Deaths in June - 2015

Appalachian folk singer Jean Ritchie died June 1 at the age of 92. Her memoir was called Singing Family of the Cumberlands.

Quebec separatist leader Jacques Parizeau died June 1 at the age of 84. He wrote An Independent Quebec: The Past, The Present, and the Future.

Chef Roger Verge died June 5 at the age of 85. His books include Roger Verge's Entertaining in the French Style and Cuisine of the Sun.

Famed Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi died June 8 at the age of 80. A few of his books include Helter Skelter, And the Sea Will Tell, Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder and The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder.

Typographer Hermann Zapf died June 4 at the age of 96. His books include About Alphabets: some Marginal Notes on Type Design and Manuale typographicum.

Food writer Marguerite Patten died June 4 at the age of 99. Her books include Victory Cookbook, We'll Eat Again and Spam: The Cookbook.

Christopher Lee, film actor, including as Dracula in a number of films, 1958-1973, Lord Summerisle in The wicker man (1973), Bond villain Scaramanga in The man with the golden gun (1974), and Saruman in The lord of the rings trilogy (2001-2003), died 7 June 2015. (Guardian report)

James Last, musician and bandleader, who released more than 200 albums, died 9 June 2015. (Guardian obituary)

Christopher Lee also wrote a few books: Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christopher Lee, Tall, Dark and Gruesome and Christopher Lee's 'X' Certificate.

Czech author Ludvik Vaculik died on approximately June 6 at the age of 88. His books include The Guinea Pigs, Coffee with my Interrogator and The Axe.

Psychologist and former priest Eugene Kennedy died June 3 at the age of 86. His books include On Becoming a Counselor, The Pain of Being Human and The Unhealed Wound.

Over 50 years Paul Bacon illustrated some of the most iconic book covers of the 20th century including Portnoy's Complaint, Catch-22 and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. He died June 8 at the age of 91.

Wrestler Dusty Rhodes died June 11 at the age of 69. His memoir was called Dusty: Reflections of an American Dream.

Journalist and biographer Graham Lord died June 13 at the age of 72. His better known works include James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet, Niv: The Authorised Biography of David Niven and Dick Francis: A Racing Life.

German band leader James Last died June 9 at the age of 86. He wrote James Last: My Autobiography.

Elisabeth Elliot has died. She was the author of many books, but probably the best known of her works is Through Gates of Splendor, the story of her husband's short-lived trip into the jungles of Ecuador. She was 90.

Singer and actress Monica Lewis died June 12 at the age of 93. She wrote Hollywood Through My Eyes: The Lives & Loves of a Golden Age Siren.

Blaze Starr, the burlesque performer who tripped up a politician, died on June 15 at the age of 83. She wrote Blaze Starr: My Life As Told by Huey Perry.

South London funeral director Barry Albin-Dyer died June 6 at the age of 64. He wrote Don't Drop the Coffin and Final Departures.

Principal founder of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Anne Nicol Gaylor died June 14 at the age of 88. She wrote Lead us Not into Penn Station, The World Famous Atheist Cookbook and Abortion is a Blessing.

Australian Olympian Ron Clarke died June 17 at the age of 78. His books include The Unforgiving Minute and Fixing the Olympics.

Professor Hilary Masters died June 14 at the age of 87. His books include Last Stands: Notes from Memory, In Rooms of memory: Essays and Elegy for Sam Emerson.

Missionary Elisabeth Elliot died June 15 at the age of 88. Her books include Passion and Purity, Shadow of the Almighty and through Gates of Splendour.

Wrongly convicted and sentenced to life in prison because she had the same name as the perpetrator, Joyce Ann Brown became an advocate for the incarcerated once she obtained her release. She told her story in Joyce Ann Brown: Justice Denied. She died June 13 at the age of 68.

Ninth Archivist of the United States Dr. Allen Weinstein died June 18 at the age of 77. His books include The haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America and Perjury: the Hiss-Chambers Case.

Phil Austin, an original member of the legendary Firesign Theater, died this morning, June 19, at age 74.

James Salter, Died June 19 in Sag Harbor, N.Y. He was 90, He was most proud of A Sport and a Pastime and Light Years

Pulitzer winning composer Gunther Schuller died June 21 at the age of 89. He wrote Early Jazz and The Swing Era.

Musician Harold Battiste died June 19 at the age of 83. He wrote Unfinished Blues...Memories of a New Orleans Music Man.

British trade unionist Bill Sirs died June 16 at the age of 95. He wrote Hard Labour.

Sexologist Martin Cole died June 2 at the age of 83. He wrote Sex Therapy in Britain.

Educator Sir Christopher Woodhead died June 23 at the age of 68. He wrote Class War: The State of British Education.

Former White House chef Walter Scheib died in a fall while hiking. His body was found on June 21, he had been missing for a week. He was 61. He wrote White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen.

Actor Dick Van Patten died June 23 at the age of 86. He wrote Eighty is Not Enough!.

Actor Patrick MacNee died June 25 at the age of 93. He wrote Blind in One Ear and The Avengers and Me.

>26 varielle: very sad to hear he's gone. I loved that series.

Indeed. I wanted to be Emma Peel.

Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov died June 26 at the age of 85. He wrote Russia and the Arabs.

Wartime WREN stoker Lady Rozelle Raynes died June 22 at the age of 89. She wrote Maid Matelot and North in a Nutshell.

Spanish artist Antoni Pitxot died June 12 at the age of 81. He wrote The Dali Theatre-Museum from Figueras.

Chicago educator Marva Collins died June 24 at the age of 78. She wrote Marva Collins' Way: Updated and Ordinary Children, Extraordinary Teachers.

Photographer Harold Feinstein died June 20 at the age of 84. His books include One Hundred Flowers and Foliage.

Neo-conservative Ben J. Wattenberg died June 28 at the age of 81. His books include Fewer: How the New Demography of Depopulation Will Shape our Future, The Real Majority: An Extraordinary Examination of the American Electorate and Values Matter Most.

French politician Charles Pasqua died June 29 at the age of 88. He wrote Que demande le Peuple....

Novelist Theodore Weesner died June 25 at the age of 79. His books include The Car Thief, The True Detective and Winning the City.

Odds maker Ron Pollard died June 10 at the age of 89. He wrote Odds and Sods: My Life in the Betting Business.

Photographer Charles Harbutt died June 29 at the age of 79. His work can be seen in Travelog and Charles Harbutt: Departures and Arrivals.

Curator Ralph Hyde died June 4 at the age of 76. His books include Panoramania! and Printed Maps of Victorian London.

Wrong month, sorry.

Lawyer and Oxford don Harvey McGregor died June 27 at the age of 89. He wrote McGregor on Damages.

Zoologist Bryan Nelson died June 29 at the age of 83. He wrote SeaBirds, their biology and ecology and The Gannet.

Pop academic Sheila Whiteley died June 6 at the age of 74. She wrote Sexing the Groove and Women and Popular Music.

Retired army officer and maritime curator David Goddard died June 30 at the age of 88. He wrote the guide to the Exeter Maritime Museum.

Poet John Gibbens died June 23 at the age of 56. HIs works include The Nightingale's Code and Church of Thorns.