Three grandmasters have died in recent week. Ukranian-born U.S. grandmaster Miron Sher died on August 20, aged 72. Four days later, German legend Wolfgang Uhlmann passed away at the age of 85. Finally and most sadly, Moldovan GM Dmitry Svetushkin died on September 4 at the age of 40.
I had heard of Svetushkin, but little more, so I refer you to these reminiscences.
Uhlmann's name was one I had seen since I was a kid. He was a Candidate in 1971 (where he lost to Bent Larsen before the latter, helping insure that it was the latter and not he himself who would go down in history for getting blanked 6-0 by Bobby Fischer), and a very successful player in the 1960s. He beat Fischer in their first game, and also had wins over Mikhail Botvinnik and Vassily Smyslov to his credit. He was the East German champion 11 times, and represented them in 11 Olympiads. More on the man and his career, here.
Sher is someone I knew personally from my years in New York. His playing career was fairly short, and he quickly transitioned into coaching. You've heard of some of his students: Peter Heine Nielsen (a very strong GM who is also best known for his coaching work - he assisted Viswanathan Anand for years before switching to Magnus Carlsen's team), Robert Hess (an American GM best known for his online commentary), and Fabiano Caruana. The man knew what he was doing!
I never took lessons from him, but I'd see him at scholastic chess events where we both coached, and he always came across as a very pleasant person. There was nothing about him that broadcast, "I'm a grandmaster, respect and fear me!" Everyone liked him, and no one had a bad word to say about him. He didn't blow his own horn (or if he did, I never heard it), and while modesty isn't always rewarded, it would seem that he made a good career for himself as a trainer. (More here.)
My condolences to any readers who knew these men personally. May they rest in peace.