Died. Whit Burnett, 73, co-founder and editor of Story magazine; of a heart attack; in Norwalk, Conn. In 1931 Burnett and his first wife, Martha Foley, mimeographed 75 copies of an anthology of short stories written by themselves and friends. The issue drew immediate critical approval. With Burnett as editor and later his second wife, Hallie, as assistant, Story survived 40 years and was first to publish the short stories of William Saroyan, Norman Mailer and Truman Capote.

Died. George E. Allen, 77, White House good-humor man in three administrations; of a heart attack; in Palm Desert, Calif. When his skill as a Washington, D.C., city commissioner and witty raconteur caught the attention of President Roosevelt, Allen graduated to the role of presidential confidant, brightening the high office with his folksy low comedy. He helped persuade Roosevelt to select Harry Truman as running mate in 1944, then later emerged as a member of Truman's own "Kitchen Cabinet." When his old friend Dwight Eisenhower, whom he had met during World War II, won the presidency in 1952, the affable--and durable --Allen became Ike's frequent golfing partner and companion.

Died. Hamilton Fish Armstrong, 80, vigorous, nonpartisan editor of Foreign Affairs for 44 years; after a long illness; in Manhattan. An urbane, scholarly New Yorker, Armstrong joined Foreign Affairs at its founding in 1922 and served as its editor from 1928 until his retirement two years ago. Although the circulation of his quarterly has never exceeded 73,000, it has long been a prestigious forum reflecting the viewpoints of statesmen and political commentators around the world. Foreign Affairs published articles by heads of governments as well as their critics, and in its 1947 article by "X" (State Department Planner George F. Kennan) presented the first outline of U.S. policy in the coming cold war.

Died. Matthew H. McCloskey, 80, Philadelphia builder and crack fund raiser for the Democratic Party; of cancer; in Darby, Pa. Though he built his construction company into one of the ten largest in the U.S., it was as a money raiser for the Democrats that McCloskey was best known. In 1934 he organized the first $100-a-plate dinner, and over the next 30 years he raised millions in campaign contributions. In 1962 he was appointed Ambassador to Ireland by President Kennedy.

Died. Jacques Maritain, 90, seminal figure of Roman Catholic thought and the 20th century's leading interpreter of Thomist philosophy; in Toulouse, France. Born a Protestant in Paris, Maritain converted to Catholicism at 23 and became the principal intellectual defender of 13th century Catholic Philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas. During the '30s, he emerged as a symbol of Christian humanism, the concept that the church, while holding to its theological precepts, should support political democracy and social reform. Regarded as radical thinking at the time, this caused some conservative Catholics to consider him a near-heretic. In 1939, he left his post at Paris' Institut Catholique and came to the U.S. as philosophy instructor at Princeton and Columbia. During World War II he played a prominent role in urging U.S. support for the Free French, and in 1945 he went to Italy as France's ambassador to the Vatican. Maritain produced more than 50 books, including True Humanism, Reflections on America and, in 1968, his most conservative, The Peasant of the Garonne, .written in seclusion near Toulouse, where he had lived for the past dozen years since the death of his wife. Among those influenced by Maritain's teachings were generations of philosophers, scholars and religious leaders. "I am a disciple of Maritain," Pope Paul has said. "I call him my teacher."

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