Before the internet, how did we know if celebrities were dead?

Got in a discussion the other day about the comic strip The Far Side (Either the greatest or the second greatest comic strip of all time depending on how important you feel recurring characters are) and the best ever Far Side Cartoon never (A ship is sinking in the background, a scientist is dragging himself onto a small island, on which there is a single dick, who is saying, "So, Professor Jenkins! … My old nemesis! … We meet again, but this time, the advantage is mine! Ha ha ha!"

Sadly, the internet was not able to find me an image of that cartoon, which is both sad and an endorsement of Gary Larson's legal staff

While we were discussing this, naturally we got around to trying to remember whether Gary Larson was still alive or not (He is - a quick google search reveals.)

All of which left me wondering - What the Hell did we used to do to in that situation?  Did you just have to call people until someone sounding sure of their answer?

This is why when Skynet goes on line we're going to be completely screwed.