James Purdy (94) author, a realist and romantic who in underground classics such as Cabot Wright Begins and Eustace Chisholm & the Works inspired both outrage and admiration. Purdy won few awards and was little known to the general public. He had been in poor health and died in Englewood, New Jersey on March 13, 2009.

Ernest Trova (82) acclaimed St. Louis artist best known for his "Falling Man" series of works about man at his most imperfect. Trova died of congestive heart failure in Richmond Heights, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, on March 8, 2009.

Arthur D. Code (85) astronomer and designer of space observatories who helped to lead an experiment in the '60s that yielded information about the composition of stars, comets, and galactic gases. A longtime professor of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin, Code died of complications from a lung condition, in Madison, Wisconsin on March 11, 2009.

Aaron Gural (91) former chairman (1957-98) of Newmark & Co. (Newmark Knight Frank since 2004), one of New York's largest commercial real estate companies, and one of the first in the industry to see the potential in restoring seedy industrial sites on the West Side and abandoned loft buildings in the garment district. Gural died of pneumonia the day before his 92nd birthday, in Delray Beach, Florida on March 10, 2009.

Charles ("Mask") Lewis Jr. (45) businessman, one of three men who founded the mixed martial arts apparel giant TapouT Clothing Inc. in 1997 with a trunkful of T-shirts and a few thousand dollars of start-up money. Over the past 10 years, Lewis and his partners made the company the biggest apparel success story in Mixed Martial Arts events around the world. He was killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver in Newport Beach, California on March 11, 2009.

Dr. Michael Shannon (55) internationally known specialist in the study and treatment of the effects of poisons in children. Shannon was one of the premier pediatric toxicologists in the world and an expert on the effects of environmental hazards in children, including cold medicines, other drugs, and lead paint. A former professional dancer, the Harvard Medical School professor collapsed after getting off a plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as he and his wife, Elaine, were returning from a tango vacation in Argentina, where they had danced every night into the wee hours of the morning. Shannon was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where efforts to revive him failed; the exact cause of his death has yet to be determined. He died in Jamaica, New York on March 10, 2009.

Robert K. Soost (88) internationally known expert on citrus breeding and a longtime professor of botany and plant sciences at the University of California at Riverside. Soost spent his entire 37-year academic career at UC Riverside, where he worked with James Cameron to develop important citrus varieties, including the Oroblanco and Melo Gold grapefruits, patented by the university in 1981 and '86, respectively, and the Pixie and Gold Nugget mandarin oranges. He died of a heart attack in Petaluma, California on March 8, 2009.

Nancy Eiesland (44) theologian and sociologist, an associate professor at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta and advocate for the disabled. By the time Eiesland was 13, she had had 11 operations for the congenital bone defect in her hips. She died not of her bone condition, nor of the spinal scoliosis that necessitated still more surgery in 2002, but of a possibly genetic lung cancer, in Atlanta, Georgia on March 10, 2009.

George Hedges (57) Hollywood lawyer to celebrities such as Mel Gibson and Simon Cowell who became a celebrity himself for his discoveries of the fabled ancient city of Ubar and the frankincense trade route in Yemen. Hedges had been battling melanoma for seven months and died in South Pasadena, California on March 10, 2009.

Martin P. Knowlton (88) cofounder of the Elderhostel educational tour program for senior citizens in the '70s, when the concept of lifelong learning was revolutionary. Boston-based Elderhostel offers packaged tours to more than 90 countries combining lectures and activities; its programs feature everything from Amazon River boat trips to opera studies. Knowlton died in Ventura, California on March 12, 2009.

Carol Salomon (60) senior assistant professor of South Asian language and literature at the University of Washington. Salomon won a grant from the US Department of Education to develop online materials for teaching Bengali, spoken by about 200 million people, mostly in Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. She died after being struck by a car while riding her bicycle in Seattle, Washington on March 13, 2009.

Peter Bacso (81) Hungarian scriptwriter and film director whose best-known films satirize life in Hungary during the Stalinist era. A major figure in Hungary's film industry, Bacso was best known for films such as The Witness (1969; initially banned in Hungary and not shown publicly until '79) and Oh, Bloody Life (1983). He died in Budapest, Hungary on March 11, 2009.

