Deaths in December - 2023

Political scientist Shlomo Avineri died December 1 at the age of 90. His books include The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx, Hegel's Theory of the Modern State, and The Making of Modern Zionism: Intellectual Origins of the Jewish State.

Novelist Roberto Pazzi died December 2 at the age of 77. His books include Conclave, Searching for the Emperor , and The Princess and the Dragon.

Comedian Tony Allen died December 1 at the age of 78. He wrote A Summer in the Park: A Journal Written from Diary Notes: June 4th 2000 to October 16th 2000 and Attitude - Wanna Make Something of It?: The Secret of Stand-Up Comedy.

Poet Jean Ristat died December 3 at the age of 80. His work includes Album Aragon and Artémis chasse à courre le sanglier, le cerf et le loup.

Cuban-American dissident Juanita Castro (sister to Fidel and Raul) died December 4 at the age of 90. She wrote Fidel y Raúl, Mis Hermanos: La historia secreta.

Moody Blues co-founder Denny Laine died December 5 at the age of 79. He wrote Denny Laine’s Guitar Book.

Chemist and father of a serial killer Lionel Dahmer died December 5 at the age of 87. He wrote A Father's Story and Report on Chemical Analysis and Further Dating of Dinosaur Bones and Dinosaur Petroglyphs.

Television producer Norman Lear died December 5 at the age of 101. He wrote Even This I Get to Experience and The Wit & Wisdom of Archie Bunker.

Anarchist Alfredo Bonanno died December 6 at the age of 86. His books include From Riot To Insurrection: Analysis For An Anarchist Perspective Against Post Industrial Capitalism, Armed Joy, and Anarchism And The National Liberation Struggle .

Poet Benjamin Zephaniah died December 7 at the age of 65. His work includes Refugee Boy, Face, Gangsta Rap, and Talking Turkeys (Plus).

Cuban author Edmundo Desnoes died December 6 at the age of 93. His books include Memories of Underdevelopment and Inconsolable memories.

Rabbis David Ellenson died December 7 at the age of 76. His books include Pledges of Jewish Allegiance: Conversion, Law, and Policymaking in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Orthodox Responsa, After Emancipation: Jewish Religious Responses To Modernity, and Jewish Meaning in a World of Choice: Studies in Tradition and Modernity (A JPS Scholar of Distinction Book).

Palestinian professor Refaat Alareer was killed on December 7 at the age of 44. His books include Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine and Gaza unsilenced.

Actor Ryan O’Neal died December 8 at the age of 82. He wrote Both of Us: My Life with Farrah.

Environmental activist Alberto Ruz Buenfil died December 7 at the age of 78. He wrote Rainbow Nation Without Borders: Toward an Ecotopian Millennium.

Groundbreaking actress Ellen Holly died December 6 at the age of 92. She wrote One Life: The Autobiography of an African American Actress .

Playwright and feminist writer Renee née Renee Gertrude Taylor died December 11 at the age of 94. Her work includes The Skeleton Woman and Jeannie once.

Engineer John Brooks Slaughter died December 6 at the age of 89. He wrote Changing the Face of Engineering: The African American Experience.

Master beekeeper Kim Flottum died December 10 at the age of 76. His many books include The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden and The Backyard Beekeeper's Honey Handbook: A Guide to Creating, Harvesting, and Cooking with Natural Honeys.

Children’s author Shirley Barber died December 12 at the age of 88. Her books include The Tooth Fairy and The enchanted woods .

Author Zurab Karumidze died December 12 at the age of 65. He wrote Dagny or a Love Feast .

Comic book illustrator Ian Gibson died December 11 at the age of 77. His work can be seen in The Ballad of Halo Jones and The Complete Alan Moore Future Shocks .

Actress Shirley Anne Field died December 12 at the age of 87. She wrote A Time for Love: An Autobiography .

Writer David Drake died December 10 at age 78. A prolific writer, his series included the military SF Hammer's Slammers and the fantasy Lord of the Isles.

