In Memoriam 2009: Shine says goodbye to greatly missed celebrities

As the year buzzed with conversation around health care reform, abortion rights, bailouts, Cash for Clunkers, rising stars, and too much celebrity misbehavior, it also seemed that we paused too many times to mourn the loss of well-known people we admired, ogled, felt we knew, and loved.

Whether these politicians, advocates, performers, and personalities lived for many years or too few, we pay tribute to all they contributed and the legacies -- both commendable and controversial -- they leave behind.