Deaths in May - 2017

Editor Richard Dalby died May 4 at the age of 68. His books include The Mammoth Book of victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories and The Golden Age of Children's Book Illustration.

US Gold Medal Olympian for Bob Sledding Steven Holcomb died May 6 at the age of 37. He wrote But Now I See: My Journey from Blindness to Olympic Gold.

Former East German military leader Heinz Kessler died May 2 at the age of 97. He wrote Ohne die Mauer hatte es krieg gegeben and Zur Sache und zur Person.

Economist C. Jackson Grayson died May 4 at the age of 93. He wrote If We Only Knew What We Know and American Business.

Historian Hugh Thomas died May 7 at the age of 85. His books include The Spanish Civil War and Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico.

Newspaper editor Robert H. Phelps died May 10 at the age of 97. His books include Libel; Rights, risks, Responsibilities and God and the Editor: My Search for Meaning at the New York Times.

William J. Baumol died May 4 at the age of 95. His books include Economics: Principles and Policy and
Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth.

Chinese diplomat Qian Qichen died May 9 at the age of 89. He wrote Ten Episodes in China's Diplomacy.

Economist Allan H. Meltzer died May 8 at the age of 89. He wrote The History of the Federal Reserve and Why Capitalism?

Historian Judith Stein died May 8 at the age of 77. She wrote Pivotal Decade and The World of Marcus Garvey.

Ousted Fox executive Roger Ailes died May 18 at the age of 77. He wrote You are the Message.

Comic and graphic novel illustrator Rich Buckler died May 19 at the age of 68. His work includes The Essential Marvel Horror and Essential Luke Cage.

Children's historian Jean Fritz died May 14 at the age of 101. She is best known for Then What Happened, Paul Revere?

Collector Lloyd Cotsen died May 8 at the age of 88. He wrote The Bamboo Basket Art of Higashi Takesonosai and
Japanese Bamboo Baskets: Masterworks of Form and Texture.

Cookbook author Beatrice Trum Hunter died May 17 at the age of 98. Her books include The Natural Foods Cookbook and
Gardening Without Poisons.

Photojournalist Stanley Greene died May 19 at the age of 68. His books include Stanley Greene: Black Passport and
Open Wound: Chechnya 1994-2003.

Actor Sir Roger Moore, best known for his role as James Bond, died May 23 at the age of 89. His books include My Word is my Bond: A Memoir and Bond on Bond: Reflections on 50 Years of James Bond Movies. I am shaken and stirred. :'(

Conservationist Robert H. Boyle died May 19 at the age of 88. His books include The Hudson River: A Natural and Unnatural History and The Second Fly-tyer's Almanac.

Prolific author Denis Johnson died May 24 at the age of 67. His books include Jesus' Son and Tree of Smoke.

Southern rock musician Gregg Allman died May 27 at the age of 69. His autobiography was called My Cross to Bear.

Blue Peter presenter John Noakes died at 83 on 28th May. He was the author of Noakes at Large.

Professor Roger Boesche, who once taught political science to Pres. Obama, died May 23 at the age of 69. His books include The First Great political realist and Theories of Tyranny.

Medical historian Prof. Michael Bliss died may 18 at the age of 76. His books include The Discovery of Insulin and Right Honorable men.

Political scientist and former U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brezinski died May 26 at the age of 89. His many books include The Grand Chessboard, Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower and The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership.

Founder of Surf magazine John Severson died May 26 at the age of 83. He wrote John Severson's SURF.

Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, politician & U.S. Senator and Congressman Jim Bunning died may 26 at the age of 85. He wrote The Story of Jim Bunning.

Sports commentator Frank DeFord died May 28 at the age of 78. His many books include The Best of Frank deFord and Alex, the Life of a Child. :'(

Novelist & memoirist Ann Birstein died on May 24 at the age of 89. Her books include Rabbi on forty-seventh Street and Dickie's List.

War historian Alistair Horne died May 25 at the age of 91. His books include What if?, A Savage War of Peace and Seven Ages of Paris.

Explorer of sound David Lewiston died May 29 at the age of 88.

Biochemist Fred A. Kummerow died May 31 at the age of 102. He wrote Cholesterol is not the Culprit.

Artist and photographer Marie Cosindas died May 25 at the age of 93. Her books include Color Photographs and Marie Cosindas : Polaroid Photographs.

Jean E. Sammet, co-designer of the programming language COBOL, died May 20 at age 89. She wrote Programming Languages: History and Fundamentals.

Actor-turned-minister, Wendell Burton, died May 30 at age 69. His memoir is called Godsmacked: A Sojourner’s Guide to the Heart of God.

Novelist and academic, Neil Gordon, died May 19 at age 58. He wrote The Company You Keep and You’re a Big Girl Now, among others.

Former Panamanian dictator and CIA stooge Manuel Noriega died May 29 at age 83. He co-authored America's Prisoner: The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega.

Juliana Young Koo, a Chinese immigrant to the United States, died May 24 at age 111. Her memoirs of her long life (as told to her daughter) are called 109 Springtimes:My Story.

Poet Chana Bloch died May 19 at age 77. She wrote Swimming in the Rain: New and Selected Poems 1980-2015 and a new book of her poetry will be released posthumously in September.

Anthropologist Ben Finney died May 23 at age 83. He wrote Sailing in the Wake of the Ancestors: Reviving Polynesian Voyaging and several others.

Childbirth expert Frederick Leboyer died May 25 at the age of 98. He wrote Birth Without violence, Loving Hands: The Traditional art of Baby Massage and Inner Beauty, Inner Light: Yoga For Pregnant Women.

Actress Anne Kimbell Relph died May 16 at the age of 84. Her books include To Catch a Spy, Assignment Paris, and The Ibiji Twins.

Scholar of Asian art Jan Fontein died May 19 at the age of 89. His books include The Sculpture of Indonesia and Zen Painting and Calligraphy.

Translator of Arabic authors Denys Johnson-Davies died May 22 at the age of 94. his work includes The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic Fiction and Goha the Wise Fool.

Former president of Finland, Mauno Koivisto died May 12 at the age of 93. His books include Kaksi Kautta and Venajan idea.