Terry Gross

We remember the world best known player of the mouth organ, Larry Adler. He died recently at the age of 87. He got started on vaudeville, and went on to perform with Fred Astaire, George Gershwin, Jack Benny and many others. When George Gershwin first heard Adler play Rhapsody in Blue on the mouth-organ he said, "It sounds as if the goddamned thing was written for you." Adler also played classical music and performed with a number of symphony orchestras. Adler moved to England after being blacklisted during the McCarthy hearings.

We remember one of the most respected historians of the media Erik Barnouw. He died last week at the age of 93. He was the author of the classic three-volume History of Broadcasting. Barnouw was the first chief of the Library of Congress' Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recording Sound Division. In 1996 Barnouw wrote a memoir about his life, Media Marathon: A 20th Century Memoir.

We remember the former publisher of The Washington Post, Katharine Graham. She died July 17th at the age of 84. Graham's father owned The Post in 1933 and later her husband, Phil Graham, took over. Following her husband's suicide in 1963, Graham became publisher, knowing little about the managerial or journalistic aspects of the job. But, learning while she worked, she transformed the paper into one of the country's most respected newspapers. The Post broke the Watergate scandal and published the Pentagon Papers against a federal judge's ruling.

We remember Mordecai Richler, Canadian social critic and novelist. He died Tuesday at the age of 70. Hes best known for his work chronicling Jewish life in Montreal in works like the book The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. He died of complications from cancer.

We remember Cuban composer, arranger and bandleader Chico Oarrill. He died on Wednesday. He was 79.

Joey Ramone the lead singer of the punk band The Ramones. He died on Sunday at the age of 49. He had lymphoma. From their start in 1974, the Ramones combined fast, deafening guitar with precise drumming to create a hurricane of sound. Their songs had titles like Beat on the Brat, Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment and Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.

The founder of the Mamas and the Papas, John Phillips. He died of heart failure on Sunday. He was 65. Phillips was the principal songwriter for the pop group which had a string of hits from 1966 to 1968 when the group broke up. Their hits included Monday, Monday, California Dreamin, I Saw Her Again Last Night and others.

His string of bestsellers, such as The Bourne Identity, The Osterman Weekend, and The Icarus Agenda, established him as one of literature's most successful espionage novelists. Ludlum died yesterday of a heart attack. He was 74 years old.

We remember record producer Milt Gabler, who died July 20 at the age of 90. Gabler founded America's first independent record label, Commodore Records. He was the first to record Billie Holiday's anti-lynching song, Strange Fruit, after major record companies refused. He was also the first to pair Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Later, he produced records for Bill Haley and the Comets, Peggy Lee, the Weavers, the Ink Spots and many others. His record store Commodore Music was legendary and a hangout for musicians and music lovers.

We remember actor Jason Robards. He died yesterday at the age of 78, after a long battle with cancer. He was an actor for over 50 years. He won Oscars for his performances as Ben Bradlee in "All the President's Men," and Dashiell Hammett in "Julia." In 1956 Robards first came to the attention of the critics with his performance in Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh." His performance helped define the role for a generation. It also began Robards collaboration with director Jose Quintero, resurrecting the works of O'Neill.