SUED. CHRISTIAN SLATER, 25, prematurely raspy-voiced actor; for palimony; in Los Angeles. Nina Huang, who lived with the star of True Romance until earlier this month, maintains he promised to give her half his earnings during their time together.

DIED. J. PETER GRACE, 81, longest-reigning (a half-century) head of a major U.S. company; of lung cancer; in New York City. Grace's death came within weeks of the corporate coup that replaced him as chairman of the giant chemicals company W.R. Grace & Co. As head of a federal economics commission during the Reagan presidency, Grace was a highly visible cheerleader for government efficiency and deficit reduction. But it was his predilection for spending millions of his company's dollars on personal perks that led to his ouster.

DIED. MILOVAN DJILAS, 83, writer and dissident; in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. During World War II, Djilas fought alongside Yugoslavia's future leader Josip Broz Tito and went on to hold key positions in his communist government. But Djilas' criticism of the power and privilege granted to party leaders eventually led to years of imprisonment, during which he wrote The New Class, his seminal critique of communism.

DIED. MAGGIE KUHN, 89, crusader against age discriminiation; in Philadelphia. Kuhn helped found the Gray Panthers in 1970 after having been forced to retire from a job with the Presbyterian church at age 65.

DIED. MARY CAPERTON BINGHAM, 90, philanthropist; in Louisville, Kentucky. Moments after acknowledging a Rotary dinner toast by saying, "The best thing would be for a big pink cloud to come down and take me away," Bingham collapsed from a heart attack. She was the widow of media baron Barry Bingham; his death in 1988 was preceded by a family-rending money spat among their children.