Those We Lost — October 9

Honoring those we lost on October 9 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Born March 20, 1915 — died October 9, 1973

Gospel singer, guitarist, songwriter, and recording innovator

Tharpe fused gospel conviction with blues phrasing, electric-guitar power, and showmanship in recordings and performances that anticipated rock and roll. Called the Godmother of Rock and Roll, she influenced generations of guitarists and singers and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence in 2018.

Milt Jackson

Born January 1, 1923 — died October 9, 1999

Jazz vibraphonist and composer, co-founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet

Born in Detroit, Jackson was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie, who hired him for his sextet in the mid-1940s, and he went on to work with Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and other founders of bebop. In 1952 his quartet with pianist John Lewis, bassist Ray Brown (soon replaced by Percy Heath) and drummer Kenny Clarke became the Modern Jazz Quartet, which played for some twenty years until disbanding in 1974 and re-formed in 1981; his blues-rooted composition Bags’ Groove became a jazz standard. He brought the bebop language and a deep blues feeling to the vibraphone, and the Washington Post remembered the Modern Jazz Quartet as one of the most distinctive, tastefully textured bands of the 1950s to the 1970s.

Aaron Pryor

Born October 20, 1955 — died October 9, 2016

Boxer, two-time junior welterweight world champion

Known as The Hawk for his relentless style, Pryor held the WBA junior welterweight title from 1980 to 1983 and the IBF title from 1984 to 1985. His two bouts with Nicaraguan champion Alexis Arguello were classics: he stopped Arguello in the 14th round on November 12, 1982, in a fight The Ring named Fight of the Decade, and stopped him again in the 10th round in Las Vegas in September 1983, finishing his career 39-1 with 35 knockouts. After struggling with cocaine addiction he became an anti-drug advocate who carried his message around the world. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996, and The Associated Press named him the greatest junior welterweight of the century.

Kenneth P. Thompson

Born March 14, 1966 — died October 9, 2016

Prosecutor and Brooklyn District Attorney

As a federal prosecutor, Thompson delivered the opening statement in the case against New York City police officer Justin Volpe for the 1997 beating and torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima, helping secure the conviction. Elected in 2013 as Brooklyn’s first African American district attorney after ousting incumbent Charles Hynes, he built a Conviction Review Unit that in three years moved to vacate or support dismissal of the convictions of 21 wrongfully convicted people, and he adopted a policy of not prosecuting low-level marijuana possession arrests to spare young people criminal records. His conviction review unit became a national model, and on the fifth anniversary of his death Brooklyn co-named a street in his honor.

Shawn McLemore

Born May 3, 1967 — died October 9, 2021

Gospel singer and choir leader

McLemore led the choir New Image and recorded nationally for Verity Records, including the 1997 album Wait On Him. His recordings, including Wait On Him and his featured vocal on James Fortune & FIYA’s I Believe (2010), made him a respected figure in contemporary gospel music, especially in Houston.