Monday, Mar. 15, 1971
Married. Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 51, Prime Minister of Canada: and Margaret Sinclair, 22, daughter of Canadian Privy Councillor James Sinclair (see THE WORLD).
Died. Charles W. Engelhard, 54, lavish-living multimillionaire who may have served as the model for the central character in Ian Fleming's novel Goldfinger: of an apparent heart attack: in Boca Grande, Fla. Engelhard ballooned an inheritance of $20 million into an estimated $250 million by his grasp of the potential of precious metals in technology. Equally successful in racing, he spent close to $10 million for top-quality thoroughbreds, had 213 victories in the U.S. in nine years. After his acquaintance Fleming published Goldfinger, Engelhard emphasized the obvious by once showing up for a party in an orange sweatshirt and pretending to have a stewardess named Pussy Galore on one of his planes.
Died. Dr. Paul de Kruif, 80, bacteriologist and author of laymen-oriented medical books: of a heart attack: in Holland, Mich. Holder of a Ph.D. in microbiology but no medical degree, De Kruif developed an antitoxin for gas gangrene, helped produce a successful treatment for syphilis before penicillin was used. He wrote 13 books, among them the bestsellers Hunger Fighters and Microbe Hunters. He also collaborated with Sinclair Lewis on Arrowsmith, which dealt with a onetime country doctor. Answering whispers that he had ghosted the book for Lewis, De Kruif said: "This is wrong. But Lewis would have been completely helpless to write it without me, and vice versa."
Died. Allan Nevins, 80, historian who won, among other tributes, 23 honorary doctorates and two Pulitzer Prizes: of a stroke: in Menlo Park, Calif. After beginning his career as an editorial writer for the New York Evening Post, Nevins gained an early reputation through a number of historical books and in 1931 became De Witt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia. Nevins' first Pulitzer came in 1933 for Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage, his second in 1937 for Hamilton Fish: The Inner History of the Grant Administration. The last of his eight-volume history of the U.S. from 1847 through the Civil War will be published this year. Perhaps Nevins' most highly regarded contribution was to organize the oral-history movement, recording and transcribing interviews with people who had been closely involved with great events. "So many people know so many things that have never been put into writing," Nevins once explained. "There was a time when historic detail was entrusted to paper, but no longer. Today they talk on the phone or discuss it in person."
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