Obituaries
Valentino Garavani, Regal Designer and Fashion’s ‘Last Emperor,’ Dies at 93
Valentino, as he was called, created one of the most durable and fashionable labels and became an equal of his high society customers.
Ralph Towner, Eclectic Guitarist With the Ensemble Oregon, Dies at 85
A composer and pianist as well, he was a prolific recording artist who integrated jazz, classical and world music traditions in a career that spanned seven decades.
Wilbur Wood, Ironman Knuckleballer for the White Sox, Is Dead at 84
He threw more innings in a season than any player since 1917. A three-time All-Star, he also had four 20-win seasons.
Joe Montgomery, Who Made Bicycles Lighter, Dies at 86
A founder of Cannondale, he was among the first in the U.S. to mass-produce bikes frames out of large-diameter aluminum tubes, replacing heavier steel.
Tina Packer, Powerhouse of Shakespeare Performance, Dies at 87
She was a founder and the longtime artistic director of Shakespeare & Company, a repertory theater in western Massachusetts, and directed all his plays.
Kristina Gjerde, Advocate for Ocean Biodiversity, Dies at 68
She played a key role in negotiating a landmark United Nations treaty to protect the high seas, an agreement that went into effect this weekend.
Rhoda Levine, Pathbreaking Opera Director, Dies at 93
Starting out in the 1970s as a rare woman in a field dominated by men, she directed the premieres of a pair of politically charged modern classics.
Joel Primack, Physicist Who Helped Explain the Cosmos, Dies at 80
A professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, he was a key contributor to a landmark paper that laid out how the universe came to look like it does today.
Walter Steding, Otherworldly One-Man Band and Portraitist, Is Dead at 75
A self-taught musician, he wore flashing goggles while playing the violin. But his real skill was as a painter, and his portraits offered an eerie commentary on the times.
Gabriel Barkay, 81, Dies; His Discoveries Revised Biblical History
One of Israel’s leading archaeologists, he found evidence that the writing of the Old Testament likely began much earlier than historians had thought.
Leonard D. Jacoby, 83, Dies; Brought Legal Services to the Masses
He and Steven Z. Meyers opened their first low-cost legal clinic in 1972. Within a decade, they had revolutionized the legal industry, and Jacoby & Meyers had become a widely known brand.
Jim Hartung, Gymnast Who Helped Deliver U.S. Gold, Dies at 65
In an upset victory over China at the 1984 Olympics, he and five others became the only American men ever to win the gold medal in the gymnastics team competition.
Harvey Pratt, Who Designed the Native American Veterans Memorial, Dies at 84
A self-taught artist, he also spent more than half a century creating forensic sketches and reconstructions for law-enforcement agencies.
John Cunningham, Character Actor and Broadway Stalwart, Dies at 93
He was a familiar face from Broadway productions of “Company,” “Titanic” and “Six Degrees of Separation” and from many movie and TV appearances.
Frank Dunlop, 98, Dies; Director Who Gave Theater a Free-Spirited Spin
In 1970, he founded London’s Young Vic, an adventurous “people’s theater” (the Who took the stage at one point) before shaking up the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program
He played a key role in ending apartheid South Africa’s secret weapons program in the 1980s by helping the African National Congress bomb critical facilities.
Rebecca Kilgore, 76, Dies; Acclaimed Interpreter of American Songbook
An elegant jazz singer with adventurous taste, she counted among her fans the performer Michael Feinstein and the songwriter Dave Frishberg, who called her technique “flawless.”
Jim McBride Dies at 78; Brought Honky-Tonk Back to Country Music
He was best known for his long-running collaboration with Alan Jackson and their signature hit, “Chattahoochee.”
Claudette Colvin, Who Refused to Give Her Bus Seat to a White Woman, Dies at 86
Her defiance of Jim Crow laws in 1955 made her a star witness in a landmark segregation suit, but her act was overshadowed months later when Rosa Parks made history with a similar stand.
Scott Adams, Creator of the Satirical ‘Dilbert’ Comic Strip, Dies at 68
His chronicles of a corporate cubicle dweller was widely distributed until racist comments on his podcast led newspapers to cut their ties with him.
Elle Simone Scott, Chef and Cooking Show Stalwart, Dies at 49
She was the first Black cast member on the PBS show “America’s Test Kitchen,” and used her influence to help other female chefs of color.
David Mitchell, Who Led Fight on Drug Prices, Dies at 75
After receiving a diagnosis of terminal cancer, he used his experience in public relations to draw attention to the skyrocketing cost of medication.
Daniel Walker Howe, 88, Revisionist Historian of Jackson’s America, Dies
In a Pulitzer-winning book, he saw modern America’s origins not so much in one president’s policies as in the sweeping social and technological changes wrought in the years 1815-48.
Jirdes Winther Baxter, 101, Dies; Last Survivor of Epidemic in Alaska
An outbreak of diphtheria inspired a celebrated sled dog relay of nearly 700 miles to deliver lifesaving serum to the remote town of Nome.
Richard Codey, a New Jersey Acting Governor Many Times Over, Dies at 79
He was the state’s longest-serving legislator, and as president of its Senate he was frequently called on to serve as a fill-in governor, being next in line of succession.
Erich von Däniken, Who Claimed Aliens Visited Earth, Dies at 90
His 1968 book, “Chariots of the Gods,” sold hundreds of thousands of copies, but one critic called it a “warped parody of reasoning.”
Bob Weir, Guitarist and Founding Member of the Grateful Dead, Dies at 78
His songwriting and rhythm guitar playing helped shape the San Francisco band’s sound as it became an American institution.
Mohammed Harbi, Who Rewrote Algeria’s History, Dies at 92
He was an official in the revolutionary government, then, after the country won independence from France, was imprisoned and eventually wrote from exile.
Hessy Levinsons Taft, Jewish Baby on Cover of Nazi Magazine, Dies at 91
Without her parents’ knowledge, her portrait was entered as a prank in a contest in 1935 to represent the ideal Aryan infant — and she won.
Bahram Beyzaie, Filmmaker Who Led Iran’s New Wave, Dies at 87
Despite a ceaseless battle against government censors, he was celebrated as one of his country’s greatest auteurs, winning praise from luminaries like Martin Scorsese.
Joel Habener, Whose Research Led to Weight-Loss Drugs, Dies at 88
His discovery of the protein fragment GLP-1 was crucial in the development of Ozempic, Wegovy and other blockbuster obesity and diabetes treatments.
Thomas V. Cash, Cartel-Busting D.E.A. Chief in Miami, Dies at 85
He helped take down the Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega and the Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.
Jerome Lowenstein, 92, Dies; Teaching Doctor With a Literary Sideline
When not guiding students in a compassionate approach to patient care, he led a tiny publishing imprint that put out a much-rejected debut novel that won a surprise Pulitzer Prize.
Amos Poe, New York’s No Wave Film Pioneer, Dies at 76
He documented the punk and post-punk music scene in the East Village, leading an independent film movement that was proudly unprofessional.
