Hayden Carruth (87) award-winning poet who wrote about the people and places of northern Vermont, where he lived in the '60s and '70s. Carruth wrote more than 30 books and won the National Book Award for Poetry for his 1996 book Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey. He also was known for his literary criticism and wrote several prose collections and nonfiction works. He suffered a stroke a month ago and died in Munnsville, New York on September 29, 2008.

Konstantin Pavlov (75) one of Bulgaria's most prominent poets and screenwriters known for his opposition during the country's totalitarian past. Pavlov was among the few Bulgarian intellectuals who dared to defend their professional independence during the 1945-89 Communist regime. He died in Sofia, Bulgaria on September 28, 2008.

Peter Vansittart (88) English writer who revitalized the historical novel by mixing myth with modernity and by injecting 20th-century concerns into historical settings as varied as Roman Britain, medieval France, and 16th-century Germany. Vansittart died in Ipswich, Suffolk, England on October 4, 2008.

Charles Wright (76) author who wrote three autobiographical novels about black street life in New York (1963-73) that seemed to predict the rise of an important literary talent but then vanished into alcoholism and despair and never published another book. Earlier this year, Wright learned that alcohol had eroded his liver. He died of heart failure in New York City on October 1, 2008.

Boris Yefimov (108) political cartoonist who drew brutally satirical images of the Soviet Union's foes in the service of Josef Stalin. Yefimov's cartoons spanned virtually the entire history of the Communist state, from shortly after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union in '91. He died four days after his 108th birthday, in Moscow, Russia on October 1, 2008.

Edison Chouest (91) commercial shrimp fisherman who turned one steel-hulled 65-foot utility vessel into a major shipbuilding and offshore petroleum service company. North American Shipbuilding in Larose, La. built and designed its own cargo and utility vessels, eventually adding offshore specialty vessels and building ships for the US military and government. Chouest died in Galliano, Louisiana on October 1, 2008.

Edsel D. Dunford (73) former TRW Inc. president and aerospace engineer who helped to develop pioneering satellites for the US during the Cold War. Dunford died after kidney cancer diagnosed in July spread to his brain, in Rolling Hills, California on October 3, 2008.

Joyce Galya (57) top fund-raiser and longtime director of the University of Miami's Citizens Board for more than 25 years. Galya had led an effort to help raise millions of dollars and to find donors to generate a large share of the private institution's funds despite her agonizing seven-hour chemotherapy sessions during an eight-year battle with terminal ovarian cancer. She died in Kendall, Florida on October 4, 2008.

Robert Arthur (83) boyish-looking actor who had supporting roles in such '40s and '50s films as Twelve O'Clock High (1949) with Gregory Peck; Just for You (1952), a musical with Bing Crosby; and Hellcats of the Navy (1957) with Ronald Reagan. Arthur also appeared on TV in three episodes of The Lone Ranger (1950-52) but left acting in the '60s. He died of congestive heart failure in Aberdeen, Washington, his birthplace, on October 1, 2008.

Raymond Coffey (79) former Chicago Sun-Times columnist and editor (1987-99). Coffey died of complications from Alzheimer's disease, in Tucson, Arizona on October 3, 2008.

Osborn Elliott (83) former Newsweek editor (1961-76), widely credited with making the weekly news magazine competitive with archrival Time magazine. Elliott was later dean of Columbia University's graduate school of journalism for seven years. He died of cancer in New York City on September 28, 2008.

Alfred J. Gallodoro (95) jazz musician who performed on the saxophone, clarinet, and bass clarinet. Gallodoro worked with some of the world's greatest conductors, including Arturo Toscanini, Leopold Stokowski, and Leonard Bernstein. The Chicago native began his career at age 13 at a vaudeville house in New Orleans. He spent about 50 years on Long Island before moving to upstate Oneonta, New York in 1981, where he died on October 4, 2008.

