Milestones

By Melissa August, Amanda Bower, Beau Briese, Rhett Butler, Kathryn Hoffman, Sora Song, Heather Won Tesoriero, Kadesha Thomas, Josh Tyrangiel

RECOVERING. BOB DOLE, 77, the 1996 Republican presidential candidate turned Viagra pitchman; from surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm; in Cleveland, Ohio. In an experimental procedure, Dole's surgical team inserted a permanent stent into his aorta.

CHARGED. PAULA POUNDSTONE, 41, suit-wearing stand-up comedian and regular panelist on To Tell the Truth; with child endangerment and three counts of committing a lewd act on a girl under the age of 14; in Los Angeles. A habitual foster mom, Poundstone has taken in several children since 1993, and she adopted two in 1997. If convicted, she could face as much as 13 years in prison.

CONVICTED. GEORGE TROFIMOFF, 74, retired Army Reserve colonel and son of Russian emigres; of spying for the U.S.S.R. and Russia; in Tampa, Fla. From 1969 to '94, Trofimoff fed Moscow highly classified documents--including some with detailed U.S. knowledge of Soviet military capabilities--from an Army interrogation center in Nuremberg, Germany. He is facing a possible life sentence.

DIED. CHET ATKINS, 77, country-music guitarist whose unique finger-picking style influenced younger musicians from George Harrison to George Benson; in Nashville, Tenn. Atkins played on hit records with Elvis Presley (Heartbreak Hotel) and Hank Williams (Jambalaya), and sold 75 million copies of his own albums. Along with Vince Gill, he led all country artists in Grammy awards, with 14.

DIED. JACK LEMMON, 76, one of Hollywood's most accomplished and likable comic actors, who showed his range in dramatic roles and won two Academy Awards; of cancer-related complications; in Los Angeles (see Appreciation, page 93).

DIED. CHICO O'FARRILL, 79, composer, arranger and one of the creators of Afro-Cuban jazz; in New York City. Arturo O'Farrill, nicknamed Chico by Benny Goodman, spent most of his decades-long career in the background, writing and arranging music for the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie, and even other arrangers, such as Quincy Jones. In 1950 bandleader Machito recorded O'Farrill's first major composition, The Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite. In the late 1990s O'Farrill headlined his 18-piece big band, making weekly appearances at the Birdland club in New York City.

DIED. MORTIMER ADLER, 98, philosopher, educational reformer and author who helped create the Great Books program of learning; in San Mateo, Calif. Guided by the writings of his personal hero, Aristotle, Adler spent most of his life championing his belief in universal values, insisting that all students ought to receive a liberal-arts education with an understanding of that philosophy. He helped revise the core curriculum at the University of Chicago accordingly, and conceived the Great Books program, which is based on 443 classics reprinted in a 54-volume set by Encyclopaedia Britannica. His works include How to Read a Book, Aristotle for Everybody and Six Great Ideas.