The summer of 2009—when we lost Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, John Hughes, Walter Cronkite, and nearly two dozen more celebrities and high-profile people—was, rightfully so, branded the Summer of Death. Bad things are supposed to happen in threes, after all, not dozens. The summer of 2012, though not quite as severe, rivals those tragic months from three years ago as an alarming number of pioneering pop-culture figures, trailblazers in entertainment, and industry titans passed away between June and September. Here’s a look back at the lives of the luminaries we lost this summer.