Ralph Hammond Innes, 84, the British best-selling thriller...

Ralph Hammond Innes, 84, the British best-selling thriller writer, died "peacefully" at his home in Suffolk, England, Wednesday, his agent said. Mr. Hammond Innes wrote 35 travel and adventure novels, including "Medusa," "The Mary Deare" and "The Doomed Oasis."

H. F. "Mac" McCarty Jr., 76, the man who turned a feed and seed store into one of the nation's largest poultry operations, died Saturday of heart failure in Magee, Miss. His company, McCarty Farms Inc., was the 14th-largest poultry firm in the United States when it was sold to Tyson Foods in 1995. He started his business in 1948.

Martin Stone, 83, a longtime radio executive and producer of early network television programs -- "The Howdy Doody Show" for children and "Author Meets the Critics," a book discussion program -- died of a heart attack Sunday. He owned WVIP in Mount Kisco, N.Y., a radio station he founded in 1957 but had to shut down last year after a fire.

Dame Catherine Cookson, 91, whose novels about working-class hardships in 19th-century England made her one of Britain's most popular writers, died yesterday in London. Mrs. Cookson suffered for many years from a rare blood disease and required frequent hospitalization.

Pub Date: 6/12/98