Ex-Congressman, QB Jack Kemp Dead at 73

His efforts in Afghanistan inspired the Tom Hanks movie

(AP) - Charlie Wilson, the former congressman from Texas whose funding of Afghanistan's resistance to the Soviet Union was chronicled in the movie Charlie Wilson's War, died today at 76. Wilson represented the 2nd district in east Texas in the House from 1973 to 1996 and was known in Washington as "Good Time Charlie" for his reputation as a hard-drinking womanizer. More»

Evangelist reached millions during his heyday

(AP) - Evangelist Oral Roberts, who rose from tent revivals to found a multimillion-dollar organization and an Oklahoma university bearing his name, died today at 91 of complications from pneumonia in Newport Beach, Calif. He had been hospitalized after a fall on Saturday. Roberts was a pioneer on two fronts—he helped bring spirit-filled charismatic Christianity into the mainstream and took his trademark revivals to television, a new frontier for religion. More»

(NEWSER) - Quarterback Tom Brady, in his first game since missing almost all of last season with a knee injury, threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:06 to lead the New England Patriots to a comeback 25-24 victory over the visiting Buffalo Bills tonight, the Boston Herald reports. Brady, 32, completed 39 of 53 passes for 378 yards, the two touchdowns and one interception. More»

Friends call NYC cops after not seeing Adam Goldstein for several days

(NEWSER) - DJ AM, who less than a year ago survived a plane crash, was found dead this afternoon in a New York apartment, TMZ reports; his real name was Adam Goldstein, and he was 36. Police, called by a friend who hadn’t seen Goldstein in several days, found drug paraphernalia at the scene after breaking down the door of the SoHo apartment. More»

(NEWSER) - Frank McCourt, the former schoolteacher who gained literary stardom by recounting his unhappy childhood in Angela's Ashes, died today in New York of skin cancer, the New York Times reports. He was 78. The Brooklyn-born author grew up in Limerick and taught in New York public schools for 30 years before writing Ashes, which dazzled critics with its simple account of poverty—and sparked anger in Ireland, where McCourt was "denounced from hill, pulpit and barstool," he said. More»