This article is a review of notable figures who died in 2026, highlighting influential people across various fields. It includes the deaths of Gloria Steinem and Tung Chee-hwa in September, along with other significant losses such as Japanese baseball player Isao Harimoto and jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. The piece details the passing of Diane Crump, South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki, CIA traitor Aldrich Ames, filmmaker Béla Tarr, hockey legend Glenn Hall, Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, musician John Forté, cartoonist Scott Adams, civil rights activist Claudette Colvin, and fashion designer Valentino Garavani. Each entry provides a brief context of the person's contributions and achievements.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The world lost a prominent and celebrated voice for the women's movement in September with the death of author and activist Gloria Steinem.
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world → lose → Steinem
A fierce advocate for equality, she co-founded Ms. Magazine and spent much of her life on the road, speaking at college campuses, rallies and marches.
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- → co → campuses
September also saw the death of Tung Chee-hwa, the shipping tycoon who became the first leader of Hong Kong after British colonial rule in the southern Chinese territory ended in 1997.
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rule → see → 1997
Other noteworthy people who died in September include Japanese baseball great Isao Harimoto, jazz singer Cassandra Wilson and former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl.
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who → die → Harimoto
Here is a roll call of some influential figures who have died this year (the cause of death is cited, if available):
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cause → die → death
In 1969, she became the first woman to ride professionally in a horse race and a year later became the first female jockey in the Kentucky Derby.
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she → become → Derby
He was one of South Korean cinema’s biggest stars whose prolific 60-year career and positive, gentle public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor.”
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career → earn → nickname
The CIA turncoat who betrayed Western intelligence assets to the Soviet Union and Russia in one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in U.S. history died in prison.
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who → betray → prison
The celebrated Hungarian filmmaker directed such works as “Sátántangó” and “The Turin Horse” and was the recipient of numerous awards for his long and often darkly comic films.
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filmmaker → direct → films
Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” he was a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goalkeeper remains an NHL record.
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streak → nickname → goalkeeper
The guitarist and singer was an essential member of the Grateful Dead who helped found the sound of the San Francisco counterculture of the 1960s and kept it alive through decades of endless tours and marathon jams.
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who → find → tours
The Grammy-nominated musician was known for his work with the Fugees and the Refugee Camp All-Stars, among others.
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musician → nominate → others
His popular comic strip “Dilbert” captured the frustration of beleaguered, white-collar cubicle workers and satirized the ridiculousness of modern office culture until he was abruptly dropped from syndication in 2023 for racist remarks.
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he → capture → remarks
Her 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern Civil Rights Movement.
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arrest → refuse → Movement
At age 15, she was arrested nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for also refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus.
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Parks → arrest → bus
He won a weightlifting gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics before admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs under a secret program run by the totalitarian regime in the former Czechoslovakia.
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He → win → Czechoslovakia
The gifted Canadian-born comic actor and “SCTV” alum starred as Macaulay Culkin’s harried mother in two “Home Alone” movies and won an Emmy as the dramatically ditzy, wealthy matriarch Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek.”
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actor → bear → Creek
He found fame in the 1970s playing Lamont on “Sanford and Son” and went on to become a minister.
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He → find → Sanford
He was an award-winning poet, author, translator and educator who schooled millions of students through “The Bedford Reader” and other textbooks and engaged voluntary readers with his children’s stories and intricate, witty verse.
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who → win → stories
He was a founding member of the soul-rock sensations Three Dog Night who sang lead on such hits as “One” and “Just an Old Fashioned Love Song” and hollered the immortal opening line “Jeremiah was a bullfrog!” on the chart-topping “Joy to the World.”
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Jeremiah → found → World
He had three complete-game victories for the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series, the last Major League Baseball pitcher to post the incredible feat.
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He → have → feat
The heartthrob starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in “Dawson’s Creek” and in later years mocking his own hunky persona.
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heartthrob → star → persona
He had revealed in 2024 that he was being treated for colorectal cancer.
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he → reveal → cancer
He was an Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two “Godfather” movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in “Tender Mercies.”
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roles → win → Mercies
He was the celebrated director of “Titicut Follies” and dozens of other documentaries whose in-depth, unadorned movies comprised a unique and revelatory history of American institutions.
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movies → comprise → institutions
A protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and a two-time presidential candidate, he led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader’s assassination.
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he → lead → assassination
The celebrated actor was best known for his roles on “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” and later in life became an advocate for ALS awareness.
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actor → know → awareness
He died from the disease less than a year after he announced his diagnosis.
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he → die → diagnosis
The Hall of Fame second baseman won eight Gold Glove awards for his steady work in the field and the hearts of countless Pittsburgh Pirates fans for his historic walk-off home run in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.
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baseman → win → Series
He was a Grammy-nominated architect of urban salsa music and a social activist.
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He → nominate → music
She was a dancer and actor discovered by the legendary choreographer-director Jerome Robbins and originated the role of Tiger Lily on Broadway in “Peter Pan” and played Minnie Fay in the original production of “Hello, Dolly!”
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She → discover → Hello
The hit-making singer-songwriter’s boyish soprano and bright melodies made him a top act in the early years of rock ‘n’ roll and led to a second run of success in the 1970s.
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him → make → 1970s
He assembled theocratic power in Iran over the decades as its top leader and sought to turn it into a regional powerhouse, bringing it into confrontation with Israel and the United States over its nuclear program while crushing democracy protests.
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He → assemble → protests
He was killed in U.S. and Israeli military strikes.
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He → kill → strikes
He was an abortion clinic doctor sentenced to life for killing three babies who had been delivered alive.
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who → sentence → babies
He was the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship and won 249 games over 33 seasons at six schools.
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who → lead → schools
He was the advance man who did the risky groundwork for the voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama, that culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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that → do → 1965
He was a hippie rock star of the 1960s whose “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” was a four-lettered rebuke to the Vietnam War that became an anthem for protesters and a highlight of the Woodstock music festival.
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that → feel → festival
He was the White House aide who inadvertently hastened Richard Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal when he revealed that the president had bugged the Oval Office and Cabinet Room and routinely recorded his conversations.
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president → hasten → conversations
The white South African anti-apartheid activist was tapped by prisoner-turned-president Nelson Mandela to help draft the country’s new constitution that enshrined equal rights for Black people, minorities and white people.
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that → tap → people
…and 123 more, not listed.
The Aporia
