Dead Celebrity Alert

Steve Howe, the relief pitcher whose promising career was derailed by cocaine and alcohol abuse, died Friday when his pickup truck rolled over in Coachella, Calif. He was 48.

Howe was killed at 5:55 a.m. PDT about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, said Dalyn Backes of the Riverside County coroner’s office. He had been in Arizona on business and was driving back to the family home in Valencia, Calif., business partner Judy Welp said.

Toxicology tests had not yet been performed.

The hard-throwing lefty was the 1980 NL Rookie of the Year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, got the final out to clinch the 1981 World Series and was an All-Star the next year. … Read full obituary

Julia Thorne, the ex-wife of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, died Thursday after a long battle with cancer, a Kerry spokesman confirmed to CNN.

Thorne, 61, was an author who overcame depression. She had separated from the Massachusetts senator just as his political career began a sharp upward trajectory. She chose instead to cede the spotlight to Kerry, and eventually moved to Montana with her second husband, Richard Charlesworth.

Kerry and Thorne have two daughters, Alexandra and Vanessa.

“Julia was the best mother two daughters could ask for,” Kerry said in a statement released by his office. … Read full obituary

April 13, 2006 — Poker is a game of colorful characters. The poker world lost one of its pioneering characters yesterday as Walter Clyde “Puggy” Pearson passed away. Puggy was 77. …

A true founding father of modern day tournament poker, Puggy was one of the seven poker players invited by Benny and Jack Binion to participate in the very first World Series of Poker in 1970. Pearson was the runner up in both the 1971, and 1972 WSOP Main Event (preliminary events started in 1972), but it was 1973 when Puggy broke through. Puggy won three events at the World Series of Poker in 1973, including the Main Event. In those days, the tournament was winner take all, and in 1973 Puggy took down the entire prize pool for the main event — $130,000. … Read full obituary

[June] Pointer, the youngest of the Grammy-winning trio the Pointer Sisters, who scored hits with “I’m So Excited” and “Jump (For My Love),” died of an undisclosed type of cancer on Tuesday in Los Angeles. She was fifty-two years old.

June had been hospitalized since February, and, according to a family statement, died “in the arms of her sisters, Ruth and Anita,” and with her brothers Aaron and Fritz “by her side.” The statement continues, “Although her sister, Bonnie, was unable to be present, she was with her in spirit.”

The singing sisters got their start in San Francisco in the early Seventies as a quartet, sporting a Forties thrift-shop look and a vintage vocal style that incorporated scat and be-bop. The group sang backup for Grace Slick, Boz Scaggs, Taj Mahal and Elvin Bishop, before releasing their self-titled debut in 1973. …

In 2004, June was arrested outside the Hollywood apartment of her sister Bonnie and charged with felony cocaine possession. She was later ordered to attend rehab. At the time, she had not performed with the Pointer Sisters in more than three years. … Read full obituary

Jim Clack, an offensive lineman who played 11 seasons in the National Football League and won two Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, died Friday in Greensboro, N.C. He was 58 and lived in Greensboro.

His wife, Susan, said the cause of death was atrial fibrillation. She said he had fought neck and throat cancer for four years.

Clack played guard and center for the Steelers for seven seasons (1971-77) and was part of their 1975 and 1976 championship teams. He was traded to the Giants before the 1978 season and played with them from 1978-1981, becoming their offensive captain. … Read full obituary

American superstar Gene Pitney has been found dead aged 65 in his bed in a Cardiff hotel.

Pitney — who found fame with Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa — was pronounced dead at the Hilton hotel at 1000 BST.

He was on a UK tour and had shown no signs of illness. The cause of death is not yet known but is not suspicious.

His biggest success was in the 1960s and he enjoyed a 1989 revival with his chart-topping duet, Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart, with Marc Almond. … Read full obituary

Hal, the coyote who led park rangers and police officers on a two-day chase in Central Park last month, died on Thursday, moments before he was to be released in a thousand-acre state forest in Putnam County. He was about a year old.

The cause of death had not been determined…

Hal’s birthplace was unknown, as was his birthday. After his romp in the park, Adrian Benepe, the city’s parks commissioner, speculated that Hal had fled Westchester County, wandering across the railroad bridge that connects the Bronx and Manhattan at Spuyten Duyvil. From there, Mr. Benepe said, Hal could have sauntered down the West Side and into Central Park.

He had the run of the park for a few days before parks officials cornered him at the Hallett Nature Sanctuary, not far from the Wollman Rink and the carousel. … Read full obituary