Those We Lost — November 13

Honoring those we lost on November 13 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Leonard Roy Harmon

Born January 21, 1917 — died November 13, 1942

Navy mess attendant; first Black American with a warship named for him

Leonard Roy Harmon of Cuero, Texas, a mess attendant aboard the cruiser USS San Francisco, was helping evacuate and care for the wounded during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942, when he deliberately shielded a shipmate with his own body and was mortally wounded. He received the Navy Cross, and in 1943 the destroyer escort USS Harmon became the first U.S. warship named for a Black American.

Mulugeta Seraw

Born October 21, 1960 — died November 13, 1988

Ethiopian student whose murder led to the Metzger verdict

Mulugeta Seraw, a 28-year-old Ethiopian immigrant who had taken classes at Portland Community College and worked as an airport bus driver, was beaten to death with a baseball bat by members of the racist skinhead group East Side White Pride on a Portland street early on November 13, 1988. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued White Aryan Resistance founder Tom Metzger and won a $12.5 million verdict for his family in 1990.

Bill Doggett

Born February 16, 1916 — died November 13, 1996

Organist, ‘Honky Tonk’

Bill Doggett of Philadelphia worked with Louis Jordan and Ella Fitzgerald before leading his own combo, and his 1956 organ-and-saxophone instrumental ‘Honky Tonk’ spent three weeks at No. 2 on the pop charts and sold some 3 million copies, one of the biggest-selling instrumentals of all time. He died in New York on November 13, 1996, at 80.

Ol’ Dirty Bastard

Born November 15, 1968 — died November 13, 2004

Wu-Tang Clan founding member

Ol’ Dirty Bastard, a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan from Brooklyn, brought an unhinged, half-sung style to Enter the Wu-Tang and his 1995 solo debut Return to the 36 Chambers, and had a hit with ‘Got Your Money’. He collapsed at the Wu-Tang studio in Manhattan on November 13, 2004, two days before his 36th birthday; the medical examiner found a lethal mix of cocaine and the painkiller tramadol.

Robert Taylor

Born September 14, 1948 — died November 13, 2007

1972 Olympic 100m silver and 4×100 relay gold medalist

Robert Taylor of Tyler, Texas, a Texas Southern University sprinter, was the only American in the 100-meter final at the 1972 Munich Olympics after his teammates missed their second-round races, and won the silver medal behind Valeriy Borzov; he then won gold on the 4×100 relay, which set a world record. He spent 22 years as a special education teacher. He died on November 13, 2007, at 59.

Ed Bullins

Born 1935-07-02 (disputed; the NYT obituary gives July 7, 1935) — died November 13, 2021

Black Arts Movement playwright

Ed Bullins of Philadelphia, a leading voice of the Black Arts Movement, was briefly the Black Panther Party’s minister of culture and then artist in residence at Harlem’s New Lafayette Theater. He produced nearly 100 plays, and in 1975 the New York Drama Critics’ Circle named The Taking of Miss Janie the best American play of the year. He later taught theater at Northeastern University. He died of complications of dementia at his home in Roxbury, Boston, on November 13, 2021, at 86.

Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson

Born March 6, 1984 — died November 13, 2022

UFC light heavyweight title challenger

Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson of Dublin, Georgia, was one of the hardest punchers in mixed martial arts, going 13-6 in the UFC and twice challenging for the light heavyweight title before moving to Bellator. He had been ill for more than a year when he died on November 13, 2022, at 38; the cause was reported as organ failure from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and a rare immune disorder.