If anyone could flame from beyond the grave, it is he. Erik Naggum was a young programmer and Usenet philosopher who exemplified the new breed of smug Lisp weenie. His hatred for Perl, C++ and XML fueled his Olympian rants. He was cruel, but smart; he was articulate, but he used arguments ad hominem; he left a trail of scorched earth, but he had devoted friends. I didn't know him, but I enjoyed his expression of free thought. He died young after years of torment; R.I.P. [more inside]
posted by e.e. coli on Jun 21, 2009 - 72 comments

Premature , prepared, and alternative obituaries for Cuba's Fidel Castro. Time to get ready for the real thing? Conjecture and hope about Life After Fidel: Time to get to know Fidel's brother Raul.
posted by spock on Jan 16, 2007 - 80 comments

Steve Irwin, better known as The Crocodile Hunter, is dead after a sting-ray barb went through his chest. He is survived by his wife and two children and both he and his larger than life persona will be missed.
posted by Effigy2000 on Sep 3, 2006 - 469 comments

Haughey Dead No, not that one. Charles Haughey – Former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, and probably the most controversial figure in recent Irish political history, has died of complications arising from prostate cancer.
posted by Sk4n on Jun 13, 2006 - 26 comments

And the great ones keep dying. RIP Dennis Weaver.
posted by ed on Feb 27, 2006 - 44 comments

Robert Moog has passed away after battling a brain tumor for several months. There aren't any news stories up yet, but simply key his name into Google and it's plain to see his influence on every aspect of music. The family has a caringbridge page filled with tributes and several journal entries.
posted by teletype1 on Aug 21, 2005 - 77 comments

Actor/impressionist Frank Gorshin, aka The Riddler of the Batman TV series, has died at age 72.
posted by QuestionableSwami on May 18, 2005 - 53 comments

Architect Philip Johnson -- first winner of the first Pritzker Prize, and builder of glass houses, is dead at 98. He outlived his rival Frank Lloyd Wright by 47 years. He helped bring modernism to America but would later leave it behind.
posted by gwint on Jan 26, 2005 - 31 comments

Filmmaker Alexander Hammid died earlier this week at the age of 96. By far one of the most prolific and eclectic underground filmmakers, his filmography included marital industrial films, home movies of his cats, and work as an editor on Gian Carlo Menotti's filmed opera The Medium. However, he is best known as the first husband of iconclastic director and actress Maya Deren.
posted by pxe2000 on Aug 8, 2004 - 3 comments

NFL player , who walked away from a $3.6 million contract in the aftermath of 9/11 to join his brother in the Special Forces, dies in Afganistan. Unselfishness personified.
posted by treywhit on Apr 23, 2004 - 46 comments

Helmut Newton Killed in Crash Photographer Helmut Newton lost control of his Cadillac while leaving the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood and crashed into a wall across the street. (more inside)
posted by matteo on Jan 23, 2004 - 11 comments

Copito de Nieve, a.k.a. Floquet de Neu, the only known white gorilla dies at age 37. It was one of the symbols of my hometown Barcelona. Snowflake was the star of the Barcelona Zoo, he always surrounded by female gorillas (not surprisingly he produced 22 offspring but none of them albino) and was famous because of his bad mood and tendency to throw things around. He was finally put down today as his skin cancer condition was aggravating. There it goes a no small part of my childhood (although I preferred the dolphins, always so cheerful)... Snowflake no longer lives with Virunga and Coco... (sigh!)
posted by samelborp on Nov 24, 2003 - 9 comments

Charles Bronson (1921 - 2003)
The BBC were showing Once Upon a Time in The West last night. I guess he died while I was watching it, which is kind of odd...
posted by tomcosgrave on Sep 1, 2003 - 17 comments

"You, Walter, are indeed like a miracle that God has made."
African National Congress veteran Walter Sisulu, born in 1912, the year the ANC was founded, has died, the ANC said on Monday. He's the guy who practiced law with Nelson Mandela and spent a lot of time in jail with him. I saw his cell, the prison courtyard and the quarry in which they toiled and laboured on Robben Island just a couple of weeks ago.
posted by tomcosgrave on May 5, 2003 - 4 comments

