Milestones

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Kristen Bolt, Sean Gregory, Janice M. Horowitz, Unmesh Kher, David Robinson and Maggie Shnayerson

SEPARATING. ANDREW CUOMO, 45, former federal Housing Secretary and New York gubernatorial candidate, and son of onetime New York Governor Mario Cuomo; and his wife of 13 years, KERRY KENNEDY CUOMO, 43, author, human-rights activist and daughter of Senator Robert F. Kennedy; in Bedford, N.Y. They have three children.

APPOINTED. SEAN P. O'MALLEY, 59, bishop of Palm Beach, Fla.; as leader of the scandal-plagued Boston archdiocese; to replace Bernard Cardinal Law, who resigned after criticism of the way he dealt with priests accused of sexual abuse; by Pope John Paul II.

SELECTED. VANCOUVER, CANADA, as site of the 2010 Winter Olympics, beating out runners-up Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea; by the International Olympic Committee.

DIED. BARRY WHITE, 58, R.-and-B. singer and disco love god; of kidney failure; in Los Angeles. Born in Galveston, Texas, he was jailed at 16 for stealing tires, but his mother, a pianist, kept him focused on music. His distinctive voice, an elegant, irresistible bass baritone, was legendary for its romantic, mood-altering powers, and his best-loved songs--Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe and You're the First, the Last, My Everything --were the quintessence of soulful '70s seductiveness. Though his star faded with the passing of the disco era, White never lost his iconic status. He won two Grammys for his 1999 album and single Staying Power, and hip-hop artists still turn to his work when they need a sexy, sultry sample.

DIED. HERBIE MANN, 73, jazz flutist and promoter of what is now called world music; of prostate cancer; in Pecos, N.M. He took up the flute as a lead instrument when jazz flute was unheard of and persistently sought out other genres and cultures--African, Brazilian and Japanese as well as American R. and B.--to fuse into his sound. After recording an early hit, 1962's up-tempo Comin' Home Baby, he attracted bigger audiences with such albums as Memphis Underground and Push, Push and the Top 40 hits Hijack (1975) and Superman (1979).

DIED. BUDDY HACKETT, 78, frenetic, old-school stand-up comedian; of undisclosed causes; in Malibu, Calif. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., he got his start in the Catskills' Borscht Belt, developing a brash comic style that was often off-color (one famous routine involved imitating a Chinese waiter) but nearly always got the laughs. With his short, pudgy build, high-pitched delivery and clownishly contorted expressions, he became a nightclub headliner and frequent TV guest while showing his range with occasional (and often critically praised) roles onstage and in movies like The Music Man, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Disney's The Love Bug.

DIED. NAJEEB HALABY, 87, lawyer, test pilot, former chairman of Pan American World Airways and father of a Queen; in McLean, Va. Despite a long career in business and government--notably as head of the Federal Aviation Administration for four years--he was best known as the father of Lisa Halaby, who became Queen Noor when she married Jordan's King Hussein in 1978.

DIED. ROBERT MCCLOSKEY, 88, children's-book writer and illustrator who produced such classics as Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal; on Deer Isle, Maine. He considered himself primarily an artist and filled his books with intricately drawn portraits and vibrant land-and seascapes, often of Maine, where he lived for years. Yet he was also acclaimed for the sweetness of his humane, universal stories, like Ducklings, in which doting parents Mr. and Mrs. Mallard roam Boston in search of a safe place to raise their offspring.

DIED. IVAN ALLEN, 92, former two-term mayor of Atlanta who gracefully eased the city into integration in the 1960s; in Atlanta. While drawing new businesses and sports teams to the city, he made an even greater impact with his commitment to civil rights. He tore down COLORED and WHITE signs immediately after taking office in 1962 and was the only major Southern politician to testify before Congress in favor of what became the Civil Rights Act.

DIED. KATHARINE HEPBURN, 96, elegant, pioneering, Oscar-winning actress and one of the last links with Hollywood's 1930s Golden Age; in Old Saybrook, Conn. (See page 62.)