Percy Sutton, the pioneering civil rights attorney who represented Malcolm X before launching successful careers as a political power broker and media mogul, has died. He was 89.

Marissa Shorenstein, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson, confirmed that Sutton died Saturday. She did not know the cause. His daughter, Cheryl Sutton, declined to comment Saturday when reached by phone at her New York City home.

Rest In Peace, Percy.

Vic Chesnutt, the folk-rocker whose sometimes dark reflections on life were influenced in part by a car wreck that left him paralyzed, has died. He was 45.

Family friend Christina Stuckey, who answered the phone at Chesnutt's home, confirmed the death to The Associated Press. Chesnutt's record label, Constellation Records, said in a statement on its Web site that Chesnutt died on Christmas Day, Friday.

The brief statement says "Vic transformed our sense of what true character, grace and determination are all about."

Rest In Peace, Vic.

George Michael, 70, a high-rated and hyperanimated Washington sportscaster whose extensive use of game highlights from across the country on his nationally syndicated show has now become the norm in the industry, died Thursday at Sibley Memorial Hospital. He had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

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He was a rock-and-roll disc jockey in Philadelphia before being offered a job in 1974 as a radio personality on WABC in New York. He was making great money, about $65,000 annually, but his personal life unraveled. His first wife, Patricia, left him and their children, he said, telling The Post, "She ran away to Mexico with an 18-year-old." Alimony payments left him constantly on the "verge of bankruptcy," he said.

He later married Pat Lackman, a writer who became a key partner in her husband's on-air career. She survives, along with two children from his first marriage, Brad and Michelle. A full list of survivors could not be confirmed.

Rest In Peace, George.

James Gurley, the innovative guitarist who helped shape psychedelic rock's multilayered, sometimes thundering sounds as a member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, the band that propelled Janis Joplin to fame, has died of a heart attack. He was 69.

Gurley was pronounced dead Sunday at a Palm Springs hospital, two days before his 70th birthday, the band announced on its Web site.

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He is survived by his wife, Margaret, and sons Hongo and Django.
Band members plan to hold a memorial sometime next month in San Francisco.

Rest In Peace, James.

Yitzhak "Ike" Ahronovitch, the captain of the Exodus ship whose attempt to take Holocaust survivors to Palestine built support for Israel's founding, has died. He was 86.

He died Wednesday in northern Israel after a long illness, his daughter Ella said.

The Exodus 1947 ship left France in July 1947 carrying more than 4,500 people — most of them Holocaust survivors and other displaced Jews — in a secret effort to reach Palestine. At the time, Britain controlled Palestine and was limiting the immigration of Jews.

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Ahronovitch is survived by two daughters, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. His funeral is scheduled for Friday in northern Israel.

Rest In Peace, Ike.