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Obituaries come in three varieties on LA Observed. Either the death is big news with a SoCal connection, the deceased is prominent in the fields that the site obsesses about, or the person has a storied but possibly little-known place in Los Angeles culture. There were too many of all three kinds this year. Here's a selection from the 2006 News & Chatter archive.
They need no introduction
Otis Chandler, Aaron Spelling, James Brown, Gerald Ford, Rod Dedeaux, Robert Altman, Lou Rawls.For Angelenos only
Ralph Story, Jack Snow, Eddie Nalbandian, Big John Mazmanian, Frank Wilkinson, Bud Furillo, Larry Sherry, Mike Quarry, Greg the newsstand guy.Showbiz
Joseph Barbera, animation legend; Ahmet Ertegun, music pioneer; Glenn Ford, actor; Red Buttons, actor; Don Knotts, actor; Fayard Nicholas, tap legend; Tommy Johnson, studio musician; Chris Penn, actor; Paul Gleason, actor; Ian Copeland, agent; Judy Raphael, music figure; Ronnie Lippin, publicist.Politics
Ed Davis, senator and chief; Ernani Bernardi, councilman; Lyn Nofziger, adviser; Melanie Lomax, civil rights lawyer; Willie Grace Campbell, mentor; Ted Williams, founder; Warren Dorn, supervisor; Marco Firebaugh, assemblyman; Ellen Stern Harris, activist; Lesley Devine, mayor.Working Journos
Larry Davis, photojournalist; Sam Chu Lin, reporter; Harry Bernstein, labor reporter; David Asper Johnson, publisher; Mike Qualls, spokesman; Larry Atteberry, reporter-anchor; Garry Abrams, columnist; Daniel Cariaga, critic; Bruce David Colen, food critic; Ron Fineman, TV news journalist.Arts and Letters
Octavia Butler, author; Bebe Moore Campbell, author; Wendy Wasserstein, playwright; Elizabeth Stromme, author; Mayme Clayton, collector; Merle Rubin, book reviewer.In our service
Maria Cecilia Rosa, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy; Landon Dorris, LAPD officer; Kyle Ballard, Pasadena police officer; David Stan Piquette, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy; Pierre Bain, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy; Paul Wilms, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy.Updated with the passing of Ron Fineman and reposted; few others added