Wire Obituaries

After children's author Jean Craighead George revealed that she wanted to write a book about a girl who talks with wolves, legendary book editor Ursula Nordstrom reportedly asked one question - will it be accurate? - and most certainly knew the answer.

The wife of the pilot of the United Airlines flight that crashed into a Pennsylvania field after being taken over by terrorists on 9/11 has died of what her charity said was natural causes.

The wife of the pilot of the United Airlines flight that crashed into a Pennsylvania field after being taken over by terrorists on 9/11 has died of what her charity said was natural causes.

Barbara Kydd Graves, the wife of the publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine who aided in the growth of the publication and media company, died Friday.

He was a former advertising executive who became one of television's top producers, bringing powerhouse shows such as "Dallas," "Knots Landing" and "The Waltons" into American homes in the 1970s and '80s.

Emmy Award-winning TV director and producer Robert Finkel has died. He was 94.

Emmy Award-winning TV director and producer Robert Finkel has died. He was 94.

Raul Rojas, a Los Angeles gang member who became a world boxing champion in 1968, has died. He was 70.

Willie Robinson III, who founded a Los Angeles drag racing group and promoted the sport as a way of easing racial tensions and promoting unity, has died. He was 69.

An Emmy Award-winning comedy writer who spent much of his career working for legendary comic Jack Benny has died in Los Angeles. Al Gordon was 89.

An Emmy Award-winning comedy writer who spent much of his career working for legendary comic Jack Benny has died in Los Angeles. Al Gordon was 89.

Al Gordon, an Emmy Award-winning comedy writer who spent much of his career working for legendary comic Jack Benny, has died. He was 89.

He was known as George Blackburn for most of his life, but after his divorce last fall he wanted to start life over. So Blackburn changed his name to Led Zeppelin II.

"Big Willie" Robinson was a 6-foot-6, 300-pound former Los Angeles street racer, a gentle giant who promoted organized drag racing as a way to unite people of all races and classes and ease racial tensions.

Al Gordon, an Emmy Award-winning comedy writer who spent much of his more than 40-year career writing for Jack Benny's penny-pinching, vain and perennially 39-year-old persona, has died. He was 89.

Well into his 70s, Terry Martin could be found most days in his workshop in the Orange County community of Dana Point sanding blocks of polyurethane foam into precision-shaped surfboards. With his big white beard and barrel chest, he looked like Santa riding out a blizzard of swirling white dust.

The Rev. Hamel Hartford Brookins, an influential bishop and former pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles who became a political power broker, civil rights leader and mentor to former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and many others, has died. He was 86.

Radio pioneer Harold "Hal" Jackson, a staple of New York radio, has died. He was in his late 90s.

Retired Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Brown, the first African-American to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, has died, the Academy said. He was 85.

Paul Fussell, an acclaimed literary scholar who won a National Book Award in 1976 for "The Great War and Modern Memory," died Wednesday morning at age 88.

Actress Janet Carroll, who played the mother of Tom Cruise's character in the movie "Risky Business," has died. She was 71.

Actress Janet Carroll, who played the mother of Tom Cruise's character in the movie "Risky Business," has died. She was 71.

Hamel Hartford Brookins, a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church for 30 years and a longtime civil rights activist, has died in Los Angeles. He was 86.

Hamel Hartford Brookins, a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church for 30 years and a longtime civil rights activist, has died in Los Angeles. He was 86.

Television watchers have cause to lift their remote controls for a moment of silence.

Grammy Award-winning polka great Eddie Blazonczyk, who began playing the lively music in the 1950s and went on to earn the nickname "Polka King" after starting his own band and label, has died. He was 70.

With her husband serving in the Army Air Forces during World War II, Evelyn Bryan Johnson was looking for something to occupy her time when she wasn't running their dry-cleaning business in Jefferson City, Tenn.

Katie Beckett, whose struggles with childhood disease and federal bureaucracy brought landmark changes to the federal-state Medicaid program allowing children with disabilities to live at home, has died in Iowa, her mother said.

CHICAGO - Bob Boozer, an Olympic gold medalist and original Chicago Bull, died Saturday night in Omaha, Neb. He was 75.

Robin Gibb, a singer and songwriter who joined two of his brothers in forming the Bee Gees pop group that helped define the sound of the disco era with the best-selling 1977 soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever," has died. He was 62.