Gone in 2008, but not forgotten
by Roxane Gilbert

The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways - I to die and you to live. Which is the better, only G-d knows. -- Plato

As we welcome the New Year with anticipation that the much-hyped "hope" and "change" will bring peace and prosperity, it is time to look back on those who contributed much, but passed away in 2008.

Dith Pran was a Cambodian who worked with New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg from 1972-1975, covering the encroaching civil war in his country. He chose to stay behind with Mr. Schanberg in Phnom Penh in 1975 to document the fall of the government to the Khmer Rouge. His story was told in the 1984 movie The Killing Fields, which starred Dr. Haing S. Ngor in an Academy Award winning performance as Dith Pran, and Sam Waterston as Sydney Schanberg. In 1976, Mr. Schanberg received the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the war, which he accepted on behalf of himself and Mr. Dith. With the rise of the Khmer Rouge, Mr. Dith was forced into labor camps along with his countrymen, where he endured starvation and torture for the next four years. It is estimated that 1.7 Cambodians died under the Khmer Rouge reign of terror from starvation, torture or execution. In October of 1979, Dith Pran escaped from Cambodia. He went to work for the New York Times as a photojournalist in 1980. In March of 2008, Mr. Dith died from pancreatic cancer. He was 65.

• Paul Newman, 83, actor, philanthropist
• William F. Buckley, 82, author, publisher
• Tim Russert, 58, journalist
• Sir Edmund Hillary, 88, adventurer
• Tony Snow, 53, journalist, White House press secretary
• Eartha Kitt, 81, singer, actress
• Robert Rauschenberg, 82, artist
• Isaac Hayes, 65 musician
• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 91, Hindu guru
• Arthur C. Clarke, 90, science fiction writer
• Miriam Makeba, 76, singer
• Bo Diddley, 79, musician
• George Carlin, 71 comedian
• Dith Pran , 65, photojournalist
• Jo Stafford, 90, singer
• Charlton Heston, 84, actor
• Yves Saint Laurent, 71, fashion designer
• Robert Mondavi, 94, vintner
• Eddy Arnold, 89, singer
• Roy Scheider, 75 actor
• Suzanne Pleshette, 70 actress
• Michael Crichton, 66, author
• Studs Terkel, 96, activist, author
• Jerry Reed, 71, singer, actor
• Estelle Getty, 84, actress
• Cyd Charisse, 86, actress, dancer
• Jim McKay, 86, TV sports announcer
• Dwight White, 58, NFL player (Pittsburgh Steelers)
• Mike Smith, 64, singer (Dave Clark FIve)
• Oscar Peterson, 82, jazz musician
• Federico Luzzi, 28, tennis star
• Richard Blackwell (Mr. Blackwell), 86, social commentator
• Richard Wright, 65, keyboard musician (Pink Floyd)
• Gene Upshaw, 63, NFL player (Oakland Raiders)
• Bernie Mac, 50, actor
• Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 89, author, Nobel Prize winner
• Bettie Page, 85, pinup model
• Robert Prosky, 77, actor
• Odetta, 77, folk singer
• Richard Widmark, 93, actor
• Van Johnson, 92, actor

Comments?

published on Art2u on January 3, 2009