Betsy Blair (85) Oscar-nominated actress also known for her memoir describing her youthful marriage (1941-57) to actor/dancer Gene Kelly (d. 1996) and her first-hand experience with the Hollywood blacklist. Blair was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for her role as Clara Snyder, Ernest Borgnine's love interest in the 1955 film version of Paddy Chayefsky's teleplay Marty. Her '50s work on behalf of progressive causes eventually led to her blacklisting. She died in London, England on March 13, 2009.

Frances Blaisdell (97) flutist who played her way into what was then the male world of orchestral music, becoming one of the early women to play a woodwind instrument with the New York Philharmonic. Blaisdell also performed with prominent chamber ensembles, on Broadway, at Radio City Music Hall, in vaudeville, and with Phil Spitalny & His All-Girl Orchestra on the Hour of Charm on CBS and NBC radio. She died in Portola Valley, California on March 11, 2009.

Kalman Bloch (95) principal clarinetist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for nearly 45 years (1937-81). Bloch also performed with studio orchestras on several film soundtracks, including Sunset Boulevard, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and North by Northwest. He died in Los Angeles, California on March 12, 2009.

Anne Brown (96) soprano who in 1935 inspired composer George Gershwin to expand the part of Bess in Porgy & Bess, a folk opera originally called Porgy. Brown died in Oslo, Norway on March 13, 2009.

Dann Byck (72) former businessman and ex-husband of playwright Marsha Norman who produced the Broadway and film versions of her 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, 'night, Mother, and the TV movie version of her critically acclaimed masterpiece The Laundromat (1985), directed by the late award-winning Robert Altman. In 1964, Byck was a cofounder of the Actors Theater of Louisville, Kentucky, where he died of kidney cancer on March 10, 2009.

Altovise Davis (65) widow of Rat Pack singer and dancer Sammy Davis Jr. (d. 1990). Trained as an actress and dancer, Altovise Davis had a difficult time after her husband's death. Sammy owed a reported $7 million in income taxes, and to satisfy the IRS, his mansion on Summit Drive in Beverly Hills was sold and jewelry, memorabilia, and other personal items were auctioned. Altovise Davis died of complications from a stroke, in Los Angeles, California on March 14, 2009.

Lisa Davis (29) swimsuit model and actress who posed for the cover on the 2005 edition of Caribbean Tan and appeared in several commercials and music videos and on the big screen, including her uncredited role as a Bikini Babe in the supernatural thriller Final Destination 4 (2003). In recent years, Davis had occasionally worked as a promotional model at a bar in Memphis, where she was reported missing after being dropped off by friends on March 8. The next day authorities questioned a recent acquaintance, Austin Agee (21), described as a "person of interest." Agee shot and killed himself as police returned to question him again. He left a suicide note detailing information about the case, shortly before Davis's body was found in a field near her home outside Arlington, Tennessee on March 10, 2009.

Flemming Flindt (72) Danish dancer, choreographer, and company director who both preserved his country's ballet heritage and staged controversial new productions. Flindt died of a stroke in Sarasota, Florida on March 10, 2009.

Hal Gaba (63) co-owner of the multimedia holding company Act III Communications. Gaba merged Concord Music Group with the US-based film production division of Australia's Village Roadshow to form Village Roadshow Entertainment Group in 2008. He was cochairman of Village Roadshow Pictures, whose credits include Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino (2008). Gaba later partnered with writer-producer Norman Lear in 1990 at Act III Communications; the pair became co-owners in '99 of independent record and music publishing company Concord Music Group, which has released Grammy-winning records by the likes of Ray Charles. Gaba died of cancer in Los Angeles, California on March 9, 2009.

