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Stuart Scott, an ESPN anchor and a presence at the sports network since 1993, died at age 49 after a third battle with cancer. Scott, who was black, took a lot of heat early in his career for bringing a bit of hip hop vernacular to his sports reports. He persevered and became a popular figure at ESPN. The network posted an obituary and a video tribute; Deadspin has video of emotional present and past colleagues Hannah Storm, Chris Berman and Rich Eisen breaking the news on the air.
DeWayne "Doc" Johnson, a retired professor of journalism at Cal State Northridge and a part-time copy editor at the LA Times from 1961 to 1995, died on New Year's Eve. He was a past president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and of the Valley Press Club, and a past member of the board of directors of the Greater Los Angeles Press Club. Via email.
Jacqueline Briskin, a best-selling novelist from Bel-Air, died at age 87 on Christmas Eve. She started writing books after taking a UCLA Extension class from LA Times book critic Robert Kirsch in 1964, and sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.
Donna Douglas, the actress who played Elly May Clampett on the TV sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies," died of pancreatic cancer in Baton Rouge, La. She was 81 or 82.
