Milestones

By Ann Marie Bonardi, Val Castronovo, Daren Fonda, Benjamin Nugent, Michele Orecklin, Victoria Rainert, Julie Rawe, Eric Roston, Josh Tyrangiel

DIED. MEL CARNAHAN, 66, Missouri Governor and Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate; in a plane crash; near St. Louis, Mo. Elected Governor in 1992, he famously stood by tough decisions despite political aftershocks--such as honoring Pope John Paul II's request that he stay the execution of a murderer. Carnahan's son Randy, 44, who piloted the plane, and a top aide, Chris Sifford, 37, were also killed in the accident.

DIED. JULIE LONDON, 74, actress and breathy pop phenom whose 1955 song Cry Me a River sold more than a million copies; in Los Angeles. Honed in nightclubs, London's hushed, smoked-out voice made hits of Around Midnight and My Heart Belongs to Daddy. Encouraged to sing by second husband Bobby Troup, writer of Route 66, London released more than 30 albums. In 1972 her first husband, Jack Webb, hired London and Troup to appear as nurse Dixie McCall and Dr. Joe Early on TV's Emergency!

DIED. GWEN VERDON, 75, Broadway's first lady of dance and winner of four Tony Awards; in Woodstock, Vt. She married choreographer Bob Fosse in 1960 and had one of her greatest successes as Roxie Hart in his production of Chicago. The two separated in 1971 but never divorced (see Eulogy below).

DIED. KONRAD BLOCH, 88, German-born co-winner of a 1964 Nobel for discovering how the body produces cholesterol; of heart failure; in Burlington, Mass.

DIED. GUS HALL, 90, four-time presidential candidate who led the American Communist Party for 41 years; in New York City. Found guilty in 1949 of conspiracy to advocate the violent overthrow of the government, he fled to Mexico but was extradited and spent 5 1/2 years in prison. His subsequent refusal to register with the government as a communist led to the 1965 Supreme Court decision that abolished that law.