Mary Travers was 72. She was the female component of the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, known for their hits "Puff (The Magic Dragon)", the civil rights anthem "If I Had a Hammer" and a cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind".

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Patrick Swayze was 57. He was the actor best-known for his roles as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries, and as romantic leading men in the films Dirty Dancing and Ghost.

Sure, he showed up in some great flicks, but it's this song I'll be revisiting tonight.

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Jim Carroll was 60. He was a former drug addict turned prolific poet and writer of The Basketball Diaries.

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Larry Gelbart was 81. He the award-winning writer whose sly, sardonic wit helped create such hits as Broadway's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," the films "Tootsie" and "Oh, God!" and television's "M*A*S*H".

"M*A*S*H" is one of my first favourite shows of all-time.

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Sam Etcheverry was 79. He was the legendary quarterback who led the Montreal Alouettes to three Grey Cup appearances in the 1950s then later coached them to CFL title.

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Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein was 36. He was a member of the rock band Crazy Town, known for their hit "Butterfly", and a recent collaborator with Travis Barker of Blink 182.

Here's DJ AM and Barker doing a drum remix of the NFL on Fox theme for Super Bowl XLII.

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Dominick Dunne was 83 He was the former Hollywood producer and best-selling author known for his Vanity Fair essays on the courtroom travails of the rich and famous.

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Ted Kennedy was 77. He was the patriarch of the first family of Democratic politics known as the “lion of the Senate” who played major roles in passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act.

Not to be mistaken for Ted "Teeder" Kennedy, the Maple Leaf great who left us earlier this month.

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Political columnist Robert Novak, a diehard conservative, pugilistic debater and proud owner of the "Prince of Darkness" monikor, died today at the age of 78. That's a convenient excuse to share Frank Zappa's 1986 appearance on CNN's Crossfire, a show co-hosted by Novak.

I first saw this clip a couple of years ago and was highly impressed by Zappa's ability to remain very calm and collected despite the fact that he was being personally attacked. While the other guys worked themselves into a frenzy, Zappa just made good sense.

The biggest threat to America today is not communism; it’s moving America towards a fascist theocracy and everything that has happened during the Reagan administration is steering us right down that pipe.

It's hard to believe Frank Zappa's been gone over 15 years now. Who's the Frank Zappa of today?

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Ted "Teeder" Kennedy was 83. He won five Stanley Cups with the Toronto Maple Leafs during a Hall of Fame career in which he scored 231 goals and 329 assists for 560 points in 696 regular-season games, as well as 29 goals and 31 assists for 60 points in 78 playoff games.

Without a doubt, Teeder was one of the best Leafs of all-time.

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