Photographer-filmmaker Gordon Parks, March 7
Photographer Gordon Parks, who captured the struggles and triumphs of black America as a photographer for Life magazine and then became Hollywood's first major black director with "The Learning Tree" and the hit "Shaft," died on March 7. He was 93.
(AP/Adelaide De Menil)

Soul pioneer Wilson Pickett, Jan. 19
Wilson Pickett, the soul pioneer best known for the fiery hits "Mustang Sally" and "In The Midnight Hour," died of a heart attack on Jan. 19. He was 64. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who became a star with his soulful hits in the 1960s, Pickett had suffered from health problems for the past year.
(Chicago Tribune/Frank Hanes)

Singer Lou Rawls, Jan. 6
Lou Rawls, the velvet-voiced singer who started as a church choir boy and went on to sell more than 40 million albums and win three Grammys in a career that spanned nearly five decades and a range of genres, died on Jan. 6. He was 72. Rawls had been hospitalized for treatment of lung and brain cancer. His wife, Nina, was at his bedside when he died, Shefrin said. The family said Rawls was 72, although other records indicate he was 70.

Former heavyweight boxing champ Floyd Patterson, May 11
Floyd Patterson, who avenged an embarrassing loss to Ingemar Johansson by beating him a year later to become the first boxer to regain the heavyweight title, died May 11. He was 71.
(Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Pitcher Steve Howe, April 28
Steve Howe, the relief ace whose promising career was derailed by drug and alcohol abuse, died on April 28 when his pickup truck rolled over in Coachella, Calif. He was 48. Howe was 47-41 with 91 saves and a 3.03 ERA with the Dodgers, Twins, Rangers and Yankees. His final season in the majors was 1996.
(AP/Bob Sherman)

Fashion designer Oleg Cassini, March 17
The magic of Camelot may have had something to do with Oleg Cassini, the designer who created Jacqueline Kennedy's graceful, elegant look. Cassini died on March 17 at age 92 in a Long Island, N.Y., hospital, said his wife, Marianne. Cassini created Jackie Kennedy's Inauguration Day outfit, a fawn-colored wool coat with a sable collar over a matching wool dress, with a pillbox hat from Halston. Try though they might, the work of imitators never quite compared.
(AP)

Mom, you will live in every decision I make for the rest of my life. While your life wasn't filled with material possessions, the person I am is because of you.

My integrity, optimism, compassion, sense of humor, common sense, love of music and just being a good person are all because of how you raised me. You've set the bar for me as a person for the rest of my life. I'll love you until the day I die and I'll raise kids with the same competence and moral integrity you instilled in me. Thank you.

Slave2daGroove said:

wow...

Slave2daGroove said:

This writing is the most touching and beautiful I've seen in a long time...

therapyisback said:

It's just the truth. I had the opportunity to actually tell my mom this well before she passed. If there's yet another lesson learned from this land mark event in my life it's that if you have come to this revelation yourself based on where you are in life, tell the person or persons that are responsible while they're still alive. It's important they understand that you actually get it.

Thanks for the kind words.

Slave2daGroove said:

For Lisa

To my friend Nancy who we lost 2 days ago on 6 December 2006 after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. She leaves to mourn her husband, daughter, and her 6 and 9 year old sons.



rest well nancy

butterfli25 said:

Kirby Puckett, hall of fame baseball player, died February 26 at the age of 45.

I just found out that my cousin Martin died suddenly this afternoon. He just walked in from work and collapsed. We think it was a heart attack.

He leaves a wife and 3 young kids His own dad died suddenly in his early forties too, leaving Martin and his 7 brothers

Martin, ye shall be missed.

susannah said:

Holy crap!

I'm so sorry!

TMPletz said:

Thankyou I am too....Im just really shocked! He was the baby of the family, even at 42...

susannah said:

Sussanah!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Thankyou honey

susannah said:

for the family and for you sweetie

MarieLouise said:

thanks

butterfli25 said:

Thankyou hon, and for you too

susannah said:

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

butterfli25 said:

2 u all and 2 those gone from us.

Actress Jane Wyatt, Oct. 20
Jane Wyatt, the actress who for six years on "Father Knows Best" was one of TV's favorite moms, died on Oct. 20. She was 96. Wyatt died in her sleep at her Bel-Air home. She experienced health problems since suffering a stroke at 85, but her mind was sharp until her death, her son Christopher Ward said. Wyatt had a successful film career in the 1930s and '40s, notably as Ronald Colman's lover in 1937's "Lost Horizon." But it was her years as Robert Young's TV wife, Margaret Anderson, on "Father Knows Best" that brought the actress her lasting fame.

Former Life magazine photographer Martha Holmes, Sept. 19
Martha Holmes, a former Life magazine photographer known for her signature pictures of famous people including painter Jackson Pollock and film stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, died at home in Manhattan on Sept. 19. She was 83. A native of Louisville, Ky., Holmes was hired by Life in 1944 from the Louisville Courier-Journal, after another Life photographer on assignment there noticed her work. She was the third female addition to the elite magazine staff, and worked mainly out of Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and later New York.
(AP/Life)

Italian writer-journalist Oriana Fallaci, Sept. 15
Oriana Fallaci, the Italian writer and journalist best known for her abrasive interviews and provocative stances, died on Sept. 15. She was 76. Fallaci, who had been diagnosed with cancer years ago, died overnight in a private clinic in Florence. Fallaci, who lived in New York, had come back to her hometown days ago as her condition worsened. During her journalistic career she became known for challenging interviews with such world leaders as former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
(AP/Gianangelo Pistoia)