For many years I wrote for TVWeek magazine and closed each year with a salute to friends who passed on. Here are the folks we said farewell to this past year:

Celeste Holm, 95 — Movie and TV actress
Ernest Borgnine, 95 — Star of McHale’s Navy, won an Oscar for Marty
Phyllis Diller, 95 — Paved the way for women in comedy
Mike Wallace, 93 — 60 Minutes reporter and CBS news anchor
Sam Sniderman, 92 — Created the Sam The Record Man record stores
Ray Bradbury, 91 — Sci-fi writer (Fahrenheit 451)
Ravi Shankar, 91 — Indian sitarist who influenced George Harrison
Dave Brubeck, 91 — One of the all time great jazz pianists
Larry Hagman, 91 — Actor best known as J.R On Dallas
Hal David, 91 — Wrote Walk on By and Raindrops with Burt Bacharach
Johnny Otis, 90 — Famous for Willie And The Hand Jive,  discovered Etta James and Little Richard
Jack Klugman, 90 — costarred with Tony Randall in TV’s The Odd Couple
Charles Durning, 89 — American actor
Jim Marshall, 88 — Creator of Marshall rock ‘n’ roll amplifiers
Andy Griffith, 86 — Star of the Andy Griffith Show and Matlock
Gene Kern, 86 — Former production manager at CKWX
Andy Williams, 84  — Most famous for the song Moon River
Herb Reed, 83 — Founder and last surviving member of the Platters
Laurier LaPierre, 83 — co-hosted CBC’s This Hour Has Seven Days in 1960s
Neil Armstrong, 82 — First man on the moon
Dick Clark, 82 — Host of American Bandstand and owner of many TV shows
Ben Gazzara, 81 — star of the TV series Run For Your Life
Billy Strange, 81 — L.A. studio guitar player, played on the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds
Don Hamilton, 80 — Former General Manager at CKLG
Richard Dawson, 79 — Host of Family Feud
Jerry Landa, 78 —  Also known as Jerry Lee Landa on C-FUN Radio in the Sixties
Brian Lord, 77 —  Another C-FUN Good Guy known as Baby Blue
Don Cornelius, 75 — Created the TV dance show Soul Train
Chad Everett, 75 — Best remembered for his role in Marcus Welby, MD
Scott McKenzie, 73 — Sang San Francisco (Flowers In Your Hair)
Etta James, 73 — One of the best R&B singers of all time
Joe South, 72 — Wrote Games People Play and Walk A Mile In My Shoes.
Fontella Bass, 72 — American singer who had a hit with Rescue Me in 1964
Levon Helm, 71 — Drummer and major part of The Band
John Iacobucci, 70 — Former Sales Manager at CKNW
Mick Luvzit, 70 — Former CKLG jock, worked at UK “pirate” stations Radio Caroline and Radio London
Danny Holiday, 69 — My friend and former Seattle deejay
Marvin Hamlisch, 68 — Best known for The Entertainer from the movie The Sting
Davy Jones, 66 — Member of the Monkees
Bob Welch, 65 — Former member of Fleetwood Mac
Donna Summer, 63 — Disco Queen  (Love to Love You Baby, Bad Girls)
Robin Gibb, 62 — Member of the Bee Gees
Whitney Houston, 48 — Hitmaker supreme and actress in The Bodyguard