Miriam Makeba was 76. She was the South African singer who wooed the world with her sultry voice but was banned from her own country for more than 30 years under apartheid.

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Michael Crichton was 66. He was the million-selling author of such historic and prehistoric science fantasies as "Jurassic Park," "Timeline" and "The Andromeda Strain."

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Jacques Piccard was 86. He was the Swiss deep sea explorer and inventor who holds the record for travelling to the deepest point underwater.

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Studs Terkel was 96. He was the ageless master of listening and speaking, a broadcaster, activist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose best-selling oral histories celebrated the common people he liked to call the "non-celebrated."

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Conrad "S.D. Jones" Efraim was 63. He was a former professional wrestler best known as Special Delivery Jones from his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). I had an S.D. Jones action figure.

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Charles Dubin was 87. He was a former Ontario chief justice who dominated courtrooms for more than half a century.

If you're like me, you remember Charles Dubin best as the man who chaired the Dubin Inquiry after sprinter Ben Johnson lost his gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

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Tony Hillerman was 83. He was author of the acclaimed Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels and creator of two of the unlikeliest of literary heroes - Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.

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Merl Saunders was 74. He was a keyboardist who had a long-term collaboration with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.

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Rudy Ray Moore was 81. He was the self-proclaimed "Godfather of Rap" who influenced generations of rappers and comedians with his rhyming style, braggadocio and profanity-laced routines.

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Dee Dee Warwick was 63. She was a soul singer who won recognition for both her solo work and her performances with her older sister Dionne Warwick.

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