Composer Stephen J. Lawrence Courtesy of Cathy Lawrence hide caption
Obituaries NPR remembrances of remarkable individuals.
Obituaries
Richard Leakey, Kenyan wildlife conservationist, places a rhino horn to be burned at the zoo in Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic, in 2017. Leakey, known for his fossil-finding and conservation work in his native Kenya, has died at 77. Petr David Josek/AP hide caption
Betty White accepts a lifetime achievement award during the 2015 Daytime Emmy Awards. Jesse Grant/Getty hide caption
Christopher McNair, center left, and Maxine McNair, right, parents of Denise McNair, one of four African American girls who died in a church bombing in Birmingham, Ala., on Sept. 15, 1963, are shown here at a news conference in New York later that month. Maxine McNair, the last living parent of any of the children killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, died on Sunday at 93. AP hide caption
Max Julien, as he appeared in the groundbreaking 1973 film The Mack. Courtesy of SCM Entertainment and Media hide caption
Dan Reeves, former coach of the New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons died at 77 Saturday. With a career spanning 39 years, he was one of the most successful coaches in NFL history. Mark Lennihan/AP hide caption
Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu at St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg in 2016. Tutu was a champion for human rights and the environment. He requested he be buried in a cheap pine coffin and without an extravagant funeral service. Denis Farrell/AP hide caption
Betty White at the 41st Annual People's Choice Awards in 2015. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption
Actress Betty White poses for a portrait on the set of the television show "Hot in Cleveland" in 2010. White died at the age of XX. Matt Sayles/AP hide caption
Betty White, a beloved icon and actress since the beginning of TV, has died at age 99
Top, from left: Vicente Fernández, bell hooks, Joan Didion; bottom, from left: Vernon Jordan, Petra Mayer and Stephen Sondheim Kevin Winter/Getty Images for LARAS; Karjean Levine/Getty Images; Kathy Willens/AP; Jennifer Law/AFP via Getty Images; Darian Woehr/NPR; R. Jones/Getty Images hide caption
Author and cultural critic bell hooks poses for a portrait on December 16, 1996. Karjean Levine/Getty Images hide caption
Former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden practices the electronic charting device telestrator on Jan. 21, 1982, for the Super Bowl broadcast on CBS. Madden, the Hall of Fame coach turned broadcaster, died Tuesday morning. AP hide caption
Then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada smiles as he speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 27, 2016. Paul Sancya/AP hide caption
Harvard University professor and Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson takes a break from searching for insects in the Walden Pond State Reservation in Concord, Mass., in 1998. Wilson died on Sunday at the age of 92. Thomas James Hurst/AP hide caption
Jean-Marc Vallée at the Los Angeles premiere of Sharp Objects on June 26, 2018. Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP hide caption
Attorney Sarah Weddington speaks during a women's rights rally on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. Weddington, who at 26 successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021. Mike Groll/AP hide caption
Desmond Tutu smiles after he became Anglican archbishop of Cape Town in 1986. His wife, Leah, is at his side. David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images hide caption
Desmond Tutu, an icon who helped end apartheid in South Africa, dies at 90
In 1986, South African activist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu receives the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize for his commitment and role during the struggle against apartheid, from Coretta Scott King (left), her daughter Christine King Farris (rear) and Tutu's daughter Nontombi Naomi Tutu. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Author Joan Didion poses for a portrait in her New York apartment on Sept. 26, 2005. Kathy Willens/AP hide caption
Writer Joan Didion, whose 'electric anxiety' inspired a generation, has died at 87
Jazz legend Chick Corea, shown here in 2018, died on Feb. 9, 2021. Giorgio Perottino/Getty Images for OGR hide caption
In this Feb. 14, 2019 photo, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., leads a meeting on Capitol Hill. Isakson, an affable Georgia Republican who rose from the ranks of the state legislature to become a U.S. senator, has died at age 76. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption