In Memoriam: A Look Back At Many Of The People We Lost in 2020

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 2020, these were the obituaries of people whose lives — and deaths — most affected me:

* Betty Pat Gatliff, forensic artist

* Neil Peart, drummer

* Michael Cafferty, author and attorney

* Mary Higgins Clark, mystery novelist

* Kirk Douglas, actor

* Katherine Johnson, NASA mathematician

* Clive Cussler, adventure novelist

* James Lipton, “Inside the Actors Studio” host

* Kenny Rogers, country music singer/actor

* Bill Withers, R&B singer

* Earl Deutch, ‘Kiss Cam’ favorite

* William Helmreich, sociology professor and New York walker

* Bob Otto, who played “Taps” at more than 5,000 veteran funerals

* Tom Burford, apple expert

* Kate Matte, bookseller

* Brian Dennehy, actor

* James M. Beggs, NASA administrator

* Madeline Kripke, doyenne of dictionaries

* Jack Randall, ichthyologist and coral specialist

* Little Richard, self-described “King and Queen” of rock and roll

* Roy Horn, illusionist

* Motoko Fujishiro Huthwaite, last of the “Monuments Women”

* Fred Willard, actor

* Ian Holm, actor

* Joel Schumacher, director

* Carl Reiner, comic actor/writer/director

* Hugh Downs, broadcast journalist

* Ennio Morricone, film composer

* John Lewis, civil rights leader and congressman

* Kelly Preston, actress

* Regis Philbin, talk show and game show host

* Olivia de Havilland, actress

* Wilford Brimley, actor

* Chadwick Boseman, actor

* Ruth Bader Ginsburn, Supreme Court justice

* Eddie Van Halen, rock guitarist

* Sean Connery, actor and original James Bond

* Luis Troyano, “Great British Baking Show” finalist

* Alex Trebek, game show host

* Jan Morris, travel writer, historian and memoirist

* Ben Bova, science fiction writer

* Betsy Wade, journalist

* Al Cohen, magician and magic shop owner