Milestones Feb. 12, 2007

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DIED. Bob Carroll Jr., 88, veteran TV writer who helped define the seminal '50s sitcom I Love Lucy; in Los Angeles. Carroll and partner Madelyn Pugh were the first permanent writers hired for Lucille Ball's 1940s radio show My Favorite Husband--the precursor to the TV hit starring Ball and real-life husband Desi Arnaz. Carroll, who later wrote for The Lucy Show and Life with Lucy, went on to write for every I Love Lucy episode.

DIED. Sidney Sheldon, 89, Oscar- and Tony-winning writer who became a publishing powerhouse in his 50s, when he began to pen steamy best sellers--many of which became TV mini-series--detailing the travails of bewitching women spurned by cruel men; in Los Angeles. As a TV producer, he created The Patty Duke Show and I Dream of Jeannie, but in midlife, he went for grander plotlines. His novels, including Are You Afraid of the Dark?--published when he was 87--and The Other Side of Midnight, sold 300 million copies in 180 countries and made him one of the world's most translated authors.

All superior racehorses have their Secretariat moment, that brief stitch in time when they reveal the true measure of their talent, and for BARBARO that instant arose as the horses came charging to the turn for home in the 2006 Kentucky Derby. Lying dangerously close to a fiery pace, the colt rushed to the lead and--following one of the fastest final quarter miles in Derby history--won the Roses by nearly seven lengths, the longest Derby victory margin in 60 years. I had witnessed every Derby but one since 1972, and Barbaro struck me--for his sheer athleticism, his explosive speed, his unbridled joy for running--as the finest 3-year-old I had seen since Spectacular Bid in 1979. Vast ability aside, he had all the extras: a classic pedigree, a gentlemanly demeanor and a body that could be by da Vinci. Two weeks later, he shattered his right hind leg in the Preakness. Barbaro may have hobbled off the racetrack with his promise unfulfilled, but in his eight-month struggle to survive, he became the most enriching story in sports, the warm center of a high-wire drama that featured two owners who spared no expense trying to save him; a team of caregivers at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center who nursed him through surgeries and bouts of deadly laminitis; and thousands of fans around the country who sent cards, flowers, candy and prayers for his recovery. Barbaro himself endured the ordeal with fortitude and poise, with patience and even sweetness. Alas, facing yet another painful siege of laminitis last week, Barbaro was put to sleep by lethal injection, but not before he came to represent the noblest qualities of his breed--as the humans around him came to represent the best of theirs.