National & International Obituaries

Former NBA player Jason Collins died this week at the age of 47. NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with journalist Franz Lidz, who helped Collins write his 2013 coming out essay in Sports Illustrated.

Jason Collins, the NBA's first openly gay player who went on to become a pioneer for inclusion and an ambassador for the league, has died after an eight-month battle with an aggressive form of a brain tumor, his family announced Tuesday.

Craig Morton, who spent 18 years in the NFL and became the first quarterback to start the Super Bowl for two franchises — the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos — has died. He was 83.

The Braves announced Cox's death on Saturday. He managed the team to prominence during the 1990s, including a championship in 1995, before retiring after the 2010 season.

Ted Turner — the founder of CNN and a suite of other cable channels, not to mention a restaurant chain, anti-nuclear nonprofit and sports competition — has died.

Ted Turner is being remembered as the founder of CNN, but he was also someone who used his wealth for environmental stewardship.

Turner had a larger-than-life personality, and used it to launch the country's first 24/7 all-news network.

New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling has died at age 87. He started as the team's play-by-play announcer in 1989, and he called every game until he missed his first one in 2019.

The longtime music director of the San Francisco Symphony died April 22. Known for his innovation, Tilson Thomas founded the New World Symphony for young players. Originally broadcast in 1995 and '12.

Pioneering scientist J. Craig Venter has died at 79. His "whole genome shotgun method" helped genome sequencing become faster and cheaper.