration camps who devoted the second half of his long life to public education about the horrors that Jews experienced during World War II. After moving to Los Angeles in 1960, Halbreich became one of the Holocaust's most vocal witnesses, giving 2,500 free lectures at elementary schools, high schools, colleges, churches, and synagogues around the world on the abominations he lived through during Hitler's reign. He died of heart failure in Beverly Hills, California on September 17, 2008.

Marc Raeff (85) Russian émigré who came to the US at age 18, served in the US Army during World War II, and became one of the country's leading scholars of Russian history, writing the first study of the Russian diaspora. Raeff, who taught Russian history and Russian studies at Columbia University (1961-88), was an authority on imperial Russia, encompassing most of the 18th and 19th centuries, after the reign of Peter the Great and before the Bolshevik Revolution. He died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the neurodegenerative illness better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in Teaneck, New Jersey on September 20, 2008.

Joseph Shenker (68) first president (1969-87) of La Guardia Community College in New York, a leader in having students combine on-the-job experience with their studies. Shenker died of pulmonary fibrosis in New York City on September 20, 2008.

Charles H. Whitebread (65) popular professor at the University of Southern California law school whose witty observations on the US Supreme Court and how to survive law school helped him to develop a national following. Whitebread died of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California on September 16, 2008.

Titus Antonius (30) prominent Namibian hip-hop musician and record producer popularly known by his stage name, YT-De Wet. Antonius rocked Namibia's music fraternity with his immense Afro-Kwaito beat talents and won numerous national music awards with the release of his two successful albums Be Proud of Yourself (2007) and Mind Power (2008). Anotonius died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after he allegedly shot dead his longtime manager and former girlfriend, Ndapanda Eigowas (21), during an argument in Windhoek, Namibia on September 15, 2008.

Nappy Brown (78) gospel-influenced blues singer of such hits as "It Don't Hurt No More" and "I Cried Like a Baby." Brown grew up singing in a church choir with his father and later sang in a gospel group with his cousins. In 2007, he returned to his musical roots with an album entitled Long Time Coming. He died in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 20, 2008.

Arlene Coffey (73) Hollywood costume designer and widow of well-known cinematographer Joseph Coffey who had worked on the hit TV show The Sopranos and several '80s films including The Cotton Club and See No Evil, Hear No Evil. Arlene Coffey was found dead with her son, David (53), of gunshot wounds in an apparent murder-suicide at their apartment in New York City on September 14, 2008.

Elmer Dills (82) longtime restaurant and travel critic known for his popular radio and TV reports on Los Angeles's KABC-TV Channel 7, where he dished out his reviews on southern California dining. Dills died in Pasadena, California on September 15, 2008.

Paul Flynn (73) former president of USA Today and publisher of two Florida newspapers, the Fort Myers News-Press (1977-83) and the Pensacola News Journal (1984-87) in the state's Panhandle. Flynn died a day after his 73rd birthday in Fort Myers, Florida on September 17, 2008.

Stefan Iordache (67) Romanian actor who worked during an era when theater and film were used as ways to criticize Romania's Communist regime. Iordache began his career in the early '60s. In 2006 he was voted the country's best actor. National theater critics praised his interpretation of Hamlet and his roles in plays by Romanian playwright Ion Luca Caragiale. Iordache was also known for his work in musicals and poetry reading. He was hospitalized in Bucharest last week and died in a clinic in Vienna, Austria after being transferred there Sept. 12 for treatment of an unspecified illness, on September 14, 2008.

Bob Jones (72) author and former longtime publicist and agent for the legendary entertainment firm Motown Records whose controversial tell-all book, Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask, chronicled his 34 years working as a personal public relations manager for the Jackson 5 during the years before the King of Pop's solo career. Jones was found dead of an apparent heart attack in Los Angeles, California on September 20, 2008.

David Jones (74) versatile British-born director who worked on projects as varied as the neglected plays of Maxim Gorky, the films 84 Charing Cross Road and Betrayal, and TV's Law & Order. Jones died of a heart attack in Rockport, Maine on September 18, 2008.

Mauricio Kagel (76) Argentine-born self-taught composer whose experimental body of work also ranged into theater. Kagel's musical theater piece "Sur Scene"—first performed in 1960—established a genre of "instrumental theater" that became a prominent part of his work. He died in Cologne, Germany on September 17, 2008.

Gerald A. Margolis (65) entertainment lawyer who counseled such high-profile clients as R. Kelly and Robin Williams that controversy inevitably follows fame. Diagnosed in 2002 with progressive muscular atrophy, Margolis died of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California on September 15, 2008.

Earl Palmer (84) session drummer whose pioneering backbeats were recorded on such classics as Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" and The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," among many others. Palmer died in Los Angeles, California on September 19, 2008.

