Kent Taylor, CEO of Texas Roadhouse, Dead at 65. Founder and CEO of Texas Roadhouse Kent Taylor died on March 18. Greg Moore, lead director of Texas Roadhouse, confirmed Taylorโs death in a statement. . We are deeply saddened by the loss of Kent Taylor. He founded Texas Roadhouse and dedicated himself to building it into a legendary experience for 'Roadies' and restaurant guests alike, Greg Moore, via โPeopleโ. Moore went on to praise Taylor for his selflessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. He gave up his entire compensation package to help support his frontline workers. This selfless act was no surprise to anyone who knew Kent and his strong belief in servant leadership. He was without a doubt, a people-first leader, Greg Moore, via โPeopleโ. In addition to donating his salary and bonus, which totaled more than $800,000, Taylor bought protective gear for all his employees. Employees at 537 Texas Roadhouse locations in the United States received latex gloves, masks and eyewear. . Taylor also contributed $5 million of his own money to an emergency fund he created nearly 10 years ago for his workers. The fund, called Andyโs Outreach, helps cover mortgage payments, rent, utility bills and funeral expenses. . I'm 64 years old and I call people under 55 kids. So I have 70,000 kids, and you want to take care of them โฆ I relate it to my own personal family and I want to take care of my family, is how I look at it, Kent Taylor, to โPeopleโ (2020)
Texas Roadhouse founder and CEO Kent Taylor died Thursday, according to a post on the restaurant chain's Facebook page. He was 65.
"Our community and the restaurant industry lost a legend and the Taylor family lost a wonderful son, father and grandad this week," said a joint statement from Taylor's family and Texas Roadhouse on Saturday.
The statement said Taylor died by suicide after a battle with COVID-19-related symptoms, including severe tinnitus, or ringing in the ear, and his suffering had increased in recent days.
Texas Roadhouse founder and CEO Kent Taylor
Taylor had funded a clinical study to help members of the military suffering with tinnitus, the statement said.
"Kent leaves an unmatched legacy as a people-first leader, which is why he often said that Texas Roadhouse was a people company that just happened to serve steaks," the statement said. "He changed the lives of hundreds of millions of employees and guests over the past 28 years."
Texas Roadhouse is based in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer tweeted Thursday that the city had "lost a much loved and one-of-a-kind citizen."
Taylor gave up his salary from March 2020 through January 2021 and donated the funds to assist frontline restaurant employees during the pandemic, CNN affiliate WAVE reported.
A company Facebook post Friday said: "We will miss you, Kent. Because of you and your dream of Texas Roadhouse, we get to say we (love) our jobs every day." The post used a heart emoji instead of the word love.
Taylor created the idea that would later become Texas Roadhouse on a cocktail napkin, the family's statement said.
Texas Roadhouse first opened in 1993, according to the company's website, and has more than 600 locations in the United States and 10 restaurants in other countries.
Photos: Notable Deaths in 2021
Already, 2021 has seen the passing of several notable people in news, entertainment and sports. A look at those we've lost this year.
Photos: Notable Deaths in 2021
Cloris Leachman
Updated
Cloris Leachman, a character actor whose depth of talent brought her an Oscar for the โThe Last Picture Showโ and Emmys for her comedic work in โThe Mary Tyler Moore Showโ and other TV series, has died. She was 94. Millions of viewers knew the actor as the self-absorbed neighbor Phyllis in โThe Mary Tyler Moore Show.โ She also appeared as the mother of Timmy on the โLassieโ series. She played a frontier prostitute in โButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,โ a crime spree family member in โCrazy Mama,โ and the infamous Frau Bucher in Mel Brooksโ โYoung Frankenstein.โ
Christopher Plummer
Updated
Christopher Plummer, the dashing award-winning actor who played Captain von Trapp in the film โThe Sound of Musicโ and at 82 became the oldest Academy Award acting winner in history, died Feb. 5, 2021. He was 91. Over more than 50 years in the industry, Plummer enjoyed varied roles ranging from the film โThe Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,โ to the voice of the villain in 2009โฒs โUpโ and as a canny lawyer in Broadwayโs โInherit the Wind.โ But it was opposite Julie Andrews as von Trapp that made him a star.
