Deaths in July 2009

Oscar winning actor Karl Malden, nee Mladen Sekulovich, died July 1 at the age of 97. His autobiography was called When Do I Start?.

Philosopher David Pears died July 1 at the age of 87. A few of his books were Paradox and platitude in Wittgenstein's Philosophy, Bertrand Russell and the british Tradition in Philosophy and Hume's System.

Nixon White House aide Herbert G. Klein died July 2 at the age of 91. His autobiography was Making it Perfectly Clear: An Inside Account of Nixon's Love-Hate Relationship with the Media.

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara died July 6 at the age of 93. He was the author of numerous books including In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, Argument without end: In search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy, Wilson's Ghost: reducing the Risk of Conflict, Killling and Catastrophe in the 21st Century, The Essence of Security; Reflections in Office, Blundering into Disaster: Surviving the First Century of the Nuclear Age, Out of the Cold: New Thinking for American Foreign Defense Policy in the 21st Century and Africa's Development Crisis.

Exiled Soviet writer Vasili Aksenov died July 6 at the age of 76. He was the author of A Starry Ticket, Oranges from Morocco, The Burn and Island of Crimea.

Poet and translator, particularly of fairy tales, Naomi Lewis died July 5 at the age of 97. She was the author of A Visit to Mrs. Wilcox.

Southern writer Paul Hemphill died July 11 at the age of 73. He was the author of Too Old to Cry, Leaving Birmingham: Notes of a Native Son, The Good Old Boys, The Nashville Sound: Bright Lights and Country Music, The Heart of the Game, Wheels: A Season on Nascar's Winston Cup Circuit, Long Gone, The Sixkiller Chronicles, King of the Road, Long Gone and his last book A Tiger Walk Through History.

Paul Hemphill, author and journalist, died on July 11 at the age of 73. Paul was the author of 12 non-fiction books and 3 novels. His first book published in 1970, The Nashville Sound: Bright Lights and Country Music told of the young world of Country and Western music in the days of Bill Anderson and Jimmie Rogers and into the music of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Dolly Parton. His last book in 2005 was Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams and in between he wrote of baseball, football, stock car racing and the segregated south where he grew up. His memoir, Leaving Birmingham: Notes of a Native Son belie his reputation as a blue collar good old boy.

Political scientist John Orman died July 5 at the age of 60. He was the author of Presidential Secrecy and Deception: Beyond the Power to Persuade, Celebrity Politics and Comparing Presidential Behavior: Carter, Reagan and the Macho Political Style.

Scholar of Japanese literature, Carmen Blacker, died July 13 at the age of 85. She was the author of The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan, Ancient Cosmologies, The Japanese: A Study of the Writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi, Oracles and Divination and Women and Tradition: A Neglected Group of Folklorists.

American Civil War historian Kenneth M. Stampp died July 10 at the age of 96. He was the author of The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Antebellum South, The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877, The Southern Road to Appomattox and America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink.

Children's book author Jane D. Weinberger widow of former U.S. Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger, died July 12 at the age of 91. She also published her letters and memoir of aging. Some of her books include Vim: A Very Important Mouse, As Ever: A Selection of Letters from the voluminous Correspondence of Jane Weinberger, 1970-1990, Experience the Journey, Wee Peter Puffin and Lemon Drop.

Known as the most trusted man in America, long time CBS news Anchor Walter Cronkite died July 17 at the age of 92. A few of his many books include A Reporter's Life, Around America: A Tour of our Magnificent Coastline, The Sixties Chronicle and Cronkite Remembers. "And that's the way it was."

Photographer of modern California architecture Julius Shulman died July 15 at the age of 98. He was the author of Julius Shulman: Modernism Rediscovered, Photographing Architecture and Interiors and Malibu: A Century of Living by the Sea.

Author Frank McCourt died July 19 at the age of 78. He was the author of Angela's Ashes, 'Tis and Teacher Man: A Memoir.

I met Mr. McCourt and heard him read once. It would be impossible to imagine a more charming and entertaining man.

Historian of religion, Martin Hengel died July 2 at the age of 82. A few of his many books include Crucifixion in the Ancient World, Judaism and Hellenism, The Four Gospels and the one Gospel of Jesus Christ and The Atonement: The Origins and Doctrine of the New Testament.

Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski died July 20 at the age of 81. A few of his many books include Main Currents of Marxism, The Breakdown, Modernity on Endless Trial, Metaphysical Horror, God Owes us Nothing and Religion: If there is no God.

Actress Jill Balcon died July 18 at the age of 84. She was the widow of British Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis and mother of actor Daniel Day-Lewis. She selected and edited Pity of War: Poems of the First World War.

