Mackie

L. Benita Mackie, an English professor who wrote what became a widely circulated book on sentence construction because she found students were poorly prepared, died of lung cancer Jan. 19 at her sister's Pikesville home. The Towson resident was 75. Born L. Benita Johnson in Pocatello, Idaho, she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature at the University of Utah and a doctorate at Idaho State University. In 1964, Dr. Mackie joined the faculty of what was then-Catonsville Community College and taught English remedial writing, composition and literature.

Tish Johnson washed away some bad Baltimore memories last night on the way to her third straight tournament victory on the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour.Johnson, 29, had been to Baltimore the past two years on the LPBT circuit and failed both times to make it among the 24 qualifiers.Last year, she fell during a game and had to fly home to Panorama City, Calif., for treatment on her knee.But last night, Johnson managed to stay on her feet all evening to score a 174-166 victory over Dana Miller-Mackie in the championship match of the $50,000 LPBT Hammer Eastern Open at Country Club Lanes on Pulaski Highway.

Tim Mackie is dressed in a dark suit. His 6-foot, 190-pound frame seems best suited for a basketball court or a squash game. But tomorrow, Mackie, with a backpack weighing close to 30 pounds will set off on a marathon run through the Sahara desert.It is not just any marathon; it is the 13th annual Marathon des Sables (Marathon of the Sands). It covers 150 miles in six days, with each competitor carrying everything he or she needs for survival on his or her back.Over the past few months, Mackie, managing director of Prudential Insurance Company of America in Baltimore, has run 50 to 70 miles a week to prepare.

Saying his firing from a college job weeks after he pledged a campus fraternity is evidence Western Maryland College is trying to destroy the Greek system, Howard A. Mackie Jr. is suing the Westminster college for $500,000.In a suit filed in Carroll Circuit Court last week, Mr. Mackie, a junior at the private college, says Western Maryland's actions in dealing with the campus' fraternities and sororities has been "willful, wanton and malicious" during the 12-year tenure of college President Robert Chambers.

On March 21, 2005, ROSE ANTOINETTE SPEDALIRE (nee Livolsi), beloved wife of the late Fred Spedalire, devoted mother of Nancy C. Mirabile and Joseph P. Spedalire, loving grandmother of Michael Mirabile and Stephanie Mackie, loving great-grandmother of Michele Milan, Marilyn Mirabile, Maddie Mirabile, Monica Mirabile and Konner Mackie. Friends may call at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Rd., (beltway exit 26A), on Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M., where a Vigil Service will be held at 3:30 P.M. and a Funeral Service will be held on Thursday at 11 A.M. Interment Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

On March 10, 2005, DR. W. NEWTON LONG. A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, March 28, 2005, 3 P.M. at St. Bartholomew's Church, 4711 Edmondson Avenue, Baltimore. Those desiring, may make Memorial donations to the Musical Organ Fund of St. Bartholomew's Church, 4711 Edmondson Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21229-1440 or to the W. Newton Long Lectureship Fund or the W. Newton Long Scholarship Fund of the American College of Nurse Midwives in care of Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1639 Pierce Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322.

:TC A Mount Airy man who stole a Ford Taurus from his former employer last summer was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading not guilty to the statement of facts on a charge of burglary in Carroll County Circuit Court yesterday.Judge Francis M. Arnold imposed a five-year sentence, then suspended all but 18 months for Daniel Francis Mackie, 21, of the 700 block of W. Waterville Road and gave him credit for 279 days he has served in the Carroll County Detention Center.Mackie was arrested July 26, 1995, in Everett, Pa., driving a 1995 Ford Taurus that had been stolen from Century Ford in Mount Airy that day.In the statement of facts, prosecutors said Mackie's mother went to the dealership to ask why her son had been sold a new car. She arrived soon after Century's employees found a plate-glass window broken and keys, temporary tags and registration for several new cars missing.

Tish Johnson was the champion of the LPBT Hammer Eastern Open when it started last Friday.Now, 43 games and 9,958 pins later, nothing has changed.Johnson, from Daly City, Calif., defended her 1990 title bbeating Dana Miller-Mackie, 187-174, in the championship game of the tournament last night at the Country Club Lanes.Throughout the match, Johnson seemed relaxed. She smiledlaughed, looked around at the crowd."I'm a very hyper person when it comes to bowling," Johnsosaid. "I can't sit still."

Why is it that every sport seems to have its own technical dogma?In tennis, you're supposed to "shake hands" with the racket. The Vardon grip, with uncomfortably intertwined fingers, has long been the norm in golf. And every bowler knows to deliver the ball with two fingers and a thumb.But Dana Miller-Mackie struck a blow for the unconventional, the daring and the creative in winning the $45,000 Lady Fair Lanes Open at Fair Lanes University in Adelphi last night.A lefthander who was born in Albuquerque, Miller-Mackie uses not just two, but her first three fingers and thumb to grip the ball.

Man found shot dies later at Shock Trauma Police were attempting to identify a young man shot early yesterday in the Brooklyn section of Baltimore who died a short time later at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, said a police spokesman. About 2:15 a.m., a Southern District police officer was responding to a report of a shooting in the rear of the even side of the 3600 block of St. Margaret's St., near Patapsco Avenue, when she noticed a disturbance among several people who dispersed when she approached, said Agent Donny Moses, the spokesman.