DIED. GEOFFREY BEENE, 77; one of America ‘s most original fashion designers; of complications from pneumonia; in New York City. The Louisiana native first landed in Manhattan in the 1950s and started his line in 1963, raising the standards of American design with technical innovations, sumptuous fabrics and minimalist creations whose streamlined silhouettes belied their complicated construction. He dressed numerous First Ladies and socialites, including Pat Nixon, Lady Bird Johnson and Gloria Vanderbilt, and was widely admired for his facility with cut and his uncompromising creative vision. He created the playful baby-doll dress in the 1960s and the sporty “Beene bag” dress in the ’70s, and in the early ’90s used ballerinas as models to demonstrate the ethereal lightness of his designs. Known as a contrarian among his designer peers, Beene did not follow trends or play the fashion game, often rejecting the notion of fashion as commerce in favor of fashion as art. — By Kate Betts
MOVING. MONTREAL EXPOS, to Washington, D.C., after 36 years in Canada. Major League Baseball, which bought the financially troubled team three years ago, picked Washington as the team’s new home, the city’s first Major League team since 1971. The Expos can expect a new owner, a new stadium and a new name.
CHARGED. PHIL SPECTOR, 64, eccentric record producer who created the “wall of sound” pop style in the 1960s; with the murder of Lana Clarkson, 40, in his home last year; in Los Angeles. The actress was working as a hostess at the House of Blues on the night she went home with Spector, who has said she shot herself.
SENTENCED. ABD AL-RAHIM AL-NASHIRI and Jamal Al-Badawi; to death, for the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole, which killed 17 sailors; in Sana’a, Yemen. The Saudi-born al-Nashiri, considered an associate of Osama bin Laden’s and the mastermind of the Cole attack, has been in CIA custody outside the U.S. since 2002, and was tried by the Yemenis in absentia. Four others received prison terms for their roles in the bombing.
DIED. JOHN E. MACK, 74, controversial Pulitzer Prize-winning psychiatrist; after being hit by a drunk driver; in London. Mack, a Harvard Medical School professor, was best known for his studies of people who claimed to have had alien encounters. His 1994 book on the subject, which concluded that “the abduction phenomenon has important philosophical, spiritual and social implications,” caused Harvard to consider censure, but a committee later “reaffirmed Dr. Mack’s academic freedom.”
DIED. RICHARD AVEDON, 81, celebrated art and fashion photographer; of complications from a cerebral hemorrhage; in San Antonio, Texas.
DIED. KATHARINA DALTON, 87, British gynecologist and early expert on premenstrual syndrome; in Britain. She began studying the connection between the menstrual cycle and behavioral swings when, as a pregnant medical student, she noticed that her premenstrual migraines had subsided. She gave the syndrome its name and treated sufferers with progesterone therapy, a regimen that was later rejected by most doctors.
DIED. CHRISTL CRANZ-BORCHERS, 90, Germany ‘s most decorated female skier; in Germany. Winner of 12 world and two Olympic titles, Cranz was best known for her victory in the 1936 Olympic Alpine combined skiing event, where, after falling in the downhill, she came back in the slalom to take the gold medal.
DIED. W. DORWIN TEAGUE, 94, prolific industrial designer who invented the mimeograph machine and the first fully reclining dentist chair, as well as improved versions of everything from cash registers to can openers; in Carbondale, Illinois.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Introducing the 2025 Closers
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- Trump and Musk Have All of Washington on Edge
- Why, Exactly, Is Alcohol So Bad for You?
- The Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise Harder
- 11 New Books to Read in February
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Column: Trump’s Trans Military Ban Betrays Our Troops
Contact us at letters@time.com