Departures

In August they buried the nation's leading liberal, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, to a 21-gun salute at Arlington National Cemetery. He had been eulogized from Boston to Washington by scores of senators and four presidents, accompanied by Placido Domingo and Yo-Yo Ma. In September they lowered to his grave by plain box leading conservative Irving Kristol, the mourners pitching dirt to cover it after a simple funeral ceremony that included two psalms, a prayer, and short remarks by a rabbi and Kristol's son William.

Such was not only the contrast between a public official and a public intellectual, but the difference in philosophies that put titanic conservative thinkers-five of whom died this year-in retrograde orbits from their liberal counterparts. Kristol was the son of a Brooklyn garment merchant whose first job was in a navy yard tightening rivets. He became a youthful Trotskyite but famously said he was "mugged by reality" after service in World War II-and neo-conservatism was born. In a 1975 article he called the American right from realism to "revanchism," or taking back the political, moral, and economic ground at the country's core.

William Safire, the conservative agitator of The New York Times editorial pages since 1973, died likewise quietly in a Maryland hospice (of pancreatic cancer) less than 10 days later. A college dropout who, like Kristol, preferred the barricades to the balconies, "Safire did not soar at 35,000 feet bemoaning what fools these mortals be. He did his own reporting, digging up stories and anecdotes that embarrassed politicians who deserved to be embarrassed," noted one obituary.

These were accompanied in death this year by conservative pundit Robert Novak; NFL quarterback turned lawmaker, vice presidential candidate, and popularizer of individual tax cuts Jack Kemp; and conservative theologian Richard John Neuhaus, author of The Naked Public Square and founder and long-time editor of First Things. All died in the year the pundits declared also the death of conservatism, spurred by the election of the first unapologetically liberal president in over 40 years. Yet these men long withstood other rising tides when the forces of the state-of communism, socialism, Nazism, and welfare-ism-attempted to drown out the forces of conscience, family, and hard work. Always hard, feet on the ground, work.

"Captain" Lou Albano | 76, Oct. 14 | One of pro wrestling's most recognized characters of the 1980s after appearing in Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" music video.

Charles Albury | 88, May 23 | Co-pilot of the B-29 plane, named the Bockscar, that dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945.

Joseph C. Aldrich | 68, Feb. 12 | Nationally known evangelical leader, president of Multnomah University (1978-1997), and pioneer of the prayer summit movement now known as International Renewal Ministries.

Willard Aldrich | 100, Nov. 27 | Co-founder in 1936 of Multnomah School of the Bible (now Multnomah University) and its president 1943-1978 (and father of Joseph Aldrich).

Frank Aletter | 83, May 13 | Veteran character actor who starred in the 1960s sitcoms Bringing Up Buddy and It's About Time.

Joan Alexander | 94, May 21 | Actress who was the voice of Lois Lane in the 1940s radio "Superman" and in an animated TV version in the 1960s.

Henry Allingham | 113, July 11 | World's oldest man at the time and one of two surviving World War I veterans in Britain.

Wayne Allwine | 62, May 18 | Mickey Mouse's voice for more than 30 years.

Hudson Armerding | 91, Dec. 1 | Presbyterian minister and president of Wheaton College (1965-1982), and president of the National Association of Evangelicals and World Evangelical Fellowship.

Leonore Annenberg | 91, March 12 | Widow of publisher Walter Annenberg who continued his foundation's $4.2 billion in charitable and cultural contributions.

Corazon Aquino | 76, July 25 | Former Philippines president who led a 1986 uprising that ended the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

Dave Arneson | 61, April 7 | Co-creator with Gary Gygax of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy game (1974) and a pioneer of role-playing entertainment.

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur | 86, April 25 | Award-winning stage, film, and television actress known best for her tough-old-girl comedic roles in TV's Maude and The Golden Girls.

Ernie Ashworth | 80, March 2 | Grand Ole Opry singer whose hits included "Talk Back Trembling Lips" and "Everybody But Me."

