For the last four years, I've researched obituaries of people relevant to skepticism, and compiled them into a memorial presentation at The Amazing Meeting in July.  I think it is important that we take note of the passages in our community, just as other communities do.  I was inspired by the annual memorial presentation at the Academy Awards, which serves the same purpose for the motion picture industry.

The presentation for TAM 2013 consisted of 60 people who died between July 2012 and July 2013.  It is just about exactly 5 minutes long, and at TAM it ran during the morning coffee breaks in the main room. If you missed it at TAM (or want a second look) you can watch the presentation here.  Scroll down below the video for a list of the people included and links to further information about each.

 

In the lists below, click each name to read more about that person.

In Memoriam

Skeptics, scientists and friends of the JREF

Name

Born

Died

Iain Banks

16-Feb-1954

9-Jun-2013

Roger D. Cleveland

23-Jul-1945

23-Jun-2013

W. Gene Corley

19-Dec-1935

1-Mar-2013

"Corpse Cruncher "

31-Oct-1956

5-Nov-2012

Roger Ebert

18-Jun-1942

4-Apr-2013

Skip Evans

4-Jun-1963

26-Jul-2012

James Gerrand

29-May-1919

12-Oct-2012

Conrad Goeringer

23-Jul-1949

3-Nov-2012

Margherita Hack

12-Jun-1922

29-Jun-2013

Leon Jaroff

27-Feb-1927

20-Oct-2012

Sergey Kapitsa

14-Feb-1928

14-Aug-2012

Hilary Koprowski

5-Dec-1916

11-Apr-2013

Paul Kurtz

21-Dec-1925

20-Oct-2012

Mike Lacelle

26-Nov-1978

6-Nov-2012

Frank Lautenberg

23-Jan-1924

3-Jun-2013

Alton Lemon

19-Oct-1928

4-May-2013

Jerry Mahlman

21-Feb-1940

28-Nov-2012

Jon Marriott

26-Sep-1961

24-Mar-2013

Molleen Matsumura

1-May-1948

30-Oct-2012

Mark P. Monack

20-May-1968

21-Apr-2013

Sir Patrick Moore

4-Mar-1923

9-Dec-2012

Mark Perakh

2-Nov-1924

7-May-2013

Kenneth M. Rommel Jr.

7-Nov-1924

28-Jul-2012

Archie Roy

24-Jun-1924

27-Dec-2012

Robert J. Sharer

16-Mar-1940

20-Sep-2012

Michael S. Smith

1974

2-Apr-2013

Robert A. Steiner

1934

4-Jan-2013

Thomas Szasz

15-Apr-1920

8-Sep-2012

Farrell Till

26-Apr-1933

3-Oct-2012

Boudewijn van Ingen

1963

4-Sep-2012

Gore Vidal

3-Oct-1925

31-Jul-2012

Jaakko J. Wallenius

30-Jan-1958

11-Jun-2013

Carl R. Woese

15-Jul-1928

30-Dec-2012

Passages of Note

Other people with some connection to skepticism.

Name

Born

Died

Michael Baigent

27-Feb-1948

17-Jun-2013

Bruce Cathie

1930

2-Jun-2013

Philip Coppens

25-Jan-1971

30-Dec-2012

George Fawcett

21-Jul-1929

20-Jan-2013

Marjorie E. Fish

19-Sep-1932

8-Apr-2013

Martin Fleischmann

29-Mar-1927

3-Aug-2012

Duane Gish

17-Feb-1921

5-Mar-2013

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke

15-Jan-1953

29-Aug-2012

Irene Hughes

19-May-1920

7-Dec-2012

Johnny Lewis

29-Oct-1983

26-Sep-2012

Ivan Mackerle

1-Mar-1942

3-Jan-2013

Phillip Marshall

2-Aug-1958

1-Feb-2013

Sun Myung Moon

25-Feb-1920

3-Sep-2012

James W. Moseley

4-Aug-1931

16-Nov-2012

William P. O'Neill

24-Jun-1954

31-Mar-2013

David J. Pitkin

7-Mar-1939

13-Feb-2013

Reg Presley

12-Jun-1941

4-Feb-2013

Anne Ross

28-Sep-1925

29-Aug-2012

Bobbie Short

26-Oct-1936

16-May-2013

Cliff Sparks

6-Oct-1935

9-Sep-2012

David Spencer

21-Apr-1905

17-Jul-2012

Mel Stuart

2-Sep-1928

9-Aug-2012

Richard Stubstad

1942

28-Sep-2012

Ingo Swann

14-Sep-1933

31-Jan-2013

Warren Thompson

9-Oct-1941

20-Mar-2013

Jim Tucker

31-Dec-1934

26-Apr-2013

Sid Williams

18-Mar-1928

27-Dec-2012

You can also see the In Memoriam presentations from the previous three TAMs at my Skeptools blog.

 

Tim Farley is a JREF Research Fellow. He is the creator of the websiteWhat's the Harm , blogs at Skeptical Software Tools and contributes to the Skepticality podcast and the Virtual Skeptics webcast. He researched the content in JREF'sToday in Skeptic History iPhone app and has presented at six Amazing Meetings. You can follow him on Twitter here.