Deaths in December 1986

The following is a list of notable deaths in December 1986.

Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.

• Reg Attwell, 66, English footballer.
• Percy Bullock, 93, English cricketer.
• Ernest Burkhart, 94, American murderer (Osage Indian murders)
• Fred Collard, 74, Australian politician, MP (1961–1975).
• Lee Dorsey, 61, American singer.^[1]
• Halbert Harvill, 93, American college athletics coach and politician.
• Horace Heidt, 85, American pianist.
• Bobby Layne, 59, American football player, cardiac arrest.
• Robert Lee, 73, Chinese-British actor.
• Lien Chen-tung, 82, Chinese politician.
• Frank McCarthy, 74, American government official and film producer (Patton).
• Walter J. Nega, 69, American politician, member of the Illinois Senate (1979–1983).
• Martin John O'Connor, 86, American Roman Catholic Prelate auxiliary bishop of Scranton (1943–1946).
• Wanis al-Qaddafi, 64, Libyan politician, prime minister (1968–1969), heart attack.
• Mabel Watson Raimey, 90, American lawyer.
• Fabian Ribeiro, 53, South African doctor and anti-apartheid activist, shot.
• Florence Ribeiro, 53, South African anti-apartheid activist, shot.
• Andrea Bernardo Schierhoff, 64, American-Bolivian Roman Catholic prelate auxiliary bishop of La Paz (1968–1982).
• Yury Tymoshenko, 67, Soviet filmmaker and actor, heart attack.

• Heinrich Amersdorffer, 80, German painter.
• Desi Arnaz, 69, Cuban-American actor (I Love Lucy) and television producer (Desilu), lung cancer.
• Paul Bascomb, 74, American saxophonist.
• Karl H. Borch, 67, Norwegian economist.
• Ottavia Penna Buscemi, 79, Italian politician.
• Harry Dahl, 84, Swedish footballer.
• John Curtis Gowan, 74, American psychologist.
• Howard Jordan Jr., 69, American academic administrator.
• Vrest Orton, 89, American businessman.
• Domingo Pino, 64, Chilean footballer.
• Billy Rancher, 29, American musician, cancer.
• Ken Scott, 58, American actor.
• Arvid Thörn, 75, Swedish footballer.
• Dick van Dyke, 55, American politician, member of the Washington House of Representatives (since 1985), suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Frank Walton, 68, English footballer.
• Eli L. Whiteley, 72, American infantry captain, Medal of Honor recipient.

• Guillermo Baldwin, 76, Peruvian Olympic sports shooter (1956).
• Lena Frances Edwards, 86, American physician.
• Austin Hayes, 28, English footballer, lung cancer.
• Bob Howard, 80, American singer.
• Anthony Mascarenhas, 58, Pakistani journalist.
• Bob Moorhead, 48, American baseball player.

• Nelson Bengston, 81, American businessman, included on master list of Nixon's political opponents.
• Leslie Bolton, 77, Danish footballer.
• Hugh Boyle, 88, Irish-South African Roman Catholic prelate, bishop of Port Elizabeth (1951–1976).
• Campo Elías Delgado, 52, Colombian mass murderer, shot.
• Lynwood Gill, 95, Australian cricketer.
• H. de C. Hastings, 84, English architectural journalist.
• Reuben Nakian, 89, American sculptor.
• Maurice Willems, 57, Belgian footballer.

• George Abrams, 87, American baseball player.
• Moshe Baram, 75, Israeli politician, member of the Knesset (1959–1977).
• Alf Baud, 94, Australian footballer.
• Raymond Caruana, 26, Maltese political activist, shot.
• Nil Ratan Dhar, 94, Indian soil scientist.
• Charles Duguid, 102, Scottish-born Australian physician and Aboriginal rights activist.
• Roberto Escalada, 72, Argentine actor, heart attack.
• Theodor Kretschmer, 85, German general.
• Lê Trọng Tấn, 72, Vietnamese general.
• Rolf Schock, 53, American-Swedish philosopher.
• Sir Edward Youde, 65, British politician and diplomat, governor of Hong Kong (since 1982), heart attack.

• Eva Bednářová, 49, Czech illustrator.
• René Brô, 56, French artist.
• Marta Canales, 93, Chilean violinist and composer.
• George Crerar, 72, Scottish cricketer.
• Thomas Dowler, 78, American football and basketball player and coach.
• Elvie Dreeszen, 66, American politician, member of the Iowa Senate (1981–1983).
• Rozelle Gayle, 67, American jazz pianist, cancer.
• Alexander Hollaender, 87, German-American radiation biologist, pulmonary embolism.
• Mary Paxton Keeley, 100, American journalist.
• Hans Gottfried Kugler, 93, Swiss geologist.
• Robert J. Love, 68, American flying ace.
• Malik Oussekine, 22, French student, beaten.
• Bhagwan Sahay, 81, Indian politician, governor of Kerala (1966–1967) and Jammu and Kashmir (1967–1973).

• Enrico Arrigoni, 92, Italian-American anarchist and political activist.
• Roberto Bianchi Montero, 79, Italian filmmaker.
• John Bogart, 86, American baseball player.
• Sir Terence Garvey, 71, British diplomat.
• Austen Gittos, 63, New Zealand fencer.
• Olimpiada Kozlova, 80, Soviet economist.
• Homa J. Porter, 90, American politician.
• Kostas Poulis, 58, Greek footballer, cancer.
• Albert Schwartz, 77, American Olympic Swimmer (1932).
• Avraham Shekhterman, 76, Israeli politician, member of the Knesset (1969–1977).

• Ernst Biberstein, 87, German colonel and war criminal.
• Harrison Brown, 69, American nuclear chemist and geochemist.
• Walter E. Foran, 67, American politician, member of the New Jersey Senate (since 1977), lung cancer.
• Ernest Gross, 83, French footballer.
• Sydney J. Harris, 69, American journalist, complications from heart bypass surgery.
• Georg Henke, 78, East German diplomat.
• Hollywood Fats, 32, American blues guitarist, heart attack.
• Pip Koehler, 84, American baseball player.
• Wolfgang Lentz, 86, German Iranologist.
• Anatoly Marchenko, 48, Soviet dissident and author, starvation from a hunger strike.
• John Melville, 84, British painter.
• Arthur S. Moreau Jr., 55, American naval admiral, heart attack.
• Heinz Neukirchen, 71, German naval admiral.
• Józef Pisarski, 73, Polish Olympic boxer (1936).
• Karl Plattner, 67, Italian painter.
• Henry Reed, 72, British poet and radio dramatist.
• Sylvi Siltanen, 77, Finnish politician, MP (1958–1972).
• Christopher Sykes, 79, English writer.
• Harald Throne-Holst, 81, Norwegian chemical engineer and businessman.

• Éamon de Valera, Jnr., 73, Irish obstetrician.
• Maurice E. Dockrell, 78, Irish politician, TD (1943–1977).
• Sherwood Fries, 66, American football player.
• Odd Hilt, 71, Norwegian sculptor.
• T. J. Morgan, 79, Welsh academic.
• Walter J. Stoessel Jr., 66, American diplomat.
• Edgardo Vaghi, 71, Italian Olympic bobsledder (1936).
• Maxwell Wintrobe, 85, Austrian-born American physician.

• Temple Abernathy, 82, American businessman and cross-country traveler.
• Benoît Bickel, 86, Swiss writer.
• Kamal Bhandarkar, 75, Indian cricketer.
• Si Burick, 77, American sports journalist.
• Susan Cabot, 59, American actress, beaten.
• Yrjö Hakoila, 54, Finnish Olympic rower (1952).
• Kenneth Hyde, 56, English historian.
• Emil Johansson, 79, Swedish Olympic boxer (1928).
• Jan Klán, 75, Czech-American flying ace.
• Bert LaBrucherie, 81, American football player and coach.
• Bruno Mora, 49, Italian footballer, stomach cancer.
• Rino Pucci, 64, Italian Olympic cyclist (1948).
• Victor Guillermo Ramos Rangel, 75, Venezuelan musician.
• Fred Stone, 51, Canadian musician.
• Leon G. Turrou, 91, American special agent.
• Kate Wolf, 44, American folk singer, leukemia.

