Departures: Republican trailblazer dies at 83

Kay Granger

A groundbreaking politician from Texas known for her position on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Granger died Aug. 2. She was 83. A one-time teacher, Granger entered politics in the 1980s and was elected mayor of Fort Worth in 1991. Four years later, she became the first Republican woman from Texas elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. During her 14 terms in Congress, Granger rose through the party’s leader ranks. She spent more than two decades on the Appropriations Committee, steering defense spending toward Fort Worth–based contractors and guarding both the F-35 fighter jet produced by Lockheed Martin and the V-22 Osprey military transport built by Bell Textron.

Vincent Pastore

An Italian American actor who artfully portrayed mobsters and tough guys onscreen, Pastore died Aug. 1. He was 80. The Bronx-born actor benefited from audience demand for portrayals of organized crime. He landed small roles in mob movies Goodfellas and Carlito’s Way in the early 1990s and appeared on television’s Law & Order, playing four different characters in as many episodes between 1992 and 1996. In 1999, Pastore landed a part that would make him a star, playing Salvatore Bonpensiero on the critically acclaimed and popular HBO mob series The Sopranos in the series’ first three seasons. Pastore and the rest of The Sopranos cast won a Screen Actors Guild Award for best ensemble cast in 2000.

Brian Doerksen

A Canadian musician and worship leader who influenced a generation of Christian praise music, Doerksen died July 21 at the age of 60. A talented ­musician and songwriter, Doerksen rose through the music ministry ranks at a Vineyard Church in British Columbia. An association of churches with roots in the Jesus Movement, Vineyard became influential in shaping music ministries at charismatic churches across the world and presaged the dominance of Hillsong, Bethel, and other praise music heavyweights. Doerksen wrote, performed, and produced many worship albums for Vineyard and other contemporary Christian music outlets including tracks like “Refiner’s Fire” and “Come Now Is the Time to Worship.”

Charles Gaines

A journalist who wrote about the bodybuilding world and helped propel Arnold Schwarzenegger to fame, Gaines died July 21. He was 84. Gaines and photographer George Butler cov ered the bodybuilding subculture for Sports Illustrated in the early 1970s and by 1974 teamed up on the book Pumping Iron. The exposé presented the world of bodybuilding to a mass audience and introduced a young competitor named Schwarzenegger. Gaines later wrote a film documentary that made the Austrian lifter a star. Gaines wrote prolifically for Esquire, Field & Stream, and other publications. In 1980, to resolve a dispute among friends about whether men from the city could survive in the woods, Gaines invented paintball.

James Woolsey

A public servant who held multiple senior defense and intelligence positions, Woolsey died July 21. He was 84. After graduating Yale Law School, Woolsey entered the Army, eventually becoming a military adviser to the U.S. delegation at the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks beginning in 1969. He served as a negotiator in arms reduction talks for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. In 1993, President Bill Clinton tapped Woolsey to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Woolsey garnered criticism for his light touch in the aftermath of uncovering prolific double agent Aldrich Ames in 1994, saying he would neither fire nor demote anyone at the agency for not discovering the mole more swiftly.