Actor Michael Blakemore died December 10 at the age of 95. His books include Next Season and Stage Blood: Five Tempestuous Years in the Early Life of the National Theatre.

Holocaust refugee and WWII US military intelligence officer Guy Stern died December 7 at the age of 101. His books include Essential German Grammar and Nazi Book Burning and the American Response .

Biographer Ted Morgan has died at the age of 91. His books include Wilderness At Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent and Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs.

Zoo director Dr. Terry L. Maple died December 3 at the age of 77. His books include Ethics on the Ark: Zoos, Animal Welfare, and Wildlife Conservation and Zoo Man: Inside the Zoo Revolution.

Film historian and author Cari Beauchamp died December 14 aged 74. Her works include Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood and My first time in Hollywood : stories from the pioneers, dreamers and misfits who made the movies.

Lighting designer Richard Pilbrow died December 6 at the age of 90. He wrote Stage Lighting Design: The Art, the Craft, the Life and A Theatre Project.

Wine maker Mike Grgich died December 13 at the age of 100. He wrote A Glass Full of Miracles. 🍷 A toast to you, sir.

Psychiatrist Michael H. Stone died December 6 at the age of 90. His books include The Anatomy of Evil and The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime .

Civil rights lawyer Paul Chevigny died December 11 at the age of 88. His books include Edge of the Knife: Police Violence in the Americas, Police Power: Police Abuses in New York City, and Gigs: Jazz and the Cabaret Laws in New York City (After the Law).

Sociologist Antonio Negri died December 16 at the age of 90. His books include Empire, Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire, and Savage Anomaly: The Power of Spinoza's Metaphysics and Politics.

Photographer Peter Bush died December 16 at the age of 93. His books include South Island Wide and New Zealand Wide .

Mathematician Harold J. Breaux died December 5 at the age of 85. He wrote Illegitimate: Trump's Election and Failed Presidency.

Sculptor Richard Hunt died December 16 at the age of 88. His work can be seen in The Sculpture of Richard Hunt .

Educator Tim Brighouse died December 15 at the age of 83. His books include How to Improve Your School and What Makes a Good School Now?

Actor Steve Halliwell died December 15 at the age of 77. His memoir was If The Cap Fits: My Rocky Road to Emmerdale.

Historian J. G. A. Pocock died December 13 at the age of 99. His many books include The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition, Politics, Language, and Time: Essays on Political Thought and History , and The Ancient Constitution and the Feudal Law: A Study of English Historical Thought in the Seventeenth Century.

Humorous author Dan Greenburg died December 18 at the age of 87. His many books include Zap! I'm a Mind Reader , Great-Grandpa's in the Litter Box, and Through the Medicine Cabinet.

Philosopher Mark Sagoff died December 12 at the age of 82. His books include The Economy of the Earth: Philosophy, Law, and the Environment and Price, Principle, and the Environment .

Sinologist Mark Elvin died December 19 at the age of 85. His books include Cultural Atlas of China and The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China .

Historian Arno J. Mayer died December 19 at the age of 97. His books include Why Did the Heavens Not Darken and The Persistence of the Old Regime.

Art historian Pavel Preiss died December 18 at the age of 97. His books include Prague at the Dawn of New History and Prazske Palace .

Jeweler Harry Fane died December 15 at the age of 70. He wrote Reflections of Elegance: Cartier Jewels from the Lindemann Collection .

Insider trading whistle blower Raymond Dirks died December 9 at the age of 89. He wrote The great Wall Street scandal and Heads You Win, Tails You Win : The Dirks Investment Formula.

Historian Rebekka Habermas died December 21 at the age of 64. Her books include Thieves in Court: The Making of the German Legal System in the Nineteenth Century and Skandal in Togo ein Kapitel deutscher Kolonialherrschaft.

Playwright Oliver Emanuel died December 21 at the age of 43. His work includes The 306: Dawn and Man Across the Way / Magpie Park.

Journalist Patrick Butler died December 13 at the age of 83. His books include Hidden history of Ravenswood and Lake View and Hidden History of Uptown and Edgewater .

