Married. A. B. Guthrie Jr., 68, author of The Big Sky and the 1950 Pulitzer prizewinner The Way West; and Carol B. Luthin, 38, whom he met in Montana three years ago; both for the second time; in Helena, Mont.

Divorced. By Lana Turner, 48, Hollywood's still nicely knit Sweater Girl of the 1940s, now preparing for her role of a jetsetter on a television series: Robert P. Eaton, 38, her sixth husband; on grounds of mental cruelty; after 3 1/2 years of marriage, no children; in Santa Monica, Calif.

Died. W. Preston Battle, 60, Tennessee criminal-court judge who came to national prominence during the non-trial of James Earl Ray for the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; of a heart attack; in Memphis. Battle accepted a deal under which Ray pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to 99 years in prison. In response to the outcry that followed, the judge argued that a trial would still have left the issue of conspiracy and other questions up in the air. "My conscience," he said, "told me that it better served the ends of justice to accept the agreement."

Died. Theron Lamar Caudle, 64, ill-famed head of the Justice Department's tax division during the Truman Administration; of a heart attack; in Wadesboro, N.C. In 1956, Caudle was sentenced to two years in prison (he served six months) for accepting an oil royalty in return for attempting to quash prosecution in a tax-evasion case. Congressional hearings also turned up many other instances of influence peddling, and questionable gifts.

Died. Ralph W. Burger, 79, retired president of the vast ($5.4 billion annual sales) A. & P. food chain founded by the Hartford family; of diabetes and heart disease; in Daytona Beach, Fla. Burger's 52-year career ran from grocery clerk to the top job before he quit in 1963. In 1951 he doubled his duties by becoming head of the John A. Hartford Foundation. As remuneration from the foundation, he stipulated only one red carnation each day.

Died. Maximilian ("Max") Justice Hirsch, 88, famed horse trainer who sent out three Kentucky Derby winners in a career that stretched over 78 years; of a heart attack; in New Hyde Park, N.Y. There was never any other life for the Texan. He was an exercise boy at ten, a full-fledged jockey at 14, a trainer at 20. He handled more than 1,900 winners, among them Derby Champions Bold Venture (1936), Assault (1946), and Middleground (1950), but always refused to take sole credit. "Luck plays the most important role," he once said, "not the trainer."

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