Fame

McCallum, who died Sept. 25, played an off-beat medical examiner on NCIS, but got his start nearly 60 years earlier, playing a Russian agent on the The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Originally broadcast in '92.

Goodman may be best known for his role as Dan Connor, Roseanne's husband on the hit TV show "Roseanne." He also has a successful film career, appearing in "Barton Fink," "The Babe," and "Born Yesterday."

Isaacson has just written an extensive book about the life of Secretary of State and Nobel Prize Laureate. The writer takes us from Kissinger's boyhood in Germany, his family's flight to America in 1938, through his army career, his years at Harvard as a student and later a professor, and his rise to political power. Isaacson notes Kissinger's many accomplishments, but also portrays him as secretive, paranoid and duplicitous.

Wyman is the quiet, low-profile member of the band who avoided drugs. Using his diaries for reference, he wrote a book about his time in the band through the 1960s, called Stone Alone.

Garrison Keillor retired from the public radio show A Prairie Home Companion in 1987. He says he was overwhelmed by the celebrity, and wanted to focus on writing fiction. Keillor moved with his wife from his native St. Paul to New York City. His recent novel is called Leaving Home; a forthcoming collection of short stories is titled We Are Still Married.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers the use of the word "legend," which he believes ascribes too much importance to what could more accurately be described as "fame."