Ramona Garcia Coronado (104) Mexican-born actress best known for her role as the "singing woman" in the 2002 film Real Women Have Curves. Garcia Coronado was also known as the "Diva of Boyle Heights" and "Queen of Los Mariachis of Boyle Heights" in southern California. She was believed to have been the oldest living Mexican-American actress and had appeared on TV programs throughout the world, including her most recent guest appearance on the popular Spanish-language program Don Francisco's Sabado Gigante. She died in Boyle Heights, California on March 8, 2009.

Harvey Geller (86) music journalist, popular music historian, and folk lyricist. The Kingston Trio, the Brothers Four, and the River City Ramblers recorded Geller's songs, including "Blue Water Line," "Charleston Town," "Mark Twain," and "Deep Blue Sea." He died of pneumonia in Woodland Hills, California on March 12, 2009.

Tom Hanson (41) award-winning Canadian Press news photographer and journalist, perhaps best known for his iconic free-lance images of a Mohawk warrior raising his rifle in victory atop an overturned squad car during the 1990 highly publicized Oka Crisis on central Canada's aboriginal reservation. One of Hanson's most celebrated photos showed a kilt-wearing bagpiper in a gas mask emerging from the violent protests at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City; it was named Picture of the Year in 2001 and nominated for a National Newspaper Award. Hanson collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack while playing hockey with friends in Ottawa, Canada on March 10, 2009.

Millard Kaufman (92) Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) and cocreator of "Mr. Magoo." Kaufman made a mark on pop culture by writing the screenplay for "Ragtime Bear," the 1949 cartoon short directed by John Hubley that introduced the near-sighted Mr. Magoo; voiced by actor Jim Backus, the character was modeled in part on Kaufman's uncle. He died of heart failure two days after his 92nd birthday, in Los Angeles, California on March 14, 2009.

Willie King (65) Alabama blues singer and guitarist whose career took him from backwoods juke joints to the largest blues festivals in North America and Europe. King appeared in the Martin Scorsese blues documentary Feel Like Going Home (2003). He suffered a massive heart attack at his home in Old Memphis, Alabama, near the Mississippi line, and died en route to the hospital, on March 8, 2009.

Alan W. Livingston (91) entertainment industry veteran whose career included creating the character of Bozo the Clown for popular children's read-along record albums in the '40s and signing the Beatles during his tenure as president of Capitol Records in the '60s. Livingston was the younger brother of three-time Oscar-winning songwriter Jay Livingston ("Que Sera, Sera," etc.; d. 2001). Alan Livingston died in Beverly Hills, California on March 13, 2009.

Hank Locklin (91) country singer whose tenor voice on hits like "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" and "Please Help Me I'm Falling" marked a career that spanned half a century. Locklin helped to usher in "the Nashville Sound" and performed on the Grand Ole Opry for 47 years. He died in Brewton, Alabama on March 8, 2009.

Anna Manahan (84) Irish actress, well known in her homeland, who won belated recognition in the US for her Tony-winning portrayal of a physically feeble but manipulative old woman in Martin McDonagh's play The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1998). Manahan's career spanned more than 60 years; she was a familiar figure on Irish TV and appeared in a handful of films. She died of multiple organ failure in Waterford, Ireland on March 8, 2009.

Ralph Mercado (67) Brooklyn native whose promotional skills helped to spread the popularity of salsa music worldwide. For more than 30 years, Mercado staged Latin music events in the New York area and managed some of the biggest stars of salsa. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and died in Hackensack, New Jersey on March 10, 2009.

Russell Peck (64) world-renowned classical music composer whose compositions had thousands of performances by hundreds of orchestras in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Peck's repertoire is notable for its colorful and idiomatic orchestration and an exceptionally accessible personal style combining the classical idiom with a recognizable influence of popular American musical language. On March 1, he was reported missing after he left his home for a walk but didn't return. He was later found dead, an apparent suicide, in a wooded area outside Greensboro, North Carolina on March 10, 2009.

Milan Stitt (68) playwright best known for The Runner Stumbles, a drama about a fateful encounter in 1911 between a Catholic priest and a nun that landed on Broadway for an extensive run starting in 1976. In 1979 it was made into a Stanley Kramer film starring Dick van Dyke and Kathleen Quinlan. Since 1997 Stitt had been head of the dramatic writing program at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama. He died of liver cancer in New York City on March 12, 2009.

