List This: Elvis Presley, yes; Marilyn Monroe,...

List This: Elvis Presley, yes; Marilyn Monroe, no. Albert Einstein, yes; Al Capone, no. Life magazine unveiled its list Friday of the 100 “most influential Americans of the 20th Century.” Scientist Jonas Salk, pediatrician Benjamin Spock and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt made the list. Twenty of them never finished high school, including Walt Disney, Malcolm X and William Faulkner.

Gulf Rush: A U.S. soldier in West Germany dashed off a written marriage proposal, but the object of his affections may not get it. Chris wrote just his first name and a note to Kathy on a post card in a store. “Hello, sweetheart! . . . How about getting engaged when I get home?” He asked the store clerk to mail the stamped missive as he rushed “on my way to this little adventure”--presumably Saudi Arabia. But he forgot to include her address.

The Roots of “Roots”: Alex might not have produced “Roots” if some relatives had not given him a slice from a California redwood as a gift 60 years ago. The tree slice had small markers noting historical events during the tree’s growth, Haley says, and he was inspired to read about historical events and add more markers. “I absolutely believe that the reading . . . greatly influenced my becoming an author.”

East and West: Ronald Reagan will visit Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union this month, a Reagan spokesman said in Los Angeles. Reagan will address the Supreme Soviet and tour Leningrad. While the Reagans’ plane travels East, the son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev is coming West. Sergei Khrushchev, 55, will conduct research and teach a seminar this fall at Harvard.