GoogObits I have always had a fascination with the obituaries page and dead pools. I have hosted a small dead pool for friends for the past few years and have collected obituaries of famous and sent them out as email salvos to friends. But this is an inspiration to us all. The joy of google, the fascination with the obit. Enjoy the dead.
posted by majikwah on Feb 21, 2003 - 3 comments

Alan Lomax , the legendary collector of folk music who was the first to record towering figures like Leadbelly, Muddy Waters and Woody Guthrie, died yesterday at a nursing home in Sarasota, Fla. He was 87. Mr. Lomax was a musicologist, author, disc jockey, singer, photographer, talent scout, filmmaker, concert and recording producer and television host. He did whatever was necessary to preserve traditional music and take it to a wider audience. (NY Times- Registraion Required) And... Additionally... And this. Also...
posted by y2karl on Jul 20, 2002 - 26 comments

Actor Rod Steiger Dies at 78 One of the great character actors. I still remember how blown away I was by him in "In The Heat of the Night". R.I.P.
posted by BGM on Jul 9, 2002 - 11 comments

In 1997, Scott Shuger created for Slate.com what would quickly become the wildly popular column "Today's Papers." The column was innovative in its brief and snarky discussions about that day's headlines on all the major news dailies. The differences between each paper's choice of stories covered, and the variances from paper to paper in their coverage of those same stories was illustrative in a fashion we now take for granted around here on MeFi. Shuger died suddenly over the weekend in a scuba mishap and is remembered here by his colleagues at slate.com.
posted by BentPenguin on Jun 17, 2002 - 8 comments

Rose, the Dalmatian who greeted the rich and powerful at the Inn at Little Washington, died this morning at age 13...
posted by GriffX on May 14, 2002 - 21 comments

The National Obituary Archive is filled with details and biographies about those who left this life recently and tragically, the famous and infamous, and even one or two notes about just plain folks.
posted by bradlands on Feb 24, 2002 - 5 comments

Stanley Marcus Dies at 96 We've all heard corporate propaganda about "customer service." He really practiced it. Neiman's has really been expanding their online shopping services. Can Web retailers in the 21st century learn anything from such old-skool customer service? (NYT password link obituary is here)
posted by sixdifferentways on Jan 23, 2002 - 9 comments

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Dave Thomas, the portly pitchman whose homespun ads built Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers into one of the world's most successful fast-food franchises, has died. He was 69 ... The cause of death was not given.
posted by chrish on Jan 8, 2002 - 32 comments

RIP, Mr. Dressup. For Canadians who were growing up in the 70s and 80s, the loss of this icon is a sad, sad happening. If only there were people to teach today's kids how to have fun with pipecleaners and cardboard instead of whining for $300 in video games. What became of old-fashioned imagination?
posted by Electric Jesus on Sep 18, 2001 - 12 comments

Mefi Book of Condolence We do not know how many perished on that terrible day, but however many, we do know that there are many, many grieving families who have lost somebody special. Please take a moment to add your comments of support and condolences to this thread. Please just sign and add a comment of support to those who lost loved ones, save discussion for other threads.
posted by Mossy on Sep 12, 2001 - 28 comments

HRH Elizabeth The Queen Mother is Dead This reminds me of a documentary I saw a year ago about US news channels, and the fact that they have the logos and segments already prepared for the deaths of important old-timers. This was funnier though.
posted by wackybrit on Aug 5, 2001 - 8 comments

R.I.P. R.A.H.
posted by baylink on May 8, 2001 - 9 comments

Bertie Fisher dies.... A tragedy for Irish motorsport, and of course for the Fisher family.
posted by tomcosgrave on Jan 23, 2001 - 0 comments

Aloha, Mr. Hand. Ray Walston is dead. For all you counting by threes, he would be the third, I guess. You can stop counting now.
posted by bondcliff on Jan 2, 2001 - 7 comments

"I'll tell you the greatest regret of my life: I let my love go." - Earl Partridge, Magnolia
posted by gluechunk on Dec 26, 2000 - 1 comment