• Jean-Paul Deschatelets, 74, Canadian politician, MP (1953–1965).
• José Domínguez Rodríguez, 71, Cuban Roman Catholic prelate, bishop of Matanzas (since 1961).
• John Hennig, 75, German theologian.
• Ferenc Kolláth, 72, Hungarian footballer.
• Ed Kotowich, 52, Canadian football player, stroke.
• Karl-Gustav Lagerfelt, 77, Swedish diplomat.
• Geoffrey S. S. Ludford, 58, British-American mathematician.
• Clarence A. Martin, 90, American major general.
• Fritz Maurischat, 93, German production designer.
• Harold Osborn, 77, New Zealand cricketer.
• Sir Gus Walker, 74, English fighter pilot.

• Malvin R. Anderson, 92, American politician, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (1951–1962).
• Rashid Choudhury, 54, Bangladeshi artist.
• Alberto Del Nero, 68, Italian politician.
• Antoni Gościński, 77, Polish medic.
• Douglas David Higham, 66, English florist and RAF pilot.
• Léon Jean, 85, French politician.
• Dewey M. Johnson, 79, American politician, member of the Florida Senate (1941–1943, 1951–1967).
• Gary Lewis, 44, American football player, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
• Harry Owens, 84, American songwriter.
• Carlos Ramírez, 70, Colombian singer.
• Vildan Aşir Savaşır, 82-83, Turkish sports executive.
• Alexander H. Smith, 82, American mycologist.
• Clare Spurgin, 89, English magistrate.
• Clifford Stine, 80, American cinematographer.
• Paul Verner, 75, East German politician.
• Buddy Williams, 68, Australian country singer.
• Johnny Wyrostek, 67, American baseball player.

• Heather Angel, 77, British actress (Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland), cancer.
• Ella Baker, 83, American civil rights activist.
• Kuwasi Balagoon, 39, American anarchist and political activist, AIDS.
• Glyn Daniel, 72, Welsh archaeologist.
• Thomas Jefferson, 66, American jazz trumpeter.
• Jarl Johnsen, 73, Norwegian Olympic boxer (1936).
• Martha Mears, 76, American singer.
• Smita Patil, 31, Indian actress, complications from childbirth.
• Kim Peyton, 29, American Olympic swimmer (1976), brain tumor.
• İlhami Sancar, 76-77, Turkish politician.
• Henry Winston, 75, American political activist.

• Bassey Eyo Ephraim Adam III, 81, Nigerian Efik leader.
• Cheryl Araujo, 25, American rape victim whose case became nationalized, traffic collision.
• Claude Bertrand, 67, French actor, cancer.
• Leo Dove, 83, Australian Olympic sports shooter (1948).
• Aleksey Gushchin, 64, Soviet Olympic sports shooter (1960).
• John Anker Johansen, 92, Norwegian Olympic gymnast (1920).
• Ray La Varis, 54, New Zealand politician.
• Dick Mehen, 64, American basketball player.
• Kenneth Mitchell, 62, English cricketer.
• Antal Páger, 87, Hungarian actor.
• Pedro Sainz Rodríguez, 89, Spanish writer and royal advisor.
• Teh Cheang Wan, 58, Singaporean politician, suicide.

• Edvard Bull Jr., 72, Norwegian historian.
• Jackie Goode, 62, Irish hurler.
• David James, 66, British politician, MP (1959–1964, 1970–1979).
• Friedrich Karl von Koenig-Warthausen, 80, German aviator and world circumnavigator.
• Erkki Koutonen, 60, American Olympic jumper (1948).
• Serge Lifar, 81, Soviet Ukrainian ballet dancer and choreographer.
• Seymour Lipton, 83, American sculptor.
• Gordon Norton Ray, 71, American author.
• Mykolas Ruzgys, 71, American-Lithuanian basketball player and coach.
• John Thompson, 78, Canadian politician.
• John Zaremba, 78, American actor.

• Lucy Thurston Blaisdell, 83, American teacher, First Lady of Honolulu (1955–1969).
• Bryant L. Boatner, 79, American lieutenant general.
• Jake Caulfield, 69, American baseball player.
• John Nathaniel Couch, 90, American mycologist.
• Arpad Darazs, 64, Hungarian-American music educator, leukemia.
• Oleg Goncharenko, 55, Soviet speed skater.
• Harald Haberman, 81, Estonian entemologist.
• Maurice Handford, 58, British horn player.
• Paul McConkey, 30, British canoeist, traffic collision.
• Marcel Quinet, 71, Belgian composer.
• Clyde Vidrine, 47-48, American bodyguard, shot.

