This is the time when it’s nice to look back and remember the people we’ve lost in the previous year. This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list, so feel free to add your favorite dead person of 2008.

Anyhow…

January

Jan 1: Salvatore Bonanno, son of Mafia boss Joe Bonanno, died of a heart attack at the age of 75. And the last known German WWI vet, Erich Kästner, died at the ripe old age of 107.

Jan 7: “Competitive Eater” Bozo Miller passed away at the age of 89, from natural causes.

Jan 11: Sir Edmund Hillary, first white guy to reach the top of Mt. Everest, dies of heart failure at the age of 88.

Jan 12: Anti-violence activist Terrell Rogers was murdered at the age of 39.

Jan 17: Chessmaster Booby Fischer died from kidney failure. He was 64.

Jan 19: Syracuse alum (well, one semester, anyway) Suzanne Pleshette died of respiratory failure at the age of 70. John Stewart of the Kingston Trio died of a stroke the same day. He was 68.

Jan 22: Heath Ledger died of an accidental prescription drug overdose. He was only 28 years old.

Jan 29: Harry Truman’s daughter Margaret passed away at the age of 83.

February

Feb 1: Speaking of Harry Truman, former Secret Service agent Floyd Boring, who helped foil a plot on Truman’s life, died at the age of 92.

Feb 5: Bluesman Schoolboy Cleve passed away at the age of 82.

Feb 17: 1988 Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors was put down at the tender age of 23.

Feb 25: Jackie Chan’s father Charles Chan (honest), died of prostate cancer at the age of 93.

Feb 27: William F. Buckley, Jr. passed away from emphysema at the age of 82.

Feb 28: Dave Clark 5 keyboard player Mike Smith died of pneumonia. He was 64.

March

Mar 2: Guitarist Jeff Healey died way too young of lung cancer, at the age of 41.

Mar 16: Hogan’s Heroes star and accomplished director Ivan Dixon passed away at the age of 86.

Mar 19: Author (among other things) Sir Arthur C. Clarke died of heart failure at the age of 90.

Mar 25: The inventor of the Egg McMuffin, Herb Peterson, died at 89.

April

Apr 16: One of my mom’s favorites, Irish tenor from the Lawrence Welk Show Joe Feeney died at the age of 76.

Apr 30: Ling Ling, the oldest Giant Panda in Japan, passed away at the age of 22.

May

May 4: The inventor of the Pringles can, Fred Baur, died at the age of 89. Another inventor – Colin Murdoch, who invented both the disposable hypodermic syringe and the tranquilizer gun – died of cancer. He was 79.

May 8: Country music singer Eddy Arnold died at the age of 89.

May 15: Composer Alexander Courage (among his many accomplishments is the theme to Star Trek – and damn near every other film and teevee show theme that WG Snuffy Walden didn’t do), died at the age of 88.

May 26: Film director Sydney Pollack died from stomach cancer at the age of 73.

May 29: The great Harvey Korman passed away from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He was 81.

June

Jun 1: French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent died of brain cancer at the age of 71. Anti-gun activist Pat Regan (age 53) was stabbed to death.

Jun 2: Bo Diddley passed away from heart failure at the age of 79. Actor Mel Ferrer also died. He was 90.

Jun 7: Whether it was the final agony of defeat or the ultimate thrill of victory, I don’t know, but Jim McKay passed away at the age of 86.

Jun 11: Former Buffalo Bill Mitch Frerotte had a heart attack and died at the age of 43. I would say that, being a Bill, it’s surprising he didn’t choke to death, but that would be inappropriate.

Jun 12: Speaking of Buffalo, Timmy Potatohead, Tim Russert, dropped dead at the age of 58.

Jun 22: The great George Carlin passed away from heart failure at the age of 71. Wait, no, he didn’t “pass away,” he fuckin’ died. Dody Goodman died the same day. She was 93. Oh, and Tim Russert was still dead.

Well, that takes care of the first half of 2008. I’ll do the second half of the year (including anybody who dies today) tomorrow.

If you’re going out to whoop it up tonight, stay safe!