Hank Aaron
Updated
Hank Aaron, who endured racist threats with stoic dignity during his pursuit of Babe Ruthโs home run record and gracefully left his mark as one of baseballโs greatest all-around players, died Jan. 22, 2021. He was 86. โHammerinโ Hankโ set a wide array of career hitting records during a 23-year career spent mostly with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, including RBIs, extra-base hits and total bases. But the Hall of Famer will be remembered for one swing above all others, the one that made him baseballโs home-run king.
Cicely Tyson
Updated
Cicely Tyson, the pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropperโs wife in โSounder,โ won a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewersโ hearts in โThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,โ died Jan. 28, 2021, at 96. Besides her Oscar nomination, she won two Emmys for playing the 110-year-old former slave in the 1974 television drama โThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.โ A new generation of moviegoers saw her in the 2011 hit โThe Help.โ
Rush Limbaugh
Updated
Rush Limbaugh, the conservative media icon who for decades used his perch as the king of talk-radio to shape the politics of both the Republican Party and nation, died Feb. 17, 2021, after a battle with cancer. He was 70. A pioneer of AM talk-radio, Limbaugh for 32 years hosted "The Rush Limbaugh Show," a nationally syndicated program with millions of loyal listeners that transfigured him into a partisan force and polarizing figure in American politics. In many ways, his radio show was like the big bang of the conservative media universe. "The Rush Limbaugh Show" helped popularize the political talk-radio format and usher in a generation of conservative infotainment. - CNN
Mary Wilson
Updated
Mary Wilson, the longest-reigning original Supreme, died Feb. 8, 2021. She was 76. Wilson, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard made up the first successful configuration of The Supremes. Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967, and Wilson stayed with the group until it was officially disbanded by Motown in 1977.
Leon Spinks
Updated
Leon Spinks, who won Olympic gold and then shocked the boxing world by beating Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight title in only his eighth pro fight, died Feb. 5, 2021. He was 67. A lovable heavyweight with a drinking problem, Spinks beat Ali by decision in a 15-round fight in 1978 to win the title. He was unranked at the time, and picked as an opponent because Ali was looking for an easy fight.
Larry Flynt
Updated
Larry Flynt, who turned his raunchy Hustler magazine into an empire while fighting numerous First Amendment court battles and flaying politicians with stunts such as a Donald Trump assassination Christmas card, died Feb. 10, 2021. He was 78. Flynt was shot in a 1978 assassination attempt and left paralyzed from the waist down but refused to slow down, building a flamboyant reputation along with a fortune estimated at $100 million.
Larry King
Updated
Larry King, the suspenders-sporting everyman whose broadcast interviews with world leaders, movie stars and ordinary Joes helped define American conversation for a half-century, died Jan. 23, 2021. He was 87. A longtime nationally syndicated radio host, from 1985 through 2010 he was a nightly fixture on CNN, where he won many honors, including two Peabody awards. With his celebrity interviews, political debates and topical discussions, King wasnโt just an enduring on-air personality. He also set himself apart with the curiosity he brought to every interview, whether questioning the assault victim known as the Central Park jogger or billionaire industrialist Ross Perot, who in 1992 rocked the presidential contest by announcing his candidacy on Kingโs show.
Hal Holbrook
Updated
Hal Holbrook, the award-winning character actor who toured the world for more than 50 years as Mark Twain in a one-man show and uttered the immortal advice โFollow the moneyโ in the classic political thriller โAll the Presidentโs Men,โ died Jan. 23, 2021. He was 95.
Dustin Diamond
Updated
Dustin Diamond, who played the role of Screech on the popular 1990s high school comedy "Saved by the Bell," died Feb. 1, 2021, after a recent cancer diagnosis. He was 44.
Tanya Roberts
Updated
Tanya Roberts, who captivated James Bond in โA View to a Killโ and appeared in the sitcom โThat โ70s Show,โ died Jan. 4, 2021. She was 65. Roberts played geologist Stacey Sutton opposite Roger Moore in 1985โฒs โA View to a Kill." She also appeared in such fantasy adventure films as โThe Beastmasterโ and โHearts and Armour.โ She replaced Shelley Hack in โCharlieโs Angels,โ and also played comic book heroine Sheena โ a female version of the Tarzan story โ in a 1984 film. A new generation of fans saw her on โThat โ70s Showโ from 1998 and 2004, playing Midge, mother to Laura Preponโs character Donna.
