Deaths Famous Dead Writers
Chip Berlet Study of right-wing movements and conspiracy theories dead at age 76
Chip Berlet, an American investigative journalist and author, died on January 30, 2026, of leukemia. Born John Foster Berlet on November 22, 1949, he was known for his work as a research analyst, photojournalist, scholar and activist focused on extreme… · 30 January 2026 · January 2026
Christa Lang German actress (What’s Up dead at age 82
Christa Lang, the German-American actress and screenwriter known for films including What’s Up, Doc?, Alphaville and The Big Red One, died on January 30, 2026, at age 82. Born in Winterberg on December 23, 1943, she moved to France at… · 30 January 2026 · January 2026
Roland Huntford
British polar historian and biographer · 29 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 29
Gordon L. Rottman
American author and military historian · 29 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 29 · Rottman
Eric Cameron Artist dead at age 90
Eric Cameron, a Canadian artist known for his conceptual art work, died on January 29, 2026. He lived in Calgary, Alberta, and was also a writer and educator. Born in Leicester, England, on April 18, 1935, Cameron moved to Canada… · 29 January 2026 · January 2026 · Éric
Peter Ransley British screenwriter, playwright and novelist, bronchopneumonia dead at age 94
Peter Ransley, the British screenwriter, playwright and novelist known for work on Tales of the Unexpected, died on January 29, 2026, of bronchopneumonia. Born in Yorkshire on December 10, 1931, he grew up in Pudsey and attended Pudsey Grammar School.… · 29 January 2026 · January 2026
Suzannah Lessard Writer dead at age 81
Suzannah Lessard, an American writer, died on January 29, 2026, of complications from endometrial cancer. She was 81. Lessard was a staff writer for The New Yorker and one of the original editors of the Washington Monthly. Over nearly 50… · 29 January 2026 · January 2026
Graham E. Fuller American political analyst dead at age 89
Graham E. Fuller, an American political analyst and author, died on January 29, 2026, at age 89. He specialized in Islamic extremism and formerly served as vice-chair of the National Intelligence Council and as Station Chief in Kabul for the… · 29 January 2026 · January 2026
Hudson Talbott
American children’s author and illustrator (We're Back! A Dinosaur Story) · 27 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 27
Richard Larn
British businessman and maritime history writer · 27 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 27
Antoine Bangui
Chadian political figure and author · 27 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 27
Parviz Nouri
Iranian movie critic · 27 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 27 · Other
Dan McQuade Journalist dead at age 43
Dan McQuade, an American journalist and writer, died on January 28, 2026. He was 43. A Philadelphia-based writer and community figure, McQuade was best known for recording and reporting on a 2014 comedy performance by Hannibal Buress that referenced longstanding… · 28 January 2026 · January 2026
Josef Dvorak public figure dead at age 91
Josef Dvorak, an Austrian therapist, Catholic theologian and author, died on January 28, 2026. Born in Vienna on January 28, 1934, he was also a scholar of Karl Rahner and a co-founder of the Viennese Actionism. He worked for several… · 28 January 2026 · January 2026 · Dvořák
Peter Hargitai Poet, novelist, translator dead at age 79
Peter Hargitai, a Hungarian-born American poet, novelist and translator of Hungarian literature, died on January 28, 2026, at the age of 79. Born in Budapest, Hungary, on January 28, 1947, he wrote his first poem, "Rebels," at age 9 as… · 28 January 2026 · January 2026
Frederick King Keller American filmmaker (Tuck Everlasting dead at age 75
Frederick King Keller, an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter, died on January 26, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. He was 75. Born in Buffalo, New York, on April 18, 1950, Keller was the son of actor and… · 26 January 2026 · January 2026
Sia Figiel
Samoan writer · 24 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 24
Marie Rouanet
French singer and writer · 24 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 24 · French
Mark Jones (filmmaker) Filmmaker dead at age 72
Mark Robert Jones, an American screenwriter, film director and producer, died on January 16, 2026. He wrote and directed the 1993 film Leprechaun, which launched the horror franchise of the same name. Jones also directed and co-wrote the horror film… · 16 January 2026 · January 2026
Blanche Marvin
American-born British theatre critic · 14 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 14 · Other
Clay Iles English tennis player and coach dead at age 83
Clay Iles, an English tennis player and coach, died on January 15, 2026, aged 83. A British player and LTA-licensed tennis coach, he also worked as a sports writer and tennis umpire. Iles competed at the Wimbledon Championships 12 times… · 15 January 2026 · January 2026
Indira Devi Dhanrajgir
Indian poet and socialite · 12 January 2026 · January 2026 · Dhanrajgir · January 12
Scott Adams American cartoonist, prostate cancer dead at age 68
Scott Adams, the American cartoonist and writer best known for creating the Dilbert comic strip, died on January 13, 2026, at age 68. He was also a conservative commentator and wrote nonfiction works on business, self-improvement, commentary, satire, and politics.… · 13 January 2026 · January 2026 · Cancer
Ralph L. Thomas
Brazilian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter · 11 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 11 · Thomas
Erich von Däniken