Economist Robert Solow died December 21 at the age of 99. His books include Linear Programming and Economic Analysis and Growth Theory: An Exposition.

Former US ambassador to Germany John C. Kornblum died December 21 at the age of 80. He wrote Mission Amerika : Weltmacht am Wendepunkt .

Peace activist Fredrik S. Heffermehl died December 23 at the age of 85. His books include Peace is possible.

Political scientist and activist Kenneth S. Sherrill died December 2 aged 81. His works include Gays and the military: Joseph Steffan versus the United States and Power, Policy, and Participation : An Introduction to American Government.

Cultural historian Joan DeJean died December 2 aged 75. Her works include How Paris became Paris : the invention of the modern city and Mutinous women : how French convicts became founding mothers of the Gulf Coast.

Hollywood legal and labor journalist David L. Robb (Dave Robb) died December 8 aged 74. His works include Operation Hollywood : how the Pentagon shapes and censors the movies and The gumshoe and the shrink Guenther Reinhardt, Dr. Arnold Hutschnecker, and the secret history of the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon election.

Novelist David Burr Gerrard died December 8 aged 42. He wrote The epiphany machine and Short century: a novel.

Film historian and documentary filmmaker Cari Beauchamp died December 14 aged 74. Her works include Without lying down : Frances Marion and the powerful women of early Hollywood and My first time in Hollywood : stories from the pioneers, dreamers and misfits who made the movies.

Former newspaper editor Howard Weaver died December 14 aged 73. He wrote Write Hard, Die Free: Dispatches from the Battlefields & Barrooms of the Great Alaska Newspaper War.

Former newspaper editor Howard Weaver died December 14 aged 73. He wrote Write Hard, Die Free: Dispatches from the Battlefields & Barrooms of the Great Alaska Newspaper War.

New Zealand YA and children's author Sherryl Jordan died December 15 aged 74. Her works include The raging quiet, Winter of fire, and the Secret Sacrament series.

Screenwriter and novelist Norma Barzman died December 17 aged 103. One of the last living people from the the Hollywood blacklist, her works include The Red and the Blacklist and The end of romance : a memoir of love, sex, and the mystery of the violin.

Fantasy and supernatural horror writer Mark Samuels died December 3 aged 56. His works include the story collection The White Hands and Other Weird Tales and the novella The Face of Twilight.

Author of YA/children's books, best known perhaps for the Flambards series, K M Peyton (Kathleen) has died aged 94.

Journalist Hugh Aynesworth died December 23 at the age of 92. His books include The Only Living Witness: The True Story of Serial Sex Killer Ted Bundy and Ted Bundy : Conversations with a Killer.

Playwright Thomas Kilroy died December 7 at the age of 89. His work includes The Big Chapel and Secret Fall of Constance Wilde.

Philosophy professor Alexander E. Hooke died December 7 at the age of 71. His books include Encounters with Alphonso Lingis , Virtuous Persons, Virtuous Deeds: An Introduction to Ethics, and Alphonso Lingis and Existential Genealogy: The First Full Length Study Of The Work Of Alphonso Lingis.

Photographer Sherif Sonbol died December 24 at the age of 67. His books include Mulid!: Carnivals of Faith (Auc Press Photo Books) and Nile Cruise: A Photographic Guide .

Art historian Eugenio Riccomini died December 25 at the age of 87. His books include Donato Creti: Melancholy and Perfection and Nino Migliori: Walls .

Geographer Yehoshua Ben-Arieh died December 25 at the age of 95. His books include Jerusalem in the 19th Century: The Old City, The rediscovery of the Holy Land in the nineteenth century, and Jerusalem in the 19th Century: Emergence of the New City.

Antiques Roadshow expert Henry Sandon died December 25 at the age of 95. His books include British pottery and porcelain for pleasure and investment and The illustrated guide to Worcester porcelain, 1751-1793 .

Chef Bill Granger died December 25 at the age of 54. His books include Bill's Food and Bills Open Kitchen.

English professor Christina Britzolakis died December 10 at the age of 60. She wrote Sylvia Plath and the Theatre of Mourning (Oxford English Monographs) .