Tommy Lasorda
Updated
Tommy Lasorda, the fiery Hall of Fame manager who guided the Los Angeles Dodgers to two World Series titles and later became an ambassador for the sport he loved during his 71 years with the franchise, died Jan. 7, 2021. He was 93. Lasorda worked as a player, scout, manager and front office executive with the Dodgers dating to their roots in Brooklyn. He compiled a 1,599-1,439 record, won World Series titles in 1981 and โ88, four National League pennants and eight division titles while serving as Dodgers manager from 1977-96. He was elected to baseballโs Hall of Fame in 1997 as a manager. He guided the U.S. to a baseball gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
George P. Shultz
Updated
Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, a titan of American academia, business and diplomacy who spent most of the 1980s trying to improve Cold War relations with the Soviet Union and forging a course for peace in the Middle East, died Feb. 6, 2021. He was 100. Shultz was labor secretary, treasury secretary and director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Richard M. Nixon before spending more than six years as President Ronald Reaganโs secretary of state.
John Chaney
Updated
John Chaney, one of the nationโs leading Black coaches and a commanding figure during a Hall of Fame basketball career at Temple, died Jan. 29, 2021. He was 89. Chaney led Temple to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances over 24 seasons, including five NCAA regional finals. Chaney had 741 wins as a college coach. He was twice named national coach of the year and his teams at Temple won six Atlantic 10 conference titles.
Sheldon Adelson
Updated
Sheldon Adelson, who rose from a modest start as the son of an immigrant taxi driver to become a billionaire Republican powerbroker with a casino empire and influence on international politics, died Jan. 11, 2021. He was 87. In business, Adelson transformed a landmark Las Vegas casino that was once a hangout of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack into a towering Italian-inspired complex. In politics, Adelson was a record-breaking campaign donor who had the ear of domestic and international leaders, including President Donald Trump.
Joanne Rogers
Updated
Joanne Rogers, an an accomplished concert pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her husband, the beloved children's TV host Mister Rogers, died Jan. 14, 2021. She was 92. Joanne and Fred Rogers were married for more than 50 years, spanning the launch and end of the low-key, low-tech โMister Rogersโ Neighborhood,โ which presented Fred Rogers as one adult in a busy world who always had time to listen to children. His pull as Americaโs favorite neighbor never seemed to wane before his death in 2003.
Tom Moore
Updated
Capt. Tom Moore, the World War II veteran who walked into the hearts of a nation in lockdown as he shuffled up and down his garden to raise money for health care workers, died Feb. 2, 2021, after testing positive for COVID-19. He was 100.
Siegfried Fischbacher
Updated
Siegfried Fischbacher, the surviving member of the magic duo Siegfried & Roy who entertained millions with illusions using rare animals, died Jan. 13, 2021, in Las Vegas. He was 81. The duo astonished millions with their extraordinary magic tricks until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the actโs famed white tigers. For years, Siegfried & Roy was an institution in Las Vegas, where Fischbacher and Horn's magic and artistry consistently attracted sellout crowds. The pair performed six shows a week, 44 weeks per year.
Phil Spector
Updated
Phil Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his โWall of Soundโ method and who later was convicted of murder, died Jan. 16, 2021. He was 81. Spector was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 at his castle-like mansion on the edge of Los Angeles. After a trial in 2009, he was sentenced to 19 years to life. Decades before, Spector had been hailed as a visionary for channeling Wagnerian ambition into the three-minute song, creating the โWall of Soundโ that merged spirited vocal harmonies with lavish orchestral arrangements to produce such pop monuments as โDa Doo Ron Ron,โ โBe My Babyโ and โHeโs a Rebel.โ
Dianne Durham
Updated
Dianne Durham, the first Black woman to win a USA Gymnastics national championship, died Feb. 4, 2021. She was 52. Durham was a pioneer in American gymnastics. Her victory in the all-around at the 1983 national championships as a teenager was the first by a Black woman in the organization's history.
Chick Corea
Updated
Chick Corea, a towering jazz pianist with a staggering 23 Grammy Awards who pushed the boundaries of the genre and worked alongside Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, died Feb. 9, 2021. He was 79. A prolific artist with dozens of albums, Corea in 1968 replaced Herbie Hancock in Miles Davisโ group, playing on the landmark albums โIn a Silent Wayโ and โBitches Brew.โ
Marty Schottenheimer
Updated
Marty Schottenheimer, who won 200 regular-season games with four NFL teams thanks to his โMartyballโ brand of smash-mouth football but regularly fell short in the playoffs, died Feb. 8, 2021. He was 77. Schottenheimer was the eighth-winningest coach in NFL history. He went 200-126-1 in 21 seasons with Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego.
