Author, columnist James Brady dies

New York — James Brady, the Parade magazine celebrity columnist whose wide-ranging career also included novels, a memoir on his Korean War service and a stint as publisher of the fashion bible Women’s Wear Daily, has died at 80.

Brady’s death was announced Tuesday by Parade magazine, where he wrote the celebrity profile column “In Step With” for nearly 25 years. He died Monday at his Manhattan home.

Brady also was credited with initiating the New York Post’s popular Page Six gossip section when he worked for publisher Rupert Murdoch in the 1970s. During that time, he also succeeded Clay Felker as editor of New York magazine when Murdoch acquired it in 1977.

His last column will appear Feb. 15. It will feature actor Kevin Bacon.

Born in 1928, Brady started as a copyboy for the New York Daily News, where he worked while attending Manhattan College. Shortly after returning from Korea, he joined Fairchild Publications. Among other posts, he covered Washington for Fairchild and later reported from London and Paris.

He was hired by Murdoch in 1974 to edit the then-new weekly Star magazine. He later was an associate publisher at the New York Post.

Brady is survived by his wife, two daughters, a brother and other relatives.

Keyboardist for Lynyrd Skynyrd dies at home

Orange Park, Fla. — Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell, who played on such hits as “Sweet Home Alabama” and survived the 1977 plane crash that killed three band members, died Wednesday. He was 56.

Powell called 911 in this Jacksonville suburb saying he was having trouble breathing. Rescue crews performed CPR, but he was pronounced dead about an hour later, Orange Park Police Lt. Mark Cornett said.

Powell, who had a history of heart problems, missed a Tuesday appointment with his doctor for a cardiac evaluation, and a heart attack is suspected as the cause of death.

The Jacksonville-based band was formed in 1966 by a group of high school students — famously, it took its name from a physical education teacher they disliked, Leonard Skinner. Powell joined the group in 1970 and became its keyboardist in 1972, the year before they released their first album, “Pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd.”

It became one of the South’s most popular rock groups, and gained national fame with such hits as “Free Bird,” “What’s Your Name” and “Sweet Home Alabama.” The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

The band was decimated on Oct. 20, 1977, when their chartered plane crashed in a swamp near McComb, Miss.

Six people were killed — lead singer Ronnie Van Zant; guitarist Steve Gaines; Gaines’ sister, vocalist Cassie Gaines; as well as an assistant road manager, the pilot and co-pilot.

Author McCarthy’s childhood home burns

Knoxville, Tenn. — The boyhood home of Pulitzer-winning author Cormac McCarthy, long abandoned and overgrown, has been destroyed by a fire even as preservationists tried in recent months to save it.

“We have lost a literary landmark,” Kim Trent, executive director of the nonprofit Knox Heritage group, said Wednesday, a day after the two-story wood-frame structure was reduced to a smoldering ruin.

McCarthy lived in the house at least a decade, years before he wrote “All the Pretty Horses” and “No Country for Old Men,” which was made into a 2007 movie that won an Oscar for best motion picture. His 2007 novel “The Road” won the Pulitzer Prize.

Neighbors reported the fire around 5 p.m. Tuesday. The cause was under investigation, said Bill Kear, spokesman for the Rural Metro Fire Department. Investigators say a homeless person may have been staying there, although nobody was in the home when firefighters arrived.

And the ballots go to … 5,810 Oscar voters

Beverly Hills, Calif. — The ballots are in the mail for the 5,810 members of Hollywood’s elite who get to vote on the Academy Awards.

Wednesday’s final ballots include nominees in 19 categories, among them best picture, director and the four acting prizes.

Ballots in five other categories — feature-length and short documentaries, foreign-language film, animated shorts and live-action shorts — are available only after academy members verify that they attended screenings of the nominees.

The deadline is Feb. 17 for Oscar voters to return ballots to the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The big show itself comes five days later.

Domino magazine to cease publishing

New York — Domino, a home decorating and style magazine, will publish its last issue in March, Conde Nast Publications said Wednesday.

Struck by an industrywide decline in advertising revenue, the company has been pulling back on a number of fronts, trimming issues of Men’s Vogue and Conde Nast Portfolio and reducing staff companywide.

In a statement Wednesday, Conde Nast Chief Executive Charles H. Townsend said the decision to shutter Domino was driven “entirely” by the economy.

The magazine was launched in April 2005.

Company spokeswoman Maurie Perl said Conde Nast, a unit of privately held Advance Publications Inc., won’t release the total head count at Domino or how many employees will be laid off. But she said publisher Beth Fuchs Brenner, and the magazine’s editor, Deborah Needleman, will both be leaving the company.

A small number of workers from both the business and editorial side of the magazine will be asked to fill open positions at Conde Nast, Perl said.