Obituary

Robert Rines: The Death of a Monster Hunter

Ben H. Winters | Posted 11.11.2009 | Living


Ben H. Winters

If there is a Loch Ness monster, she's feeling pretty good about herself right now. Robert H. Rines, the man who came closer than anyone to proving the existence of the fabled serpent, died last week at 87.

Irving Penn Dead: Celebrity Photographer Died At 92

AP | VERENA DOBNIK | Posted 10.07.2009 | Media


NEW YORK — Irving Penn, whose photographs revealed a taste for stark simplicity whether he was shooting celebrity portraits, fashion, still life...

Adieu Larry Gelbart...and Laugh Tracks

Anna Jane Grossman | Posted 09.25.2009 | Entertainment


Anna Jane Grossman

Gelbart, who wrote Tootsie and many of the early episodes of M*A*S*H, spent years rejecting the industry's efforts to manipulate TV-watchers into emitting less-than-sincere laughs.

Captain Jack Carey: Losing a Legend

Lise Waring | Posted 09.23.2009 | Denver


Lise Waring

Small town living makes me a part of a diverse community where everyone from real estate broker to rasta is united in the same sentiment, which Jack always embraced, warmth for humanity.

In Memory of My Dad, Bob Rodale

Maria Rodale | Posted 09.24.2009 | Living


Maria Rodale

A lot of people loved my father and even romanticized his reign as leader of Rodale Press and chief spokesman for the organic movement around the world. But I knew him first and foremost as a father.

Remembering a Fighter for Freedom

Michelle Pilecki | Posted 10.17.2009 | Politics


Michelle Pilecki

Larry Frankel spent his professional life as a legislative lobbyist for the ACLU. That means that Larry worked behind the scenes with both "left" and "right" legislators to protect the civil rights.

Are Obituaries Obsolete?

Anna Jane Grossman | Posted 10.16.2009 | Living


Anna Jane Grossman

I don't need to wait until the morning papers to get the full life stories of dead luminaries. In fact, I don't even need to wait until they are dead.

Who Killed John Hughes?

Michael Wolff | Posted 09.10.2009 | Media


Michael Wolff

Can't anybody write a decent obit anymore? Somewhere in the death of John Hughes there is a very good story, a more compelling one than the one about the brilliance of Sixteen Candles.

Writing Your Own Obituary

Jan Phillips | Posted 08.09.2009 | Living


Jan Phillips

We should give some thought to death, particularly our own. It helps us clarify what's really important.

Galloway On McNamara: Reading An Obituary With Great Pleasure

McClatchy | Joseph L. Galloway | Posted 08.06.2009 | Politics


Well, the aptly named Robert Strange McNamara has finally shuffled off to join LBJ and Dick Nixon in the 7th level of Hell. McNamara was the origi...

Contest: Michael Jackson's Six-Word Obit

Larry Smith | Posted 07.30.2009 | Media


Larry Smith

We just launched a new six-word challenge: What's your six-word obituary for Michael Jackson?

Pattabhi Jois, Founder of Ashtanga Yoga, Passes Away at Age 93

Waylon Lewis | Posted 06.18.2009 | Living


Waylon Lewis

The passing of this beloved master and progenitor of modern yoga puts the weight of the future of yoga's integrity squarely on our shoulders.

Digital Tombstone: Your Life on Twitter

Rabbi Irwin Kula | Posted 06.05.2009 | Living


Rabbi Irwin Kula

Twitter invites us to think about the relationship between significance and triviality, between brevity and profundity.

Saying Goodbye

Cheryl Saban | Posted 04.29.2009 | Living

Read More: Obituary, Death, Living News

Cheryl Saban

I've written about farewell before, but it's been awhile since I had to say the final "goodbye" to someone in my immediate family. But today I find myself doing that.

Andrew Wyeth, "Christina's World" Artist, Dies At 91

AP | MARYCLAIRE DALE | Posted 02.16.2009 | Home


PHILADELPHIA — Although some critics deride his art as drab and kitschy, Andrew Wyeth's melancholy paintings were praised by others as profound ...

Bless You, My Hero

Carly Simon | Posted 01.12.2009 | Entertainment


Carly Simon

Odetta's concert was more than I could ever tell you about now. I remembered being visited by things other than from this world.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Knoll Dies At 78

AP | MARC LEVY | Posted 12.14.2008 | Politics


HARRISBURG, Pa. — Catherine Baker Knoll, who at age 72 became the first woman to be elected as Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, died Wednesda...

An Obituary for the Bush Administration

Alex Geana | Posted 12.05.2008 | Politics


Alex Geana

This is the great gift of the Bush administration, that apathy has fallen by the way side; citizens are once again active in government. This is George Bush's legacy.

Remembering Paul Newman

Robert Brustein | Posted 10.30.2008 | Entertainment


Robert Brustein

It will be a long time before we can fully absorb what a loss his death has been.

Goodbye, Paul Newman

Alex Remington | Posted 10.29.2008 | Entertainment


Alex Remington

Paul Newman was beautiful. You could never root against him. It might have been easier for him to sink into villainy if he wore dull-colored contact lenses, to blunt the brilliance of his eyes, to hide the twinkle.

In Memoriam: Phil Clapp, Environmental Champion and Climate Leader

David Sassoon | Posted 10.23.2008 | Green


David Sassoon

Phil Clapp, 54, deputy managing director of the Pew Environment Group, died yesterday in Amsterdam of complications from pneumonia, which he contracted while on vacation.

David Foster Wallace, R.I.P.

Lapham's Quarterly | Posted 10.23.2008 | Media


Lapham's Quarterly

While Wallace understood well the solipsism of depression -- see "The Depressed Person" -- he himself evinced none of it, in spite of his affliction.

The Last Time

Roger Fransecky | Posted 10.20.2008 | Living


Roger Fransecky

Nancy and I celebrated every day. We made our marriage a daily commitment. We had fun, grew wiser, struggled, laughed, collected, built, moved, nurtured, spat, loved and lost as all of us do.

Rest in Peace, Skip Caray

Alex Remington | Posted 08.12.2008 | Entertainment


Alex Remington

For Braves fans, he was the best and funniest of us all; for fans of opposing teams, he was serious about the sport and irreverent about everything in it.

This Week's Other Important Political Obituary

William Klein | Posted 07.01.2008 | Politics


William Klein

Tony Schwartz, best known for making the famous "daisy spot" used in Lyndon Johnson's campaign against Barry Goldwater, died last Saturday at the home he rarely left in New York.