Remembrances

'Fresh Air' Remembers Pulitzer-Prize Winning Editorial Cartoonist Tony Auth

2:19pm September 15, 2014

Auth worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer for 41 years. He died Sunday at the age of 72. In 1988, Auth talked with Terry Gross about how the Reagan era marked a turning point for political cartoonists.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Jazz Pianist Joe Sample Dies At 75

11:36am September 14, 2014

Sample was a founder of the band the Jazz Crusaders and reportedly played with musicians from Miles Davis and B.B. King to Steely Dan and the Supremes. NPR's Arun Rath has this remembrance.

Queue Listen Now

Pianist and composer Joe Sample, seen here at the 2010 Beirut Jazz Festival in Lebanon, has died at age 75.

Music & Culture

A Talent That Bridged Genres: Jazz Pianist Joe Sample Dies

12:48pm September 13, 2014

by Bill Chappell

Heard on songs by musicians from Miles Davis to Tupac Shakur, Joe Sample's music incorporated elements of soul and funk into jazz.

Music & Culture

Cosimo Matassa Made His Reputation Behind The Studio Glass

6:32pm September 12, 2014

by David C. Barnett

Cosimo Matassa recorded songs by Fats Domino, Little Richard, Professor Longhair and Jerry Lee Lewis and helped get the New Orleans sound out to the world. Matassa died Thursday at the age of 88.

Queue Listen Now

National

Zeus The Great Dane, World's Tallest Dog, Dies

3:50pm September 12, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

His owner, Kevin Doorlag, told the Kalamazoo Gazette that Zeus died last week of old age. He would have turned 6 in November. On his hind legs, Zeus was 7 feet, 4 inches tall.

Richard Kiel (front) and Roger Moore at a ceremony in 2007 to honor Moore with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kiel, who played Jaws in two Bond films opposite Moore, died Wednesday. He was 74.

Arts

Richard Kiel, Actor Who Played Jaws In Bond Films, Dies At 74

5:00pm September 11, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

Kiel delighted moviegoers with his quiet menace and his metal teeth in the role of Jaws, the Bond villain henchman who not only survived his encounters with 007, but also lived happily ever after.

Music & Culture

Jazz Arranger Gerald Wilson Dies At 96

8:24am September 11, 2014

Bandleader, composer and arranger Gerald Wilson died Monday at his home in Los Angeles. Wilson's career stretched from the swing era of the 1930s into the 21st century.

Queue Listen Now

National

Chick-Fil-A Founder Credited His Success To Christian Principles

11:06am September 09, 2014

by John Lorinc

The founder of the popular Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, S. Truett Cathy, died on Monday at the age of 93. Cathy was as well-known for his chicken sandwich as for his Christian values.

Queue Listen Now

Joan Rivers attends the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010 in New York.

With Age, Joan Rivers Learned To Say Anything: 'It Has Freed Me Totally'

4:17pm September 05, 2014

The comedian died Thursday at the age of 81. Rivers talked with Fresh Air in 1991, 2010 and 2012 about how her comedy evolved — and why she didn't care what others thought of her.

Queue Listen Now

Journalist Charles Bowden Dies At 69

7:24am September 02, 2014

Charles Bowden was an investigative journalist who spent much of his career delving into the world of drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bowden died on Saturday after an illness.

Queue Listen Now