Milestones Jun. 5, 2006

DIED. Anthony Li Du'an, 79, Chinese Archbishop of Xian who spent years in jail under Mao Zedong, then helped revive the Catholic Church after the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution; in Xian. One of four Chinese bishops invited to a conference at the Vatican last fall by Pope Benedict XVI (the Chinese government barred them from attending), Li grew his diocese--part of China's state-run church, which does not officially recognize Rome's authority--to 60 parishes and 20,000 members. Steadfastly loyal to the Holy See, he pushed for reconciliation between Beijing and the Vatican. "We publicly pray for the Pope," he said, "and have no reticence about saying the church is one."

DIED. Lloyd Bentsen, 85, courtly, influential former Senator from Texas and Democratic candidate for Vice President in 1988; in Houston. As the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from 1987-92 and Bill Clinton's first Treasury Secretary, the pro-choice, pro-business Democrat was widely admired as a bipartisan coalition builder. Yet Bentsen will be forever remembered for a singularly potent moment during a 1988 debate. The vice presidential candidate on Michael Dukakis' ticket, he bridled at Dan Quayle, then 41 and a Senator from Indiana, who was defending his youth and experience by comparing himself to John F. Kennedy. "Senator," Bentsen said, seething, "I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

DIED. Katherine Dunham, 96, anthropologist and choreographer who founded the first black modern-dance company and influenced artists from Alvin Ailey to James Dean with her Dunham Technique, a blend of Afro-Caribbean folk, classical and modern movement; in New York City. The exacting "Miss D" worked on Broadway and in Hollywood, and staged sensual, often political pieces--1951's Southland depicted a lynching--that delighted and jarred audiences. The National Medal of Arts recipient was equally ardent about the world in which her art was received. She founded a school in impoverished East St. Louis, Ill. In Haiti, where she had a home, she trained as a voodoo priest and grew apricots and avocados in a lush oasis that she opened to the public. At 82, she went on a 47-day hunger strike to protest the U.S.'s forced repatriation of Haitian refugees. "My job," she said, "is to create a useful legacy."