Remember Them Well

David Foster Wallace, 46 Some say that the 1,079-page "Infinite Jest" was overblown and overrated, but his essays—about a cruise, a porn convention, tennis, John McCain—were delightful and accessible. 2His fiction is littered with suicide references, but when he hanged himself he shocked friends and especially the generation of young writers who revere him. 3His super-brainy, heavily footnoted, wildly discursive writing was inimitable—as you can see.

Richard Darman, 64 He worked for five Republican presidents, including Nixon, whom he left in the wake of the "Saturday Night Massacre." As director of the Office of Management and Budget for Bush 41, he engineered the 1990 tax compromise that violated the president's "Read My Lips. No New Taxes" pledge. Bush later said that was the biggest mistake of his tenure, but economists now think that deal led to years of surpluses and prosperity. Those were the days, right?

Paul Newman, 83 Even when he was playing an unlovable cad—the farmhand Hud, say, or hustling Fast Eddie Felson—audiences fell in love with him. It wasn't just the eyes, or the grin; it was the fearless way he confronted the camera. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, he won just once, for "The Color of Money" in 1986. Privately, Newman stayed out of the fray, living in Connecticut with his longtime wife, Joanne Woodward, and pursuing the passions that gave his charmed life perspective: car racing and philanthropy.

Larry Harmon, 83 Harmon was no bozo. He wasn't even the first Bozo. But he was the one who made him famous. In the 1950s, he snatched up the rights to Bozo from Capitol Records and put the preternaturally happy clown—even his reddish hair was shaped like a grin—on TV. Harmon ultimately trained 200 Bozos to fill his ridiculously large shoes, including two weathermen: Willard Scott and L.A.'s Johnny Mountain. Some guys will do anything for a laugh.

Correction (published Feb. 17, 2009): The original version of this story incorrectly stated the year of Bobby Fischer's World Chess Championship, and misidentified the name of the competition. Those errors have been corrected.

© 2009