Marion Barry, the both loved and infamous mayor of Washington, DC, died at approximately 12 a.m. November 23 at United Medical Center in Southeast, DC. The former mayor was 78 years of age at his time of death, and had just been released from Howard University Hospital on Saturday evening.

Mr. Barry dealt with a number of health issues including diabetes and prostate cancer, and in 2009 received a kidney transplant. Those who corresponded with Barry during his Thursday check-in to the hospital stated that he sounded very weak, but much better the next day.

Barry is survived by wife Mrs. Cora Masters Barry and his son Marion Christopher Barry.

Mr. Barry was known for his political life both good and bad; he was noted for his outstanding leadership serving as DC’s mayor from 1979 to 1991, and again from 1995 to 1999, and his active work in the civil rights movement made him “Mayor for Life” to many District of Columbia inhabitants.

The 1990 debacle involving federal agents videotaping him smoking crack and being sent to jail for six months, however, gave him worldwide notoriety, although he was again re-elected as mayor in 1994.

Marion Barry could be considered one of the more exciting mayors of the United States; HBO released a biopic entitled The Nine Lives of Marion Barry in 2009, and the former mayor himself acted in movies Ballou and Slam along with appearances in films such as Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene, Without Bias and Bowl of Dreams. A Conversation with Mayor Marion Barry: Held on April 10, 1979 at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C was written by Marion Barry during his first ever year as Mayor.

While Barry pled guilty to charges of failing to file federal or local tax returns for six years and stated that he had a negative net worth, sources state that Barry’s net worth has bounced back significantly in 2014. This may be due, in part, to Barry’s autobiography entitled Mayor For Life, the Incredible Story of Marion Barry, Jr. published in 2014, along with an interview with Barry discussing his political career and his book during a recorded interview with Oprah Winfrey that is soon to be released.