Doc Watson, Blind Guitar Wizard Who Influenced Generations, Dies at 89

Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Writers’ Catalyst, Dies at 63

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Ms. Goldmark formed a rock band with best-selling authors like Stephen King and Amy Tan.

Richard W. Lyman, Ex-President of Stanford University, Dies at 88

By MARGALIT FOX

As president in the 1970s, Mr. Lyman shepherded the university through an era of political turbulence.

Marina Keegan, Journalist and Playwright, Dies at 22

By WILLIAM ALDEN

Ms. Keegan, a Yale graduate, encouraged students to resist careers in finance.

Johnny Tapia, Champion Boxer Amid Chaos, Dies at 45

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Tapia won titles in three weight divisions but struggled with mental illness and addiction, having been declared clinically dead five times as a result of drug overdoses.

Howie Richmond, Music Publisher, Dies at 94

By MARGALIT FOX

Mr. Richmond, with a diverse stable of artists, was among the last of a Runyonesque breed that was long a vital if largely unheralded segment of the music business.

Doug Dillard, Bluegrass Banjo Virtuoso, Dies at 75

By PETER KEEPNEWS

In the early 1960s, Mr. Dillard helped to introduce a generation of listeners to bluegrass, ending the decade as an early advocate of country-rock.

Edoardo Mangiarotti, Olympian Fencer, Dies at 93

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Mr. Mangiarotti, of Italy, won more Olympic medals and world championships than any fencer in the history of the sport, starting with the Berlin Games in 1936.

Al Gordon, Skit Writer for Benny and Burnett, Dies at 89

By PAUL VITELLO

Mr. Gordon also came up with jokes for the Smothers Brothers, Flip Wilson and Carol Channing.

Everett Ortner, Leader in Brooklyn Brownstones’ Revival, Dies at 92

By DENNIS HEVESI

With his wife, Evelyn, Mr. Ortner promoted a vision of Park Slope and other neighborhoods that led to the restoration of the splendor of fading buildings.

Carrie Smith, Singer in ‘Black and Blue’ on Broadway, Dies at 86

By BRUCE WEBER

Ms. Smith, who sang at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival as well as Carnegie Hall, earned a reputation as a blues belter.

H. H. Brookins, Influential A.M.E. Bishop, Dies at 86

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

As a leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Bishop Brookins marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the South and mentored other important civil rights figures.

Hal Jackson, 96, New York Broadcaster Who Broke Racial Barriers in Radio, Dies

By MEL WATKINS

Mr. Jackson, a major presence on New York City airwaves for decades, influenced generations of broadcasters.

Wesley Brown, Pioneer as Black Naval Graduate, Dies at 85

By PAUL VITELLO

White midshipmen refused to sit next to Mr. Brown, racial epithets were whispered behind his back and fellow plebes barred him from joining the choir.

Eddie Blazonczyk, 70, Polka Singer and Bandleader, Dies

By BEN SISARIO

Mr. Blazonczyk was a former rock ’n’ roller who switched to polka and found lasting success, winning a Grammy and vigorously touring.

Paul Fussell, Literary Scholar and Critic, Is Dead at 88

By BRUCE WEBER

Mr. Fussell, a wide-ranging author, may be best remembered for “The Great War and Modern Memory,” his study of World War I and the influence of its horrors on art and literature.

City Room

After 36 Marathons, One Radio Goes Silent

By COREY KILGANNON

Steve Mendelsohn, who died of cancer on Wednesday, was a vital part of the New York City Marathon for more than three decades.

Jean Pakter, Who Made New York a Model for Safe Abortions, Dies at 101

By PAUL VITELLO

As head of the city’s maternity services bureau, Dr. Pakter supported a law that legalized abortion in New York before Roe v. Wade, and one of her studies led to a breakthrough in care for premature babies.

Henry Denker, Author in Many Genres, Dies at 99

By BRUCE WEBER

Mr. Denker’s large output ranged from novels and movies to TV and Broadway plays.

Eugene Polley, Conjuror of a Device That Changed TV Habits, Dies at 96

By MARGALIT FOX

Mr. Polley, a Zenith engineer, invented the Flash-Matic remote control for television, and spent years reminding people he was the device’s sole inventor.

Katie Beckett, Who Inspired Health Reform, Dies at 34

By DENNIS HEVESI

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, called Ms. Beckett “an inadvertent pioneer in the civil rights movement for people with disabilities.”

Frederick J. Brown, Painter of Musicians, Dies at 67

By BRUCE WEBER

Mr. Brown explored the relationship between music and painting in portraits of hundreds of jazz and blues artists.

Robin Gibb, a Bee Gee With a Taciturn Manner, Dies at 62

By BEN SISARIO

Mr. Gibb was the second member of this brother act, whose sound helped define the disco era, to die.

Megrahi, Convicted in 1988 Lockerbie Bombing, Dies at 60

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was the only person convicted in the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

• Times Topics: Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi
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Herbert Breslin, Pavarotti’s Hard-Driving Manager, Dies at 87

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

Mr. Breslin was the brash publicist and manager of the tenor Luciano Pavarotti who described his philosophy this way: “Marketing an artist is basically like marketing a bar of soap.”

Peter D. Fuller Dies at 89; Had to Return Derby Purse

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

The owner of Dancer’s Image, Mr. Fuller had to return his Kentucky Derby winner’s purse of $122,600 after the painkiller Phenylbutazone was found in the horse’s urine.

Crawford Greenewalt Jr., Who Shed Light on an Ancient City, Dies at 74

By MARGALIT FOX

Professor Greenewalt, an archaeologist, transformed scholars’ understanding of Sardis, now western Turkey.

Walter Wink, Theologian and Author, Dies at 76

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

A liberal scholar, Dr. Wink’s views on homosexuality, nonviolence and the nature of Jesus caused many theologians to bridle.