Washington, D.C.

Historian, author Boorstin dies at 89

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel Boorstin, who wrote more than 20 history books over his long career, died Saturday of pneumonia, his wife said. He was 89.

Boorstin was appointed librarian of Congress in 1974 by President Ford and spent 12 years as director of the world’s largest library.

He also won his Pulitzer in 1974, for “The Americans: The Democratic Experience.”

The book was the third in Boorstin’s “The Americans” trilogy and followed “The Colonial Experience” and “The National Experience.” All three sought to analyze the distinctive character of American institutions and culture.

Boorstin attended Harvard, Yale and Oxford universities. Before his appointment to the Library of Congress, he was director of the National Museum of History and Technology, senior historian of the Smithsonian Institution and a history professor at the University of Chicago for 25 years.

Washington, D.C.

National Zoo confirms death of another animal

Officials at the National Zoo Saturday confirmed that a 15-year-old red kangaroo died Jan. 31, most likely from a heart condition.

The kangaroo, named Kobar, was born at the zoo and was found to have an enlarged heart eight years ago, according to Peper Long, a zoo spokeswoman. She said officials were awaiting pathology reports to establish the exact cause of death.

Zoo officials did not make the death public until after receiving an inquiry from WJLA-TV in Washington, which first reported the story Friday.

It marked at least the third time in the past four months that zoo officials did not reveal an animal’s death until receiving media inquiries. The deaths have come during an investigation by the National Academy of Sciences of the care and management of the 2,600 animals at the zoo.

In November, a colobus monkey died from a bacterial disease that can be caused by consuming food and water contaminated by rodents. On Monday, a 13-year-old lioness, Kisingali, died after surgery to treat a uterine infection. Both times, zoo officials said nothing publicly about the deaths until the media raised questions.

Mississippi

Relative in custody in case of missing family

Investigators searching for a couple and their young son who disappeared on Valentine’s Day said Saturday night they planned to charge a relative of the family in connection with their disappearance.

State Highway Patrol spokesman Warren Strain would not say what Earnest Lee Hargon would be charged with, but said charges were “adding up.”

Authorities in Taylorsville detained Hargon, an adopted cousin of the missing family, earlier Saturday.

Investigators also searched Hargon’s property in southern Mississippi on Saturday as they tried to solve the disappearance of Michael and Rebecca Hargon and their 4-year-old son, James Patrick.

There has been no trace of the family since Feb. 14. Lawmen reported finding blood and bullet casings at the family’s home, but no signs of forced entry.