World Oct 3, 2013

Tom Clancy, master of the techno-thriller, dies at age 66

Tom Clancy, whose high-tech, Cold War thrillers such as “The Hunt for Red October” and “Patriot Games” made him the most widely read and influential military novelist of his time, has died at age 66. Penguin Group (USA) said Clancy had died Tuesday in ...

Entertainment Sep 11, 2013

Activist, filmmaker Landau dies at 77

Saul Landau, an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work gave an unprecedented glimpse into Fidel Castro’s Cuba, and who co-wrote a riveting account of a Washington assassination linked to Chilean strongman Augusto Pinochet, died Sept. 9 at his home in Alameda, California. He was ...

World Sep 7, 2013

Hitler bodyguard Misch dies in Berlin at 96

Rochus Misch, who spent five years as Adolf Hitler’s square-jawed bodyguard, courier, telephone operator and all-around attendant and was widely believed to be the last surviving veteran of the Nazi leader’s bunker as the Soviet Army closed in on Berlin, died Thursday at the ...

Entertainment Sep 4, 2013

Acclaimed sci-fi author Frederik Pohl dies at 93

Frederik Pohl, who helped shape and popularize science fiction as an influential agent, editor and award-winning author, died Sept. 2 at a hospital near his home in Palatine, Illinois. He was 93. His death was confirmed by a granddaughter, author Emily Pohl-Weary. An entry ...

World Sep 2, 2013

TV figure David Frost, of Nixon apology fame, dies at 74

Sir David Frost, the veteran broadcaster who famously drew a grudging post-Watergate apology out of former President Richard Nixon, died Saturday aboard a cruise ship sailing from England to the Mediterranean. He was 74. His death, from an apparent heart attack, was confirmed in ...

World Aug 31, 2013

Irish poet, 'Beowulf' translator Seamus Heaney dies

Seamus Heaney, the Irish poet whose verse captured the transcendent power, darkness and humanity of his conflicted homeland, died Friday at a hospital in Dublin. He was 74. In accepting the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, Heaney acknowledged another Irish Nobel laureate, William ...

Entertainment Aug 21, 2013

Influential crime novelist Leonard dies at 87

Elmore Leonard, a masterful crime novelist whose razor-sharp dialogue and indelibly realized lowlifes earned him an unusual mix of mass-market appeal and highbrow acclaim, dies at his home in Michigan.

Politics & Diplomacy Jul 21, 2013

Helen Thomas, 'hero of journalism' and scourge of U.S. presidents, dies at 92

by Patricia Sullivan

Helen Thomas, whose sharp questions from the front row of the White House press room challenged and annoyed nine presidents and who was effective in divulging information that federal officials tried to keep secret, has died.

Tech Jul 4, 2013

Inventor of the mouse, Doug Engelbart, dies

Doug Engelbart, a computer science visionary who was credited with inventing the mouse, the now-ubiquitous device that first allowed people to navigate virtual desktops with clicks and taps, died Tuesday at his home in Atherton, California. He was 88. The Computer History Museum in ...

World Jun 28, 2013

Marc Rich, fugitive financier pardoned by Clinton, dies at 78

Marc Rich, a fugitive financier who made deals with shady international regimes and was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list before his controversial presidential pardon on Bill Clinton’s final day in office in 2001, died Wednesday at a hospital in Lucerne, Switzerland. He ...

World Jun 22, 2013

Slim Whitman, country crooner who was loved and mocked, dies at 90

Slim Whitman — the country crooner and yodeler who influenced members of the Beatles and whose voice helped repel an alien invasion in director Tim Burton’s 1996 sci-fi parody “Mars Attacks!” — died Wednesday at a hospital in Orange Park, Florida. He was 90. ...