Mary Swan (67) former teen pop singer who recorded the ballad "My Heart Belongs to Only You" in her lone album Mary Swan: Then & Now at the peak of her brief career during a two-year period in the late '50s. Swan died of pancreatic cancer in Spring Hill, Pennsylvania on March 11, 2009.

Coy Watson Jr. (96) eldest in a family of nine child actors whose book The Keystone Kid recounted a silent-film career that began in 1913. By the late '30s, Watson and his eight siblings had appeared in more than 1,000 movies. His brother Delmar, who founded the Watson Family Photographic Archive that oversees the family's trove of photos, died in October 2008 at age 82; the youngest, Bobs Watson, died in 1999 at 68. Three of the Watson siblings survive. Coy Watson died of stomach cancer in Alpine, California on March 14, 2009.

Kevin Baker (39) disabled Gulf War veteran who planned to ride his hand-propelled bicycle from Norman, Oklahoma to Washington, DC and from Gettysburg, Pa. to Marseilles, Ill. to support a new flag designed to honor fallen members of the military. Baker was injured while serving as a firefighter in Kuwait in the '90s when a missile struck his barracks. He planned to fly the Honor & Remember Flag from his bike and encourage people along the way to sign a petition urging Congress to adopt the flag as a new national symbol by passing HR Bill 1034. Baker had a history of seizures stemming from a traumatic brain injury and died in his sleep after suffering seizures, in Lake Charles, Louisiana on March 13, 2009.

Edith Lucie Bongo (45) wife of Gabon's longest-serving leader President Omar Bongo. Edith Bongo was the daughter of Republic of Congo's veteran leader President Denis Sassou Nguesso, and help represented her father's close alliance with her then-future husband, both of whom became a symbol of tight links between the two central African countries that was once occupied by French colonies since 1967. She died unexpectedly in Libreville, Gabon on March 14, 2009.

Claude S. Brinegar (82) former oil industry executive and the nation's third transportation secretary who led an overhaul of the railroad industry and helped to enact the controversial 55-mph speed limit during the Arab oil embargo in the '70s. Brinegar died in Palo Alto, California on March 13, 2009.

Edward Hanna (86) four-term mayor of Utica, New York who resigned in 2000 amid allegations that he sexually harassed four male employees. Hanna served two terms as mayor in the '70s and was twice reelected in the '90s but abruptly resigned from office in July 2000 citing health problems and allegations that he had sexually harassed four men who worked for City Hall. He died in Fayetteville, New York on March 13, 2009.

Patrick Kinna (95) former stenographer to Sir Winston Churchill whose wartime duties included taking dictation while the British prime minister bathed. Kinna was a witness to the famous encounter between a naked Churchill and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House at Christmastime 1941. He died in Brighton, on England's south coast, on March 14, 2009.

Leonore Annenberg (91) philanthropist and widow of the late publisher and ambassador Walter Annenberg. Leonore Annenberg had headed the Annenberg Foundation since the death of her husband in 2002. She was US chief of protocol, a position that carries the rank of ambassador, during President Ronald Reagan's first term. She died in Rancho Mirage, California on March 12, 2009.

Rev. Claude William Black Jr. (92) civil rights advocate in San Antonio. Black was pastor emeritus of Mount Zion First Baptist Church, the largest black church in the city. He served on the San Antonio City Council in the '70s and was its first black mayor pro-tem. He was among religious leaders who fought against segregation and helped to integrate San Antonio's parks, swimming pools, and department store lunch counters. He died in San Antonio, Texas on March 13, 2009.

William Jenkins (66) former member of the Viceroy street gang who became a paraplegic when he was shot through the stomach and back by a rival Dragon gang member during a fight in Spanish Harlem as an 18-year-old on Oct. 21, 1960. Known to the police as Wheelchair Willie, Jenkins continued his life of crime, including several arrests made on such criminal charges as attempted murder, robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon (1971-91). Two teenage brothers in the Dragons were arrested and imprisoned for shooting him. He died from infectious complications caused by the gunshot wounds in New York City on March 13, 2009.