Servando Gonzalez Hernandez (85) former gofer at a Mexican film studio who rose to become a director in Hollywood. Gonzalez got his start at age 13 as an apprentice at Estudios Clasa and gradually learned the trade, rising to become head of the film laboratory at Latin America's largest film operation, Estudios Churubusco, before setting out to make movies himself. His best-known work abroad was The Fool Killer (1965), a film starring Anthony Perkins and Dana Elcar. The director suffered from cancer and died in Mexico City, Mexico on October 4, 2008.

Rob Guest (58) British-born stage star who held the record for the most performances in the title role of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera. Guest was the world's longest-serving Phantom, having played the role for a record 2,289 performances over seven years in front of Australian and New Zealand audiences. He died after suffering a massive stroke, in Melbourne, Australia on September 30, 2008.

Johnny ("J") Jackson (39) rapper, songwriter, and music producer for the late hip-hop star Tupac Shakur. Among other projects, Jackson produced the Grammy-nominated song “How Do You Want It” and 10 others for Shakur’s All Eyez on Me album, one of the best-selling albums of 1996. He was awaiting sentencing on a felony charge of driving under the influence after pleading no contest, his fourth such offense since 2001, when he jumped from the second tier of a housing unit in the downtown Twin Towers jail, in Los Angeles, California on October 3, 2008.

Choi Jin-sil (39) one of South Korea's most popular actresses whose fame won her the nickname "The Nation's Actress." Choi's family said she had been depressed since a 2004 divorce and was distraught over rumors linking her to the suicide of fellow actor Ahn Jae-hwan a month ago. She had denied rumors that she had pressed the actor to pay back a large loan. Choi was found hanged, an apparent suicide, in the bathroom of her home in Seoul, South Korea on October 2, 2008.

Stan Kann (83) theater organist whose vacuum cleaner collection and gadget obsession made him a regular on The Tonight Show. Kann studied classical organ, restored and played the mighty Wurlitzer at St. Louis's Fox Theater for 22 years, and worked as an organist, music director, and script writer on a local variety show. He died from complications related to a heart procedure, in St. Louis, Missouri on September 29, 2008.

Levi Kereama (27) former contestant in the first season of the popular reality TV show Australian Idol whose music career rose to fame in 2003 after he made a nearly successful second attempt to proceed to the final 12 through a wild-card entry before he was eliminated in sixth place. But Kereama scored a record contract and released several singles. Reportedly suffering from depression, he was found dead after falling from a hotel in an apparent suicide, in Brisbane, Australia on October 4, 2008.

Mario Maya (71) Spanish dancer who combined his Gypsy heritage with training in experimental American dance to become one of Spain's most influential flamenco dancers and choreographers. Maya died of cancer in Seville, Spain on September 29, 2008.

House Peters Jr. (92) TV actor who became the original Mr. Clean in Procter & Gamble's commercials for household cleaners—a muscular man with a bald head, a hoop earring, and a no-nonsense attitude toward dirt and grime. Peters' acting career (1935-67) also included appearances on Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, and Lassie. He died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California on October 1, 2008.

Nick Reynolds (75) founding member of the Kingston Trio who jump-started the revival folk scene of the late '50s and paved the way for artists such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. The Trio's version of the 19th century folk song "Tom Dooley" landed the group a No. 1 spot on the charts in 1958 and launched its career. Reynolds had been hospitalized with acute respiratory disease and other illnesses and died after his family took him off life support, in San Diego, California on October 1, 2008.

Charles M. Runyon (86) popular Los Angeles children's TV show host in the '50s and '60s. On KABC-TV Channel 7 (1955-63) and on KTTV Channel 11 (1963-64), Runyon's Chucko the Clown was a familiar sight to thousands of young southern California viewers. He died of respiratory failure in Grants Pass, Oregon on October 4, 2008.

Susan Montgomery Williams (47) woman whose talent for blowing enormous chewing gum bubbles propelled her into international semicelebrity appearances on numerous TV programs and won her the nickname "Chewsy Suzy." Williams was featured in the July 1990 edition of Smithsonian magazine, which included a photo of her blowing a 23-inch (58.24 cm) bubble, the record at that time. She still held the Guinness World Record for the largest bubble blown since 1979. She died of an aneurysm after suffering a stroke the week before in Fresno, California on October 1, 2008.

