List of Famous people who died in 2017

Kenneth Eugene Silverman was an American biographer and educator. He won a Pulitzer Prize and a Bancroft Prize for his 1984 biography of Cotton Mather, The Life and Times of Cotton Mather. Silverman, who specialized in Colonial American literature, was a professor of English at New York University until his retirement in 2001.

Jeffrey Christian Spink was an American talent manager and film producer.

Jean-François Coatmeur was a French crime fiction writer.

Johan van Zyl Steyn, Baron Steyn, PC was a South African-British judge, until September 2005 a Law Lord. He sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.

Robert Yale Lary Sr. was an American football player, businessman, and politician.

Jackie Gene Brown was an American professional baseball pitcher and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Montreal Expos from 1970 –1977. Brown threw and batted right-handed. His older brother, Paul Brown, also pitched in the big leagues.

Vincent Joseph Scully Jr. was an American art historian who was a Sterling Professor of the History of Art in Architecture at Yale University, and the author of several books on the subject. Architect Philip Johnson once described Scully as "the most influential architectural teacher ever." His lectures at Yale were known to attract casual visitors and packed houses, and regularly received standing ovations. He was also the Distinguished Visiting Professor in Architecture at the University of Miami.

Balys Gajauskas was a Lithuanian politician. In 1990 he was among those who signed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. In 1978 he became a prisoner of conscience after being sentenced for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda" by the Supreme Court of the Lithuanian SSR. Before that he had served a 25-year sentence for having participated in the Lithuanian anti-Soviet resistance, being released in 1973.

Job Durupt was a French politician. He was the mayor of Tomblaine from 1971 to 2001. He served as a Socialist member of the National Assembly from 1981 to 1988, representing Meurthe-et-Moselle. He became an officer of the Legion of Honour in 2016.

Chen Hsing-ling was a Taiwanese air force general officer and pilot. He served as the Commander in Chief of the Republic of China Air Force in Taiwan from 1986 to 1989 and the Chief of General Staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces from 1989 until 1991.