“I’ve been called everything from a crook to a forger. I don’t care what people say — as long as they get the facts straight.” — Melvin Dummar in a 2007 interview with The Associated Press. Dummar, whose claim to $156 million from the estate of Howard Hughes was rejected by courts, died Dec. 9 at the age of 74.

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“Growing up poor in the farmlands of Western Minnesota, Bob understood the difficulties and obstacles that face family farmers as well as anyone. After losing his farm to foreclosure as a young man, Bob dedicated his life to elevating the standard of living for hard-working family farmers.” — Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin while remembering former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Bob Bergland. Bergland, who served in the Carter administration, died Dec. 9 at the age of 90.

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“They are representative of a broader fight by countless others around the world — as of Dec. 10, at least 52 journalists have been murdered in 2018 — who risk all to tell the story of our time.” — Edward Felsenthal, editor-in-chief of Time after the magazine named four journalists and a newspaper as its Person of the Year.

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“We realized this was our chance to thank them via music and lyrics. The whole movie is to say thank you, you’ve taught us all of these things, let us show you what you’ve given us by doing our take on the story.” — Composer Mark Shaiman of the work he and co-lyricist Scott Wittman did with the score of the film “Mary Poppins Returns,” while paying tribute to the Oscar-winning songwriting duo Robert and Richard Sherman and their work with “Mary Poppins.”