Susan Atkins | 61, Sept. 24 | Imprisoned member of the Charles Manson "family" who admitted ruthlessly stabbing pregnant actress Sharon Tate to death in the cult's 1969 murder spree.

Kenneth Bacon | 64, Aug. 15 | Pentagon spokesman in the Clinton administration and later head of Refugees International.

Gertrude Baines | 115, Sept. 11 | Retired Ohio State maid who was the world's oldest person at the time.

Carl Ballantine | 92, Nov. 3 | Comedian, magician, and actor who played Lester Gruber in the 1960s sitcom McHale's Navy.

Hans Beck | 79, Jan. 30 | German creator of the ­colorful, plastic, 3-inch-tall Playmobil toy figures.

Molly Bee | 69, Feb. 7 | Country singer who rocketed to fame at age 13 with the 1952 novelty hit "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."

Griffin B. Bell | 90, Jan. 5 | U.S. attorney general under President Jimmy Carter.

Louie Bellson | 84, Feb. 14 | Composer and Big Band drummer who performed on 200-plus albums featuring greats from Duke Ellington to Benny Goodman.

Felix "Doc" Blanchard | 84, April 19 | Three-time All American, 1945 Heisman Trophy winner, and Army's Mr. Inside fullback in one of college football's most famous backfields.

Johnny Blanchard | 76, March 25 | Batting hero who played in five consecutive World Series for the New York Yankees in the early 1960s.

Norman Borlaug | 95, Sept. 12 | Iowa-born Nobel Peace Prize-winning plant scientist widely acclaimed for doing more than anyone else in the 20th century to teach the world to feed itself and whose work was credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives.

Tom Braden | 92, April 3 | A liberal ­former CIA agent who with conservative sparring partner Pat Buchanan created CNN's political debate show Crossfire in 1982.

James Brady | 80, Jan. 26 | Longtime popular celebrity columnist for Parade magazine and the New York Post.

Juanita Brooks | 55, Sept. 12 | New Orleans blues and jazz singer.

Carl Camras | 55, April 14 | Renowned glaucoma researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center who helped develop the most effective drug to treat glaucoma.

Phil Carey | 83, Feb. 6 | Film and television actor best known for his role as business tycoon Asa Buchanan in the ABC soap opera One Life to Live.

David Carradine | 72, June 4 | Star of the 1970s TV series Kung Fu whose career roared back to life in 2003 when he played the assassin-turned-victim in Quentin Tarentino's Kill Bill.

Mickey Carroll | 89, May 7 | One of the last surviving (of 100) Munchkins from the beloved 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

Marilyn Chambers | 56, April 12 | Blonde actress and model who went from posing with a baby for ads on boxes of "99 and 44/100 percent pure" Ivory Snow to starring in not-so-pure porn films.

Clyde Charles | 55, Jan. 7 | First inmate to use a federal civil-rights law to sue for DNA testing (in 1999) that cleared him of conviction for a 1981 Louisiana rape (but sent his brother to prison for the same crime).

Frank Forrester Church IV | 51, Sept. 24 | Leading Unitarian Universalist minister (New York City) and liberal theologian known for his 1996 book God and Other Famous Liberals.

Holly Coors | 88, Jan. 18 | Conservative political activist, philanthropist, and ex-wife of brewery magnate Joseph Coors.

Walter Cronkite | 92, July 17 | Anchor and trusted voice and face of the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981, who reported tumultuous news of the era with reassuring authority and little overt bias, with as many as 18 million or more households tuned in nightly.

Chuck Daly | 78, May 9 | Hall of Fame coach who led basketball's Dream Team to the Olympic gold medal in 1992 after winning back-to-back NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons (1989 and 1990).

Billy Joe Daugherty | 57, Nov. 22 | TV minister, founder and pastor of megachurch Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Okla., who launched Bible institutes in 85 countries.

Jean Dausset | 92, June 6 | Nobel Prize-winning French immunologist and pioneer behind compatibility verification for organ transplants and mapping of the human genome.

Millvina Dean | 97, May 31 | Last survivor of the Titanic. She was just 2 months old when the ship hit an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912.

