WASHINGTON (AP) – Lloyd Cutler, who served as White House counsel to Presidents Carter and Clinton, died Sunday at his home in Washington. He was 87.

Anne Jordan, a family friend, said Cutler had been sick for a while and had been suffering complications from a broken hip.

In 1962 Cutler co-founded Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, one of Washington’s leading law firms.

He joined the Carter White House in 1979 and advised the president on the Iran hostage crisis and the SALT II arms treaty with the Soviet Union.

In 1994, Clinton asked Cutler to help salvage the White House’s credibility amid allegations that the staff meddled in the Whitewater inquiry. Cutler – who agreed to serve for 130 working days, the limit for a special government employee – was praised for his defense of Clinton and his aides during the Whitewater hearings before Congress.

Cutler served frequently on Washington commissions, most recently President Bush’s commission investigating flawed intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Cutler stepped down from the commission in July, citing personal reasons.

Calculus textbook writer dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Louis Leithold, who wrote one of the most widely used calculus textbooks and helped change the way the subject is taught, has died. He was 80.

Leithold was found dead April 29 at his Los Angeles home by a student’s parent.

Leithold wrote “The Calculus,” which became a standard text and was credited with changing the way the subject is studied.

The book, first published in 1968, is widely used in high schools and universities and is in its seventh printing.

He was 72 when he declined to retire and instead launched a calculus program at Malibu High School after being approached by a teacher.

Among the many educators he influenced was Jamie Escalante, whose success teaching calculus to poor, largely minority students in East Los Angeles was chronicled in the 1988 film “Stand and Deliver.”

Leithold held a doctorate in math and taught at numerous schools during his long career, including California State University at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, Pepperdine University and the Open University of Great Britain.

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Dale Guldan

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Dale Guldan, who turned a boyhood fascination with the camera into an award-winning career as a newspaper photographer, has died from a heart attack, a newspaper reported. He was 51.

Guldan was exercising in his basement when he suffered the heart attack Friday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said.

His photos earned dozens of awards, including four consecutive honors as the Wisconsin News Photographer of the Year in the 1980s.

Guldan started in 1977 at The Milwaukee Journal, which later merged with the Milwaukee Sentinel to form the Journal Sentinel.

His assignments took him around the world. He toured Israel with a group led by ex-Green Bay Packer Reggie White, focused on Russians after the breakup of the Soviet Union and joined volunteers helping tsunami victims in Sri Lanka earlier this year.

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John Laurent

OGUNQUIT, Maine (AP) – John Laurent, a prominent Maine painter known for his landscapes and seascapes, died April 14. He was 83.

Laurent explored a broad range in his paintings, experimenting with both realism and abstraction. Some of his work focused on fly fishing, a sport he loved.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Laurent was the son of noted sculptor Robert Laurent and grew up surrounded by great art and famous artists.

He taught art at the University of New Hampshire from 1954 to 1984.

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Herb Sargent

NEW YORK (AP) – Herb Sargent, a former writer and producer for “Saturday Night Live” and president of the Writers Guild of America East, has died of a heart attack. He was 81.

Sargent worked for 20 years at the NBC comedy, where he was a creator of “Weekend Update.” The newscast spoof takes an irreverent look at current events and was first hosted by Chevy Chase. Sargent’s death Friday was announced Saturday on SNL.

Before working at SNL, Sargent worked at the “Tonight” show with Steve Allen and with Johnny Carson. He also worked on television specials for Bing Crosby, Milton Berle, Perry Como, Sammy Davis Jr., Alan King, Paul McCartney, Lily Tomlin and Burt Bacharach. He won six Emmy Awards and six Writers Guild Awards.

Sargent was raised in Upper Darby, Pa. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, graduated from UCLA and worked in production at the Circle Theater. He moved to New York, where he began as a writer for radio.

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