Deaths in December - 2019

Biographer Robert K. Massie died December 2 at the age of 90. His work includes Nicholas and Alexandra and Peter the Great.

Star Trek writer Dorothy Fontana died December 2 at the age of 80. Her work includes Vulcan’s Glory, Enterprise Experiment and The Questor Tapes.

Chef Andre Daguin died December 3 at the age of 84. His books include Toulouse-Lautrec’s Table and Foie Gras, Magret.

Attorney Allan Gerson died December 1 at the age of 74. His books include The Price of Terror and Israel, The West Bank and International Law.

Soviet defector Victor Sheymov died December 6 at the age of 73. He wrote Tower of Secrets.

Big Bird puppeteer Caroll Spinney died December 8 at the of 85. He wrote The Wisdom of Big Bird and How to be a Grouch.

Economist Marvin Goodfriend died December 5 at the age of 69. His books include A Framework for independent monetary policy in China and Monetary Policy In Practice.

Former Fed Chairman Paul A. Volcker died December 8 at the age of 92. His books include Changing Fortunes and Keeping At It.

Poet Gerald W. Barrax was run over and killed on December 7 at the age of 86. His books include The Deaths of Animals and Lesser Gods and An Audience of One: Poems.

Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson died December 9 at the age of 61. Her autobiography was called Karleken till Livet.

Theologian Johann Baptist Metz died December 2 at the age of 91. His many books include Poverty of Spirit and Faith in History and Society.

Former mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov died December 10 at the age of 83. He wrote Moscow Does not Believe in Tears and August 1991: Farewell to Communism.

Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke died December 7 at the age of 79. His many books include Evangelism By Fire and Mighty Manifestations.

Automotive executive Kim Woo-Choong died December 9 at the age of 82. He wrote Every street is Paved With Gold.

Developer of the bar code George Laurer died December 5 at the age of 94. He wrote Development of The U.P.C. Symbol.

Actor Danny Aiello died December 12 at the age of 86. His autobiography was called I Only Know Who I am when I am Somebody Else.

Playwright William Luce died December 12 at the age of 88. He wrote The Belle of Amherst and Barrymore.

Dance critic Don McDonagh died December 10 at the age of 87. His books include Dance: A Very Social History, Martha Graham and Don McDonagh’s Guide to Dance.

Historian William S. McFeely died December 11 at the age of 89. His books include Grant: A Biography, Sapelo’s People and Frederick Douglass.

Editor Elisabeth Sifton died December 13 at the age of 80. Her books include The Serenity Prayer and No Ordinary Men.

French new wave actress Anna Karina died December 14 at the age of 79. She wrote On N’achete pas le soleil (We don’t buy the sun), Vivre Ensemble and Golden City.

Theatre historian and Shakespeare scholar John Astington died December11 at the age of 74. His books included English Court Theatre, 1558-1642 and Actors and Acting in Shakespeare's Time: The Art of Stage Playing. He was also the author many important journal articles.

I'm a little shocked -- I knew John and just saw him at the Shakespeare Association meeting in April 2019. He was sharp as ever. RIP 'Sir John'...

Chelsea Handler’s sidekick Chuy Bravo died December 14 at the age of 63. He wrote Little Nuggets of Wisdom.

Financier Felix G. Rohatyn died December 12 at the age of 91. His books include Bold Endeavors: How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild, Dealings: A Political and Financial Life and ces hommes qui ont fait l'Amérique .

Former US Commerce Secretary Frederick B. Dent died December 10 at the age of 97. He wrote Federal and State Indian Reservations and The Potential of Handcrafts.

New Zealand Olympian Peter G. Snell died December 12 at the age of 80. He wrote From Olympian to Scientist.

Novelist Larry Heinemann died December 11 at the age of 75. His books include Paco’s Story and Close Quarters.

Former University of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry died December 17 at the age of 90. He wrote Hayden Fry: A High Porch Picnic.

Film critic Thomas Elsaesser died December 4 at the age of 76. His books include Early Cinema, Weimar Cinema and Fassbinder’s Germany.

Kate Figes died December 7th 2019 aged 62.

Journalist who turned fiction writer Ward Just died December 19 at the age of 84. His many works include An Unfinished Season: A Novel and Echo House .

Poet Louis Jenkins died December 21 at the age of 77. His books include Nice Fish: New and Selected Prose Poems and Winter Road .

Chef Bob Kinkead died December 15 at the age of 67. He wrote Kinkead’s Cookbook: Recipes from Washington D. C. ‘S Premier Seafood restaurant.

Fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro died December 21 at the age of 86. He wrote the self-titled Emanuel Ungaro.
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Spiritual teacher Ram Dass died December 22 at the age of 88. His man books include Be Here Now and The Psychedelic Experience.

Pianist Abbey Simon died December 18 at the age of 99. He wrote Inner Voices.

Journalist Karl E. Meyer died December 22 at the age of 91. His books include Tournament of Shadows and The Dust of Empire.

Author Elizabeth Spencer died December 22 at the age of 98. Her books include Light in the Piazza, The Voice at the Back Door and The stories of Elizabeth Spencer.

Circus ring mistress Nell Gifford died December 8 at the age of 46. She wrote Josser: The Secret Life of a Circus Girl and Gifford’s Circus: The First Ten Years.

Financial advisor Diane Terman Felenstein died December 8 at the age of 79. She wrote The Money Club.

Film critic Peter Wollen died December 17 at the age of 81. His books include Signs and Meaning in Cinema and Paris Hollywood.

Author Kate Figes died December 7 at the age of 62. Her books include Life after Birthand The Penguin Book of International Women’s Stories.

Journalist William Greider died December 25 at the age of 83. His books include Who Will Tell the People and Secrets of the Temple.

Composer Jerry Herman died December 26 at the age of 88. He wrote Showtune: A Memoir.

Television producer Lee Mendelson died Christmas Day at the age of 86. He wrote A Charlie Brown christmas and Charlie Brown and Charlie Schultz: .

Radio host Don Imus died December 27 at the age of 79. He wrote God’s Other Son and Two Guys Four Corners.

Artist and author Alasdair Gray died December 29 at the age of 85. His books include Poor Things, Lanark and 1982, Janine.

The artist behind Blade Runner, Syd Mead died December 30 at the age of 86. His work can be seen in The Movie art of Syd Mead and Oblagon.

Monty Python Star Neil Innes died December 29 at the age of 75. His books include The Royal Tour and Gloom, Doom and Very Funny Money.

Legal affairs reporter Fred P. Graham died December 28 at the age of 88. He wrote The Due Process Revolution.

Knopf publisher Sonny Mehta died December 30 at the age of 77. He wrote Alfred A. Knopf: 1915-2015.

Historian Gertrude Himmelfarb died December 30 at the age of 97. Her many books include The Roads to Modernity, The De-moralization of Society and On Looking into the Abyss.

* touchstone trouble today.

MC Beaton died 30th December 2019 aged 83. Real name Marion Chesney she wrote under many pseudonyms. Creator of Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin.

Immunologist Leslie Baruch Brent died December 21 at the age of 94. He wrote Sunday’s Child? A Memoir and A History of Transplantation Immunology.

Graphic designer Vaughan Oliver died December 29 at the age of 62. His work can be seen in Vaughan Oliver: Visceral Pleasures.

Botanist David J. Bellamy died December 11 at the age of 86. His books include Our Changing World: The River, Our Changing World: The Forest and How Green are You.

Che Guevara’s Right hand man and bodyguard, Harry Villegas died December 29 at the age of 79. His books include Pombo and At the Side of Che Guevara.

Director Jack Garfein died December 30 at the age of 89. He wrote Life and Acting.

Sculptor Bob Wade died December 23 at the age of 76. He wrote Daddy-O: Iguana Heads and Texas Tales, Cowgirls and Ridin’ and Wreckin’.

Charles Williams (no 4 in touchstones) aka Lord Williams of Elvel died December 30th 2019 aged 86. He wrote Bradman — a biography of the cricketer, and a biography of de Gaulle The Last Great Frenchman.

Charles Williams (number 4 in touchstones target list) died December 30th 2019 aged 86. His books include Bradman a biography of the cricketer and a biography of de Gaulle The Last Great Frenchman.

Smithsonian architectural historian James M. Goode died December 12 at the age of 80. His numerous books about Washington’s Buildings include Capital Losses, Best Addresses and Washington Sculpture.

Psychologist Ronald Melzack died December 22 at the age of 90. His books include The Puzzle of Pain and The Challenge of Pain.

Economist Bob Sutcliffe died 23rd December 2019.

Economist Bob Sutcliffe died 23rd December 2019 aged 80.

Ack! Wrong month.

Migratory bird researcher Colin J. Pennycuick died December 9 at the age of 86. His books include Modelling the Flying Bird, Animal Flight and Bird Flight Performance.

Maryland poet David Hickman died in December 2019 at the age of 67. Among his books were What the Silence Said and Lyrics and Cries.