Dom DeLuise | 75, May 4 | Fun-and-food-loving entertainer and chef and a popular character actor.

Dominic DiMaggio | 92, May 8 | Boston Red Sox seven-time All Star center fielder whose 34-game hitting streak in 1949 ended when his famous big brother Joe caught a sinking line drive for the New York Yankees.

David Herbert Donald | 88, May 17 | Harvard Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the Civil War and American South and expert on Abraham Lincoln.

Jack Dreyfus | 95, March 27 | Master money manager whose investment company and prime fund was one of the nation's biggest and most respected.

Dominick Dunne | 83, Aug. 26 | Told stories of shocking crimes among the rich and famous (including O.J. Simpson) through his magazine articles and best-selling books, some made into movies.

Frederick "Reverend Ike" Eikerenkoetter II | 74, July 28 | Flashy preacher of the gospel of material prosperity to his 5,000 parishioners at a New York church and to millions on television beginning in the 1970s.

Harry Endo | 87, Jan. 9 | Actor who played forensic scientist Che Fong on the long-running TV series Hawaii Five-0.

Philip José Farmer | 91, Feb. 25 | Celebrated science fiction and fantasy writer (including 75 novels) of the 1960s and '70s.

Farrah Fawcett | 62, June 25 | Sex symbol and 1970s TV star in Charlie's Angels.

Donald G. Fisher | 81, Sept. 27 | Founder (with his wife) of apparel giant Gap Inc.

John Hope Franklin | 94, March 25 | Dean of African-American historians.

Marilyn French | 79, May 2 | Writer whose 1977 novel The Women's Room sold more than 20 million copies and propelled her into a leading figure in the feminist movement.

Millard Fuller | 74, Feb. 3 | Entrepreneur who gave up his millionaire lifestyle to start the low-cost no-interest Christian housing charity Habitat for Humanity in 1976.

Kenneth O. Gangel | 74, June 18 | Influential Christian educator, author or editor of 57 books, and long-time seminary professor.

Frederic J. Gaynor | 74, March 29 | His childhood image adorned posters and magazine advertisements for Daisy air rifles in the 1940s.

Larry Gelbart | 81, Sept. 11 | Witty award-winning stage, screen, and television writer best remembered for the long-running 1972-1983 TV show about Army doctors during the Korean War: M*A*S*H.

Henry Gibson | 73, Sept. 14 | Wry comic character actor best known for reciting offbeat poetry on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

Vern Gosdin | 74, April 28 | Country music baritone and composer whose hits included award-winning "Chiseled in Stone."

Alex Grass | 82, Aug. 27 | Founder of Rite Aid Corp. who started with a single store in 1962.

Andy Hallett | 33, March 29 | Actor who played green-skinned, good-guy demon Lorne on the TV series Angel.

Paul Haney | 80, May 28 | Known as the "voice of NASA's Mission Control" for his live televised reports during the early years of the space program.

Paul Harvey | 90, Feb. 28 | ABC Radio news commentator since 1951 and talk-radio pioneer whose resonant, authoritative delivery, conservatism, and homey heartland style made him one of the nation's most-listened-to voices-at his peak reaching 24 million listeners on 1,200 radio stations.

Don Hewitt | 86, Aug. 19 | TV news pioneer who created 60 Minutes (its stopwatch began ticking Sept. 24, 1968) and produced the popular CBS newsmagazine for 36 years.

Cheryl Holdridge | 64, Jan. 6 | Popular Mouseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club TV show in the 1950s.

Tony Huesman | 51, Aug. 9 | Ohio man who lived the longest on one transplanted heart-31 years; he died from cancer.

Jack D. Hunter | 87, April 13 | Author whose 1964 World War I aviation novel The Blue Max was made into a popular film.

Michael Jackson | 50, June 25 | Sensationally gifted child star who rose to become the "King of Pop" and one of the biggest and most eccentric celebrities in the world, only to fall from his throne in a freakish series of scandals. His 1982 album Thriller became the best-selling album of all time (an estimated 100 million copies worldwide) and won eight Grammy Awards.

