MILESTONES

CONVICTION OVERTURNED. CHARLES KEATING, 72; on swindling charges in the collapsed Lincoln Savings & Loan case; in Los Angeles. A federal judge threw out the results of Keating's state trial and excoriated Judge Lance Ito for giving flawed instructions to the jury. Keating remains in prison on federal charges.

CHARGED. DR. DANIEL CARLETON GAJDUSEK, 72, Nobelist for Medicine and National Institutes of Health researcher; with child abuse after a college student said he had been molested in his teens by Gajdusek; in Frederick, Maryland.

DIED. JOHN MCSHERRY, 51, baseball umpire; of a heart attack; in Cincinnati, Ohio. After 25 years of keeping a cool head in a hot-tempered business, the 328-lb. McSherry collapsed two minutes into the season opener.

DIED. CARL STOKES, 68, former big-city mayor; of cancer; in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1967, when only 37% of Cleveland's electorate was black, Stokes was elected mayor with 50.5% of the vote. His distinction as the first African-American mayor of a major U.S. city would eclipse the subsequent highs of his life: stints as a TV anchorman in New York City and as ambassador to the Seychelles.

DIED. GREER GARSON, 92; Oscar-winning actress; in Dallas. Once described by Time as "a goddess sculptured in butterscotch," Garson specialized in playing noble, tender, poised women--"walking cathedrals," she called them--like Mrs. Chips in Goodbye, Mr. Chips and the title role in Mrs. Miniver, for which she won her Oscar. Born in Ireland, she graduated with honors from the University of London and became an actress against the wishes of her family. She was discovered in a play by MGM boss Louis B. Mayer and became that studio's premier star. Garson's third marriage, to Texas oil magnate E.E. ("Buddy") Fogelson, lasted 38 years. Her later years were marked by philanthropy.