remembrance

Philip "P.J." Thomas was a captain and harbor pilot who along with his three children died when Hurricane Dorian roared through Grand Bahama island on Sept. 1.

World News

Friends Remember One Of Dorian's Victims On Grand Bahama

8:05pm September 12, 2019

by Greg Allen

P.J. Thomas was an experienced boat captain and harbor pilot who guided some of the world's largest cruise ships to the dock. During the hurricane, he died saving his wife.

Tony Horwitz, seen hitchhiking in Australia in 1986, wrote about the experience later in his book One for the Road: Hitchhiking Through the Australian Outback. Horwitz, who would go on to win the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, died Monday at

Books
Arts

Tony Horwitz, Pulitzer-Winning Journalist And Historian, Dies At 60

1:50pm May 28, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

Horwitz's publisher says he died of apparent cardiac arrest. A Pulitzer Prize winner for covering the hardships of low-wage workers, the peripatetic writer sought truths obscured by history's cliches.

Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina, seen here during a January 2014 interview in Nairobi, has died at the age of 48. A founder of the Nairobi-based literary network Kwani?, Wainaina had come out as gay in a country where homosexuality was illegal.

Books
Arts

Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan Writer And LGBTQ Activist, Dies At 48

1:31pm May 22, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

The author founded a platform for young Kenyan authors and came out as gay in a place where homosexuality has long been illegal. "Binyavanga was unbound in his imagining," said a friend and colleague.

John Singleton, seen in Los Angeles in July 1991, not long after the release of Boyz n the Hood. The movie earned the young filmmaker two Oscar nominations.

Arts

John Singleton, Pioneering Director Of 'Boyz N The Hood,' Dies At 51

6:20pm April 29, 2019

The 1991 film earned him two Oscar nods and a spot in history as the youngest person and first African American ever nominated for best director. Singleton died in Los Angeles after a stroke.

Queue Listen Now

Drummer Hal Blaine attends an awards ceremony in Anaheim, Calif., in 2014.

Hal Blaine, 'Most Recorded Drummer In History,' Dies At 90

6:11pm March 12, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

The session musician's ubiquitous drums beat a path through rock history. As a member of the Wrecking Crew, Blaine can be heard backing everyone from Frank Sinatra to Neil Diamond and the Beach Boys.

Queue Listen Now

Jonas Mekas, seen in 2015 in Venice, Italy, where the filmmaker's digital works were exhibited at the same time as the Venice Biennale. Mekas died Wednesday at the age of 96.

Arts

Jonas Mekas, Underground Filmmaker Who Cast A Long Shadow, Dies At 96

4:02pm January 23, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

The Lithuanian-born director, poet, archivist and critic, who died Wednesday, not only made dozens of experimental films — he helped carve a place for countless other filmmakers to do the same.

Astronaut Alan Bean was photographed by Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., who is reflected in Bean's helmet visor, during the Apollo 12 moonwalk in 1969.

National

Alan Bean, Apollo 12 Astronaut Who Walked On The Moon, Dies At 86

4:24pm May 26, 2018

by Russell Lewis

Bean was the lunar module pilot of Apollo 12, which made the second moon landing, in 1969. Later in life, as a painter, he chronicled the people and experience of the Apollo program.

Arts

My Daily, Digital Memorials

3:18am December 30, 2017

by Linda Wertheimer

NPR's Linda Wertheimer shares her secret, private way of remembering loved ones who've passed away.

Pat DiNizio, leader of The Smithereens, died on Tuesday. He's seen here singing during the band's 2003 performance at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Smithereens Lead Singer Pat DiNizio Dies At Age 62

9:31am December 13, 2017

by Bill Chappell

Pat DiNizio, a singer and songwriter who made popular rock songs as the leader of The Smithereens, died on Tuesday, his fellow band members say.

French singer Johnny Hallyday smiles as he receives the best album award next to French TV host Virginie Guilhaume at the 31st Victoires de la Musique, the annual French music awards ceremony, last year at the Zenith concert hall in Paris.

Music & Culture

'French Elvis' Johnny Hallyday Dies At 74

8:57am December 06, 2017

by Scott Neuman

Born as Jean-Philippe Smet during World War II in occupied Paris, Hallyday latched on to American-style rock 'n roll in the 1960s and went on to sell 100 million albums over five decades.