Larry Jansen | 89, Oct. 10 | Pitching ace for the New York Giants for eight seasons in the 1940s and '50s, including the 1951 playoffs when he and Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-4 to take the pennant.

Maurice Jarre | 84, March 28 | Epic ­composer for Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago.

Ingemar Johansson | 76, Jan. 30 | Swede who stunned the boxing world by knocking out Floyd Patterson to win the heavyweight title in 1959.

Brenda Joyce | 92, July 4 | Movie actress who played Jane in five Tarzan films.

Harry Kalas | 73, April 13 | Radio voice of the Philadelphia Phillies for nearly 40 years, narrator of TV's Inside the NFL, and the voice for Chunky Soup commercials.

Stuart Kaminsky | 75, Oct. 9 | Prolific mystery writer whose 70 novels included A Cold Red Sunrise, named by the Mystery Writers of America as the best mystery novel of 1989.

Christopher J. Klicka | 48, Oct. 12 | Homeschool pioneer, author, and advocate with the Home School Legal Defense Association.

Willem Johan Kolff | 97, Feb. 11 | Renowned medical scientist and doctor who invented the first artificial kidney, built the first artificial heart, and developed a membrane oxygenator still used to keep people alive during open heart surgery.

George Kell | 86, March 24 | Hall of Fame third baseman who edged Ted Williams for the 1949 American League batting title, and became a Detroit Tigers broadcaster for nearly 40 years.

Elmer Kelton | 83, Aug. 22 | Acclaimed writer of 62 Western-themed books whose novel The Good Old Boys was made into a TV movie.

Jack Kemp | 73, May 2 | Former pro quarterback, congressman, HUD secretary, vice presidential nominee, and self-described "bleeding-heart conservative."

Edward M. Kennedy | 77, Aug. 25 | Powerful liberal Democrat from Massachusetts who served in the U.S. Senate for nearly 50 years, and the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty.

Jack Kramer | 88, Sept. 12 | One of the greats of American tennis, he was considered the No. 1 player in the world between 1946 and 1953, winning Wimbledon and two U.S. Championships. He also won seven other Grand Slam titles in doubles.

Irving Kristol | 89, Sept. 18 | Writer, editor, and publisher known as the god­father of neoconservatism.

Marie Knight | 84, Aug. 30 | Gospel legend who partnered with Sister Rosetta Tharp, and the two became the most popular gospel artists of the 1940s with a string of hits, including "Didn't It Rain" and "Beams of Heaven."

Pio Laghi | 86, Jan. 10 | Catholic cardinal and veteran Vatican diplomat Pope John Paul II sent to Washington to try to dissuade President George W. Bush from launching the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Alan Landers | 68, Feb. 27 | Handsome model who posed for Winston cigarette ads and later as an anti-smoking advocate sued the tobacco industry over his throat cancer, which proved fatal.

Dante "Gluefingers" Lavelli | 85, Jan. 20 | NFL Hall of Fame right-end pass receiver who helped the Cleveland Browns build a dynasty in the 1940s and '50s.

Irving R. Levine | 86, March 27 | Bow-tied NBC newsman who explained the fine points of economics to millions of viewers for nearly 25 years.

Claude Levi-Strauss | 100, Oct. 30 | French philosopher widely considered the father of modern anthropology.

Hank Locklin | 91, March 8 | Grand Ole Opry country music singer-composer with many big recordings, including "Geisha Girl" and "Please Help Me, I'm Falling."

Whitey Lockman | 82, March 17 | Famed outfielder and first baseman for the New York Giants 1945-1958.

Karl Malden | 97, July 1 | Academy Award-winning actor (as Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire) best known as Lt. Mike Stone in the 1970s TV series The Streets of San Francisco; for more than 20 years was the spokesman for American Express travelers checks and turned "Don't leave home without them" into a national catchphrase.

