Obituaries - The New York Times

H. M., an Unforgettable Amnesiac, Dies at 82

By BENEDICT CAREY

Henry Gustav Molaison, or H.M., was recognized as the most important patient in the history of brain science.

Dorothea and Leo Rabkin among their treasures in 1978.

Dorothea Rabkin, 87, Collector, Dies

By MARGALIT FOX

Ms. Rabkin and her husband built a collection of American folk art noted for the whirligigs and other sculptures made by anonymous carvers in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Dorothy Sterling, 95, Children’s Author, Dies

By WILLIAM GRIMES

Ms. Sterling wrote more than 35 books for children and adults including some of the first nonfiction works about black history for young readers.

Emanuel Rackman, Prominent Rabbi, Dies at 98

By WILLIAM GRIMES

Rabbi Rackman was the spiritual leader of the prominent Fifth Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan and an outspoken advocate of a more inclusive, intellectually open Orthodox Judaism.

Paul Benedict, Television Actor, Is Dead at 70

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mr. Benedict played the British neighbor Harry Bentley on the sitcom “The Jeffersons."

Odetta at Radio City Music Hall in New York for a "Salute to the Blues" benefit concert in 2003.

Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77

By TIM WEINER

The singer, whose voice wove together American folk music and the civil rights movement, died Tuesday.

The Last Word: Odetta

Oliver Selfridge, an Early Innovator in Artificial Intelligence, Dies at 82

By JOHN MARKOFF

Mr. Selfridge was credited with coining the term "intelligent agents," for software programs capable of observing and responding to changes in their environment.

Joseph M. Margiotta, a former Nassau County Republican leader, in his office at Nassau County Republican Committee Headquarters in Westbury, Long Island in 1982.

Joseph M. Margiotta, Long Island G.O.P. Leader, Dies at 81

By DENNIS HEVESI

Mr. Margiotta ruled the Nassau County Republican Party, once one of the most powerful political organizations in New York State, for 16 years .

Edward S. Rogers Jr., Canadian Media Mogul, Dies at 75

By IAN AUSTEN

Mr. Rogers transformed Canada’s first FM radio station into one of North America’s most diverse communications and media companies.

Ramon S. Velez, the South Bronx Padrino, Dies at 75

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Mr. Velez became the baron of a sweeping array of poverty programs and received praise for his voter registration work and criticism for profiting from his humanitarian initiatives.

Joza Karas, Who Recovered Music From Concentration Camp, Dies at 82

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Mr. Karas was a musician and teacher who sought out the music and stories of composers from a Nazi concentration camp.

Raymond Lederer, Abscam Figure, Is Dead at 70

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mr. Lederer, a former congressman from Pennsylvania, resigned his seat in 1981 and was imprisoned for taking a bribe from two F.B.I. agents posing as representatives of a fictitious Arab sheik.

Bill Drake, 71, Dies; Created a Winning Radio Style

By WILLIAM GRIMES

Mr. Drake transformed radio programming with a syndicated format that delivered more music, fewer commercials and high-energy “Boss Jocks.”

George Docherty, Pastor Who Influenced Pledge, Dies at 97

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mr. Docherty was credited with helping to push Congress to insert the phrase “under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance.

Helmut N. Friedlaender, right, with Paul LeClerc, president of the New York Public Library, in 2006.

H. N. Friedlaender, Bibliophile, Dies at 95

By WILLIAM GRIMES

Mr. Friedlaender was a book-loving lawyer and financial adviser whose collection of early printed books caused a stir in bibliophilic circles when it went to auction.

Doris Dungey, Prescient Finance Blogger, Dies at 47

By DAVID STREITFELD

Ms. Dungey wrote under the pseudonym Tanta for Calculated Risk, the finance and economics blog.

Jorn Utzon was the designer of the Sydney Opera House.

Jorn Utzon, 90, Dies; Created Sydney Opera House

By FRED A. BERNSTEIN

Mr. Utzon was an architect who designed one of the world’s most recognizable buildings — the Sydney Opera House — but never saw it finished.

Richard L. Fortman in an undated photograph.

Richard L. Fortman, a Champion at Checkers, Dies at 93

By MARGALIT FOX

For seven decades Mr. Fortman was considered one of the game’s foremost players, analysts and authors.

V. P. Singh talking to reporters when he was premier in 1990.

V. P. Singh, a Leader of India Who Defended Poor, Dies at 77

By HARESH PANDYA

Mr. Singh was a former prime minister of India who was considered the father of coalition politics there and who stirred controversy by championing the rights of the country’s poorest citizens.

Edwin E. Salpeter in a photograph distributed in 1970.

Edwin E. Salpeter, Leader in Astrophysics Study, Dies at 83

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dr. Salpeter was an astrophysicist known for his studies of chain reactions in stars and as a developer of the “Salpeter-Bethe equation” describing how helium changes to carbon.

Andrew J. McKelvey helped build Monster.com and its mascot.

Andrew J. McKelvey, 74, Builder of Monster.com, Dies

By STEVE LOHR

Mr. McKelvey jumped into Internet commerce as the executive who built Monster.com into the leading job recruitment Web site.

Cecil H. Underwood, Record-Setting Governor by Age, Dies at 86

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mr. Underwood was a high school teacher who went on to become both the youngest and later the oldest governor of West Virginia.

The Magazine

The Lives They Lived

The year 2007 brought the deaths of many giants of politics and culture, but here we present some of the lesser-known lives.

Multimedia

Slide Show: Notable Deaths of 2007

Remembering those who passed from the scene, including, clockwise from top left: Anna Nicole Smith, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Lady Bird Johnson and Beverly Sills.