MARRIED. Nancy Lopez, 25, golf pro who is eighth in money earned on the women's tour this year, and Ray Knight, 29, flashy infielder for the Houston Astros; both for the second time; in Pelham, Ga.

DIED. Thomas Thompson, 49, author of nonfiction blockbusters (Blood and Money, Serpentine) and, this year, a bestselling first novel (Celebrity); of liver cancer; in Los Angeles. As a reporter and entertainment editor for LIFE in the 1960s, Thompson developed a hunger for details and an acquaintance with the glamorous, a combination that he cannily adapted to books by conducting extensive research into murderous scandals of the rich and then spinning them into absorbing narratives that were eagerly devoured by readers and moviemakers alike.

DIED. Giovanni Benelli, 61, strongwilled, influential Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Florence who was twice a front runner in papal elections; after a heart attack; in Florence. As substitute Secretary of State under his friend, Pope Paul VI, Benelli earned the nickname "the Vatican Kissinger" for his shrewd grasp of international church politics and his tough, managerial style in running the powerful Curia from 1967 to 1977.

DIED. Edward F. Gibbons, 63, chairman and chief executive officer since 1978 of the F.W. Woolworth Co.; after a brief illness; in Valhalla, N.Y. Gibbons strove to revive the stodgy company with more detailed budgeting, more specific planning and fewer stores that catered exclusively, in his words, to "old birds like myself." Only last September, in a decisive move to streamline and, he hoped, strengthen the business, he resolved to close all 336 outlets of the flagging Woolco discount chain (cutting the company-by 30%) and to sell Woolworth's British subsidiary.

DIED. Sybil Leek, 65, matronly British-born doyenne of the occult and the world's most visible witch; of cancer; in Melbourne, Fla. Leek traced her psychic ancestry back to the Crusades and staunchly described her faith as a legitimate religion. But as a writer, she cheerfully supplied supernatural overlays for such pop topics as assassination conspiracies, eventually parlaying her gregarious wit into four companies, regular television appearances and even cosmic cosmetics.

DIED. T.J. Flournoy, 77, salty Texas sheriff of Fayette County from 1946 to 1980, whose pugnacious refusal to shut down the famous Chicken Ranch brothel was celebrated by the musical and the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; in La Grange, Texas.

DIED. Joyce C. Hall, 91, founding father and president (1910-66) of Hallmark Cards, who cared enough to build the very best company of its kind; in Leawood, Kans. Hall's inspirations, "flavored with the vapor of past experience," created a business that now makes about 8 million cards daily, and $1 billion each year. Through exhaustive market research (which counseled against using peacocks, geraniums and the word mighty), he changed much of his line each year, inspecting each card himself and paternalistically overseeing the welfare of his employees. A civic-minded booster of his beloved Kansas City, he down-played his achievements, saying, as if for one of his cards, "Bragging isn't good manners."

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