Obituaries - The New York Times

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Obituaries

Highlights

  1. Martin Wygod, a Winner on Wall Street and the Racetrack, Dies at 84

    After he made a fortune selling prescription drugs and providing medical information online, he and his wife became leading breeders of thoroughbred horses.

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    Martin J. Wygod at his home in California in 2000. He was known not only for his success in business but also for his success in breeding and training racehorses.
    CreditThom Vollenweider
  2. Daniel C. Dennett, Widely Read and Fiercely Debated Philosopher, 82, Dies

    Espousing his ideas in best sellers, he insisted that religion was an illusion, free will was a fantasy and evolution could only be explained by natural selection.

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    Daniel Dennett in about 2004. “There’s simply no polite way to tell people they’ve dedicated their lives to an illusion,” he said of religion.
    CreditEamonn McCabe/Popperfoto, via Getty Images
  3. Denny Walsh, Reporter Who Tussled With Mayors and Editors, Dies at 88

    He won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 1969 and later joined The New York Times, which eventually fired him.

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    Denny Walsh liked to boast that he was sued multiple times for libel as an investigative reporter, but that he had never lost a case.
    Creditvia Walsh family
  4. William F. Pepper, 86, Dies; Claimed the Government Killed Dr. King

    He represented James Earl Ray and the King family in efforts to prove that Dr. King was the victim of a conspiracy, becoming a celebrity among the conspiracy-minded.

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    William F. Pepper was joined by members of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s family at a news conference in Atlanta in 1999. He represented them in a wrongful-death suit against a man they claimed had hired a retired police officer to kill Dr. King.
    CreditErik S. Lesser/Liaison Agency, via Getty Images
  5. Beverly LaHaye, Soldier of the Christian Right, Dies at 94

    A pastor’s wife, she formed Concerned Women for America to oppose the Equal Rights Amendment. Ronald Reagan called her “one of the powerhouses on the political scene.”

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    Beverly LaHaye with President Ronald Reagan in 1987, shortly before he addressed a meeting of her organization, Concerned Women for America.
    CreditScott Stewart/Associated Press

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Overlooked

More in Overlooked ›
  1. Overlooked No More: Lizzie Magie, the Unknown Inventor Behind Monopoly

    Magie’s creation, The Landlord’s Game, inspired the spinoff we know today. But credit for the idea long went to someone else.

     By

    Lizzie Magie in 1892. She conceived of The Landlord’s Game as an ideological tool about political economics.
    CreditThe Brodix Publishing Company
  2. Overlooked No More: Henrietta Leavitt, Who Unraveled Mysteries of the Stars

    The portrait that emerged from her discovery, called Leavitt’s Law, showed that the universe was hundreds of times bigger than astronomers had imagined.

     By

    Henrietta Leavitt in an undated photo. Her discovery, often referred to as Leavitt’s Law, underpinned the research of other pioneering astronomers.
    CreditPopular Astronomy, via Library of Congress
  3. Overlooked No More: Yvonne Barr, Who Helped Discover a Cancer-Causing Virus

    A virologist, she worked with the pathologist Anthony Epstein, who died last month, in finding for the first time that a virus that could cause cancer. It’s known as the Epstein-Barr virus.

     By

    Yvonne Barr in 1962. Her techniques in growing cell cultures in a controlled environment aided in the discovery of the Epstein-Barr virus.
    CreditGregory Morgan
  4. Overlooked No More: Miriam Solovieff, Lauded Violinist Who Suffered Tragedy

    She led a successful career despite coping with a horrific event that she witnessed at 18: the killing of her mother and sister at the hands of her father.

     By

    Miriam Solovieff in the 1960s. After the deaths of her family members, the violin became her sole emotional and financial means of coping.
    CreditMark B. Anstendig
  5. Overlooked No More: Betty Fiechter, Pioneer in the World of Watches

    She started out at Blancpain as an apprentice and eventually took over as an owner, a move that one industry insider noted was “totally unprecedented” for a woman.

     By

    Betty Fiechter in 1935, two years after she became the owner of the watch company Blancpain.
    CreditBlancpain
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