Too Young

(AP) - A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing—even in death. A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing for his 3-day wake, the AP reports. Dressed in a Yankees cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in his mother's living room. More »

(Newser) - Longtime Bruce Springsteen keyboardist Danny Federici died yesterday at the age of 58 in New York after a three-year battle with melanoma. As a member of the Boss’ E Street Band, he performed on hit records for decades and helped bring Springsteen into the spotlight after jamming in New Jersey in the 1960s. “We grew up together,” Springsteen said in an online statement. More »

(Newser) - Cameron Diaz's father Emilio died suddenly from pneumonia yesterday, according to TMZ. The bubbly actress found his death "shocking" since her 58-year-old father, who had a bit part in his daughter's hit There's Something About Mary , was reportedly in "terrific health" until he developed a bad case of the flu.  More »

(Newser) - The husband of British soul singer Corinne Bailey Rae has been found dead from a suspected drug overdose at his home in the UK. Jason Rae, 31, a saxophone player, is said to have struggled with drug abuse for years, according to Britain's Daily Mail . His band, the Haggis Horns, had backed Amy Winehouse. More »

(Newser) - A stingray leapt out of the water and struck a 55-year-old Michigan woman who was sunbathing on the deck of a boat off the Florida Keys yesterday, CNN reports. The woman, who was with her husband and children, was knocked to the ground and pronounced dead at a local hospital. No word on the specific cause of death yet, but local reports say she was impaled through the neck by the 75 lb. ray's barb. More »

(Newser) - Vicki Van Meter, the girl who at age 11 astounded the nation with a 5-hour cross-country flight, is dead at 26, the AP reports, of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Van Meter’s trans-continental flight was a record at the time, and a year later she became the youngest pilot to fly across the Atlantic. “We all thought she was coping,” her brother said of her history of depression. More »

(Newser) - Academy Award-winning director Anthony Minghella died today at 54, the Guardian reports. Minghella won the 1997 best director Oscar for The English Patient and was nominated as a screenwriter for The Talented Mr. Ripley in 2000. "This is a shattering blow from someone who was a major figure in an important industry and had a lot to go on and contribute," fellow director Lord Puttnam told the Guardian. More »

(Newser) - Acclaimed guitarist Jeff Healey died of cancer at 41 yesterday after battling the disease throughout his life, the Globe and Mail reports. Healey, who lost his eyesight as a child to retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer, sold more than a million albums in the US, racking up hits such as “Angel Eyes,” “See the Light,” and a cover of the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”