• Peter Beauvais, 70, German television director.
• Guillermo Cano Isaza, 61, Colombian journalist, shot.
• Alfred Williams Carter, 92, Canadian flying ace.
• John Lambert Gibson, 80, Canadian politician, MP (1945–1953).
• William Gillies, 72, Scottish Olympic sports shooter (1960).
• Oscar Goldman, 60-61, American mathematician.
• Hubert Guerin, 90, French diplomat.
• Oakley Haldeman, 77, American songwriter ("Here Comes Santa Claus").
• J. F. Hendry, 74, Scottish poet.
• Władysław Moes, 86, Polish landowner, inspiration for Tadzio in Death in Venice.
• Evgenii Nikishin, 41, Soviet mathematician.
• Graeme Pinfold, 50, Australian football player.
• Leonard Rochford, 90, British flying ace.
• Hans Stelges, 85, German Olympic runner (1928).

• George Amy, 83, American film editor.
• Alain Caron, 48, Canadian ice hockey player, heart attack.
• Mamo Clark, 72, American actress.
• John D. deButts, 71, American businessman, heart attack.
• Morton Fried, 63, American anthropologist.
• Ulrico Girardi, 56, Italian Olympic bobsledder (1956).
• Harry Lind, 80, Scottish rugby player.
• Jules Migeot, 88, Belgian Olympic sprinter (1920, 1924).
• Dorothy Molter, 79, American resort owner.
• Bill Shanner, 92, American baseball player.
• James Smith, 68-69, Scottish anesthetist.
• Thomas M. Tarpley, 64, American soldier.
• Steve Uhrinyak, 72, American football player.

• Torsten Anderson, 82, Swedish-born New Zealand wrestler.
• V. C. Andrews, 63, American novelist (Flowers in the Attic), breast cancer.
• Mario de Armas, 70, Cuban Olympic sports shooter (1952).
• Andrei Chabanenko, 77, Soviet naval admiral.
• Verona Conway, 76, British plant ecologist.
• Bert Cook, 62, New Zealand rugby player.
• Werner Dankwort, 91, German diplomat.
• Willy Favre, 43, Swiss Olympic skier (1964, 1968).
• Fritiof Fryxell, 86, American geologist and naturalist.
• Alice Glasnerová, 81, Czech hospital administrator.
• Roger Grove, 78, American football player.
• Hulan Jack, 79, Saint Lucian-born American politician, cancer.
• Del Lyman, 68, American football player.
• Kenyon Nicholson, 92, American playwright.
• Ernest Gordon Rupp, 76, British preacher, theologian and historian.
• Al Stokes, 86, American baseball player.
• Avelar Brandão Vilela, 74, Brazilian Roman Catholic cardinal, archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia (since 1971).

• Ferdinand Brandner, 83, Austrian aerospace engineer.
• Rossella Como, 47, Italian actress, cancer.
• Joe DeSa, 27, American baseball player, traffic collision.
• Michael Griffith, 23, Trinidad and Tobago-born American racial violence victim, traffic collision.
• Alexander Isserlis, 64, British civil servant.
• Allen Lewis, 70, Australian footballer.
• Kathleen Morris, 93, Canadian painter.
• William A. Nolen, 58, American surgeon and medical columnist.
• Silvano Melea Otieno, 54-55, Kenyan lawyer, heart attack.
• Sir Harry Platt, 100, English surgeon.
• Alicia Urreta, 56, Mexican pianist.
• Floriano Vaz, 23, Indian writer, shot.

• Virginia C. Bulat, 48, American historian.
• Willy Coppens, 94, Belgian flying ace.
• John Harbeson, 98, American architect.
• Sir Gilbert Laithwaite, 92, British diplomat.
• Matt Linning, 62, Scottish engineer.
• Pierre Martin, 54, French spelunker.
• S. Nadesan, 82, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician.
• Francis Junior Pierce, 62, American hospital corpsman, Medal of Honor recipient, lung cancer.
• George Sheridan, 57, English footballer.
• Bill Simpson, 55, Scottish actor (Dr. Finlay's Casebook), pneumonia.
• Helge Sivertsen, 73, Norwegian politician and Olympic discus thrower (1936).
• Sven-Ove Svensson, 64, Swedish footballer.

