Milestones

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Elizabeth L. Bland, Janice M. Horowitz, Unmesh Kher And Kate Novack

DISMISSED. THOMAS WHITE, 59, U.S. Army Secretary; by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; in Washington. After criticism of his role as a former executive of Enron, White had a public dispute with Rumsfeld last year over the Crusader artillery program, which White saw as key to modernizing the Army and which Rumsfeld canceled.

RESIGNED. DONALD CARTY, 58, as chairman and CEO of American Airlines; after unions were outraged to learn that he had awarded large bonuses to himself and other top executives last March while workers were being urged to accept wage concessions; in Fort Worth, Texas. To help the airline stave off bankruptcy, the unions nevertheless agreed to $1.6 billion in wage cuts.

DIED. NINA SIMONE, 70, fiery, eclectic singer and classically trained pianist who was known, somewhat inaccurately, as the "high priestess of soul"; of undisclosed causes; in Carry-le-Rouet, France. Born Eunice Waymon (she changed her name so her mother wouldn't catch on to her pop career), the onetime aspiring concert pianist and self-described "diva" had only one hit single--I Loves You Porgy in 1959--but gained a following in the U.S. and Europe for her alternately smooth and gravelly tones, majestic stage presence and maverick opinions. Bristling at mainstream pop-music labels, Simone called her music "black classical" and embraced African folk, gospel, jazz and show tunes. An influential voice in the civil rights movement--she wrote Mississippi Goddam, a bitter response to the murder of Medgar Evers and a church bombing, and the anthem Young, Gifted and Black--she left the U.S. in 1973 and settled in France.

DIED. FELICE BRYANT, 77, co-author, with her late husband Boudleaux Bryant, of such 1950s hits for the Everly Brothers as Wake Up Little Susie and Bye Bye Love; of cancer; in Gatlinburg, Tenn. The Bryants' more than 800 songs were also recorded by Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Buddy Holly.

DIED. CHOLLY ATKINS, 89, pristinely polished, graceful tap stylist turned choreographer who, as part of artistic development at Motown, engineered the images, costumes and dance movements of such acts as Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles; in Las Vegas.

DIED. MARTHA GRIFFITHS, 91, keenly intellectual former U.S. Congresswoman from Michigan, whose persistence led to House and Senate passage of the never ratified Equal Rights Amendment; in Armada, Mich. During her 20-year tenure in Washington (she chose not to run again in 1974), she was responsible for adding "sex" to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, thus banning discrimination based on gender, and became the first woman to serve on the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

DIED. KAREN MORLEY, 93, brainy blond bombshell of 1930s Hollywood, who played Paul Muni's moll in Scarface, Greta Garbo's fellow spy in Mata Hari and a farm-cooperative pioneer in King Vidor's Our Daily Bread; in Woodland Hills, Calif. Later she was blacklisted for refusing to answer questions from Congress about her ties to the Communist Party.