George Rodrigue, a Louisiana artist "whose Blue Dog paintings made him famous worldwide" and were featured in several books as well as an annual calendar, died December 14, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. He was 69.
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Author Hugh Nissenson, described by the New York Times as "praised for creating convincing alternative worlds in books that pursued questions of faith and pressed the boundaries of the novelistic form," died on Friday. He was 80.