Paul Westphal
Updated
Paul Westphal, a Hall of Fame player who won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 1974 and later coached in the league and in college, died Jan. 2, 2021. He was 70. A five-time All-Star guard, Westphal played in the NBA from 1972-84. After winning a championship with the Celtics, he made the finals in 1976 with Phoenix, where he was a key part of one of the most riveting games in league history. After his playing career ended, Westphal moved into coaching. He led the Suns to the NBA Finals in 1993, and also was head coach of Seattle and Sacramento.
Don Sutton
Updated
Don Sutton, a Hall of Fame pitcher who was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgersโ rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela, died Jan. 19, 2021. He was 75. A four-time All-Star, Sutton had a career record of 324-256 and an ERA of 3.26 while pitching for the Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, California Angels and the Dodgers again in 1988, his final season. The durable Sutton never missed a turn in the rotation in 756 big league starts. Only Cy Young and Nolan Ryan made more starts than Sutton, who never landed on the injured list in his 23-year career.
Gerry Marsden
Updated
Gerry Marsden, lead singer of the 1960s British group Gerry and the Pacemakers that had such hits as โFerry Cross the Merseyโ and the song that became the anthem of Liverpool Football Club, โYouโll Never Walk Alone,โ died Jan. 3, 2021. He was 78.
Gregory Sierra
Updated
Gregory Sierra, best known for his roles in "Sanford and Son" and "Barney Miller," died on Jan. 4, 2021, from cancer. He was 83. Sierra's most prominent roles were in sitcoms from the 1970s. In NBC's "Sanford and Son," he was a series regular as the Sanfords' neighbor Julio Fuentes. Later, he portrayed Miguel "Chano" Amanguale, a detective on ABC's "Barney Miller." Sierra also had supporting or guest roles in "All in the Family," "Hill Street Blues," "Miami Vice," and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
Jim Weatherly
Updated
Hall of Fame songwriter Jim Weatherly, who wrote โMidnight Train to Georgia" and other hits for Gladys Knight, Glen Campbell and Ray Price, died Feb. 3, 2021. He was 77. Weatherly, who was also a star quarterback for Ole Miss in the 1960s, wrote a number of hits for Gladys Knight & The Pips, including โ(Youโre the) Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me,โ โNeither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)โ and โWhere Peaceful Waters Flow."
Pedro Gomez
Updated
Pedro Gomez (left in photo), a longtime baseball correspondent for ESPN who covered more than 25 World Series, died Feb. 7, 2021. He was 58. Gomez joined ESPN as a Phoenix-based reporter in 2003 after being a sports columnist and national baseball writer at The Arizona Republic since 1997. He was best known at the network for his coverage of Barry Bonds and his pursuit of the home-run record during the steroid controversy.
Floyd Little
Updated
Floyd Little, the versatile running back who starred at Syracuse and for the Denver Broncos, died Jan. 1, 2021, after a long bout with cancer. He was 78. Little was a three-time All-American at Syracuse, where he wore No. 44 like Jim Brown and Ernie Davis before him. From 1964-66, he ran for 2,704 yards and 46 touchdowns. Little was the sixth overall pick in the 1967 AFL-NFL draft. He played nine seasons in Denver, where he earned the nickname โThe Franchiseโ because his signing was credited with keeping the team from relocating.
Nancy Bush Ellis
Updated
Nancy Bush Ellis, a longtime Democrat who helped her Republican brother and nephew get elected president, died Jan. 10, 2021, of complications of the coronavirus. She was 94. She supported and campaigned not only for her brother George H.W. Bush, and her nephew George W. Bush, but for other family members running for public office, including nephew Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida.
Johnny Pacheco
Updated
Salsa idol Johnny Pacheco, who was a co-founder of Fania Records, Eddie Palmieriโs bandmate and backer of music stars such as Rubรฉn Bladรฉs, Willie Colรณn and Celia Cruz, died Feb. 15, 2021. He was 85.