Politician Jacques Delors died December 27 at the age of 98. His work includes Learning, the Treasure within; Report to Unesco of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First and L'unité d'un homme.

Poet Maria Laina died December 27 at the age of 76. Her work includes The Rehearsal of Misunderstanding: Three Collections by Contemporary Greek Women Poets, Rose fear, and Το φαγητό. Μονόλογος.

Journalist Jack McLean died December 27 at the age of 78. His books include The Bedside Urban Voltaire and Hopeless, Not Serious .

Playwright Mbongeni Ngema died December 27 at the age of 67. His work includes Woza Albert! and Sarafina!

Artist Pope L. died December 23 at the age of 68. His work includes WILLIAM POPE.L - ART AFTER WHITE PEOPLE: TIME, TREES, AND CELLULOID and My Kingdom for a Title .

Psychoanalyst Jona M. Rosenfeld died December 27 at the age of 101. Their books include From Exclusion to Reciprocity: "Learning from Success" , Emergence From Extreme Povety, and Artisans of Democracy. How Ordinary People, Families in Extreame Poverty, and Social Institutions Become Allies.

Methodist minister Donald E. Wildmon died December 28 at the age of 85. His books include The Home Invaders and The Case Against Pornography.

FM radio host Jim Ladd died December 17 at the age of 75. He wrote Radio waves : life and revolution on the FM dial .

Editor Carol Hupping died December 14 at the age of 74. Her books include Stocking Up: How to Preserve the Foods You Grow, Naturally, Stocking Up III: The All-New Edition of America's Classic Preserving Guide, and Producing your own Power : How to Make Nature's Energy Sources Work for You.

Master merry-go-round woodcarver Gerry Holzman died December 8 at the age of 90. His books include The Empire State Carousel and Us carvers : an American woodcarver and his English mentor chip away at the Tree of Knowledge.

Composer Alice Parker died December 24 at the age of 98. She wrote Creative Hymn Singing .

Lawyer Sir Michael Hardie Boys died December 29 at the age of 92. He wrote The boy from Evans Bay : the memoirs of Sir Michael Hardie Boys .

Rev. Jaerock Lee died December 31 at the age of 80. His books include Heaven 1: As Clear and Beautiful as Crystal and The Power of God .

Campaigning journalist, writer and documentary film maker John Pilger died on 30 December at 84. His books include Heroes, Hidden Agendas and The New Rulers of the World.

Attorney Len Murray represented the last teenager to be executed in Britain. Murray died December 22 at the age of 90. He wrote The Pleader: An Autobiography.

Psychiatrist June Jackson Christmas died December 31 at the age of 99. She wrote Everywoman's Health: The Complete Guide to Body and Mind.

Food editor Anthony Dias Blue died December 25 at the age of 82. His books include The Complete Book of Spirits: A Guide to Their History, Production, and Enjoyment, The Complete Book of Mixed Drinks, and
American Wine: A Comprehensive Guide .

Curator Susan Gray Detweiler died December 26 at the age of 85. She wrote George Washington's Chinaware and American Presidential China: The Robert L. Mcneil Jr., Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art .

Musician and indigenous rights activist Klee Benally died December 30 at the age of 48. His work includes Unknowable Against an indigenous anarchist theory and No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy In Defense Of The Sacred.

>37 varielle: Benally and his brother and sister were a Navajo based punk rock band called Blackfire. Joey Ramone I think produced their first record.

Musical missionary Willie Ruff died December 24 at the age of 92. He wrote A Call to Assembly: An American Success Story.

Screenwriter Herman Raucher died December 28 at the age of 95. He is best known for Summer of '42, Maynard's House, and Ode to Billy Joe .

Rabbi Herbert Bronstein died December 30 aged 93. He wrote the updated Reform Judaism A Passover Haggadah: The New Union Haggadah, which has sold over a million copies since it was published in the 1970s.

Blacklisted screenwriter Norma Barzman died December 17 at the age of 103. Her books include The Red and the Blacklist and The end of romance : a memoir of love, sex, and the mystery of the violin .

