Art Buchwald, 81, Jan.
17: The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and satirist made his career
as a chronicler of Washington, D.C., workings, with a sharp eye and wit to
match. He once said, "If you attack the establishment long enough and hard
enough, they will make you a ... moremember of it." Given only a few weeks to live in
early 2006, Buchwald lived nearly a year before dying of kidney failure but
insisted it was the "best time of my life" -- he held salons at home and even
wrote a book about his experiences. He also famously fought Paramount Studios
over ownership of the idea for the Eddie Murphy film "Coming to America"; a judge later found that Buchwald was
entitled to profits from that film. (Derry Moore/Camera Press/Retna
Ltd.)