In Passing

Barry Hannah, Southern writer

Oxford, Miss. – Author Barry Hannah, whose fiction was laced with dark humor and populated by hard-drinking Southerners, died Monday at his home in Oxford, Miss. He was 67.

Lafayette County Coroner Rocky Kennedy said Hannah died of natural causes.

Hannah’s first novel, “Geronimo Rex,” was published in 1972. It received the William Faulkner prize for writing and was nominated for a National Book Award. His 1996 short story collection, “High Lonesome,” was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2003, Hannah was given the PEN/Malamud Award, which recognizes excellence in short fiction.

Bob Biniak, skateboarder

Jacksonville, Fla. – Bob Biniak, whose daring and innovative skateboarding style as one of the original Dogtown Z-Boys helped revitalize the pursuit in the 1970s, has died. He was 51.

Biniak died at Baptist Beaches Medical Center in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., on Feb. 25, four days after having a heart attack.

To his fellow Z-Boys – a ragtag group from Dogtown, a rough beachfront area in Southern California wedged between Venice and Santa Monica – Biniak was simply “the Bullet,” a nickname that saluted his affinity for speed.

As he pioneered vertical skateboarding in the then-new terrain of empty swimming pools, Biniak’s favorite spot in the mid-1970s was a pool behind a Beverly Hills mansion that was called keyhole, for its shape. It was one of dozens the skaters essentially commandeered.

Tom Wolk, bass player

New York – Tom “T-Bone” Wolk, who performed with scores of musicians but was best known as the longtime bass player for the band led by pop-rock stars Daryl Hall and John Oates, has died. He was 58.

Wolk died Feb. 28 in New York, hours after completing a recording session with Hall, who was working on a solo album. The cause of death was believed to be a heart attack.