• Mary Burchell, 82, British novelist and humanitarian.
• Helena Modjeska Chase, 86, American painter and illustrator.
• Fred Cooper, 65, English cricketer.
• Celius Dougherty, 84, American composer.
• Maurice Grosser, 83, American painter.
• Sarder Jayenuddin, 68, Bangladeshi novelist.
• John Macy, 69, American government administrator, director of FEMA (1979–1981).
• Nii Amaa Ollennu, 80, Ghanaian politician, acting president (1970).
• Carlernst Ortwein, 70, German pianist.
• David Penhaligon, 42, British politician, MP (since 1974), traffic collision.
• Saqi, 61, Pakistani actor.
• Jean-Paul St. Laurent, 74, Canadian politician, MP (1955–1958).
• Harvey Stephens, 85, American actor and pilot.
• Sieglinda Zigler, 67, Brazilian Olympic swimmer (1936).

• Heidi Abel, 57, Swiss television presenter.
• Gerhard Bienert, 88, German actor.
• John Davies, 43, Australian footballer.
• Willem Hofhuizen, 71, Dutch painter.
• Marjorie Husted, 94, American businesswoman (Betty Crocker).
• J. Hewitt Judd, 87, American numismatist.
• János Karlovits, 87, Hungarian Olympic pole vaulter (1928).
• Hazard E. Reeves, 80, American sound editor, heart attack.
• Antoinette Sasse, 89, French artist.
• R. Gordon Wasson, 88, American mycologist.
• Dan Wilson, 71, American baseball player.

• Guy Barnett, 58, British politician, MP (1962–1964, since 1971), heart attack.
• Maurice Delvart, 87, French Olympic sprinter (1920).
• Gardner Fox, 75, American comic book writer, co-creator of The Flash, pneumonia.
• Lila Guerrero, 80, Argentine poet.
• Sir Eric Malcolm Jones, 79, British intelligence officer.
• Arnold Kettle, 70, British literary critic.
• Bob Lulham, 60, Australian rugby player, heart attack.
• Gerda Munck, 85, Danish Olympic fencer (1932).
• Jimmy Nelson, 67, American football player.
• Ed O'Keefe, 73, Australian footballer.
• Albert Widmann, 74, German chemist and war criminal (Aktion T4).
• Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley, 80, English astronomer.

• Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov, 86, Bulgarian philosopher and esotericist.
• Édouard Barbazan, 84, French Olympic jumper (1924).
• Dietrich Bürkel, 81, German politician.
• Sir Alexander Maurice Cameron, 88, British lieutenant general.
• Walter Forster, 76, German entomologist.
• Stefan Haag, 61, Austrian-Australian singer.
• Kaarel Ird, 77, Soviet Estonian theatre director and actor.
• James C. Oliver, 91, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1937–1943, 1959–1961).
• Hamao Umezawa, 72, Japanese microbiologist, pneumonia.

• William Macmahon Ball, 85, Australian diplomat and political scientist.
• Carl Cohen, 73, American gambling executive.
• Bobby Crues, 67, American baseball player.
• Jerry Dolan, 85, Australian football player and coach.
• Leslie Dwyer, 80, English actor, respiratory failure.
• Håkon Gundersen, 79, Norwegian footballer.
• Elsa Lanchester, 84, British actress (Witness for the Prosecution, Come to the Stable, Mary Poppins), pneumonia.
• Alain Le Léap, 81, French trade unionist.
• Oldřich Marek, 75, Czech entomologist.
• Dick Neal Sr., 80, English footballer.
• Niilo Orama, 60, Finnish Olympic sailor (1948).
• Robert Stannard, 91, British Anglican prelate.
• Bill Thompson, 65, Scottish footballer.
• Bob Wilson, 88, Australian footballer.
• Symplicjusz Zwierzewski, 83, Polish footballer.