Prince Markie Dee
Updated
Prince Markie Dee, a member of the Fat Boys hip-hop trio who later formed his own band and became a well-known radio host, died Feb. 18, 2021. He was 52. Born Mark Morales in Brooklyn, Prince Markie Dee was a prolific songwriter and founding member of the Fat Boys, a group known for beatboxing that released several popular albums in the 1980s such as the platinum record โCrushin'.โ
Arturo Di Modica
Updated
Arturo Di Modica, the artist who sculpted Charging Bull, the bronze statue in New York which became an iconic symbol of Wall Street, died Feb. 19, 2021, in his hometown in Sicily at age 80. The sculptor lived in New York for more than 40 years in New York. He arrived in 1973 and opened an art studio in the city's SoHo neighborhood. With the help of a truck and crane, Di Modica installed the bronze bull sculpture in New Yorkโs financial district without permission on the night of Dec. 16, 1989.
Neil Sheehan
Updated
Neil Sheehan, a reporter and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who broke the story of the Pentagon Papers for The New York Times and who chronicled the deception at the heart of the Vietnam War in his epic book about the conflict, died Jan. 7, 2021. He was 84. His account of the Vietnam War, โA Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam,โ took him 15 years to write. The 1988 book won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.
Vernon Jordan
Updated
Vernon Jordan, who rose from humble beginnings in the segregated South to become a champion of civil rights before reinventing himself as a Washington insider and corporate influencer, died March 1, 2021. After stints as field secretary for the Georgia NAACP and executive director of the United Negro College Fund, he became head of the National Urban League, becoming the face of Black Americaโs modern struggle for jobs and justice for more than a decade. He was nearly killed by a racistโs bullet in 1980 before transitioning to business and politics. His friendship with Bill Clinton took them both to the White House.
Bunny Wailer
Updated
Bunny Wailer, a reggae luminary who was the last surviving founding member of the legendary group The Wailers, died March 2, 2021, in his native Jamaica. He was 73. Wailer, a baritone singer whose birth name is Neville Livingston, formed The Wailers in 1963 with late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh when they lived in a slum in the capital of Kingston. They catapulted to international fame with the album, โCatch a Fire" and also helped popularize Rastafarian culture among better-off Jamaicans starting in the 1970s.
Carla Wallenda
Updated
Carla Wallenda, a member of โThe Flying Wallendasโ high-wire act and the last surviving child of the famed troupe's founder, died March 6, at the age of 85. She was the daughter of Karl Wallenda, who had founded the troupe in Germany before moving to the United States in 1928 to great acclaim. She was the aunt of aerialist Nik Wallenda.
Roger Mudd
Updated
Roger Mudd, the longtime political correspondent and anchor for NBC and CBS who once stumped Sen. Edward Kennedy by simply asking why he wanted to be president, died March 9, 2021. He was 93. During more than 30 years on network television, starting with CBS in 1961, Mudd covered Congress, elections and political conventions and was a frequent anchor and contributor to various specials.
Marvin Hagler
Updated
"Marvelous" Marvin Hagler, the middleweight boxing great whose title reign and career ended with a split-decision loss to โSugarโ Ray Leonard in 1987, died March 13, 2021. He was 66. Hagler was 62-3-2 with 52 knockouts from 1973 to 1987. He was the undisputed middleweight champion from 1980 until his loss to Leonard at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on April 6, 1987. The fierce left-hander had two of his biggest victories at Caesars Palace, unanimously outpointing Roberto Duran in 1983 and knocking out Thomas Hearns in the third round in 1985.
Yaphet Kotto
Updated
Yaphet Kotto, the commanding actor who brought tough magnetism and stately gravitas to films including the James Bond movie โLive and Let Dieโ and โAlien," died March 15, 2021. He was 81. Standing 6-foot-3-inches, Yaphet Frederick Kotto was a regular and compelling presence across films, television and Broadway beginning with the films โNothing But a Manโ (1964) and โThe Thomas Crown Affairโ (1968). He made his stage debut in a Boston production of โOthello.โ In 1969, he replaced James Earl Jones in the Pulitzer-winning โThe Great White Hopeโ on Broadway. His big-screen breakthrough came as Lieutenant Pope in 1972's โAcross 110th Street."
James Levine
Updated
Conductor James Levine, who ruled over the Metropolitan Opera for more than four decades before being eased aside when his health declined and then was fired for sexual improprieties, died March 9, 2021. He was 77. Levine made his Met debut in 1971 and became one of the signature artists in the companyโs century-plus history, conducting 2,552 performances and ruling over its repertoire, orchestra and singers as music or artistic director from 1976 until forced out by general manager Peter Gelb in 2016 due to Parkinsonโs disease.
