Milestones

By Harriet Barovick, Wendy Cole, Tam Gray, Lina Lofaro, David Spitz, Flora Tartakovsky and Chris Taylor

CONVICTED. THE REV. HENRY LYONS, 57, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, one of the country's largest black denominations; of racketeering and grand theft; in Largo, Fla. Lyons swindled millions of dollars by selling fake mailing lists to corporations trying to peddle their products to convention members.

DIED. JOSE QUINTERO, 74, Panamanian-born Tony Award-winning theater director and founder of Circle in the Square, a group credited with sparking the off-Broadway movement; of cancer; in New York City. Quintero was best known for his devotion to the dramas of Eugene O'Neill. Often working with Jason Robards, Quintero directed more than a dozen of O'Neill's works, including the original Broadway production of Long Day's Journey into Night.

DIED. GLENN SEABORG, 86, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Nobel prizewinner; in Lafayette, Calif. Seaborg began his career in the 1930s in Berkeley. He led the research team that discovered plutonium and was the first living person to have an element, seaborgium, named for him. After helping build the Bomb on the Manhattan Project, Seaborg championed the peaceful use of atomic energy.

DIED. ANDRE DUBUS, 62, short-story craftsman; of a heart attack; in Haverhill, Mass. Dubus published his first novel in 1967. In 1986 he was struck by a car, leaving him wheelchair-bound. He subsequently produced some of his finest stories, notably in the 1996 book Dancing After Hours.

DIED. JOHN L. GOLDWATER, 83, creator of Archie, ageless teenage comic-book character. First drawn in 1941, Archie comics are now published in more than 35 countries.

DIED. GERTRUDE ELION, 81, pioneer researcher and Nobel prizewinner; in Chapel Hill, N.C. She helped develop the first drugs to combat leukemia and herpes effectively, and oversaw the development of AZT, used to treat AIDS.