Writer Gordon Burn died July 16 at the age of 61. He was the author of Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son, Happy Like Murderers, The Story of Fred and rosemary West, Alma Cogan, Fullalove, Born Yesterday: The News as a Novel, On the Way to Work, Pocket Money: The Inside Story of Snooker and Best and Edwards: Football Fame and Oblivion.

Novelist E. Lynn Harris has died at the age of 54. Harris, who saw his self-published and self-publicized first book, Invisible Life, become a best-seller, wrote about the gay black culture in the U.S.

Associated Press obit

Historian of the ancient world, particularly maritime history, Lionel Casson died July 18 at the age of 94. He was the author of The Ancient Mariners, Illustrated History of Ships and Boats, Libraries in the Ancient World, Ancient Egypt, Mysteries of the Past and many more.

Choreographer Merce Cunningham died July 26 at the age of 90. Cunningham's books include The Dancers and the Dance: Merce Cunningham in Conversation with Jacqueline Lesschaeve, Art Performs life, Merce Cunningham, Changes: Notes on Choreography.

Military historian Edgar O'Ballance died July 8 at the age of 90. A few of his many books include The Gulf War, Kurdish Revolt, Arab Guerrilla Power, The Wars in Vietnam, 1954-1980, Afghan Wars 1839 to the Present Day, No Victor, No Vanquished, Terror in Ireland: The Heritage of Hate, The Secret War in the Sudan and War in the Yemen.

The last Maharani of Jaipur, Gayatri Devi, died July 29 at the age of 90. Her autobiography was called A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur.

Publisher and translator into English of the Tintin cartoon books, Michael Turner died July 10 at the age of 80.

Former president of the Philippines Corazon Aquino died July 31 at the age of 76. Her speeches were collected in In the Name of Democracy and Prayer.

Former editor-in-chief of Reuters and foreign editor of The Times, Brian Horton died July 25 at the age of 76. He was the author of The Associated press Guide to Photojournalism, The Associated Press Photojournalism Stylebook and The Picture An Associated Press Guide to Good News Photography.

Berkeley scholar of Slavic language and literature, Simon Karlinsky died July 5 at the age of 84. He edited or translated eight books including Anton Checkhov's Life and Thought: Selected letters and Commentary, The Nabokov-Wilson Letters, The Sexual Labyrinth of Nikolai Gogol and The Bitter Air of Exile: Russian Writers in the West, 1922-1972.

Specialist in non-verbal communication Edward T. Hall died July 20 at the age of 95. He was the author of The Silent Language, The Hidden Dimension, The Dance of Life: The Other dimension of Time, Beyond Culture, Hidden Differences: How to Communicate with Germans, Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese, Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French and Americans and his autobiography An Anthology of Everyday Life.

Writer and translator Aeronwy Thomas, daughter of Dylan Thomas, died July 27 at the age of 66. Her books include Later than Laugharne, Christmas in the Boathouse, Rooks and Poems and I colori delle parole. Sorry no touchstones today.

Architect Kenneth Major died July 25 at the age of 80. He was the author of Animal Powered Machines, Watermills and Windmills, Mills of the Isle of Wight, Victorian and Edwardian Windmills, Watermills from Old Photographs and Fieldwork in Industrial Archaeology.

Booker award winning novelist Stanley Middleton died July 25 at the age of 89. A few of his many books include Holiday, Vacant Places, A short Answer, Her Three Wise Men, Two Brothers and Small Change.

Musicologist David Drew died July 25 at the age of 78. He was the author of Kurt Weill: A Handbook and Uber Kurt Weill.

New Testament scholar Graham Stanton died July 18 at the age of 69. He was the author of Gospel Truth? New Light on Jesus and the Gospels, Kept from the Hour, Jesus of Nazareth in New Testament Preaching, The Interpretation of Matthew and Psalms: Praying Through Good Times and Bad.

Historian Gordon Connell-Smith died July 8 at the age of 91. He was the author of The United States and Latin America, The Inter-American System and Forerunners of Drake

Translator of Chinese literature, David Hawkes died July 31 at the age of 86. Some of his works include The Story of the Stone, A Little Primer of Tu Fu and Ch'u tz'u: The Songs of the South an Ancient Chinese Anthology.

Ornithologist Mike Madders died July 23 in a canoeing accident at the age of 52. He was the author of Where to Watch Birds in Scotland and The Birds of Mull.

Professor of pathology Austin Gresham died July 24 at the age of 84. He was the author of A Colour Atlas of Forensic Pathology and Color Atlas of Histopathology.

Art historian Carlos Van Hasselt died July 19 at the age of 80. He was the author of Marques de Collections and Catalogues de Ventes Publiques.