Milestones

ELECTED. Alan Garcia, 57, President of Peru from 1985 to 1990; to a new term as President, in a victory over fellow leftist Ollanta Humala, an ally of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez's; in Lima. By choosing Garcia--whose earlier tenure saw the explosion of guerrilla violence and 7,500% inflation--many Peruvians said they were rejecting the anti-Americanism of Chavez, whom Garcia dubbed a "midget dictator with a big wallet."

DIED. Hilton Ruiz, 54, classical prodigy turned versatile Latin jazz and bebop pianist who collaborated with Joe Henderson, Tito Puente and Charles Mingus, recorded more than a dozen albums, including Steppin' into Beauty and Enchantment, and saw his elegant, polyrhythmic compositions featured in such films as American Beauty and Crimes and Misdemeanors; after having been found last month with severe head injuries outside a bar in New Orleans' French Quarter; in New Orleans, where he had been working on a project to benefit hurricane victims.

DIED. Eric Gregg, 55, beloved, sometimes berated major league baseball umpire known as the "plump ump," who fought a public battle with obesity as his weight crept at times to nearly 400 lbs.; after suffering a stroke; in Philadelphia. Just the third African-American umpire in major league history, Gregg thrilled fans by goofily dancing with mascots and infuriated those who claimed he had an unusually big strike zone.

DIED. Bernard Loomis, 82, canny toy marketer known as "the man who invented Saturday morning" for pioneering the production of TV shows that promoted toys; in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Working for toy giants Mattel, Kenner and Hasbro from the 1950s to the 1990s, Loomis developed hits, including Star Wars action figures--demand was once so high he gave IOUs to consumers while more toys were made--and a cartoon featuring Hot Wheels cars.

DIED. Arnold Newman, 88, who snapped 49-c- portraits before creating photographs that graced the covers of LIFE, Look and other publications and developing a technique that became known as "environmental portraiture"; in New York City. By exaggerating or minimizing his subjects' surroundings, he crafted impressionistic gems--such as the 1959 portrait of master builder Robert Moses, above, a giant against the Manhattan skyline that he helped to shape--that suggested his sitters' personalities. In 1963 he infuriated German industrialist and alleged Nazi collaborator Alfred Krupp with an intentionally demonic portrait. "As a Jew," Newman said, "it's my own little moment of revenge."

DIED. Arthur Widmer, 92, special-effects pioneer who developed "blue screen" technology, enabling two images shot separately to be combined smoothly into one; in Los Angeles. For his work, he was honored last year with an Oscar for lifetime achievement.

DIED. Billy Preston, 59, effervescent master R&B keyboardist of the '60s and '70s, later derailed by struggles with alcohol abuse and cocaine addiction; after a long battle with kidney disease that had left him in a coma since November; in Scottsdale, Ariz. At age 7, Preston started directing choir sessions at his Los Angeles church before impressing larger audiences with such hits as Nothing from Nothing and Will It Go Round in Circles? Yet to such peers as Bob Dylan and the Beatles, the gregarious, gospel-influenced virtuoso, who also wrote You Are So Beautiful for Joe Cocker, was the most coveted session player of his era. Preston--who George Harrison said kept the Fab Four together on their final, tumultuous recording, Let It Be--famously accompanied them in their last concert, in 1969 on a London rooftop. He also received a rare honor on Get Back--the "fifth Beatle" was credited ("the Beatles with Billy Preston"), the only time a sideman for the band was so acknowledged.

With reporting by Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Kathleen Kingsbury, Sarah Lilleyman, Clayton Neuman, Amanda Shareghi, Kate Stinchfield