Memories have generations, too. As each year passes, names, images and likenesses of the 20th century fade. About 30% of Americans were born after 9/11, raised on iPhones, viral videos and memes.
Little wonder that the late 1900s are obscure black-and-white history to so many, like dog-eared family albums flipped through for the holidays. “Who is that next to Grandma?” That’s why USA TODAY’s Passages, our annual look at noteworthy deaths during the year, can serve as a reminder of those who made a difference, who changed our lives, who were not only influencers but true influentials. People like music producer Quincy Jones , 91, whose legacy goes back to the roots of jazz, rock and pop with Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.
” His credits appear on more than 400 albums, and he helped herd dozens of superstars for the “We Are the World” charity album in 1985. “Leave your egos at the door,” he commanded. "I just cannot believe all of this experience is contained in one human being who just happens to be my dad," one of his daughters, actress Rashida Jones, told USA TODAY in 2018.
Influential in politics and charity work was Ethel Kennedy , 96, the final matriarch of the Kennedy family. She and her husband, Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, raised 11 children, including Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., whom President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services in his upc.