Swiss author and ufologist · 10 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 10 · Däniken · Swiss
Manoel Carlos
Brazilian television writer (Por Amor · 09 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 9
Robert K. Tanenbaum
American trial attorney and novelist · 09 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 9 · Tanenbaum
Astrid Roemer
Surinamese-Dutch writer and teacher · 08 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 8 · Dutch
Heloísa de Carvalho
Brazilian writer and left-wing activist · 08 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 8 · Carvalho
Renee Nicole Good
American poet and writer · 07 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 7 · Renée · Good
Raj Kumar Pathria Statistical Mechanics 1972 dead at age 92
Raj Kumar Pathria, an Indian-American physicist and Urdu poet, died on January 7, 2026, at the age of 92. He was a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo and was known for his work on statistical mechanics, including… · 07 January 2026 · January 2026
Killing of Renée Good American poet and writer, shot dead at age 37
Renée Nicole Macklin Good, an American poet and writer, was fatally shot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 7, 2026. She was 37. According to reports, Good was in her car, stopped sideways in the street, when United States Immigration and… · 07 January 2026 · January 2026
Zoraida Burgos i Matheu Spanish writer dead at age 92
Zoraida Burgos i Matheu, a Spanish Catalan writer, poet and librarian, died on January 4, 2026, aged 92. Born in Tortosa on March 10, 1933, she studied Library and Information Science at the University of Barcelona in the early 1950s… · 04 January 2026 · January 2026
Andrey Khoroshev
Russian actor and screenwriter (Engineering Red · 01 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 1
Andrey Fyodorovich Khoroshev
Soviet actor and screenwriter (Engineering Red · 01 January 2026 · January 2026 · January 1 · Khoroshev
Brian Doyle (Canadian writer) Author dead at age 90
Brian Doyle, a Canadian writer of novels and short stories, died on January 1, 2026. Born in Ottawa in 1935, he drew many of his stories from his experiences growing up in the Ottawa area. His children’s books were adapted… · 01 January 2026 · January 2026
Gillian Wagner Writer and philanthropist dead at age 98
Dame Gillian Wagner, British writer and philanthropist and chair of Barnardo's, died on December 31, 2025, aged 98. Born Gillian Mary Millicent Graham in London on October 25, 1927, she was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College and the University of… · 31 December 2025 · December 2025
Jerry Bledsoe Author, journalist dead at age 84
Jerry Bledsoe, an American author and journalist, died on December 31, 2025, at age 84. Born in Danville, Virginia, on July 14, 1941, he was known for several true crime books based on murders in North Carolina, including Bitter Blood… · 31 December 2025 · December 2025
Pierre Bordage
French science fiction author (L'Évangile du serpent) · 28 December 2025 · December 2025 · December 28 · French
Michael J. Schumacher Writer, journalist, biographer dead at age 75
Michael J. Schumacher, an American journalist and author, died on December 29, 2025, at age 75. Born in Topeka, Kansas, on May 22, 1950, he wrote biographies of Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, musicians Eric Clapton… · 29 December 2025 · December 2025
Terence M. Green
Canadian science fiction writer · 28 December 2025 · December 2025 · December 28 · Green
Daoud Abdel Sayed
Egyptian director and screenwriter · 26 December 2025 · December 2025 · December 26 · Sayed
Leonard Nolens
Belgian poet and diary writer · 26 December 2025 · December 2025 · December 26
Meredith Hooper Writer dead at age 86
Meredith Hooper, an Australian historian and writer, died on December 27, 2025, aged 86. Born Meredith Jean Rooney in Adelaide on October 21, 1939, she was raised in the city and later graduated in history from the University of Adelaide.… · 27 December 2025 · December 2025
Stephen Boyden British-Australian scientist and writer dead at age 100
Stephen Boyden, a British-Australian scientist and writer, died on December 26, 2025. He was a professor emeritus at the Australian National University and was widely recognised for pioneering work in immunology and human ecology. Born in Croydon, England, on February… · 26 December 2025 · December 2025
Kazuo Ibaraki
Japanese haiku poet · 24 December 2025 · December 2025 · December 24
Robert Lindsey
American author (The Falcon and the Snowman · 24 December 2025 · December 2025 · December 24
Vincent Lardo Novelist dead at age 94
Vincent Lardo, an American novelist, died on December 24, 2025, at the age of 94. Vincent A. Lardo was born in the Bronx on February 17, 1931. He attended Evander Childs High School and the City College of New York,… · 24 December 2025 · December 2025
Francesc Nel·lo
Catalan playwright and theatre director · 22 December 2025 · December 2025 · December 22
Rita Mensah-Amendah
Togolese teacher and writer · 22 December 2025 · December 2025 · December 22
Patricia Montandon
American author and socialite · 21 December 2025 · December 2025 · December 21
Walter Schultheiß Actor dead at age 101
Walter Schultheiß, the German actor, author and painter known for his role as Der Eugen, died on December 22, 2025, at the age of 101. Born in Tübingen in 1924, he began his career in 1947 as Pedro del Vegas… · 22 December 2025 · December 2025
David Pinner British actor and novelist dead at age 85
David Pinner, the British actor and novelist best known for Ritual, died on December 22, 2025, aged 85. Born in Peterborough, England, on October 6, 1940, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and appeared on stage and… · 22 December 2025 · December 2025