Departures

Ray Guy

Guy, an NFL Hall of Famer whose exploits as a punter defined excellence for those who came after him, died in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Nov. 3 after a long illness. He was 72. Guy kicked and punted for the University of Southern Mississippi before making himself eligible for the 1973 NFL draft. The Oakland Raiders’ selection of Guy with their first-round pick scandalized a league that largely held kickers and punters in contempt. But Guy, who made seven Pro Bowl teams, proved his worth, contributing to a Raiders Super Bowl victory in 1984 by downing five of his seven punts inside the opposing team’s 20-yard line.

—WORLD has corrected this obituary to reflect that Ray Guy, who grew up in Thomson, Ga., died in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Bao Tong

Bao, a Chinese reformer turned dissident who spent his last decades in prison or under house arrest for ­supporting students at pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989, died Nov. 9 at age 90. During the 1980s, Bao worked as an aide and speechwriter to Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, who was then considered a leader of the pro-reform part of leader Deng Xiaoping’s government. But when party officials decided to suppress student protests in 1989, leading to the deaths of hundreds of protesters, both Bao and Zhao fell from power. Communist officials charged Bao amid a crackdown on the protest movement, and he began ­serving a seven-year prison sentence in 1992. After his release, he lived the rest of his life under house arrest.