The literary world also lost several bright lights, including the inimitable short story writer and poet Grace Paley. A Wrinkle in Time author Madeline L'Engle died in September, New York Review of Books co-founder Elizabeth Hardwick passed earlier this month, and columnist Molly Ivins died, at the too-early age of 62, in January, and to Jennifer's everlasting chagrin, fashion guru Liz Claiborne died in June and actress Deborah Kerr went from Here to Eternity in October. Wonder if the paper's editors will add recently (and reportedly) dead Benazir Bhutto to the list?

Notable Deaths of 2007 [NY Times]

Earlier:
Anna Nicole Smith Knew How To Throw A Damn Christmas Party
God Bless Tammy Faye
The Queen of Mean Is Dead
Madeline L'Engle, Beloved Author Of Fifth Grade Erotica Dies
Literary Lioness: Elizabeth Hardwick
Liz Claiborne: From Little House To House Of Style
...to Eternity: Deborah Kerr

• Catherine Zeta Jones is not alone! More than one in ten pregnant women smoke, reports the AP (via MSNBC), and research suggests that many of those women suffer from depression, making quitting even more difficult. A Columbia University epidemiologist, tracked more than 1,500 pregnant women, and "22 percent smoked at some point during pregnancy" with about 12 percent classified as nicotine-dependent. [MSNBC]
  
• A bunch of spunky girl soccer stars urinated on the opposing team's synthetic soccer field. "I think it's unclassy," sniffed a rival. We think it smells like chicken soup! [Boston Herald]
  
• A 5-foot tall woman was cleared of charges that she raped a 6-foot tall man, after he accused her of spiking his drink with roofies. We know she's innocent and all, but that giraffe print sweater is criminal. [Daily Mail]
  
• Cuesta Benberry, a quilt historian an archivist who helped bring attention to the contributions of African-American woman to the craft, has died at the age of 83. No word yet if Anthropologie sends their regrets. [NY Times]

• Two women and a man are charged with smuggling over 20 women and girls from Togo in West Africa and forcing them to work at hair-braiding salons in New Jersey. Oh shit, we had cornrows five years ago. [International Herald Tribune]
• A controversial British Muslim playwright has turned the story of her mother's brutal honor killing into a play, which she hopes to also adapt into a feature film. In other news, we saw Grease this weekend and it was OMG Awesome! [Daily Mail]
• Hilarious Molly Ivins, who died in January and was totally one of our heroes, is being honored in an NYC Memorial Service tomorrow. We're sure Shrub will be there in spirit. [NY Times]
• A Harvard Medical student is fighting for the right to have additional time to pump her breast milk during the nine hour test she must take to get her degree. Are the examiners worried she's got a cheat sheet on the other side of her nursing bra or something? [NY Times]
• Post menopausal women who drink two or more alcoholic beverages a day may double their chances of getting endometrial cancer. [Science Daily]