Nautical historical novelist David Donachie died December 21 at the age of 79. His books include The Pillars of Rome , By the Mast Divided, and Mercenaries.

Record producer Neil Slaven died December 23 at the age of 79. He wrote Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa .

Journalist Mike Perricone died December 9 at the age of 72. He wrote The Big Bang (Science Foundations) and From deadlines to diapers : journal of an at-home father.

Television presenter Wilf Lunn died December 13 at the age of 81. His books include Mad Things to Make from "Vision on" and My Best Cellar: An Autobiography Up to the Age of Eleven...and Other Stuff .

Illustrator Robert Andrew Parker died December 27 at the age of 96. His work can be seen in Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum and Sweet Betsy from Pike : a song from the gold rush days.

Medical journalist Caroline Richmond died December 24 at the age of 82. She co-wrote Insulin Murders.

WWII intelligence officer Patricia Rorke died December 9 at the age of 100. Her autobiography was called Every Common Bush.

Educator Jennifer Nias died December 4 at the age of 90. Her books include Primary Teachers Talking: A Study of Teaching As Work, Whole school curriculum development in the primary school , and The enquiring teacher : supporting and sustaining teacher research .

Plastic surgeon Berish Strauch died December 24 at the age of 90. His books include Grabb’s encyclopedia of flaps and Atlas of Microvascular Surgery.

Gerontologist Naomi Feil died December 24 at the age of 91. Her books include The Validation Breakthrough and Validation : The Feil Method .

Publisher and editor Marc Jaffe died December 31 at the age of 102. His edited books include Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes and Three Great Novels of the Civil War.

Psychotherapist and Holocaust survivor Isca Wittenberg died December 23 at the age of 100. Her books include Psycho-Analytic Insight and Relationships: A Kleinian Approach, The Emotional Experience of Learning and Teaching (Routledge Education Books, and Experiencing Endings and Beginnings .

Rally driver Rosemary Smith died December 5 at the age of 86. She wrote Driven: A pioneer for women in motorsport – an autobiography.

Professor of French Margaret Atack died December 13 at the age of 75. Her books include May 68 in French fiction and film : rethinking society, rethinking representation, Women, genre and circumstance : essays in memory of Elizabeth Fallaize, and French feminisms 1975 and after : new readings, new texts.

Author, television producer, and screenwriter Steve Arwood died December 29 aged 79. He collaborated for years with the group Riders in the Sky and their public radio shows (Riders Radio Theater), and voicing their announcer, Texas "Bix" Bender. Arwood's works include Don't Squat With Yer Spurs On!, Laughing Stock, and Hats: And the Cowboys Who Wear Them.

Arts educator Pauline Tambling has died at the age of 68. She wrote Performing Arts in Primary Schools .

Probation officer and crime novelist Jeremy Cameron died December 30 at the age of 76. His books include Brown Bread in Wengen , It Was an Accident, and Vinnie Got Blown Away.

Theologian Michael Knibb died December 6 at the age of 84. He edited The Septuagint and The Qumran community.

Historian Roy F. R. Bridge died December 6 at the age of 85. His books include The Great Powers and the European States System, 1815-1914 and The Habsburg monarchy among the great powers, 1815-1918 .

Typeface and graphics designer best known for his work with Penguin Publishing Phil Baines died December 19 at the age of 65. His books include Penguin by Design: A Cover Story 1935-2005 and Type and Typography .

Educator Barbara Megson has died at the age of 93. Her books include Children in Distress and English Homes and Housekeeping, 1700-1960 .

Aviculturist Joe Blossom died in December at the age of 83. He wrote Sea and Freshwater Birds (Spotter's Guide) .

Historian Robin Okey died in December at the age of 81. His books include The Habsburg Monarchy, C. 1765-1918: From Enlightenment to Eclipse and Eastern Europe 1740-1985: Feudalism to Communism .

Crime fiction writer L. A. Morse died December 20 aged 78. His works include The Old Dick, The flesh eaters, and Video trash and treasures.