obituaries

Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, died Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021 following a lengthy illness. He was 85.

World News

Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, has died at 85

8:44am October 10, 2021

by The Associated Press

Khan launched Pakistan on the path to becoming a nuclear weapons power in the early 1970s. His family said he died of COVID-19 following a lengthy illness.

Coming to terms with the COVID death of an estranged mother

4:53pm October 08, 2021

We remember Holly Serl, one of more than 700,000 Americans who have died from the coronavirus.

Arts

'Top Chef Junior' competitor Fuller Goldsmith has died at age 17

6:36pm October 07, 2021

by Elizabeth Blair

The Alabama native has died after battling leukemia. Goldsmith won the top prize on Chopped Junior when he was 14, before moving on to Top Chef Junior.

A pioneer of the modern music festival, George Wein co-founded the Newport Jazz and Newport Folk festivals and helped launch the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He died Sept. 13 at 95.

Music & Culture

George Wein Never Stopped Listening

3:43pm October 07, 2021

by Nate Chinen

Nate Chinen remembers Newport Jazz impresario George Wein, who helped create the modern music festival but never lost his appetite for listening in small rooms and connecting at a human scale.

National

Remembering former TV news producer Clifford Feldman, lost to COVID

5:39pm October 01, 2021

We remember Clifford Feldman, a former TV news producer who lived in Washington, D.C. Feldman was one of the nearly 700,000 Americans who have died from COVID.

Tommy Kirk, here with his canine co-star in 1957's Old Yeller, has died. Kirk appeared in a string of hit Disney movies such as Swiss Family Robinson and The Absent-Minded Professor.

Arts

Tommy Kirk, The Fresh-Scrubbed Face Of Disney As A Child Actor, Dies At 79

5:23pm September 30, 2021

by Bill Chappell

Generations of children, and more than a few adults, cried along with Kirk when his character Travis Coates tearfully pulled a rifle trigger in Old Yeller.

American composer Carlisle Floyd, photographed at his first home, in which he composed his best known opera, Susannah, in Tallahassee, Fla. in 2009.

Music & Culture

Carlisle Floyd, a founding father of American opera, has died at age 95

4:12pm September 30, 2021

by Tom Huizenga

Known primarily for his southern-flavored operas, Floyd helped create an American opera vernacular. His 1955 hit Susannah won the New York Music Critics Circle Award and helped launch his career.

Influential Organ Player Dr. Lonnie Smith Has Died At Age 79

4:55pm September 29, 2021

Dr. Lonnie Smith, an influential American organ player and member of the George Benson quartet in the 1960s, died this week at the age of 79.

Left to right: Nona Hendryx, Sarah Dash and Patti LaBelle perform as Labelle in Los Angeles, circa 1975.

Music & Culture

In Labelle And Beyond, Sarah Dash Could Never Fade Into The Background

2:31pm September 29, 2021

by Maureen Mahon

Even next to Patti Labelle's charisma and Nona Hendryx's songcraft, there is no Labelle without the range and clarity of Dash's silver throat — and the trio's commitment to singing as equals.

Music & Culture

Dr. Lonnie Smith, Master Of The Hammond Organ, Dies At 79

11:16pm September 28, 2021

by Greg Bryant

The NEA Jazz Master died Tuesday from pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 79.