MILESTONES

DIED. HAROLD BRODKEY, 65, famously self-absorbed New Yorker writer whose first novel took 27 years to deliver; of AIDS; in New York City. His massive, free-form work was known as "the greatest novel never written." Finally published in 1991 as The Runaway Soul, it received decidedly mixed reviews.

DIED. GERRY MULLIGAN, 69, the premier baritone saxophonist and a leading composer-arranger of the past four decades; of complications from a knee infection; in Darien, Connecticut. Though he oversaw the birth of "cool" jazz with Miles Davis in 1947, Mulligan defied classification, playing and writing with a distinctive pulse, wit and imagination. He conceived the "pianoless quartet," which paired his horn with Chet Baker's trumpet over bass and drums.

DIED. AUSTIN HANSEN, 85, photographer who recorded the daily life of Harlem over six decades; in New York City. Hansen, who began taking pictures at age 12, specialized in news photos.

DIED. SIDNEY KORSHAK, 88, labor attorney whose connections to organized crime powered his career as a Hollywood fixer; in Beverly Hills. After defending Al Capone's cronies in Chicago, Korshak moved to L.A. in the late 1940s, where studio owners had him ensure labor peace. Korshak was never indicted, but "a message from him," a prominent mobster once testified under oath, "is a message from us."

DIED. RALPH W. YARBOROUGH, 92, Texas Senator from 1957 to 1971; in Austin. Yarborough was known both for his flamboyant oratory and for his 1963 feud with Texas Governor John Connally. Many believe that smoothing over the rift was part of the reason for John Kennedy's visit to Dallas that year. In the well-known motorcade, Yarborough rode two cars behind the President and Connally.