NOTABLE DEATHS
Hal Buell, 92, who led The Associated Press’ photo operations from the darkroom era into the age of digital photography over a four-decade career that included 12 Pulitzer Prizes. Buell made the crucial decision in 1972 to run Nick Ut’s photo of a naked young girl fleeing her burning village after napalm was dropped on it by South Vietnamese Air Force aircraft. The image of Kim Phuc became one of the most haunting images of the Vietnam War and came to define for many all that was misguided about the war. Ut won the Pulitzer Prize for the photo.
Ellen Gilchrist, 88, the Mississippi native who won the National Book Award for fiction in 1984 for a collection of short stories called “Victory Over Japan.”Gilchrist’s family says she died Tuesday in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where she lived in her final years. She drew on the complexities of people and places in the American South in more than two dozen books. Those included a novel called “The Annunciation” and volumes of poetry, short stories and essays.
Wayne Kramer, 75, co-founder of the proto-punk Detroit band the MC5 that thrashed out such hardcore anthems as “Kick Out the Jams” and influenced everyone from the Clash to Rage Against the Machine. From the late 1960s to early 1970s, no band was closer to the revolutionary spirit of the time than the MC5. The band had little commercial success, and its core lineup did not last beyond the early 1970s, but its legacy endured, both for its sound and for its fusing of music to political action. Sandra Milo, 90, an icon of Italian cinema who played a key role in Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning “8½.” Milo had her break in Roberto Rossellini’s 1959 film “Il generale Della Rovere (General Della Rovere).” She went on to star with some of the greats of Italy’s postwar film industry, including Alberto Sordi and Marcello Mastroianni, with whom she appeared in “8½.”
N. Scott Momaday, 89, a Pulitzer Prizewinning storyteller, poet, educator and folklorist. His debut novel, “House
Made of Dawn,” is credited as the start of contemporary Native American literature. It was published in 1968 and tells of a World War II soldier who struggles to fit back in at home. Much of it was based on Momaday’s childhood in New Mexico and his conflicts between the ways of his ancestors and the outside world. He was born in Oklahoma and was a member of the Kiowa Tribe. In 1969, Momaday became the first Native American to win the fiction Pulitzer, and his novel helped launch a generation of authors.
Chita Rivera, 91, the dynamic dancer, singer and actor who garnered 10
Tony nominations, winning twice, in a long Broadway career that forged a path for Latina artistss. Rivera first gained wide notice in 1957 as Anita in the original production of “West Side Story” and was still dancing on Broadway with her trademark energy a halfcentury later in 2015’s “The Visit.” In August 2009, Rivera was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the U.S. can give a civilian, presented by President Barack Obama.
Adele Zerilli Springsteen, 98, Bruce Springsteen’s mother. Her joyful, spirited charm made her a fan magnet in her own right. She was still dancing with her son at shows in her 90s. The mother of three was a cornerstone of her son’s anthem “American Land,” which honors “The McNicholases, the Posalskis, the Smiths, Zerillis too.”
Carl Weathers, 76, a former NFL linebacker who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star, playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” movies. His other major roles were facing off against Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Predator” and teaching golf in “Happy Gilmore.”
Most recently, Weathers has starred in the Disney+ hit “The Mandalorian,” appearing in all three seasons and earning an Emmy Award nomination in 2021. He also voiced Combat Carl in the “Toy Story” franchise.
Jimy Williams, 80, the 1999 American League Manager of the Year for Boston who won 910 games over a dozen seasons that included stints with Toronto and Houston.
Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, 77, the longtime wife and manager of Brian Wilson whom the Beach Boys co-founder often credited for stabilizing his famously troubled life. Melinda Wilson was cited for getting Brian proper medical treatment, and encouraging her husband to complete his intended masterpiece from the ’60s, “Smile.”