Milestones

By Harriet Barovick, Clayton Neuman

ENTERED REHAB. Gavin Newsom, 39, popular San Francisco mayor who became a national lightning rod in 2004 when he "legalized" same-sex marriage and presided over dozens of weddings before the state supreme court voided the unions; in the wake of reports that he had had an affair with the wife of one of his aides and his admission of alcohol abuse; in San Francisco. Though some officials called for his resignation, many declared Newsom--who is being treated as an outpatient--courageous and offered support, albeit cautiously. One member of the city's board of supervisors said of the recent disclosures, "I hope there's nothing else."

DIED. Ahmed Abu Laban, 60, prominent religious leader in Denmark who last year galvanized fellow Muslims around the world to protest newspaper cartoons featuring the Prophet Muhammad; of lung cancer; in Copenhagen. Saying he was humiliated by the cartoons--one of which showed Muhammad with a bomb in his turban--Laban helped fuel rage that many Danes blamed for sparking anti-Danish violence in the Middle East.

DIED. Willye White, 67, philanthropic track-and-field star, five-time U.S. Olympian and two-time silver medalist who dominated the long jump for nearly two decades; of pancreatic cancer; in Chicago. After winning second place for the long jump in 1956, White, a longtime mentor to inner-city youth, took home her second silver medal for the 4 x 100-m relay in 1964 and made her final Olympic appearance in Munich in 1972.

DIED. Whitney Balliett, 80, dean of jazz criticism, mostly for the New Yorker, whose vivid, sensual and impressionistic writing on the exploding medium mirrored the exuberance and cadence of the music itself; in New York City. His prose made palpable the styles and physicality of performers like drummer "Big Sid" Catlett (whose "huge hands ... reduced the drumsticks to pencils") and trumpeter "Doc" Cheatham (whose solos were "a succession of lines, steps, curves, parabolas, angles and elevations"). Defining his role as appreciative witness as opposed to stern judge, he and writer Nat Hentoff in 1957 put together TV's The Sound of Jazz, which showcased Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk and others in what are now deemed some of the finest performances in jazz history.

DIED. Lamar Muse, 86, fiery, outspoken first leader of Southwest Airlines who, through a series of bold, often witty marketing innovations, turned the fledgling, debt-ridden company into a successful competitor; in Dallas. Skirting federal regulations on interstate travel by operating within Texas, he famously slashed fares (flights between several key cities were $20); dressed flight attendants in hot pants; and, to beat a competitor trying to horn in on his cheap prices, kept the low fare--and threw in a free bottle of whiskey.

DIED. Frankie Laine, 93, iconic pre-rock-'n'-roll singer, dubbed "Old Leather Lungs," who entranced teenagers of the 1940s and '50s with his booming, rough-hewn voice on hits like Mule Train and Ghost Riders in the Sky; in San Diego. As a young jazz singer, Laine caught the eye of bandleader Mitch Miller, who brought him to Columbia Records. The burly Laine, who said he liked to use his voice "like a horn," sold more than 100 million records and drew new fans in the early '60s for singing the theme to TV's Rawhide.

DIED. Gian Carlo Menotti, 95, Italian-born composer who reinvigorated American opera by bringing his lyrical, high-intensity works to mass audiences over the objections of critics who claimed his popular masterpieces were not sufficiently intellectual; in Monaco. Menotti, creator of the first opera written for radio, won the Pulitzer Prize for two of his operas, The Consul and The Saint of Bleecker Street. But he was best known for the 45-min. Amahl and the Night Visitors, a Christmas opera he wrote for TV. He continued his efforts to democratize the art in 1958 by founding Italy's influential Spoleto Festival (and later its sister festival in Charleston, S.C.), which helped launch the careers of such artists as singer Shirley Verrett and dancers turned choreographers Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp.