NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Lamaze pioneer dies

NEW YORK

A physical therapist who popularized the Lamaze method of childbirth in the U.S. and helped change the way women and doctors approached the delivery room has died at her New York home. Elisabeth Bing was 100.

Lamaze International says Bing died Friday. The cause of her death isn’t immediately known.

Bing became interested in childbirth techniques in the 1950s. At the time, laboring women were often heavily medicated, fathers generally were nowhere near delivery rooms and expectant parents commonly had far less information than many do today.

Biography of Nichols is in the works

NEW YORK

With the consent of Diane Sawyer, a book on the late Mike Nichols is in the works.

Penguin Press has announced that it had reached a deal with Mark Harris, author of the acclaimed film histories “Pictures at a Revolution” and “Five Came Back.” The new book will be called “Mike Nichols: A Biography,” and has the support of Sawyer, Nichols’ widow, and other family members, according to Penguin. A release date has not been set.

Nichols, one of the most honored film and stage directors of his time, died last fall at age 83. Harris interviewed Nichols several years earlier for “Pictures At a Revolution,” a comprehensive take on five major movies of 1967, including Nichols’ “The Graduate.”

Associated Press