JANUARY 1, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 1

Milestones
By HANNAH BEECH

DIED. GERMÁN ARCINIEGAS, 99, prolific Colombian writer whose quest to pinpoint a unique Latin American identity served as fodder for more than 50 books, numerous essays and a weekly newspaper column; in Bogotá. In historical novels like Knight of El Dorado and Between Freedom and Fear, Arciniegas explored the tragedy of Latin America's political evolution from its bloody conquest by Europeans to the numerous corrupt dictatorships that followed independence from colonial rule.

DIED. JOHN BERRY, 82, blacklisted American movie director whose documentary-film defense of the "Hollywood Ten"--directors victimized by the 1950s anti-communist witch- hunt--led him to flee the U.S. to avoid testifying in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee; in Paris. Despite being rebuffed by most U.S. studios, Berry remained popular in Europe, where his 1951 classic film-noir He Ran All the Way was admired for its sleek innovation.

DIED. HUANG HSIN-CHIEH, 72, founding member of Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party who helped propel the island's transition from dictatorship to democracy; in Taipei. In the 1970s, Huang constantly challenged government practices that discriminated against the native Taiwanese population. After serving eight years in prison for his involvement in a 1979 human-rights protest, he watched as his DPP wrested control of the majority of Taiwan's county governments from the ruling Kuomintang.

DIED. HSING-HSING, 28, paunchy panda who, along with his mate Ling-Ling, arrived at Washington's National Zoo in 1972 as a token of budding diplomatic relations between China and the U.S.; in Washington, D.C. The zoo is now trying to coax Beijing into sending over another furry couple, but China wants $8 million for a breeding pair--far more than the Washington park is prepared to offer.

DIED. ELIZABETH VINING, 97, Quaker schoolteacher who served as tutor to Japan's Emperor Akihito; in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Vining arrived in the cloistered confines of the Japanese imperial court in 1946, when the nation was still traumatized by a lost war. Bringing the then-crown prince out of his shell wasn't easy: the lonely Akihito, Vining recalled, seemed more attached to his pet fish than to any human being. But her four-year persistence paid off: she became his bridge to the West. In 1959, Vining was the only foreign guest at Akihito's landmark marriage to a commoner, the current Empress Michiko.

AWARDED. To STEVE MCQUEEN, 30, experimental English video artist who eschewed Hollywood because "they wouldn't allow you to throw the camera up in the air," the perennially controversial $32,000 Turner art prize; in London. McQueen captured the award for Deadpan, an homage to a Buster Keaton stunt where a building collapses around the artist, leaving him dusty but strangely uninjured. Other entrants included Tracey Emin, who fashioned her stained, rumpled bed into an unconventional art exhibit.