2007 deaths

Herbert_L._Beckington

Herbert L. Beckington (October 3, 1920 – October 14, 2007) was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who served in combat during World War II and the Vietnam War. He later served as the first inspector general for the United States Agency for International Development.

Kenneth_Franklin

Kenneth Linn Franklin (March 25, 1923 – June 18, 2007) was an American astronomer and educator. Franklin was the chief scientist at the Hayden Planetarium from 1956 to 1984 and was co-credited with discovering radio waves originating on Jupiter, the first detection of signals from another planet. He was often a local and national media figure including during Apollo 11, the first human mission to the moon, when Franklin was an on-camera astronomy expert for NBC.

Mitchell_brothers

Brothers James Lloyd "Jim" Mitchell (November 30, 1943 in Stockton, California – July 12, 2007 in Petaluma, California) and Artie Jay Mitchell (December 17, 1945 in Lodi, California – February 27, 1991 in Marin County, California) were American entrepreneurs. They operated in the pornography and striptease club business in San Francisco and other parts of California from 1969 until 1991 when Jim was convicted of killing Artie.They opened the O'Farrell Theatre in 1969 as an adult cinema and at one time operated 11 such businesses. They produced and directed many adult films, including Behind the Green Door in 1972. They were also successful as defendants in many obscenity cases. Their notoriety significantly increased with Jim's fratricide and they became the subject of three books, X-Rated, Bottom Feeders, and 9½ Years Behind the Mitchell Brothers' Green Door and the movie Rated X.

Jane_Rule

Jane Vance Rule (28 March 1931 – 27 November 2007) was a Canadian-American writer of lesbian-themed works. Her first novel, Desert of the Heart, appeared in 1964, when gay activity was still a criminal offence. It turned Rule into a reluctant media celebrity, and brought her massive correspondence from women who had never dared explore lesbianism. Rule became an active anti-censorship campaigner, and served on the executive of the Writers' Union of Canada.

Ken_Danby

Ken Danby, D.F.A. (6 March 1940 – 23 September 2007) was a Canadian painter who created highly realistic paintings that study everyday life. His 1972 painting At the Crease, portraying a masked hockey goalie defending his net, is widely recognized and reproduced in Canada.

Bradford_Washburn

Henry Bradford Washburn Jr. (June 7, 1910 – January 10, 2007) was an American explorer, mountaineer, photographer, and cartographer. He established the Boston Museum of Science, served as its director from 1939–1980, and from 1985 until his death served as its Honorary Director (a lifetime appointment). Bradford married Barbara Polk in 1940, they honeymooned in Alaska making the first ascent of Mount Bertha together.Washburn is especially noted for exploits in four areas.

He was one of the leading American mountaineers in the 1920s through the 1950s, putting up first ascents and new routes on many major Alaskan peaks, often with his wife, Barbara Washburn, one of the pioneers among female mountaineers and the first woman to summit Denali (Mount McKinley).
He pioneered the use of aerial photography in the analysis of mountains and in planning mountaineering expeditions. His thousands of striking black-and-white photos, mostly of Alaskan peaks and glaciers, are known for their wealth of informative detail and their artistry. They are the reference standard for route photos of Alaskan climbs.
He was responsible for creating maps of various mountain ranges, including Denali, Mount Everest, and the Presidential Range in New Hampshire.
His stewardship of the Boston Museum of Science.Several of these achievements – e.g. the Everest map and subsequent further work on the elevation and geology of Everest – were carried out when Washburn was in his 70s and 80s.

Audrey_Santo

Audrey Marie Santo (December 19, 1983 – April 14, 2007), often referred to as Little Audrey, was a young girl from Worcester, Massachusetts, through whom miracles were purported to have happened after she suffered severe brain damage in a near-drowning accident.