Al Martino | 82, Oct. 13 | Italian-American pop crooner boasting a string of hit singles and albums from the 1950s to the 1970s; best known for his role as Johnny Fontane, the wedding singer in The Godfather.

Billy Mays | 50, June 28 | Burly, bearded TV pitchman whose boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean made him a pop-culture icon.

George McAfee | 90, March 4 | College and pro football Hall of Fame star for Duke and the Chicago Bears (including three championship teams in the 1940s).

Frank McCourt | 78, July 19 | U.S.-born Irish teacher and Pulitzer Prize-winning author best known for his memoir Angela's Ashes, which detailed his poverty-stricken childhood in Limerick.

Ed McMahon | 86, June 23 | King of TV's second bananas as the loyal Tonight Show sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson for 30 years with guffaws and the trademark opener "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!"

Robert S. McNamara | 93, July 6 | Ford Motor chief who became secretary of defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson but resigned in 1968 over frustration with the Vietnam war; headed the World Bank from 1968 to 1981.

Steve McNair | 36, July 4 | Four-time NFL Pro Bowl quarterback with the Tennessee Titans, murdered by mistress who then shot herself.

Ricardo Montalban | 88, Jan. 14 | Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV's Fantasy Island.

Richard John Neuhaus | 72, Jan. 8 | Scholarly proponent of conservatism as editor of First Things, president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, and author of numerous books; a latter-day Lutheran-pastor-turned-Catholic who sought closer ties between evangelicals and Catholics.

Robert Novak | 78, Aug. 18 | Reporter-turned-conservative political columnist and pundit, co-writer with Rowland Evans of the long-running syndicated column "Inside Report," and well-known commentator on many TV political talk shows.

Les Paul | 94, Aug. 13 | Musician and inventor of the solid-body electric guitar, whose "special sound" paved the way for modern rock 'n' roll.

Earl Paulk | 81, March 29 | Charismatic Pentecostal TV preacher, self-styled bishop, and founder in 1960 of the megachurch later known as Cathedral at Chapel Hill in Decatur, Ga.

Pavle | 95, Nov. 15 | Theologian and patriarch of the 7-million-member Serbian Orthodox Church who called for peace and conciliation during the Balkan ethnic wars of the 1990s but failed to openly condemn Serb destruction of Catholic churches and Muslim mosques.

Claiborne Pell | 90, Jan. 1 | Democratic senator from Rhode Island for 36 years who was the force and name behind a 1972 federal grant program that has helped millions of Americans attend college.

Irving Penn | 92, Oct. 7 | One of the world's most notable still photographers.

Shiloh Pepin | 10, Oct. 23 | Girl born with fused legs, a rare condition often called "mermaid syndrome," who gained a wide following on the internet and national television.

Jody Powell | 65, Sept. 14 | White House press secretary and close adviser to President Jimmy Carter.

Ed Reimers | 96, Aug. 16 | Actor who for 22 years told television viewers, "You're in good hands with Allstate," and was an announcer for several television shows in the 1950s and '60s.

Natasha Richardson | 45, March 18 | Award-winning stage and screen actress and daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, wife of actor Liam Neeson, and winner of Tony and Outer Critics Circle Awards; killed in a skiing accident.

Shirley Jean Rickert | 82, Feb. 6 | Child star in Our Gang and Mickey McGuire comedies with Mickey Rooney in the 1930s.

Beverly Roberts | 96, July 13 | Co-star with Humphrey Bogart in the 1936 film Two Around the World.

Oral Roberts | 91, Dec. 15 | TV evangelist who founded Oral Roberts University and whose name became synonymous with faith healing and charismatic movements.

Bob Rosburg | 82, May 14 | Champion pro golfer who spent three decades with ABC Sports as the first reporter to call the shots from the golf course.

William Safire | 79, Sept. 27 | Witty, sometimes caustic Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist who wrote twice weekly for The New York Times for more than 30 years.

Soupy Sales | 83, Oct. 22 | Rubber-faced slapstick comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances.