Dick Hoyt
Updated
Dick Hoyt, who inspired thousands of runners, fathers and disabled athletes by pushing his son, Rick, in a wheelchair in dozens of Boston Marathons and hundreds of other races, died March 17, 2021. He was 80.
Elgin Baylor
Updated
Elgin Baylor, the Lakersโ 11-time NBA All-Star who soared through the 1960s with a high-scoring style of basketball that became the model for the modern player, died March 22, 2021. He was 86. With a silky-smooth jumper and fluid athleticism, Baylor played a major role in revolutionizing basketball from a ground-bound sport into an aerial show. He spent parts of 14 seasons with the Lakers in Minneapolis and Los Angeles during his Hall of Fame career, teaming with Jerry West throughout the โ60s in one of the most potent tandems in basketball history.
George Segal
Updated
George Segal, the banjo player turned actor who was nominated for an Oscar for 1966's โWhoโs Afraid of Virginia Woolf?โ and worked into his late 80s on the ABC sitcom โThe Goldbergs,โ died March 23, 2021, at age 87. Segal was always best known as a comic actor, becoming one of the screen's biggest stars in the 1970s when lighthearted adult comedies thrived. But his most famous role was in a harrowing drama, โWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", based on Edward Albee's acclaimed play. To younger audiences, he was better known for playing magazine publisher Jack Gallo on the long-running NBC series โJust Shoot Me" from 1997 to 2003, and as grandfather Albert โPopsโ Solomon on the โThe Goldbergsโ since 2013.
Bobby Brown
Updated
Bobby Brown, an infielder who played on five World Series champions with the New York Yankees and later became a cardiologist and president of the American League, died March 25, 2021. He was 96. Brown played with the Yankees from 1947-54, with Yogi Berra his roommate. He spent eight seasons in the majors and played in a career-high 113 games in 1948, batting .300 with three home runs, 48 RBIs. Overall, he batted .279 with 22 home runs and 237 RBIs. He was president of the American League from 1984-94. Commissioner Rob Manfred called him a โproud Yankeeโ and โquiet star.โ
Jessica Walter
Updated
Jessica Walter, whose roles as a scheming matriarch in TVโs โArrested Developmentโ and a stalker in โPlay Misty for Meโ were in line with a career that drew on her astringent screen presence more than her good looks, died March 24, 2021. She was 80.
Larry McMurtry
Updated
Larry McMurtry, the prolific and popular author who took readers back to the old American West in his Pulitzer Prize-winning โLonesome Doveโ and returned them to modern-day landscapes in works such as his emotional tale of a mother-daughter relationship in โTerms of Endearment,โ died March 25, 2021. He was 84.
Beverly Cleary
Updated
Beverly Cleary, the celebrated childrenโs author whose memories of her Oregon childhood were shared with millions through the likes of Ramona and Beezus Quimby and Henry Huggins, died March 25, 2021. She was 104. Cleary published her first book, "Henry Huggins," in 1950, and more than 40 other books in years following, according to HarperCollins. Cleary's books have sold more than 85 million copies and were translated into 29 different languages. Her protagonists were pests, goody-goodies, bullies and daydreamers, sometimes all at once. She mined memories of her youth and the struggles of kids she knew to capture children's views of the adult world, where fathers sometimes lost their jobs and mothers sometimes parented alone. - CNN, AP
Howard Schnellenberger
Updated
Howard Schnellenberger, who revived football at the University of Miami and Louisville and started the program at Florida Atlantic during a coaching career that spanned a half century, died March 27, 2021. He was 87. Schnellenberger had a career record below .500, but when it came to building, he was a winner. His legacy includes campus stadiums at Louisville and Florida Atlantic.
Sarah Obama
Updated
Sarah Obama, the matriarch of former U.S. President Barack Obama's Kenyan family has died. She was at least 99 years old. Mama Sarah, as the step-grandmother of the former U.S. president was fondly called, promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo village.
G. Gordon Liddy
Updated
G. Gordon Liddy, a mastermind of the Watergate burglary and a radio talk show host after emerging from prison, died March 30, 2021, at age 90. Liddy, a former FBI agent and Army veteran, was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate burglary, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. He spent four years and four months in prison, including more than 100 days in solitary confinement.
