Final Chapters for April 1, 2018: Rusty Staub, Stéphane Audran, Anita Shreve

Rusty Staub was an orange-haired outfielder who became a big hit with baseball fans in two countries during a career that spanned 23 major-league seasons. He died March 29 at a hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla. He had been treated for a blood infection that led to kidney failure. He was 73. Staub, affectionately dubbed “Le Grand Orange” by a Montreal sportswriter, was a six-time All-Star and the only player in major-league history to have at least 500 hits with four teams (Houston, Montreal, New York Mets and Detroit). He broke into the majors with the Astros in 1963, and became the first star for the expansion Expos in 1969. He also played for the Texas Rangers before he retired in 1985 with 2,716 career hits.

Stéphane Audran was a coolly elegant French actress who drew acclaim for performances in the Oscar-winning films “Babette’s Feast” and “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.” She died March 27. She was 85. Audran’s best-known movie internationally was “Babette’s Feast” (1988), but by then she had been famous for decades in France, most notably for her work in the films of director Claude Chabrol, to whom she was married from 1964 to 1980. She appeared in a handful of English-language films, including the detective spoof “The Black Bird” (1975), the World War II drama “The Big Red One” (1980), and the action film “Maximum Risk” (1996).

Anita Shreve was a best-selling novelist who explored how women responded to crises past and present in her native New England in favorites such as “The Pilot’s Wife,” “Testimony” and “The Weight of Water.” She died March 29 at her home in New Hampshire. She had been battling cancer. She was 71. Shreve’s novels sold millions of copies, especially after Oprah Winfrey chose “The Pilot’s Wife” for her book club in 1999. She was also a favorite source for Hollywood. “The Pilot’s Wife,” “Resistance” and “The Weight of Water” all were adapted into movies.

Linda Brown was a Kansas girl at the center of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down racial segregation in schools. She died March 25 in Topeka. She was 76. Brown was 9 years old in 1951 when her father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her at Sumner Elementary School, then an all-white school near her Topeka home. When the school blocked her enrollment, her father sued the Topeka Board of Education. He became lead plaintiff in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court that ended school segregation.

Johan van Hulst was a former Dutch senator and teacher renowned for his efforts to save hundreds of Jewish children during World War II. He died March 22 in Amsterdam. He was 107. Van Hulst was among more than 26,500 gentiles recognized by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem for risking their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. He was described by Yad Vashem as a Calvinist Protestant who smuggled children to safety in a “large-scale” rescue operation. He was a member of the Dutch Senate from 1956 to 1981, and of the European Parliament for much of the 1960s.

David Humm was a former star quarterback at Nebraska who had a long career as a backup in the NFL. He died March 27 at a hospital in Las Vegas. He had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1988. He was 65. Humm was a second-team All-American in 1974 at Nebraska and finished fifth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. He was a fifth-round draft pick by the Raiders in 1975 and played 10 seasons with the Raiders, Bills and Colts. He was a backup on the Raiders’ Super Bowl-winning teams in the 1976 and 1983 seasons. He also was part of the Raiders’ radio broadcasts for several years after his career ended.

Nancy McFadden was a lawyer and political adviser who spent years in Washington working in the Clinton administration and later became the most important aide to Gov. Jerry Brown of California. She died March 22 of ovarian cancer at her home in Sacramento, Calif. She was 59. McFadden became deputy political director for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, and after the election was appointed a deputy associate attorney general. She moved on to become general counsel for the Transportation Department and later continued to serve in the Clinton administration as the deputy chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore.

Daryl Thomas was a captain on Indiana University’s 1987 NCAA basketball championship team. He died March 28 from a heart attack. He was 52. Thomas scored 20 points in the Hoosiers’ 74-73 win over Syracuse in the national championship game. He also got the assist on Keith Smart’s game-winning basket. He played professionally overseas, and had been the basketball coach at Montini Catholic High School in suburban Chicago since 2015.

Kenny O’Dell was a Grammy Award-winning songwriter. He died March 27 at a health care facility in Cool Springs, Tenn., outside of Nashville. He was 73. O’Dell wrote the 1973 Grammy-winning Best Country Song “Behind Closed Doors” for Charlie Rich and the 1984 Grammy-nominated Song of the Year “Mama He’s Crazy” for The Judds. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1996.

Frank Gaylord was a Vermont sculptor who designed the statues of soldiers for the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington. He died March 21 at his daughter’s home in Northfield ,Vt. He was 93. Gaylord was a World War II Army paratrooper who received the Bronze Star during the Battle of the Bulge. He sculpted the 19 stainless steel soldiers for the Korean War memorial that was authorized by Congress in 1987 and dedicated in 1995. He created other monuments for sites around the country.

Peter Munk was a Canadian immigrant who founded Barrick Gold and turned it into the world’s largest gold producer. He died March 28 at his home in Toronto. He was 90. Munk founded Barrick in 1983 and built it into the world’s largest gold mining company. Barrick now has 10,000 employees on five continents. He was also one of Canada’s most significant philanthropists and donated nearly $300 million, including a $100 million donation last year to Toronto General Hospital.

Mel Rosen was a former Auburn and Olympic track and field coach. He died March 25 at a nursing home in Auburn, Ala. He was 90. Rosen was the Tigers’ head coach during 1963-91 before leaving to coach the U.S. men’s team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He is a member of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, U.S. Track Coaches Hall of Fame and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

This story was originally published March 31, 2018 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Final Chapters for April 1, 2018: Rusty Staub, Stéphane Audran, Anita Shreve."