In Memoriam: A Look Back At Many Of The People We Lost in 2017

Some people view obituaries as morbid stories, but in truth only one line of an obit deals with death. The rest of the story focuses on the amazing lives people led.

In 2017, these 15 obituaries featured people whose lives — and deaths — most affected me:

* Stuart McLean, storyteller and broadcaster

* Sue Grafton, mystery novelist

* Robert Guillaume, actor

* Bill Paxton, actor

* Mary Tyler Moore, actress

* Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, political dissident

* Chris Cornell, singer/songwriter

* Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author

* Paddles, First Cat of New Zealand/social media star

* Charles Manson, cult leader

* Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy

* Bernie Wrightson, illustrator/artist

* John B. Anderson, congressman

* Bruce McCandless II, astronaut

* Lillian Ross, journalist

Other people we lost this year who won’t be forgotten:

* Roger Ailes, Fox News co-creator

* Chuck Barris, game show host

* Chuck Berry, singer/guitarist

* William Peter Blatty, author

* Simeon Booker, journalist

* Jimmy Breslin, columnist

* Glen Campbell, Rhinestone cowboy/singer

* David Cassidy, pop star

* Alan Colmes, political commentator

* Jonathan Demme, director

* Fats Domino, singer/songwriter, pianist

* Gord Downie, singer/songwriter

* Dick Enberg, sportscaster

* Dick Gregory, comedian, civil rights activist

* Monty Hall, game show host/producer

* John Hillerman, actor

* Al Jarreau, singer

* Jake LaMotta, boxer

* Martin Landau, actor

* Cardinal Bernard Law, religious leader

* Jerry Lewis, comedian

* Rose Marie, actor

* Roger Moore, James Bond

* Erin Moran, actress

* Jim Nabors, actor/singer

* Masaya Nakamura, “father” of Pac-Man

* Manuel Noriega, Panamanian dictator

* Tom Petty, singer/songwriter, guitarist

* Robert M. Pirsig, author

* George Romero, director

* Sam Shepard, actor/playwright

* Liz Smith, gossip columnist

* Harry Dean Stanton, actor

* Don Rickles, comedian

* Jay Thomas, comedian

* Robert James Waller, author

* Judge Joseph Wapner, TV jurist

* Adam West, Batman

* Edith Windsor, LGBT rights activist