Charles A. Perlik Jr. (84) former president of the Newspaper Guild (1969-87) who took liberal stands on issues like the rights of minorities and women in journalism. As leader of a union that now represents more than 33,000 reporters, editors, and photographers around the country, Perlik took positions that sometimes led to controversy. He died in Falls Church, Virginia on September 17, 2008.

Humberto Solas (66) award-winning Cuban filmmaker whose works include the 1968 film Lucia, which examined Cuban woman during three distinct historical periods. Working with the Cuban Institute of Cinema Art & Industry, Solas also made Manuela (1966), Un dia de noviembre (1972), Cantata de Chile (1975), Cecilia (1981), Un hombre de exito (1986; A Successful Man), and El siglo de las luces (1991). His more recent films include Miel para Oshun (2001; Honey for Oshun) and Barrio Cuba (2005). He died of cancer in Havana, Cuba on September 17, 2008.

Richard M. Sudhalter (69) trumpet player who also won wide respect as a jazz historian—and ignited controversy over a book arguing that jazz was shaped by both white and black musicians. In his 1999 book, Lost Chords: White Musicians & Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945, Sudhalter tried to dispel the widely held belief that white players contributed little to the development of jazz. He died of pneumonia in New York City on September 19, 2008.

Don Ultang (91) Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer for the Des Moines Register known for his images of a racially charged assault on a black Drake University football player during a game in 1951. Ultang was probably best known for his photos of a white Oklahoma A&M University player striking Johnny Bright in the face well after the Drake quarterback had handed off the ball during a game on Oct. 20, 1951; the hit broke Bright's jaw, and Drake later pulled out of the Missouri Valley Conference in protest after the conference didn't discipline the Oklahoma player. Ultang died in his sleep in Des Moines, Iowa on September 18, 2008.

Norman Whitfield (67) songwriter and producer who cowrote a string of Motown classics including "War," "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)," and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." Whitfield suffered from diabetes and several other ailments and had recently emerged from a coma. He died in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2008.

Richard Wright (65) Pink Floyd keyboard player and founding member. With singer, songwriter, and guitarist Syd Barrett, guitarist Roger Waters, and drummer Nick Mason, Wright founded the band that became Pink Floyd in the '60s when they were students. Pink Floyd later became one of the biggest names in rock. Wright cowrote five songs on Dark Side of the Moon (1973), which spent 14 years on the Billboard 200 album chart and is one of the best-selling albums ever. Wright left Pink Floyd after falling out with Waters during recording sessions for The Wall (1979) but rejoined the band in 1987. He died of cancer in London, England on September 15, 2008.

Ken Harris (45) popular former Baltimore city councilman who stopped at a friend's nightclub at 1:30 a.m. to borrow a corkscrew and was shot to death in an armed robbery, in Baltimore, Maryland on September 20, 2008.

Johnny Hayes (67) Democrat fund-raiser who managed finances for the two failed Presidential campaigns of former US Vice President Al Gore. Hayes died of stomach cancer in Sideview, Tennessee, about 30 miles northeast of Nashville, on September 20, 2008.

Anna R. Langford (90) first black woman to serve on the Chicago City Council, in the '70s and '80s. Langford died of lung cancer in Chicago, Illinois on September 17, 2008.

John E. Taylor (87) specialist in military history at the US National Archives for 63 years who focused on World War II intelligence documents. For researchers, Taylor was the go-to expert for documents relating to the War Production Board, WWII intelligence and the postwar years, and Nazi and Japanese war crimes. He died of congestive heart failure in Chevy Chase, Maryland on September 20, 2008.

Gennady Troshev (61) Russian politician and former deputy commander of the joint group of federal forces in the Northern Caucasus Military District during the second of the first two battles in Chechnya throughout the '90s. Troshev gained notoriety after advocating public executions of separatist fighters when he publicly defended convicted military officer Yuri Budanov, on trial for war crimes in the 2000 rape and murder of an 18-year-old Chechan woman during the Second Chechan War. Troshev was one of 88 passengers killed in the Aeroflot-Nord Flight 821 plane crash in Perm, Russia on September 14, 2008.

Jack Alderman (57) Georgia man convicted, along with accomplice John Arthur Brown (d. 2000), of the 1974 beating, drowning, and choking death of his wife, Barbara Alderman, after dumping her body in a creek near her family's Chatham County home to collect $20,000 in life insurance money. Alderman's conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court, but he was convicted in a second trial in 1984 and became one of the longest-serving (almost 35 years) death row inmates in Georgia's history. He was executed by lethal injection in Jackson, Georgia on September 16, 2008.

