Ralf Paulsen

Country-western singer -- via Die Welt.

Maurice Hurley

TV writer and producer ("Star Trek: The Next Generation"); screenwriter -- via the Hollywood Reporter.

Hector Carrion

Musician -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

David Banks

Comedy writer, music producer, and actor -- via eurweb.com.

Chris Rainbow

Vocalist with the Alan Parsons Project, Camel, and Jon Anderson -- via Ultimate Classic Rock. AKA Christopher James Harley.

Deathcetera: The week in death and mourning

A slow week. Which is good!

DEATH

Achieving a good death – via Alex Lickerman at Slate

Painter renders last meals of 600 executed prisoners – via Anna van Wagtendonk at PBS News Hour

Why we like to read the words of the dying – by Eve Wiseman at the Guardian

Death and . . . improv? – from Barbara Brotman at the Chicago Tribune

FUNERALS

Fascinating funeral traditions from around the globe – via Kate Torgovnick May at ideas.ted.com

Jim King

Former MLB player -- via nelsonberna.com.

Theodore Hesburgh

Priest and university president -- via the New York Times.

Dori J. Maynard

Journalist -- via the L.A. Times.

Terence Ranger

Historian and human-rights activist -- via the Guardian.

Pauline Fisk

Children's author -- via the BBC. AK Pauline Davies.

Boris Nemtsov

Scientist and politician -- via the Guardian.

Richard Bakalyan

Actor -- via the Hollywood Reporter. One of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, Bakalyan played gangsters and the like for more than 50 years.

"The Face is Familiar" - Dick Bakalyan from Encore Video Services on Vimeo.

Pam Brighton

Theater director -- via the Guardian.

AL Rees

Film scholar, writer, and teacher -- via the Guardian.

Said Sheikh Samatar

Scholar and writer -- via raxanreeb.com.

Minnie Miñoso

Great left fielder for the Chicago White Sox -- via the Chicago Tribune. AKA Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso Arrieta, the Cuban Comet, Mr. White Sox. A power hitter, he was fast on the bases as well, second only to Willie Mays at the time. He was also noted for standing in and getting hit by pitches. He is referenced in a notable comedy routine by Robert Klein --  One of those guys I think should be in the Hall of Fame.



The Minnie bit comes at 4:30 in this clip --

Robert "Wolfman" Belfour

Bluesman -- via the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

A. Vincent

Cinematographer -- via the Hindu.

Giacomo Rondinella

Singer and actor -- via Il Mattino.

Ariel Camacho

Singer for Los Plebes del Rancho -- via the New York Times.

Tyzen Hsiao

Composer -- via Focus Taiwan.

Leonard Nimoy

Actor, director, poet, singer, and photographer; our beloved Spock from the original "Star Trek" TV series -- via the New York Times. He enacted one of the most memorable and enduring characters in American culture -- as the Vulcan science officer of the starship Enterprise, he played a brilliant but tormented outsider who struggled to keep his all-too-human side at bay. Nimoy was a versatile actor who later figured prominently in shows such as "Mission: Impossible"; he directed two "Star Trek" films successfully, and the comedy hit "3 Men and a Baby" as well. Lest we forget, he served as the host of the syndicated series "In Search of . . . ", and did a nice turn as a therapist in the remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Famous for what some might consider a silly role, he took it all with good humor.

Gerardo Reyes

Ranchera singer -- via El Siglo de Torreon. AKA The Son of the People, the Godfather of Cinco de Mayo.

Eugenie Clark

Marine biologist, ichthyologist, and oceanographer -- via the New York Times.

Fritz J. Raddatz

Writer and critic -- via newsdirectory1.com.

Ruth Denison

Buddhist teacher -- via Tricycle.

R.C. Sakthi

Director and actor -- via the Hindu.

John Crocker

Actor -- via the Telegraph.

Tonya Gonnella Frichner

Indigenous leader -- via the New York Times.

Steve Bristow

Engineer and game designer -- via Ars Technica.

Roger Cecil

Artist -- via the Guardian.

Alan Mayor

Photographer -- via the Tennessean.

John Rowlands

Writer and critic -- via the BBC.

Marlene Barrow-Tate

Marlene is center in photo.

Backup singer; member of Motown's unsung (pardon) trio, the Andantes -- via Vintage Vinyl News. Here's just a partial list of the songs she can be heard on: "I Heard It through the Grapevine," "My Guy," "Bernadette," "Don't Mess with Bill," "Ain't That Peculiar," and "Higher and Higher." Not too shabby.

Terry Gill

Actor -- via the Sydney Morning Herald.

Paul Napier

Actor -- via Deadline.

Maureen Guy

Mezzo-soprano -- via the Telegraph.

Cecil Morton

Artist -- via the Telegraph.

Bobby Emmons

Songwriter and keyboardist -- via Rolling Stone. A long-time, expert session musician in Memphis, he wrote some beautiful songs, including "Luckenbach, Texas" and "The Wurlitzer Prize."

Ramon Aupart Cisneros

Film editor and documentary filmmaker - via Fox News Latino.

Don Stolz

'Godfather' of Minneapolis theater -- via the Star-Tribune.

Robert Pookapu "Uncle Robert" Keliihoomalu, Sr.

Musician -- via the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.

Don Johnson

Former MLB pitcher -- via Oregon Live.

Ben Woolf

Actor -- via TMZ.

Meredydd Evans

Masterful historian, collector, and performer of Welsh folk music --via the BBC. AKA Mered.

John Knapp-Fisher

Artist -- via the BBC.

Luca Ronconi

Masterful director of opera and theater -- via euronews.

Nirad Mohapatra

Director -- via the New Indian Express.