Terry Gross

A pioneering political leader in the fight against apartheid, for 13 years Suzman was the sole representative in South Africa's all-white Parliament to reject race discrimination. She died Thursday at 91.

Activist Paul Weyrich, who died Dec. 18, helped turn social conservatives into a powerful force in the Republican party.

The veteran actor Robert Prosky was perhaps best known for his role as the big-hearted desk sergeant Stan Jablonski on Hill Street Blues. He died Monday at the age of 77.

Dave McKenna, the hard-swinging jazz keyboardist who died in October, was a particular favorite of Fresh Air dating back to the show's early local broadcasts. Our Thanksgiving Day broadcast is devoted to his memory — with excerpts from an interview and in-studio performance from 1988, plus remembrances from his sister, singer Jean McKenna O'Donnell.

Singer Billy Paul was the voice behind the hit song Me and Mrs. Jones. He died April 24 at the age of 80. The songwriting duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff remember writing the song. And we hear the song.

Legendary Chicago broadcaster Studs Terkel dedicated his life to capturing the stories of ordinary Americans. He died Oct. 31 at the age of 96; Fresh Air remembers him with a 1985 interview.

Leonard was considered one of the best literary critics in America; he was an early champion of future Nobel Prize winners Toni Morrison and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Leonard died Wednesday from complications with lung cancer.

Author Tony Hillerman died Oct. 26 at the age of 83. He was best known for his mystery novels, which evoked the Najavo culture of the American Southwest. In this 1988 interview, Hillerman discusses writing and his attraction to Native American culture.

Photographer William Claxton got his start taking photos of jazz musicians in natural settings instead of smoky lounges. His 1967 film Basic Black was considered the first fashion video. He died Oct. 11 from congestive heart failure.

As the first African-American attorney in Selma, Ala., J.L. Chestnut Jr. campaigned to free jailed Civil Rights activists in the 1960s — an effort he detailed in his autobiography, Black In Selma. Chestnut died of kidney failure on Sept. 30; he was 77.