Hear all stories from this page
June 5, 2007 · Parren Mitchell, the first African-American elected in Maryland to the U.S. House of Representatives, has died at the age of 85. He was a champion for minority businesses and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Bill France, chairman of NASCAR, lost his battle against cancer Monday. He was 74.
Former poet laureate William Meredith "heard language with a perfect pitch."
June 2, 2007 · We know him as the man who wrote the music used at graduations, but in Britain, Edward Elgar means a lot more. It's the 150th anniversary of the birth of the composer who gave the British "Pomp and Circumstance" and one little "Enigma." Web Extra: Hear Elgar's 'Enigma' Unraveled
June 2, 2007 · William E. Peters, a journalist who built his career on civil rights issues, has died at 85. He received numerous journalism awards, including an Emmy for his documentary A Class Divided. The film was based on the "Brown Eyes - Blue Eyes" exercise, made popular by a third grade teacher in Iowa. NPR's John Ydstie talks with that educator, Jane Elliott, about her friend and colleague.
May 31, 2007 · Two parents who recently lost their children in the Iraq war when their vehicle was bombed on May 19th express their sympathies to each other. Lanna McDonald is the mother of Pfc. Travis Haslip, and Ronnie Medlin is the father of Sgt. Gene Paul Medlin.
May 28, 2007 · Tony-winner Charles Nelson Reilly has passed away at the age of 76. His acting and directing successes were overshadowed for many by his regular appearances as an outsized personality on TV game shows.
May 27, 2007 · Rachel Carson, whose book Silent Spring helped spark the modern environmental movement, would have been 100 years old Sunday. Her work continues to stir up controversy on Capitol Hill.
May 26, 2007 · Food historian Karen Hess died this month at the age of 88. Hess dedicated much of her life to researching the food of colonial America. In 1981 she published, Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery. She died while finishing a book on Thomas Jefferson's table.
May 26, 2007 · This is the 300th anniversary of the birth of the man who revolutionized our understanding of botany. Carl Linneaus was the Swedish scientist who invented the modern classification of plants and animals, according to genus and species.
May 25, 2007 · P.J. Murphey lives in Springerville, Ariz., far away from Hollywood. But the 71-year-old woman once made movies with John Wayne — as a stunt rider, an unconventional career for a young woman at the time.
May 23, 2007 · Army Spc. Astor Sunsin-Pineda of Long Beach, Calif., enlisted straight out of high school and was featured in a recruitment ad on Spanish-language TV. He was killed earlier this month by a roadside bomb.
May 22, 2007 · Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army officer who served in Vietnam and has become a noted conservative critic of the war in Iraq, talks about his son Andrew, who was killed in Iraq. Andrew was a first lieutenant. He died on Mother's Day in a suicide bombing north of Baghdad.
May 19, 2007 · Lloyd Alexander, a prize-winning author of children's books, has died at 83. Many of his books were set in mythical lands, but his heroes had modern-day problems. His Chronicles of Prydain concluded in 1969 with a Newbery Medal winner.
May 19, 2007 · Kate Webb, who died this week at 64, was one of the few women reporters to cover the Vietnam War. Author and Asia specialist Elizabeth Becker met Webb in Cambodia, and pays tribute to her colleague.
The resident of Long Beach, Calif., enlisted straight out of high school and was featured in a recruitment ad on Spanish-language TV.
Andres Bacevich Jr., the son of a Boston University professor who is one of the most prominent critic of the Iraq war, is the 3,400th U.S. serviceman to die in Iraq.
The 26-year-old native of Hastings, Neb., dreamed of being a paratrooper since elementary school.
The 20-year-old resident of Rockland, Mass., was killed in combat in Anbar province, after only six weeks in Iraq.
The Marine from Norman, Okla., died in Iraq while trying to disarm a bomb during his fourth tour of duty in Iraq.
The Massachusetts soldier died in March when a roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad.
The 21-year-old man from Maine joined the Marines last year, and his death during combat operations came barely two months into his first tour in Iraq.