Ted Briggs (85) last survivor of the World War II sinking of the British battle cruiser HMS Hood. Briggs was one of only three seamen among the crew of more than 1,000 to survive the attack by the German battleship Bismarck in the Denmark Strait on May 24, 1941. Then an 18-year-old signalman, Briggs later described how he was sucked under by the sinking ship before surfacing and seeing the Hood disappear below the waves. He died in Portsmouth, England on October 4, 2008.

Col. Thomas Elbridge Holland (97) retired US Air Force colonel, New Mexico state representative, and former publisher of the weekly Silver City (NM) Enterprise. Holland served in the New Mexico state House of Representatives from Bernalillo County (1966-68) after unsuccessfully seeking the Democrat nomination for governor in 1960. He died in Silver City, New Mexico on September 30, 2008.

Joshua B. Jeyaretnam (82) Singapore's best-known and most dogged opposition leader who fought a lone battle against the powerful ruling establishment despite being driven to bankruptcy. In recent years, Jeyaretnam—once a wealthy, high-profile lawyer—had stood on street corners and outside subway stations to peddle his own books about Singapore politics because no retailer would stock them. He died of heart failure in Singapore on September 30, 2008.

Relus ter Beek (64) former Netherlands defense minister (1989-94) best known for abolishing the draft and sending Dutch troops to serve as UN peacekeepers in Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia. Ter Beek died of lung cancer in the eastern city of Assen, Netherlands on September 29, 2008.

Daphne Wilson (35) widow of Canadian Master Cpl. Tim Wilson, killed when his armored vehicle crashed and rolled off a road in Afghanistan in 2006. Daphne Wilson's strength despite her grief became an inspirational symbol to all military wives when she and her mother-in-law arrived at the German military hospital where her husband was taken off life support two days after his accident. Daphne was killed when she lost control of her sport-utility vehicle on a gravel road and rolled into a ditch near her rural home in Wawanesa, Manitoba, Canada on September 28, 2008.

J. L. Chestnut Jr. (77) first black lawyer in Selma, Alabama and a prominent attorney in civil rights cases. Chestnut later defended blacks in major voter fraud prosecutions and helped black farmers to make financial claims against the US Department of Agriculture for regularly denying subsidies and other assistance to them because of their race. He died of kidney failure in Birmingham, Alabama on September 30, 2008.

Vesta Curry (89) arts philanthropist and volunteer for several Orange County (Calif.) arts organizations. In her more than 20 years as a volunteer, Curry served on dozens of committees, most of them related to community outreach and education programs for the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the Pacific Symphony orchestra. She died in Laguna Beach, California on September 29, 2008.

Frances Lomas Feldman (95) University of Southern California professor and social work pioneer who conducted a groundbreaking study in the '70s that showed cancer patients faced discrimination in the workplace. The affronts included demotions, denial of promotions, and withdrawal of health insurance coverage. Several states modified fair employment legislation because of the study. Feldman died a week after suffering a stroke, in Pasadena, California on September 30, 2008.

Margot Gayle (100) preservationist who used her shrewdness and spunk to save the Victorian cast-iron buildings of New York in a crusade that led to the preservation of historic SoHo. Gayle's crowning achievement was helping to establish the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, encompassing 26 blocks in what was originally an industrial quarter known as Hell's Hundred Acres. The designation not only preserved important buildings and artifacts, it also saved SoHo from large-scale urban renewal. Gayle died in New York City on September 28, 2008.

Elinor Guggenheimer (96) grandmother who advocated for children, women, and the elderly and later became a national spokeswoman for their concerns, holding prominent positions in New York City government. Guggenheimer became the first woman to serve on the NYC Planning Commission, in 1961. She was the city's commissioner of consumer affairs in the '70s and led organizations that fought for more women on corporate boards and for the improvement of centers for the elderly. She died in New York City on September 29, 2008.

