Died. Jean Martinon, 66, French composer-conductor who led orchestras around the world, including the Lamoureux Orchestra of Paris, the Israeli Philharmonic and, from 1963 to 1968, the Chicago Symphony, which finally replaced him with Georg Solti after disputes between Martinon's critics and supporters had plunged the orchestra into a state of near anarchy; after a long illness; in Paris. Martinon, who had trained as a violinist at the National Music Conservatory in the late 1920s, began conducting on short notice. In 1945, while on tour as a violinist, he was asked to take over--largely because the orchestra was performing one of his early compositions--when the conductor fell ill. His successful debut led to invitations from other orchestras and a career in conducting.

Died. Grover C. Loening, 87, pioneering aeronautical engineer, prophet and author; from the effects of a stroke; in Miami. Loening held the first aeronautical degree granted by an American university (Columbia, 1910) and, as a member of Orville Wright's design team, was taught to fly by Orville himself. In 1917 he formed his own plane-manufacturing company, eventually selling some 300 amphibian biplanes and becoming a millionaire in the process. In his 1935 book, Our Wings Grow Faster, Loening predicted that "at 500 m.p.h. 50,000 ft. above the ocean . . . far above storms or ice or fog . . . we will cross from New York to London in six hours." He lived to see that prophecy improved on with the SST. But in his later years he urged less emphasis on speed and more on vertical-takeoff planes, which could cut travel time by operating from airports near city centers.

Died. William Red Fox, who claimed to be 105, self-styled Sioux Indian chief and controversial man of letters and humbug; in Corpus Christi, Texas. His 1971 book. The Memoirs of Chief Red Fox, told it all--in fact, more than all: in his memoirs, the chief recalled his days acting in vaudeville and the movies, and touring with Buffalo Bill Cody's wild West show. He remembered catching fish with the hooked ribs of field mice and the braves' 1876 victory dance after they had wiped out General Custer. But it was his blow-by-blow account of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre that taxed his publisher, McGraw-Hill. Investigations showed that some 12,000 words of The Memoirs had been lifted more or less directly from a 1940 book about Wounded Knee. McGraw-Hill settled the plagiarism suit, but the chief was unfazed. He promptly updated his show-business career, exploiting his new-found notoriety on TV talk shows.

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