‘Mary Worth’ Creator Dies at 86

MAUMEE, Ohio — Allen Saunders, the creator of the comic strips “Mary Worth” and “Steve Roper,” has died at the age of 86, it was disclosed today. Saunders, who died Tuesday in St. Luke’s Hospital, was born in Lebanon, Ind., on March 24, 1899. He was a reporter, critic and instructor in Romance languages before he began writing “Steve Roper” in 1938. His son, John, took over the strips in 1970.