NOTABLE DEATHS
Piedad Córdoba, 68, an outspoken Colombian lawmaker who for decades championed the rights of her fellow Afro-Colombians while undertaking huge risks as a go-between to leftist rebel groups. President Gustavo Petro praised Córdoba as a “true liberal” who “fought all her mature life for a more democratic society.” Known for her colorful turbans evoking her African heritage, Córdoba stood out as a leftist stalwart in one of Latin America’s most conservative countries.
Herbert Coward, 85, known for his “Toothless Man” role in the movie “Deliverance.” Coward was famous for having a pet squirrel. Coward had a small but memorable role in John Boorman’s 1972 classic “Deliverance.” The film focuses on a group of businessmen canoeing in Georgia whose adventure turns into a backwoods nightmare when local mountain men assault them. Charles Fried, 88, a former U.S. solicitor general and conservative legal scholar who taught at Harvard Law School for decades. Fried was President Ronald Reagan’s solicitor general from 1985 to 1989 and was an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts from 1995 to 1999. According to Harvard, Fried argued many important cases in state and federal courts including Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, in which the U.S. Supreme Court set standards for allowing scientific expert testimony in federal courts. Gary Graham, 73, best known for his role in “Star Trek: Enterprise.”Graham had a successful career in TV during the 1970s with appearances in shows including “The Incredible Hulk,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “Police Woman,” and “Eight Is Enough.” Graham acted as a character named Soval in 12 episodes of “Star Trek: Enterprise” and played Tanis in an episode of “Star Trek: Voyager.”
Norman Jewison, 97, the acclaimed and versatile Canadian-born director whose Hollywood films ranged from Doris Day comedies and “Moonstruck” to such social dramas as the Oscarwinning “In the Heat of the Night.”As Jewison was ending his military service in the Canadian navy during World War II, he hitchhiked through the American South and had a close-up view of Jim Crow segregation. In his autobiography “This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me,” he noted that racism and injustice became his most common themes.
Dexter Scott King, 62, who dedicated much of his life to shepherding the civil rights legacy of his parents, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. The third of the Kings’ four children, Dexter King was named for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father served as a pastor when the Montgomery bus boycott launched him to national prominence in the wake of the 1955 arrest of Rosa Parks. He was just 7 years old when his father was assassinated in April 1968.
Melanie, 76, a singer-songwriter behind 1970s hits including “Brand New Key.” Born Melanie Safka, the singer rose through the New York folk scene and was one of only three solo women to perform at Woodstock. She was best known for 1971’s “Brand New Key,” a song she wrote about a girl who roller skates past the house of a boy she longs for. It went to No. 1 in the U.S. and several other countries and became a cultural staple.
Uga X, 10, the former Georgia mascot whose eight-year run included back-toback national championships. Part of the line of English bulldog mascots that began in 1955, he began his run at age 2 on the Sanford Stadium sideline in 2015. The Seiler family, led by Charles Seiler, based in Savannah, Georgia, has maintained the line of mascots for almost 70 years.
Mary Weiss, 75, the lead singer of the 1960s pop group the Shangri-Las, whose hits included “Leader of the Pack.” The Shangri-Las, formed in Queens, were made up of two pairs of sisters: Weiss and her sister Elizabeth “Betty” Weiss, along with twins Marguerite “Marge” Ganser and Mary Ann Ganser.