Siegfried Meir
Taken to Auschwitz at eight, he turned his awful experience into a source of inspiration for others
Natale Rusconi
A master at tending to V.I.P.’s from Princess Margaret to Maria Callas, he transformed the Hotel Cipriani into one of the jet set’s premier destinations
Miranda, Countess of Stockton
When she married Peter Sellers, at 23, her two Pekingese dogs (Tabitha and Tomasina) served as bridesmaids
Mort Drucker
For 55 years, the Mad-magazine illustrator was, as George Lucas said, the “Leonardo da Vinci of comic satire”
“Nipper” Read
In the 1960s, he took down the Kray twins, Swinging London’s most ruthless gangsters—and helped solve the Great Train Robbery
Wait, That Was True?
An American veteran confirms a British W.W. II soldier’s outlandish account of being the first to liberate Paris from the Nazis
Harry Hamilton
The British soldier who claimed he got lost and liberated Paris by accident
Albert Uderzo
Illustrator and co-creator of the walrus-moustached Asterix the Gaul, who represented “the revenge of the little guy”
A Pen for All Seasons
A collection of letters belonging to the late Philip Poole, owner of a storied London pen-nib store, is an ode to the art of craftsmanship
Ailsa Maxwell
The economics student turned codebreaker was on duty when Germany’s unconditional surrender came over the wire in May of 1945
Peregrine Pollen
Brilliant, curious, and gifted, the Oxford-born art-world character ran Sotheby Parke-Bernet
Nell Gifford
Re-inventor of the English circus
Guy Arnold
Explorer, prolific travel writer, cat-lover, and host of lavish dinner parties
Peter Serkin, 1947–2020
The pianist known for seamlessly connecting classic and contemporary elements in his work died on February 1 at the age of 72
Werner Doehner
The last survivor of the Hindenburg disaster
Nancy Lewis
A charming, tenacious music-biz publicist who established Monty Python in the United States
Maurice Bailey
Lost at sea with his wife in 1973. The couple survived on a raft for 117 days
How to Be Cool and Warm at Once
The irreplaceable publisher Sonny Mehta, who died on December 30, possessed the rare ability to unite style and sincerity
John Lorimer
A war hero who survived a seemingly hopeless mission to eliminate a Nazi warship with a midget submarine
