Everest's Hillary Dies at 88

First man to conquer Everest laid to rest after state funeral

(NEWSER) - New Zealand paid tribute to its most famous native son today as throngs lined the streets of Auckland for the state funeral of Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealand Herald reports. The prime minister led the tributes. "Sir Ed described himself as a person of modest abilities," said Helen Clark. "In reality he was a colossus, he was our hero." More»

(NEWSER) - This year saw the passing of many notable people, from Paul Newman and Michael Crichton to William F. Buckley and designer Yves St. Laurent. Here are a few that made the lists of the NY Times and LA Times:

• Tim Russert (b. 1950)—TV journalist and 16-year host of Meet the Press.
• Charlton Heston (b. 1923)—star of Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments, and later NRA activist.
• George Carlin (b. 1937)—legendary rabble-rousing comedian.
• Heath Ledger (b. 1979)—rising star's credits include Brokeback Mountain; Oscar rumblings for Dark Knight.
• Steve Fossett (b. 1945)—billionaire adventurer missing since September 2007.
• Albert Hoffman (b. 1906)—research chemist who discovered LSD.

Peak draws hundreds of climbers, who leave behind trash

(NEWSER) - Mount Everest remains an irresistable lure for hundreds of climbers every year—and it shows in a bad way. In the wake of Edmund Hillary's death, the Independent surveys the landscape of the world's highest mountain and finds it littered with climbers' trash. It's a matter of logistics, experts say. It's simply not easy to schlep home empty oxygen containers and the like from 29,000 feet. More»

Catcher for Mets, Expos had brain cancer

(AP) - Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, whose single for the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series touched off one of the most improbable rallies in baseball, died today. He was 57. Carter, diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor last May, was an 11-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner. Nicknamed "Kid," Carter played nearly two decades with the Mets, Montreal, San Francisco, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the first player to go into the Hall of Fame with an Expos cap on his plaque. More»

Renowned art director experienced revival in 1990s

(NEWSER) - Lillian Bassman, who shot to fame as a self-taught photographer and the daring art director of a Harper's Bazaar spin-off, died yesterday at 94 in her Manhattan home. Bassman, born in Brooklyn and raised in the Bronx, studied fabric design and fashion illustration, and became a protégé of Alexey Brodovitch, the Bazaar art director. She studied graphic design under him and soon became his first paid assistant; by 1945, she was sharing the art director title with him at Junior Bazaar. On her own, she experimented with darkroom methods and soon began taking her own photographs. More»