PEOPLE Great Lives Remembered: 55 Stars, Heroes and Icons America Loved

Here's an astonishing fact: In 1977, when Elvis Presley died suddenly, People did not put him on the cover. In fact, we didn't even run a story: His death was mentioned, in one paragraph, on page 60.

We didn't mean any disrespect to the King---far from it. It's just that, at the time, People was young, only three years old, and we were learning new lessons every week. We downplayed Elvis's passing because, we feared, any story about death---even that of a beloved celebrity---was too macabre a subject for the cover.

We were, of course, completely, obviously, demonstrably, 100-percent wrong. Over time we learned that, when someone famous dies, readers wanted the news, a recounting of the life they often had followed for years, and, not least, a memento. Farewell cover stories, beginning with John Lennon in 1980, have, over the decades, become some of the bestselling issues in People's history. An earlier People book, Gone Too Soon, about famous people who died young, also proved popular with readers.

People: Great Lives Remembered looks back at 55 celebrity tributes from the magazine's first 36 years. From Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana to Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra. Ronald Reagan, Johnny Carson, Paul Newman, Michael Jackson, John Belushi and more, they entertained, inspired or simply kept us watching.

To be reminded how and why---or to learn how and why---turn the page.