Tim Kretschmer (17) German teen who gunned down nine students and three female teachers and injured six others in two classrooms at his former school, Albertville-Realschule technical high school in Winnenden, Germany, near Stuttgart, during a violent shooting rampage, the country's third worst school massacre since 2002. After the deadly attack, Kretschmer fled the scene and shot dead a gardener outside a psychiatric clinic he had previously attended, then carjacked a vehicle and forced the hostage driver to head for nearby Wendlingen, where he also shot and killed a salesman and a customer at a car showroom. After exchanging gunfire with police, Kretschmer shot himself in the head in Wendlingen, Germany on March 11, 2009.

Reginald Lindsay (63) US District judge who in 2007 found the FBI liable for the deaths of three men killed by fugitive gangster James ("Whitey") Bulger. Lindsay found that the FBI's corrupt relationship with Bulger—an FBI informant—led to the killings. Lindsay had been in a wheelchair since 1983 because a tumor on his spine left him unable to walk. He had been out on sick leave since April 2008 and died in Boston, Massachusetts on March 12, 2009.

Rev. Joseph C. Martin (84) Roman Catholic priest, an expert on alcoholism and drug addiction whose lectures and films have been leading tools in recovery programs for more than 40 years. Himself a recovering alcoholic, Martin was cofounder of Ashley, an addiction treatment center that opened in 1983 and has since provided treatment to more than 40,000 people dealing with alcoholism and addiction. He died of heart failure in Havre de Grace, Maryland on March 9, 2009.

James Edward Martinez (34) Texas man condemned to death for the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Sandra Walton (29), and her male companion, Michael Humphreys (19), outside a Fort Worth apartment complex in 2000. Martinez was convicted of opening fire with an assault rifle to gun down the two after stalking Walton to collect a $1,000 debt owed to him after their breakup. He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas on March 10, 2009.

Michael McLendon (28) former food distributor employee, believed to have been the lone gunman in a series of fatal shootings that left 10 people dead, including his mother Lisa McLendon (52), his uncle James White (55), his grandmother Virginia White (74), his cousin Tracy Wise (34) and her son Dean (15), and their neighbors, Andrea Myers (31) and her 18-month-old daughter Corinne, during a violent shooting spree across rural southern Alabama's Geneva County. McLendon also shot and killed pedestrian James Starling (24) at random on a city street near the family's scorched home and later drove to two other towns, where he also fatally shot motorist Bruce Malloy (51) on Highway 52 and another bystander, Sonja Smith (43), outside a convenience store; he injured several other people, including a state trooper and a police officer, in one of the worst mass killings in Alabama history. McLendon apparently shot and killed himself during a shootout with police inside a metal products plant in Geneva, Alabama on March 10, 2009.

Andrea and Corinne Myers (31, 18 months) wife and daughter of Geneva County (Ala.) sheriff's deputy Josh Myers, an 18-year veteran of rural southern Alabama's sheriff's department. Andrea and Corinne were among the 10 victims slain by Michael McLendon in Geneva, Alabama on March 10, 2009.

Robert Newland (65) Georgia man sentenced to die for the 1986 fatal stabbing of his neighbor, former national amateur diving champion Carol Sanders Beatty (27), when she refused his sexual advances and fought back after a night of heavy drinking at her St. Simons Island duplex apartment. Newland confessed to the murder and made several unsuccessful appeals for clemency. He was executed by lethal injection in Jackson, Georgia on March 10, 2009.

Richard Nicholas (41) member of central Canada's aboriginal Mohawk tribe who became an iconic image of the 1990 Oka Crisis as the masked Mohawk warrior raising his rifle in victory as he stood atop an overturned Surete du Quebec squad car during one of the first well-publicized violent land conflicts between First Nations and the Canadian government in the late 20th century. Nicholas was killed in a car accident outside Oka, Quebec, Canada on March 10, 2009.