Susan Elbaneh (18) cousin of Jaber Elbaneh, alleged seventh member of the al Qaida-linked terror network Lackawanna Six, believed to be the only American casualty in a suicide bomb attack on the US Embassy in Yemen that killed about 17 people, including six militants. Susan Elbaneh had recently gone overseas for an arranged marriage to a Yemeni man and was at the embassy to fill out paperwork so they could move to upstate New York and start a new life together. A relative insisted that the newlywed couple were innocent victims and had no contact with Jaber Elbaneh, now listed on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list, or any other terror suspects. She died on September 17, 2008.

Ken Lamb (55) prosecutor who completed more than 620 felony trials in his 25 years with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. As of 2004, 530 of the cases Lamb tried had ended in convictions, including 155 sexual assaults, 109 homicides, six insanity pleas, and two death-penalty cases. He died of cancer in Long Beach, California on September 16, 2008.

William P. Murray (39) Texas man sentenced to die for the 1998 rape and strangling death of 93-year-old Rena Ratcliff during a burglary at her home in Kaufman County. Murray got away with only $10 in change from a jar and a knife he later traded for drugs. He had been previously sentenced to 10 years in prison for committing at least dozens of burglaries but was released on probation just three months before the Ratcliff slaying. He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas on September 17, 2008.

Walter H. Seward (111) American supercentenarian, the third-oldest verified man in the US and one of the 30 oldest validated living people in the world at his death. Seward was also the oldest Rutgers University alumnus, Class of 1917, before he graduated from Harvard Law School in '24. He continued to practice law through his 90s. He died in West Orange, New Jersey on September 14, 2008.

Randy Shaffer (55) father of missing Ohio State University medical student Brian Shaffer (27). Randy Shaffer spent the last two years seeking information about his son's disappearance. Brian was last seen with several male friends at the Ugly Tuna Saloona bar near the Ohio State campus on April 1, 2006 but was never found and the case remains unsolved. Randy Shaffer was killed after a tree fell on him during a freak storm outside his home in Baltimore, Ohio on September 14, 2008.

Frank J. Valenti (97) former mob boss who oversaw organized crime in Rochester, New York during its violent heyday in the '60s and '70s. Valenti seized control of gambling, prostitution, and extortion rackets in the city in 1964 and had connections with the powerful Bonanno family in New York City. He was toppled by rivals during a violent turf war among mob factions, capped by a series of bombings at churches, court buildings, and the homes of a judge and a labor union leader. He died outside Houston, Texas on September 20, 2008.

John Webb (82) former North Carolina state Supreme Court Justice known as "the smiling cobra" for handing out tough sentences with a smile. A state Supreme Court justice for 12 years until 1998, Webb also was on the state Court of Appeals for nine years and was a Superior Court justice for six years. He had been fighting Parkinson's disease and died on his 82nd birthday in Wilson, North Carolina on September 18, 2008.

William ("Sarge") Brown (85) mountain manager at Vail who helped to develop the Colorado resort into one of the world's top ski areas. Brown introduced cutting-edge snowmaking, grooming, and trail-cutting technologies as mountain manager (1970-89). He installed Vail's first snowmaking equipment, at Golden Peak, in 1970 and started overnight grooming, now an industry standard. He also helped Vail and Beaver Creek to stage and win the World Alpine Skiing Championships in 1989. Brown died in Grand Junction, Colorado on September 14, 2008.

Cece Carlucci (90) longtime minor league umpire, the only umpire enshrined in the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. After more than 10 years working baseball games in the PCL, Carlucci gave up on reaching the majors and moved on to a long career manufacturing custom gear for baseball umpires. He had been in failing health since May and died in Wildomar, California on September 17, 2008.

Jack Falla (62) Boston University professor who covered the National Hockey League for Sports Illustrated in the '80s. Falla wrote several books on hockey, including Open Ice: Reflections & Confession of a Hockey Lifer (2008). At Boston U, he taught sportswriting and sports communications. He died of a heart attack while in Maine with his family on September 14, 2008.

Ned Harkness (89) Canadian-born coach of NCAA hockey and lacrosse championship teams. Harkness won NCAA hockey championships in 1954 with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and in '67 and '70 with Cornell University. He had recently suffered a stroke and died on his 89th birthday in Rochester, New York on September 19, 2008.

Ron Lancaster (69) star quarterback who led the Saskatchewan Roughriders to their first Grey Cup title and was twice the Canadian Football League's outstanding player (1970, '76). Also a Grey Cup winner as a coach with the Edmonton Eskimos and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Lancaster had 142 regular-season coaching victories to rank fifth on the CFL list. After coaching Hamilton in 2006, he worked the team's radio broadcasts and was a senior adviser to organizational development. He died just over a month after announcing that he was undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for lung cancer, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on September 18, 2008.