Milestones Sep. 18, 2000

AILING. LANCE ARMSTRONG, 28, two-time Tour de France winner and cancer conqueror; with a broken vertebra in his neck; after a downhill, blind-curve collision with a car that destroyed his bike and helmet; near Nice, France. Armstrong, who was training for the Olympics, still hopes to compete in Sydney.

AILING. PIERRE TRUDEAU, 80, rakish, quick-witted and charismatic former Prime Minister of Canada; with an undisclosed illness; in Montreal. Trudeau, who served from 1968 until 1984 (except for nine months when he was voted out of office), suffers from Parkinson's disease, and caught pneumonia earlier this year. According to his two sons, he is "not well" and "resting comfortably with his family."

DIED. WILLIAM DANIEL, 41, grandson of former President Harry S Truman and son of his only daughter, Margaret; of head injuries after being hit by a taxi; in New York City. Daniel, a chief researcher at the New York State Psychiatric Center, was on his way to his mother's Park Avenue apartment.

DIED. R.H. HARRIS, 84, gospel great and last surviving member of the pioneering Soul Stirrers, the first gospel group inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame; in Chicago. Harris, whom gospel historian Anthony Heilbut called "the most influential figure in soul music," was a mentor to Sam Cooke; his vocal legacy echoes in Al Greene and R. Kelly. Said Heilbut: "If you've ever been to a black church or listened to R.-and-B. music, you've heard the influence of R.H. Harris."

DIED. CLYDE SUKEFORTH, 98, Brooklyn Dodgers catcher, coach and scout who brought Jackie Robinson to the majors in 1947; in Waldoboro, Maine. Dodgers president Branch Rickey dispatched Sukeforth to scout Negro League shortstop Robinson despite an unwritten rule against black players. Sukeforth was also known to Brooklyn fans as the coach who in 1951 sent pitcher Ralph Branca rather than Carl Erskine in to face the New York Giants' Bobby Thomson in the ninth inning of the pennant play-off. On the second pitch, Thomson launched the "shot heard 'round the world," winning the pennant for the Giants.