Luis Salazar (38) Texas man condemned to death in the fatal stabbing of his former next-door neighbor, Martha Sanchez (28), after he crawled through the window of her San Antonio home while intoxicated in 1997. Evidence at the trial suggested that Salazar had also stabbed Sanchez's 10-year-old son in the chest as the child tried to defend his mother when the intruder attempted to rape her during the fatal attack. Salazar was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas on March 11, 2009.

Ebru Soykan (28) prominent Turkish transgender human rights activist, a leading figure of the LGBT rights organization Members of Lambda Istanbul, who had helped to organize several coalitions to end police harassment and ill treatment of transgender people, including 146 cases of violence reported in the country's capital city in 2008. Soykan was found stabbed to death at her home in Istanbul, Turkey on March 10, 2009.

Rev. Fred Winters (45) Baptist pastor shot to death as two congregants were stabbed. A man, later identified as Terry Sedlacek (27), strode down the aisle of the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., near St. Louis, during the early morning service and briefly spoke with Winters, then pulled out a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and began firing until it jammed. Churchgoers wrestled the gunman to the ground as he waved a knife, slashing himself and two other people. Winters died from a single shot to the heart, in Marysville, Illinois on March 8, 2009. Sedlacek was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery.

John Bankert (68) former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Bankert worked at the hall for more than 40 years, serving as the museum's executive director (1996-2005) and helping the shrine to expand and extend its activities. The only employee to work under the hall's first three directors, Bankert died of Lewy body dementia in Canton, Ohio on March 12, 2009.

Essie Banks (97) mother of baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, who said his mother would have preferred that he become a minister like one of his grandfathers. But she was still proud of Ernie's 19 years with the Chicago Cubs. Photos marking milestones from his career lined the walls of Essie's home—playing the game, signing his contract, hitting his 500th home run, and being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Essie Banks died of complications from a stroke, in Dallas, Texas on March 9, 2009.

Bill Davidson (86) Detroit Pistons owner, a noted philanthropist inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. Davidson also owned the WNBA's Detroit Shock and Palace Sports & Entertainment, comprising the Palace of Auburn Hills and DTE Energy Music Theatre. Forbes magazine had ranked the billionaire as one of the richest people in Michigan, tied for 68th in the country. He died in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on March 13, 2009.

Dave Hart Sr. (83) former Southern Conference commissioner, head football coach at Pittsburgh (1966-68), and athletic director at the Universities of Louisville and Missouri before going to the Southern Conference. Hart was head of the league (1987-91) and most recently was a consultant to the University of North Carolina-Asheville athletics. He was the father of Alabama executive athletic director Dave Hart Jr. and grandfather of Chattanooga athletic director Rick Hart and NC State assistant baseball coach Chris Hart. Dave Hart Sr. died of congestive heart failure in Asheville, North Carolina on March 14, 2009.

William ("Jeff") Komlo (52) former professional football player selected by the Detroit Lions in the ninth round of the 1979 NFL Draft as a starting quarterback. Komlo played in 25 games and threw for 12 touchdowns in over five seasons during his NFL career (1979-83). In August 2005, Komlo was featured on America's Most Wanted after he failed to show up for preliminary sentencing on a pair of DUI convictions, an alleged assault on his girlfriend, and possible arson at his homes in West Palm Beach and Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was reportedly killed in a car accident in Athens, Greece on March 14, 2009.

Larry Regan (78) former National Hockey League rookie of the year who became first general manager of the Los Angeles Kings and coached the team for a season. Regan played five seasons in the NHL with Boston and Toronto and won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie (1956-57) after finishing with 33 points with the Bruins. He had several health problems, including Parkinson's disease, and died in Ottawa, Canada on March 9, 2009.

Doug Towey (61) CBS Sports executive responsible for the playing of the song "One Shining Moment" after college basketball's championship game. A multiple Emmy winner, Towey was creative director of CBS Sports, overseeing promotional campaigns, graphics, and music. In 1987 he decided to play a tune by folk singer David Barrett over highlights wrapping up the NCAA tournament. "One Shining Moment" became an annual tradition. Towey died in New York City on March 11, 2009.