RIP People 2008-2009

The People's Lounge remembers the folks that made a difference in our lives! †



RIP 2008


Sir Edmund Hillary
The New Zealand beekeeper became the first person to stand at the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, declaring to fellow countryman George Lowe that he and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay had "knocked the bastard off." He later became a philanthropist noted for his work in remote Nepalese villages. He was 88.

Richard Knerr
Knerr was cofounder of Wham-O Inc., which unleashed the Hula Hoop on the world a half-century ago along with the Frisbee. Knerr started the company, named for the sound of their first product, the slingshot, with his boyhood friend, Arthur "Spud" Melin. They also launched the Superball, Slip 'N Slide, Water Wiggle, and Silly String. He was 82.

Bobby Fischer
The most powerful American chess player in history, Fischer emerged only briefly in 1992 from a mysterious seclusion that had lasted two decades. He defied an American ban on business in Yugoslavia to play against his old nemesis, Boris Spassky, whom he beat handily. He was 64.

Heath Ledger
Ledger, who went from teen idol in his native Australia to one of the most exciting actors of his generation, was best known for his Oscar-nominated role as a closeted gay ranch hand in "Brokeback Mountain." His death, blamed on an accidental overdose, came as a shock, as his off-screen life wasn't perceived as being as intense as his on-screen performances. He was 28.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
A guru to the Beatles (left), Maharishi introduced the West to transcendental meditation. He began teaching meditation in 1955 and brought the technique to the United States in 1959, the movement taking off with the Beatles' visit to his ashram in India in 1968. He was 91.

William F. Buckley Jr.
The author, journalist, and polysyllabic television personality did more to popularize conservatism in the post-New Deal America than anyone other than Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan. Pat Buchanan called him the "spiritual father of the movement," while left-leaning Arthur Schlesinger Jr. called him "the scourge of American liberalism." Buckley took the jab as a compliment.

Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston poses with his Oscar statuette at the 32nd Annual Academy Awards held at the RKO Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, California on April 4, 1960. Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid, and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s, died Saturday April 5, 2008 according to a statement from the actor's family. He was 86.

Will Robinson
Robinson, a Detroit Pistons scout who discovered Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman, broke the racial barrier in the 1970s when he coached Illinois State, becoming the first black basketball coach at a Division I school. He was 96.

Albert Hofmann
Hoffman, a talented synthetic chemist, is best known as the Swiss chemist who discovered LSD, accidentally getting a trace amount of an experimental compound called lysergic acid diethylamide on his fingertips and taking the world's first acid trip in 1943. He was 102.

Yves Saint Laurent
Saint Laurent reworked the rules of fashion by putting women into elegant pantsuits that came to define how modern women dressed. At left, the designer held hands with model Laetitia Casta (left) and actress Catherine Deneuve at the end of his retrospective haute couture fashion show in 2002.

Bo Diddley
Diddley was a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians. He was 79.

Jim McKay
McKay was the host of ABC's influential "Wide World of Sports" for more than 40 years. The weekend series, which McKay began hosting in 1961, introduced viewers to all manner of strange, compelling, and far-flung sports events. However, he may be best remembered for his coverage of the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. After an attempt to retrieve 11 Israeli athletes who had been kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists ended in tragedy, he broke the grim news to American audiences with the terse utterance, "They're all gone." He was 84.

Isaac Hayes
Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless "Theme From Shaft" won Academy and Grammy awards, was found dead in his home. He was 65.

Richard Wright
Wright, a founding member of Pink Floyd whose piano and synthesizer work played a critical part in the pioneering rock band's ethereal sound, died after a short battle with cancer. He was 65. Wright was the co-writer of several of the band's signature songs, including "Time,'' "Us and Them,'' and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond.'' He was 65.

Madelyn Dunham
Dunham, 86, was the maternal grandmother of president-elect Barack Obama. Dunham (pictured, left with her arms around Obama at his high school graduation in 1979) died following a battle with cancer, just a day before the election that elected her grandson the 44th president of the United States.

Bettie Page
Bettie Page, the 1950s secretary-turned-model whose controversial photographs in skimpy attire or none at all helped set the stage for the 1960s sexual revolution, died at 85. Page, who was also known as Betty, attracted national attention with magazine photographs of her sensuous figure in bikinis and see-through lingerie that were quickly tacked up on walls in military barracks, garages and elsewhere, where they remained for years.

Freddie Hubbard
Hubbard was a Grammy Award winning jazz musician whose style influnced a generation of trumpet players and collaborated with such greats as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins. He was 70.