Accidental Death

The first English book for children appeared in 1744, assembled by publisher John Newbery - who also sold school textbooks and patent medicines. The popularity of "A Little Pretty Pocket Book" led to the growth of publishing for children through the rest of the 18th century. Some critics consider these early volumes to be more propaganda than literature because their real goal was to help parents in the religious and moral upbringing of their children.The idea of producing entertaining children's books has always been at war with printing books that are supposed to be instructive or inspiring.

There have been several theatrical versions of James M. Barrie's classic "Peter Pan" lately. London's Royal National Theatre has a large-scale, four-hour extravaganza narrated by Alec McCowen and starring Ian McKellen as Captain Hook. And in Los Angeles, an avant-garde, Obie Award-winning adaptation called "Peter and Wendy" interprets the bond between that pair as a reflection of Barrie's relationship with his mother, whose grief over the accidental death of James' older brother led James to fill in as the "lost boy" in her affections.

It is with love and heartfelt sadness that we announce the tragic accidental death of RICHARD KENNETH CARTER on September 12, 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is deeply mourned by his life mate, Kathy Kahnt; brother, Floyd Carter of Boca Raton, FL; daughters, Paige Carter-Magnus (Eric) of Boca Raton, FL; Leslie Mc Crudden (Tom) of Tequesta, FL; and three grandchildren, Carter La Vigne, Clara Grace Magnus, and Leigha Kendall Mc Crudden. They were his pride and joy. Ken was born March 28, 1935 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Serious clowning has been the means through which Italian playwright Dario Fo makes political comments about contemporary society. Proof that Fo's goofy plays are themselves taken seriously came when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997. You can laugh yourself to the same conclusion by watching "Abducting Diana" at Vagabond Players. This near-surreal comedy is characteristic of Fo's work in a less fortunate way as well, because the playwright often ventures from silly into just plain stupid.

THE ATKINS REVOLUTION has gone the way of many more-political ones. The bulky heard Dr. Robert Atkins' siren call - eat steak! lose weight! - and signed on, en masse. The sheer force of nearly one-tenth of American adults cutting their carbs at the same time changed the foodie world. The founder of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate lifestyle and his company rode the wave up, but, as usual, hubris and leaner, hungrier challengers took the air out of their sails. But there was some good to the insanity, besides as a powerful example of clever marketing and groupthink.

Howard County police are trying to determine the identity of a man found floating in the Rocky Gorge Reservoir during the weekend and are investigating the cause of death.Police officials said the man -- described as Asian or Hispanic, 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 140 pounds and in his early 30s -- was wearing a green sweat shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.A boater discovered the body at 2 p.m. Saturday, said Sgt. Morris Carroll, a Police Department spokesman. Police think the man had been dead about two days.

In an article Saturday about the death of 17-month-old Nicholas Robert Alford, the child's mother was misidentified. His mother is Karla Alford.The Sun regrets the errors.An Anne Arundel County man has been charged with murder in the death of the 17-month-old baby his girlfriend was caring for while the parents were out to dinner Tuesday night.Police charged Zenon Cantu, 25, of the 700 block of Duvall Highway in Pasadena with first-degree murder yesterday in the death of Nicholas Robert Alford.

In a blow to gun-control advocates, the Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that a gun maker cannot be held liable for the accidental death of an East Baltimore toddler, who shot himself with his father's handgun, because the gun was improperly kept under a mattress. The ruling rejects the contention by the mother of 3-year-old Jordan Garris that the Ruger semiautomatic pistol should be considered defective because it lacked a lock to make it childproof. The argument by Melissa M. Halliday failed in two lower courts and was blocked from going before a Baltimore jury.

Three months have passed and authorities say they are still reviewing investigators' reports into the death of 16-year-old Nita Milak.The popular junior at John Carroll School in Bel Air was found Nov. 25 on a remote stretch of Wilkinson Road in Level, face down in a pool of blood on the roadway. Police at first thought she was a victim in a traffic accident but quickly labeled the death as "suspicious."The victim's 1990 Jeep Wagoneer was about 60 feet away from where she was found, backed up against a tree.

It is so hard to comprehend. Four youngsters, ages 3 to 8, and one adult killed at a bus stop by a runaway sports car near the headquarters of the Social Security Administration in Woodlawn. Such a senseless accident, with innocent children bearing the brunt of the impact. It is another reminder that life's end can come at any moment, without warning. Sometimes there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Accidental death snatches young people prematurely in so many forms, but the circumstances many times seem bizarre, or at least beyond the comforting boundaries of most people's typical everyday existence -- drug abuse, drive-by shootings, a mother drowning her children.