Baitullah Mehsud (34) tribal leader of the Islamic militant network Taliban in Pakistan, blamed by the Pakistani government for his denied involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007. Mehsud later became the prime suspect in preliminary investigations behind the September 2007 bombings in Rawalpindi. He reportedly died of kidney failure in South Waziristan, Afghanistan on September 30, 2008.

Father Werner Papeians deMorchoven (94) Benedictine monk from Belgium and a former missionary to China, one of the founders of St. Andrew's Abbey in Valyermo, California in the mid-'50s. Papeians de Morchoven was one of the small group of monks who in 1955 founded what was originally known as St. Andrew's Priory on a several-hundred-acre former turkey ranch in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in northern Los Angeles County; the monks had been forced out of their monastery in China several years earlier by the Communist government. Papeians de Morchoven had heart problems and suffered a head injury after falling outside his room at the abbey on Aug. 31. He died in West Covina, California on September 30, 2008.

Michael Pigott (46) New York police lieutenant stripped of his gun and badge and reassigned to desk duty after a Sept. 24 case in which he ordered police, summoned by the mother of an emotionally disturbed man, to fire a Taser stun gun as the man perched on a ledge. Iman Morales (35) fell 10 feet to his death. An apparent suicide, 21-year police veteran Pigott was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Brooklyn, New York on October 2, 2008.

Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr. (93) grandson of President Woodrow Wilson and dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, DC for 27 years (1951-78) who raised his voice against McCarthyism, segregation, poverty, and the Vietnam War while presiding over construction of the cathedral's Gloria in Excelsis Tower. Sayre died on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts on October 3, 2008.

Anthony Spero (79) long a high-ranking member of the Bonanno crime family. For more than 30 years, Spero served the Bonanno family, one of five Mafia clans in New York, in a variety of roles, rising to consigliere and taking over as acting family boss when his superiors, Philip Rastelli and Joseph Massino, were in prison. In 2001, Spero was convicted of ordering three murders and was serving a life sentence when he died at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina on September 29, 2008.

Eddie Brinkman (66) record-setting shortstop with a 15-year career in major league baseball. Brinkman made his big league debut at age 19 in 1961 with the Washington Senators. "Steady Eddie" was traded to the Detroit Tigers after the 1970 season, where he set the league record for shortstops with 72 straight errorless games—a mark Cal Ripken broke in 1990. In 1974 Brinkman set career highs with 14 home runs and 54 RBIs. He died in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 30, 2008.

Milt Davis (79) All-Pro defensive back who helped the Baltimore Colts to win two NFL championships in the '50s. Davis spent four seasons with the Colts (1957-60) and twice led the NFL in interceptions (1957, '59). He played a key role on the 1958 team that beat the New York Giants 23-17 in overtime for the title. He died of cancer in Elmira, Oregon on September 29, 2008.

Jack Faulkner (82) longtime executive with the Rams and coach of the Denver Broncos (1962-63). Faulkner had a 53-year career in the NFL. He joined the Rams in 1955 as an assistant coach under first-year coach Sid Gillman and was associated with the team for 43 years. He died in Newport Beach, California on September 28, 2008.

Craig Fertig (66) record-setting quarterback for the University of Southern California who later became the Trojans' TV voice. Fertig, who set eight USC passing records (1963-64), was best remembered for throwing the winning touchdown pass in the final two minutes of the 1964 game against Notre Dame to lead USC back from a 17-point halftime deficit. After several coaching stints, in 1992 he began an 11-year run as an analyst on cable broadcasts of Trojans' football. He died of kidney failure in Newport Beach, California on October 4, 2008.

LeJuan Simon (27) Trinidadian track-and-field athlete who represented Trinidad & Tobago at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Simon became the only T&T athlete qualifying for the men's triple jump but did not make it past the preliminary round, placing 17th at 16.16 metres. He died of pulmonary hypertension in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on October 1, 2008.