Divorced. By Lauren Bacall, 44, ever svelte and sensuous leading lady: Jason Robards, 47, most recently starred in We Bombed in New Haven; on grounds of incompatibility; after eight years of marriage; in Juarez, Mexico.

Divorced. By James Roosevelt, 61, eldest son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and former U.S. Congressman, who now works for a Geneva-based investment firm: Gladys Owens Roosevelt, 52, currently free on bail after stabbing Roosevelt last May because she thought he was about to leave her for another woman; on grounds of incompatibility; after 13 years of marriage, one adopted son; in Geneva.

Died. Gavin Maxwell, 55, Scottish writer and naturalist, of cancer; in Edinburgh, Scotland. Solitary by disposition, more intrigued by animals than by people, Maxwell mined the world's far reaches for his many books. In Harpoon Venture (1952), he recounted his experiences hunting sharks off the craggy coasts of the Hebrides; travels among Iraqi Arabs led to People of the Reeds (1957). But it was his tender relationship with two otters in the remote Scottish highlands, retold in Ring of Bright Water (1960), that brought him his greatest acclaim. "Stage one on the way to understanding human beings," he once said, "is to have an understanding and affection for animals."

Died. Everett McKinley Dirksen, 73, pillar of the U.S. Senate and the Republican Party (see THE NATION).

Died. Adam Gimbel, 75, president of Saks Fifth Avenue stores for 43 years; of pancreatitis; in Manhattan. When his cousin Bernard F. Gimbel merged with Horace Saks in 1924, Adam Gimbel took over the Fifth Avenue store and opted for opulence and expansion, opening 29 more branches across the U.S. until today Saks Fifth Avenue is the nation's largest specialty chain, accounting for 40% of Gimbel Brothers' $600 million annual sales.

Died. Alexander Holtzoff, 82, oldest member of the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C.; of a heart attack; in Washington, D.C. Brilliant and fiercely independent, Holtzoff waged a running battle with higher courts during most of his 24 years on the bench. In 1952, he refused to nullify President Truman's seizure of the steel industry, only to be reversed by the Supreme Court; ten years later, he fined the U.S. Communist Party $120,000 for failing to register as an agent of the Soviet Union, and was reversed again. As a colleague put it: "Most of us take the higher courts as guidelines, but not Alex. He used to say, They're not superior to me,' and rule the way he saw it."

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