The late professor X gave a talk

Is "the late Professor X gave a talk" correct? I mean: Correct not in a Zombie sort of way, but to express "Professor X gave a talk while he was still alive, which he is not any more".)

If deceased is synonym for "dead", then one should rather say "the now late Professor X gave a talk", which sounds just wrong? Or do you have to say "Professor X, now deceased, gave a talk?"

There are many internet examples of the sense 'now deceased', with an assumption of the death being recent at the time of the term first being used. For instance, one of the many hits for "the late President once" is [tidied]

As the late President once said: “We must ask nothing but what is right, and submit to nothing that is wrong."

Merriam-Webster licenses this usage:

late 2 a : living comparatively recently : now deceased —used of persons ...