Robert Short | 76, July 6 | Author and Presbyterian minister who wrote The Gospel According to Peanuts, with the blessing of the cartoon's creator, Charles Schulz.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver | 88, Aug. 11 | President John F. Kennedy's sister, an advocate for the rights of the mentally disabled, and founder of the Special Olympics.

Ron Silver | 62, March 15 | Actor in films (as Claus von Bulow's defense attorney in Reversal of Fortune) and TV (as the slick political strategist on The West Wing and as Tommy Wilmette on Chicago Hope), who in real life did a political about-face from loyal liberal Democrat to Republican activist following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Theodore Sizer | 77, Oct. 21 | Education-reform advocate and founder in 1984 of the Essential Schools movement, whose private high schools emphasize scholarly community spirit, depth of knowledge over breadth, and discussion rather than lectures.

Troy N. Smith | 87, Oct. 27 | Proprietor of a root beer stand in Oklahoma in 1953 that he grew into the Sonic drive-in restaurant chain, now numbering nearly 3,600 restaurants in 42 states.

Paul A. Samuelson | 94, Dec. 13 | First American Nobel laureate in economics and the foremost academic economist of the 20th century.

Tom Sturdivant | 78, Feb. 28 | New York Yankees pitching ace in the 1950s; played in three World Series.

George Tiller | 67, May 31 | One of the nation's few late-term abortionsts, shot and killed while ushering at a Sunday service at his Lutheran church in Wichita, Kan.

Peter Toon | 70, April 25 | British-born Anglican priest, theologian and international advocate of traditional Anglicanism.

Mary Travers | 72, Sept. 16 | One-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary.

John Updike | 76, Jan. 27 | Pulitzer Prize-winning ­novelist (best known for his four "Rabbit" novels) and prolific writer of short stories, essays, and poems who chronicled sex, divorce, and other adventures in Protestant middle America.

Tim Vakoc | 49, June 20 | Catholic priest and Army chaplain thought to be the first military chaplain wounded in Iraq, where he was gravely wounded by a roadside bomb five years ago.

Milo Valenzuela | 74, Sept. 2 | Hall of Fame jockey who twice won the Kentucky Derby and rode five-time Horse of the Year Kelso in the 1960s, winning 2,545 races from 1951 to 1980.

Norm Van Lier | 61, Feb. 26 | Basketball great for the Chicago Bulls and one of the NBA's top defensive players in the 1970s.

James Whitmore | 87, Feb. 6 | Many-faceted character actor who delivered strong performances in movies, television, and especially the theater with his popular one-man shows about Harry Truman, Will Rogers, and Theodore Roosevelt.

Collin Wilcox-Paxton | 74, Oct. 14 | Actress who portrayed the false accuser in the movie classic To Kill a Mockingbird; her TV roles included Mrs. O'Neale in the inspirational series Christy.

John Wilke | 54, May 1 | Crack investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal who specialized in looking for suspect money connections that linked business executives, politicians, and federal regulators.

Billy Wilson | 81, Jan. 27 | Six-time Pro Bowl receiver for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1950s.

David "Pop" Winans Sr. | 76, April 8 | Grammy-nominated singer and patriarch of a gospel music family (wife Delores and children BeBe and CeCe Winans).

Ralph Winter | 84, May 20 | Former Presbyterian missionary and missions strategist at Fuller seminary who went on to found the U.S. Center for World Mission.

Joseph Wiseman | 91, Oct. 19 | Actor best known for playing the sinister scientist Dr. No in the first James Bond film in 1962.

Edward Woodward | 79, Nov. 16 | English stage and screen actor who gained American following as Robert McCall in television series The Equalizer.

Timothy Wright | 61, April 23 | Pastor at Grace Tabernacle Christian Center Church of God in Christ in Brooklyn and internationally famed gospel singer and composer.

Andrew Wyeth | 91, Jan. 16 | Artist whose melancholy paintings were praised as profound reflections of 20th-century alienation and existentialism.

Spiros Zodhiates | 87, Oct. 10 | Greek-American evangelist and missions leader, religious broadcaster, and Bible promoter.