• André Cailleux, 79, French geologist and paleontologist.
• Stuff Combe, 62, Swiss drummer.
• George Dangerfield, 82, British-born American journalist, leukemia.
• Tom Hanson, 95, Australian footballer.
• Snorri Hjartarson, 80, Icelandic poet.
• Amanda Junquera Butler, 88, Spanish writer.
• Cara Knott, 20, American student, murdered.
• Lars-Erik Larsson, 78, Swedish composer, complications from diabetes.
• Clive Longe, 47, British Olympic athlete (1968), suicide.
• Betty Dorothy Lyons, 65, Australian nursing educator, cancer.
• Dumas Malone, 94, American historian (Jefferson and His Time).
• Albert W. Sherer Jr., 70, American diplomat.
• J. M. S. Tompkins, 89, British literary scholar.
• Louis Van Lint, 77, Belgian painter.
• Jack Wallaesa, 67, American baseball player.

• Joseph Leon Blau, 77, American philosopher.
• Lothar Bolz, 83, East German politician.
• Terry Dolan, 36, American right-wing political activist, AIDS.
• Harry Else, 80, American baseball player.
• Jacques Couderc de Fonlongue, 95, French Olympic equestrian (1928).
• Huang Kecheng, 84, Chinese general.
• Zinaida Krutikhovskaia, 70, Soviet geophysicist.
• Alton Lennon, 80, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1957–1973) and U.S. Senate (1953–1954).
• John D. MacDonald, 70, American novelist (The Executioners), complications from heart surgery.
• Jan Nieuwenhuys, 64, Dutch painter.
• Joel Resnicoff, 38, American artist and fashion illustrator, AIDS.
• Sally Ronk, 74, American economist.

• John Antill, 82, Australian composer.
• Venka Asenova, 56, Bulgarian chess player.
• Jim Barnden, 60, New Zealand boxer.
• Orville Hodge, 82, American auditor.
• Philip B. Hofmann, 77, American businessman, heart attack.
• Sitaram Lalas, 78, Indian lexicographer.
• Harold Macmillan, 92, British politician, prime minister (1957–1963).
• Grete Mosheim, 81, German actress, cancer.
• Pietro Parente, 95, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal.
• Denis Russell, 77, English cricketer.
• Gertruda Sekaninová-Čakrtová, 78, Czech politician and diplomat.
• Andrei Tarkovsky, 54, Soviet film director (Mirror, Andrei Rublev, Stalker).

• Reinhold Benesch, 67, Polish-born American biochemist.
• Cassie Brown, 67, Canadian journalist.
• Michael Hankinson, 80, British filmmaker.
• Grace Hickling, 78, English ornithologist.
• İlhan Koman, 65, Turkish-Swedish sculptor.
• Charles Magnante, 81, American accordionist.
• Lazarus Phillips, 91, Canadian politician.
• Era Bell Thompson, 81, American journalist.
• Antero Vanhanen, 51, Finnish Olympic wrestler (1960).
• John I. Yellott, 78, American solar engineer, heart attack.

• Jack Bailey, 65, English footballer.
• Clayton Bourne, 82, Canadian Olympic swimmer (1924).
• Provine Bradley, 79, American baseball player.
• Vincent I. Breen, 75, American Roman Catholic priest.
• Alex Brown, 81, Scottish rugby player.
• Georges Carrère, 89, French violinist.
• Piero Chiara, 73, Italian writer.
• Donald Fleming, 81, Canadian politician, MP (1945–1963), stroke.
• Lloyd Haynes, 52, American actor (Room 222), lung cancer.
• Nathaniel Honono, 78, South African anti-apartheid activist.
• Ole Johansen, 82, Norwegian politician.
• Sir Geoffrey Audley Miles, 96, British naval admiral.
• Raj Narain, 69, Indian politician.
• John O'Reilly, 78, Irish-American soldier.
• Don Sleet, 48, American jazz trumpeter, lymphoma.
• Bartho Smit, 62, South African writer, cancer.
• I Gusti Gde Subamia, 65, Indonesian politician.
• Esther Sutherland, 54, American actress.
• Dwight Taylor, 83, American author and screenwriter, heart attack.
• Edoardo Toniolo, 79, Italian actor.
• Lester Trimble, 63, American composer and music critic.