Departures: Christian broadcaster dead at 65

Joni Lamb

A co-founder and president of the popular Christian broadcaster Daystar who appeared on the network for decades and provided a large forum for televangelists, Lamb died May 7 aged 65. Joni Lamb and her husband Marcus founded Daystar after purchasing a local Dallas TV station. By 1998, she began hosting talk shows for the Christian media company, winning a 2004 Best Television Talk Show award from the National Religious Broadcasters. During her time with Daystar, Lamb gained a reputation for broadcasting flashy prosperity gospel evangelists like Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Paula White, and Creflo Dollar. Marcus Lamb died in 2021 and Joni eventually married Doug Weiss, who became a Daystar personality.

Ted Turner

A media mogul whose launch of CNN in 1980 permanently altered news coverage, Turner died May 6. He was 87. In the 1970s, Turner turned his father’s billboard business into a cable television pioneer. He transformed a sleepy Atlanta UHF channel into the TBS superstation by making it available, via satellite, nationwide. His later invention of CNN birthed the 24-hour news cycle and altered the way Americans experienced breaking news. Even outside cable television, Turner seemed to be everywhere. He was Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1991. He owned a professional baseball and basketball team. As the one-time largest private landowner in the United States, he played a pivotal role in reintroducing bison to the American landscape.

Alan Osmond

The oldest sibling in the family musical group the Osmond Brothers who acted as the group’s leader in the early years, Osmond died April 20. He was 76. Osmond was just 12 years old in 1962 when he and three younger brothers appeared on The Andy Williams Show. The brotherly quartet performed well enough to secure a five-year contract during which they sang and danced their way into popular renown. After adding younger siblings and changing the group’s name to the Osmonds, they cut a No. 1 hit recording, “One Bad Apple,” in 1970. Outside music, he and brother Merrill Osmond helped launch an annual Fourth of July fireworks show in Utah known as Stadium of Fire.

John Sterling

The radio voice of the New York Yankees whose memorable calls highlighted some of the biggest moments for baseball’s most prominent team, Sterling died May 4. He was 87. Sterling took over play-by-play radio duties for the Yankees in 1989 and in time became, like Mel Allen and Phil Rizzuto before him, one of the team’s great broadcasters. Known for nicknames and catchphrases (describing Aaron Judge home runs as “Judgian”), Sterling may have been best remembered for over-the-top victory announcements— “Thuuuuuuuuh Yankees win”—in his trademark warbling baritone. By the time he retired from the booth during the 2024 season, Sterling had called more than 5,631 regular and post­season games.

Oscar Schmidt

An international basketball star who turned down an NBA career in order to play for his national team, Schmidt died April 17. He was 68. The guard turned pro at age 16, helping Brazil win the first of three FIBA South American championships in 1977. In 1984, the New Jersey Nets drafted Schmidt, but because taking an NBA deal would end his national team eligibility—and because he could make more money in an Italian professional league—Schmidt declined. Schmidt scored 46 points in a 1987 Pan American Games upset over a United States team led by David Robinson. He was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 and was the sport’s all-time leading scorer until LeBron James surpassed him in 2024.