Moshe Levy, 72, Israel, former Army Chief of Staff, Jan. 8, 2008

Moshe Levy (L), as IDF Chief of Staff, 1980s, with Shimon Peres

General Moshe Levy, 72, the 12th Israeli Army Chief of Staff, died Jan. 9, 2008, after a brain aneurysm.

Levy had his first stroke a few years ago. Afterward, he had to use a wheelchair. He dropped many of his public activities, but continued in his position with the company that built Route 6, Israel’s newest and first privately managed superhighway, and the country’s only toll road.

Max Rosenbaum, 85, Australia, father of ‘Crown Heights pogrom’ victim, dies, Jan. 3

Max Rosenbaum, 85, whose life was changed irrevocably after his son’s 1991 death in race riots in Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Crown Heights neighborhood, died Friday, Jan. 3, 2007, of a heart attack in Melbourne, Australia.

Yankel Rosenbaum, 29, was killed in riots that started after a driver in the entourage of the Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, accidentally hit and killed a 7-year-old black child,

Ahikam Amichai, 20, David Rubin, 21, Israel, off-duty soldiers, murdered on hike, Dec. 28

Ahikam Amichai (L), David Rubin

Ahikam Amichai, 20, and David Rubin, 21, off-duty Israeli Army commandos on a recreational hike near their homes in the Hebron hills, were murdered by Palestinians, Dec. 28, 2007.

The two lifelong friends and neighbors were each members of elite and storied Israeli commando units. Amihai was a member of the Air Force’s Shaldag unit, and Rubin was a member of Shayetet 13, the Israeli Navy Seals (video). Read the rest of their dramatic stories after the jump.

Two more notable Jewish deaths in 2007: Grace Paley, Tillie Olsen

An astute reader noticed that two significant Jewish women writers who died in 2007 were not on our list of notable 2007 Jewish deaths. So, we will make up for the oversight.

Richard H. Friedman, 56, U.S., lawyer, drowning, Dec. 30

Richard H. Friedman, 56, an attorney active in the Jewish community of Albany, N.Y., died in a swimming accident while on vacation with his family in Puerto Rico, Dec. 30, 2007.

Friedman was a member of the board of Albany’s Temple Israel, a Conservative synagogue, president of its Men’s Club, and former president of Albany’s Jewish day school, Bet Shraga Hebrew Academy.

(In My Heart Editor’s Note: I once lived in Albany, and knew Friedman by sight, as well as all the individuals quoted in this story. My condolences to his family, friends and the extended Albany, New York, Jewish community, a tight-knit group. I invite anyone from Albany who knew Friedman to write a comment to this article or to send us an email, which we will post in Friedman’s honor.)

Remembering Sid Gillman, innovative football coach, Jan. 3, 2003

By Elli Wohlgelernter

Innovative football coach Sid Gillman, who died Jan. 3, 2003, was not only a leading authority on passing theories and tactics, thus revolutionizing the game with his downfield-passing schemes; but his original use of analyzing film footage to prepare for football games fundamentally altered the way all future coaches would get ready for their next opponent.

Remembering Talia Klein, ‘clothes horse,’ too

Talia Klein on La La, photo by Justin Campbell

Talia Klein wasn’t just an accomplished rider…she was also a “clothes horse”….she could put an outfit together and had so much class and was so chic that she reminded me of a young Audrey Hepburn, and I’m talking about her casual outfits!!

Notable Jewish deaths of 2007: Year in review

Wall painting by Sol LeWitt

Here is the In My Heart list of notable 2007 Jewish deaths as reported in the trade media, New York Times, Canadian Press and elsewhere. This list certainly isn’t complete. First of all, we have left out most of the names you’ll find elsewhere on In My Heart. And we’re sure there are many others. Please send updates and corrections to us at In My Heart.

Talia Klein, 13, U.S., horseback rider, dies in Panama plane crash, Dec. 24

IMH Editor’s Note: Michael B. Klein, 37, an ultra-successful businessman, and his daughter Talia Klein, 13, were killed in the crash of their private plane over a remote spot in Panama earlier this week. Michael Klein, who headed a hedge fund and was an early beneficiary of the first-wave Internet boom, has been written about by dozens of media outlets. Talia, however, has rarely gotten more than a footnote in these stories. In My Heart will focus on Talia in this story, including words from people who knew and loved her. Read a tribute to Talia Klein here (with a great photo by her uncle) by a family friend.

Talia Klein, 13, an award winner for her horsemanship for several years, and the daughter of millionaire businessman Michael B. Klein, died Dec. 24, 2007, in a private plane crash

Remembering Irv Letofsky, Hollywood journalist, who died Dec. 23

From “Tabloid Baby”

Irv, we hardly knew ye.

We found out yesterday that Irv Letofsky died this week at 76.

(In My Heart Editor: Hollywood Reporter says Letofsky died of liver cancer)

Irv was a television critic for The Hollywood Reporter, former editor of the Los Angeles Times Calendar section and an important collector of film lobby and title cards and other memorabilia.

He also has a unique place in tabloid history.

Irv is among those mentioned in the acknowledgments of the book, “Tabloid Baby.” Back in early Nineties, he wrote about the tabloid television show “Hard Copy” for The Hollywood Reporter, and his articles were cited by author Burt Kearns. A decade later, Letofsky and Kearns wound up working together on Frozen Pictures’ documentary series, “All The Presidents’ Movies,” that ran on Bravo and will one of these days wind up on DVD.

Irv had been the connection to Paul Fischer, the former White House projectionist who was at the center of the acclaimed presidents project.

Irv was very well-liked by print journos in LA. Over at our pal Ray Richmond’s Past Deadline site, Barry Garron writes:

“There will never be another like him… He was a genius. He was a mentor. He was capable of the driest wit and the greatest insight. He was never without a mischievous twinkle in his eye or a half-dozen projects on his agenda…”

Reprinted with permission from Tabloid Baby

Barry Garron further describes Irv Letofsky:

This gentle and genial soul was, at one time or another, a reporter (St. Paul Pioneer Press), an assistant city editor (Minneapolis Tribune), a features editor (Sunday Calendar of the Los Angeles Times), an executive producer of a documentary and a short film, an author and a key figure in establishing the Brave New Workshop Comedy Theatre in Minneapolis.

He was an important collector of film lobby and title cards and other film memorabilia. He donated part of his collection to his alma mater, the University of North Dakota, and to the Hoover Institution of War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. He lent part to the Richard Nixon Library.

Letofsky is survived by his wife, actress Brian Ann, and four children.