National Obituaries

HALIFAX — Joan Clark, acclaimed Canadian author and Order of Canada recipient, has died. She was 88. Clark wrote more than 15 books for adults and children, including An Audience of Chairs, Latitudes of Melt and The Dream Carvers.

LONDON (AP) — Ireland’s president has led tributes to Mark Sheehan, guitarist with Irish rock band The Script, after his death at the age of 46. The band said Sheehan died in a hospital on Friday after a brief illness.

GENEVA (AP) — Elisabeth Kopp, an advocate of equal rights and the environment who was the first woman elected to Switzerland's seven-member executive branch, has died. She was 86.

NEW YORK (AP) — Anne Perry, the best-selling crime novelist known for her Thomas Pitt and William Monk detective series and for her own murderous past that inspired the movie “Heavenly Creatures,” has died at age 84.

LONDON (AP) — Mary Quant, the visionary fashion designer whose colorful, sexy miniskirts epitomized London in the 1960s and influenced youth culture around the world, has died. She was 93.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Wayne “Big Daddy” Sims, who played in four NCAA Tournaments with LSU from 1987-1991, died Wednesday at age 54. LSU's athletic department confirmed Sims' death. No cause of death was immediately disclosed.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jim Harrick Jr., who played at Pepperdine and worked as an assistant basketball coach at Georgia and several other schools, has died. He was 58. Harrick Jr.

HOUSTON (AP) — Steve Murdock, a former state demographer of Texas who served one year as the director of the U.S. Census Bureau, during which he helped keep the 2010 census on track, has died. He was 75.

NEW YORK (AP) — Al Jaffee, Mad magazine's award-winning cartoonist and ageless wise guy who delighted millions of kids with the sneaky fun of the Fold-In and the snark of "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions," has died. He was 102.

PRAGUE (AP) — Dana Nemcova, one of the leading Czech dissidents and human rights activists from the communist era, has died. She was 89.