OCTOBER 30, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 17

Milestones
By BRIAN BENNETT

DIED. CHARLES PERKINS, 64, outspoken civil-rights activist and the first indigenous Australian to head a government department; in Sydney. Perkins rose to international prominence in 1965, when he organized a "freedom ride" through New South Wales to confront segregation. This year, in what would be his last public statement, Perkins, unhappy with the Australian government's silence about its treatment of Aborigines, warned of protests at the Olympic Games, telling BBC radio listeners that Sydney would "burn, baby, burn."

DIED. WALTER SHENSON, 81, American producer of the Beatles films A Hard Day's Night and Help!; in Woodland Hills, California. Shenson's big break came in 1964 when United Artists asked him to produce a low-budget film about the four young British pop stars. Made for just over half-a-million dollars, A Hard Day's Night ended up grossing more than $13.5 million. During his lengthy career, Shenson worked with such stars as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, Rita Hayworth and Peter Sellers.

DIED. GWEN VERDON, 75, Tony Award-winning Broadway dancer; in Woodstock, Vermont. The one-time wife of Broadway's iconic choreographer Bob Fosse, the sultry redhead performed stage-melting numbers in musicals like Cole Porter's Can-Can, Damn Yankees and Sweet Charity that brought audiences to their feet. At 8 p.m. last Wednesday all marquees on Broadway were darkened for one minute in her memory.

DIED. GENERAL ABBAS GHARABAGI, 82, chief of staff in the last days of the Shah's rule during Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution; in Paris. Critics blame the general, who kept the army from intervening, for allowing the fundamentalists to take over the country. After taking refuge in France, Gharabagi was awarded the Legion of Honor and authored several books, including an account of the Shah's fall entitled Why Did It Happen?.

DIED. GUS HALL, 90, longtime leader of the Communist Party U.S.A.; in New York City. A founding member of the United Steelworkers of America, Hall spent most of the 1950s in jail for "conspiring to teach the violent overthrow of the federal government." Hall ran for President four times between 1972 and '84 and died still holding the reins of a party that has dwindled to the status of historical relic.


RESIGNED. MARTINE AUBRY, 50, the most powerful woman in French politics, as the nation's Labor Minister. Aubry, who saw unemployment drop below 10% for the first time in nearly a decade, presided over the introduction of the country's controversial 35-hour workweek. Widely touted as a possible future Prime Minister, Aubry is leaving her post to campaign for mayor of Lille and build up a local power base. Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou was appointed to replace Aubry.

TIME CAPSULE

Middle East cease-fires come and go--as do Israeli Prime Ministers. But as this TIME excerpt from 19 years ago shows, the region's one constant is YASSER ARAFAT and his long struggle to create a Palestinian state.

"All week long, the tension built like a drum roll as the attacks smashed back and forth across the border between Lebanon and Israel. Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, called the raids the opening round of an all-out 'Israeli-Palestinian war'. . . The 14 days of continuous fighting had become the heaviest between the Israelis and the Palestinians since the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon in March 1978. . . And then, at week's end . . . [came the announcement that] a cease-fire had been established. . . But even if the shelling and bombing had been halted, for the most part, the issues remained that could cause fighting again and again until Israel and the Palestinians come to terms."
--TIME, Aug. 3, 1981