One a statesman, one a journalist.

First the statesman -- Boris Yeltsin.

Boris N. Yeltsin, the burly provincial politician who became a Soviet-era reformer and later a towering figure of his time as the first freely elected leader of Russia, presiding over the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the demise of the Communist Party, died yesterday in Moscow. He was 76.

His death, at a hospital, came at 3:45 p.m., the Kremlin said, making the announcement without ceremony, a reflection of the contradictory legacy of Mr. YeltsinÂ’s presidency in the view of many Russians, including his successor, the current leader, President Vladimir V. Putin.

Medical officials told Russian news agencies that Mr. Yeltsin had died of heart failure after being admitted to the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow. He had suffered heart problems for years, undergoing surgery shortly after his disputed re-election as Russian president in 1996.

Yeltsin's resignation eight years ago took him out of the political spotlight -- so much so that many had forgotten he was still alive. It also brought Valdimir Putin to power -- a move that has had dire consequences for Russian democracy.

And then there is the journalist, David Halberstam.

avid Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and tireless author of books on topics as varied as AmericaÂ’s military failings in Vietnam, the deaths of firefighters at the World Trade Center and the high-pressure world of professional basketball, was killed yesterday in a car crash south of San Francisco. He was 73, and lived in Manhattan.

Mr. Halberstam was a passenger in a car making a turn in Menlo Park, Calif., when it was hit broadside by another car and knocked into a third vehicle, said the San Mateo County coroner. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man who was driving Mr. Halberstam, a journalism student at the University of California at Berkeley, was injured, as were the drivers of the other two vehicles. None of those injuries were called serious.

Mr. Halberstam was killed doing what he had done his entire adult life: reporting. He was on his way to interview Y. A. Tittle, the former New York Giants quarterback, for a book about the 1958 championship game between the Giants and the Baltimore Colts, considered by many to be the greatest football game ever played.

You didn't have to agree with Halberstam to respect his writing -- and personally, I feel a sense of loss that the book in progress may never be finished, because the topic intrigues me.

Two lives -- ended on one day. Two important figures gone from the world stage. Two of the many who died yesterday -- but two whose lives had impact far beyond their own circle of family and friends.

Posted by: Greg at 10:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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