--- description: Jeffrey Tambor on Garry Shandling, Frank Gehry on Zaha Hadid, Wayne Gretzky on Gordie Howe—and more title: 2016 Deaths: How 11 Celebrities Were Remembered by Friends image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96c0765445939765/6988b2a4cd1bba2f027035fd/cohen_-boutros-ghali_hadid_obit.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # In Memoriam 2016: 11 Celebrities Remembered by Their Friends and Colleagues by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 28, 2016 3:00 PM CUT  From left to right: Jean-Pierre Muller—AFP/Getty Images; Mike Lawrie—Getty Images; Nick Harvey—Wireimage/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 28, 2016 3:00 PM CUT _To many observers, the deaths of icons like_ [_Prince_](http://time.com/4303558/prince-dead-paisley-park-57/ "undefined") _and_ [_David Bowie_](http://time.com/magazine/us/4180259/january-25th-2016-vol-187-no-2-u-s/ "undefined") _and_ [_Muhammad Ali_](http://time.com/magazine/us/4358059/june-20th-2016-vol-187-no-23-u-s/ "undefined") _made 2016_ [_seem like_](http://time.com/4305484/celebrity-death-theories/ "undefined") _a particularly tragic year for the loss of giants of the cultural world. While those deaths shocked the world, every week of every year has sadnesses of its own. So, since the very first issue of TIME, the magazine has marked those deaths—and celebrated those lives—in a column called Milestones. Throughout the year, the column is a place for those who knew the departed to remember and celebrate their friends and peers._ _Here are 11 of 2016’s notable Milestones obituaries:_ **Glenn Frey, remembered by Linda Ronstadt:** “He had a clear idea of the story he wanted to tell—and he told it with that guitar. He had plenty of talent, but he also had raw nerve and gumption.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4185979/linda-ronstadt-glenn-frey-had-raw-nerve-and-gumption/ "undefined") **Marvin Minsky, remembered by Ray Kurzweil:** “He was the consummate educator, for that was his greatest joy and passion. But he was also many other things: a scientist, a mathematician, an inventor, an engineer, a roboticist, a writer, a philosopher, a polymath, a poet, a musician and most of all a student of human nature and thinking.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4197762/marvin-minsky/ "undefined") **Boutros Boutros-Ghali, remembered by Kofi Annan:** “With characteristic directness and intellectual agility, Boutros sought to confront and overcome the complex challenges of the day.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4236985/boutros-boutros-ghali/ "undefined") **George Martin, remembered by Brian Wilson:** “I just remember he was still very skilled at mixing and working in the console, despite losing his hearing in his later years. He was a handsome man with a calming voice, and when we were listening to ‘God Only Knows,’ I remember him saying how he loved my brother Carl’s voice.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4253741/george-martin/ "undefined") **Garry Shandling, remembered by Jeffrey Tambor:** “Garry was all about being alive and in the moment. He asked you to bring everything about your day into the work, to go beyond the laugh to reveal character and humanity.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4277514/garry-shandling/ "undefined") **Zaha Hadid, remembered by Frank Gehry:** “She created a language that’s unique to her. I suppose it will be copied, but never the way she did it.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4284816/zaha-hadid/ "undefined") [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter "undefined") **Katherine Dunn, remembered by Chip Kidd:** “Dunn’s art made us all into a new kind of geek—the nerdy, obsessed, fannish kind. And yes: we loved her for it.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4341385/katherine-dunn/ "undefined") **Morley Safer, remembered by Lesley Stahl:** “He was as much fun as his stories, which were often full of whimsy, like the one about how much the dour Finns like to tango.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4348960/morley-safer/ "undefined") **Gordie Howe, remembered by Wayne Gretzky:** “Growing up in Brantford, Ontario, I wrote letters to NHL players. Gordie, my hockey idol, sent me back a signed picture. When I was 10 or so, he visited my town, and I was lucky enough to meet him. Gordie grabbed his stick and put it around my neck. He couldn’t have been nicer.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4371188/gordie-howe/ "undefined") **Edward Albee, remembered by Tracy Letts:** “Mr. Albee (he once asked me to call him Edward, but it never felt right) led the charge for a freer form of expression, changing theater and contemporary American life—the way we speak, the way we tell jokes. He shifted long-held beliefs and attitudes about marriage, love and class. He was determined to make trouble—he considered it an essential part of a playwright’s job.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4504005/edward-albee/ "undefined") **Leonard Cohen, remembered by Judy Collins:** “It was momentous to hear Leonard singing those songs. He went right to the core with an expression that was so unusual and deep.” [_Read the full remembrance here_](http://time.com/4574519/leonard-cohen/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4598032/milestones-2016/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4598032/milestones-2016/"},"headline":"In Memoriam 2016: 11 Celebrities Remembered by Their Friends and Colleagues","datePublished":"2016-12-28T15:00:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:15:52.799Z","description":"Jeffrey Tambor on Garry Shandling, Frank Gehry on Zaha Hadid, Wayne Gretzky on Gordie Howe—and more","url":"https://time.com/4598032/milestones-2016/","keywords":["remembrance","Media"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96c0765445939765/6988b2a4cd1bba2f027035fd/cohen_-boutros-ghali_hadid_obit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96c0765445939765/6988b2a4cd1bba2f027035fd/cohen_-boutros-ghali_hadid_obit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cohen_-boutros-ghali_hadid_obit","caption":"","creditText":"From left to right: Jean-Pierre Muller—AFP/Getty Images; Mike Lawrie—Getty Images; Nick Harvey—Wireimage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4598032/milestones-2016/","name":"In Memoriam 2016: 11 Celebrities Remembered by Their Friends and Colleagues"}}]}] ```