Category : obituary

Take Away Show #74.1: Vic Chesnutt.

Vic Chestnutt died on Christmas day from an overdose of muscle relaxants. He was 45.

One of the world’s great street photographers, Helen Levitt has died at the age of 95. Listen to a 2002 NPR interview with Levitt and see a gallery of Levitt’s photos.

Robert Rauschenberg has died at 82. Read his obituary in the New York Times. See MoMA’s collection of Rauschenberg works and take a look at his covers for Time Magazine.

Painter Elizabeth Murray passed away of complications from lung cancer Sunday at the age of 66.

German photographer and teacher Bernd Becher died this week at the age of 75. With his wife Hilla, Becher took beautifully systematic photos of industrial structures for more than 40 years. Becher was also an influential teacher at the Dusseldorf Academy, where he taught Andreas Gursky, Candida Hofer, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth. Here’s a pretty good collection of their water towers and blast furnace photos. And a nice long article on the Bechers and their influence on contemporary photography.

Urban theorist and activist Jane Jacobs has died at the age of 89. Read more about Jacobs and listen to a recent interview with her.

Writer Susan Sontag has died of leukemia at age 71.

The legendary British DJ John Peel has died. A radio DJ for more then 40 years, first briefly in the U.S. and then as a member of BBC One’s original lineup. He was, as the BBC described, a radio DJ who remained at the cutting-edge of popular taste and he had an uncanny ability to discover and play the best new bands before they broke out. His Peel Sessions continued to break new bands for decades in live in-house recordings. Peel died of a heart attack a while vacationing with his wife in Peru. He was 65.

French philospher Jacques Derrida has died at age 74 of pancreatic cancer.

French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson died Monday in France at the age of 95.

With his warm dulcet voice and his passion for music, J.J. Jackson helped to define what a “VJ” was during the formative years of MTV. For the five of us, he was the wise DJ, said fellow early 80’s MTV VJ Mark Goodman. He was the guy who had been through it all and was able to always put a mature perspective to things. He wound up handling the spotlight that was thrust on us better than any of us. Jackson died Wednesday night in Los Angeles while driving home from dinner. He was 62.

The Man in Black has died.

John Ritter has died of a heart condition.