Milestones, Oct. 6, 1975

Died. Robert Bernard (Bob) Considine, 68, one of the best-known U.S. newspapermen and author of numerous books and movie scripts; following a stroke; in Manhattan. Considine began his journalistic career as a sports reporter in 1930 and by 1933 had begun writing his wide-ranging “On the Line” column. Associated with the Hearst publishing empire since 1937, he covered major news events for nearly 40 years. On the side, he wrote movie scripts (The Babe Ruth Story) and biographies of such friends as Jack Dempsey and General Douglas Mac Arthur.

Died. Max Wylie, 71, writer, former television and advertising executive and father of Janice Wylie, a 21-year-old Newsweek copy girl whose murder in 1963 in an affluent Manhattan neighborhood received wide publicity and led to a famous mistaken identity trial; by his own hand, of a gunshot wound; in Fredericksburg, Va. Although Wylie, the younger brother of the late novelist Philip Wylie, wrote a number of mediocre novels and other works, none of his literary efforts brought him as much public exposure as the overwhelming amount of misfortune he encountered. Five years after the murder of his daughter, Wylie lost his wife to cancer, and his remaining daughter succumbed to the flu five months after that.

Died. Vincent Joseph Lopez, 80, svelte American bandleader known for his rendition of a tune called Nola, whose popularity lasted nearly 60 years; following a stroke; in North Miami, Fla.

Death Revealed. St.-John Perse, 88, Nobel-prize winning poet who was also a leading diplomat in France for more than 20 years under the name Alexis Leger; in Giens, France. Born on Saint-Léger les Feuilles, an island in the Caribbean owned by his aristocratic family, Leger published his first volume of poetry in 1910, four years before joining the French foreign service. Dark-eyed, mustachioed Leger served as secretary of the French embassy in Peking and later as adviser to Foreign Minister Aristide Briand before becoming the highest permanent official at the Quai d’Orsay. He published his poems under a pseudonym to keep his official and poetic identities separate. In 1940 Leger fled to the U.S. rather than serve a French government that favored appeasement of Germany, and thereafter devoted himself to poetry. Though his output totaled a mere nine volumes, the influence of St.-John Perse was wide. His rich symbolism inspired works by such artists as Composer Elliott Carter, Painter Georges Braque and Poet T.S. Eliot, who compared Perse in importance to James Joyce.