Remembrances

Music & Culture

Remembering World-Renowned Classical Pianist Van Cliburn

2:43pm February 27, 2013

American classical pianist Van Cliburn died Feb. 27, 2013 at the age of 78. Cliburn rose to fame in 1958, when he won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the age of 23. NPR's Neal Conan remembers Cliburn with a song.

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Koop Turned Surgeon General's Office Into Mighty Education Platform

1:34pm February 26, 2013

by Joseph Shapiro

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop died Monday. He was 96. As surgeon general, Koop turned an office with little power into a mighty platform to educate Americans about AIDS prevention and the dangers of smoking.

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Sports

Longtime Lakers Owner Jerry Buss Dies At 80

6:02pm February 18, 2013

by Ted Robbins

The man who brought Showtime to Los Angeles has died. Under Lakers owner Jerry Buss, the team won 10 NBA championships. His players loved him, and his business smarts helped market the team in ways the league had never seen before. Buss had been hospitalized recently and was undergoing treatment for cancer. He was 80 years old.

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Ed Koch Dies; Outspoken Mayor Brought N.Y. Back From The Brink

11:26am February 12, 2013

by Joel Rose

New York was practically falling apart in 1977 when Koch first ran for mayor, but he created a feeling the city could come back. His larger-than-life personality was well-suited to the nation's biggest city but could also get him in trouble. A spokesman says Koch died early Friday. He was 88.

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Trombonist Paul Tanner Dies At 95

12:28pm February 08, 2013

During his career, he played for Glen Miller and the Beach Boys among others. From the Greatest Generation to the Baby Boomers, Tanner's music spanned the ages.

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Music & Culture

Reg Presley, The Voice Of 'Wild Thing,' Dies

6:36pm February 05, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

The lead singer of The Troggs, who had a string of hits in the 1960s, was 71.

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Remembering Rosa Parks On Her 100th Birthday

2:43pm February 04, 2013

Civil rights activist Rosa Parks would have been 100 years old today. NPR's Celeste Headlee talks with listeners about the first time they learned about Parks and what she signifies today.

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Remembering New York's Larger-Than-Life Mayor, Ed Koch

3:07pm February 02, 2013

by Scott Simon

Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon remembers former New York Mayor Ed Koch. He died on Friday at the age of 88.

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Butch Morris leads a conduction at the 2007 Skopje Jazz Festival in Macedonia.

Music & Culture

Remembering Butch Morris, The Man Who Conducted Improvisation

6:18pm January 30, 2013

by Howard Mandel

The jazz musician was beloved by his fellow artists and acclaimed by critics and fans for his ability to spontaneously coerce music from an ensemble. Working with musicians of all stripes, he pioneered a system of real-time arranging he called Conduction. He was 65.

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Remembering Journalist Stanley Karnow

3:22pm January 28, 2013

The veteran journalist died on Sunday at age 87. He was famous for his reporting on the Vietnam War, and in 1989 he spoke with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about another war: The Spanish-American War and U.S. involvement in the Philippines.

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