Obituaries - Sept. 13, 1999

* Gene Federico; Designer, Advertising Executive

Gene Federico, 81, a graphic designer who helped introduce a style of typography that emphasized lettering. Federico was among a handful of contemporary designers who developed a modernist approach to graphic design that emphasized clean layout, asymmetrical composition and sans serif typefaces. One of his most memorable ads, for Women’s Day magazine in 1953, featured a woman riding a bicycle atop the words “go out,” with each letter “O” forming a bicycle wheel. He began his career doing ads for a department store in Jersey City, N.J. From there he switched fields to become a designer for Architectural Forum and Fortune magazine. He returned to advertising in 1948, going to work for firms including Grey Advertising and Doyle Dane Bernbach. In 1967 Federico founded Lord, Geller, Federico, Einstein Inc., a New York advertising agency, and later served as its creative director, vice president and vice chairman. He left in 1991 to become an advertising and graphic design consultant. On Wednesday at his home in Pound Ridge, N.Y., of prostate cancer.

Beau Jocque; Accordionist Helped Revitalize Zydeco

Beau Jocque, 45, an accordion player who helped revitalize Louisiana’s zydeco music. Jocque, whose given name was Andrus Espre, was a welder before picking up his father’s piano-key accordion. He went on to bring zydeco, a mix of old-time Cajun music and rhythm and blues, to contemporary audiences in the New Orleans area, Europe and on the David Letterman and Conan O’Brien television shows. In Jocque’s version of zydeco, he combined rhythm and blues, hip-hop beats, funk and Texas blues-rock. He organized and performed with his band, the Zydeco Hi-Rollers. When the 6-foot-6 Jocque played one of his big hits, “Give Him Cornbread,” audiences would affectionately pelt him with pieces. On Friday in Kinder, La., of an apparent heart attack.

John Keene; Ex-Vietnam Fighter Pilot and Novelist

John P. Keene, 62, a Marine Corps fighter pilot during the Vietnam War and author of the critically acclaimed novel “Pettibone’s Law.” Born in Denver, Keene graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in English literature and studied writing at UC Irvine, where he received a master’s degree. After service in Vietnam, Keene flew planes in the film “Catch-22,” which inspired him to try his hand at writing. He left his job as a proposal engineer at Northrop Aircraft Corp. in Hawthorne in 1986 after a friend offered him the loan of a cabin in Colorado to finish his book. “I thought it would take six months; it took two years,” he told a Times reporter in 1991. Keene described his book as “a satire, a very black, black comedy.” He said the novel’s title came from the name of a monthly column in an aviation magazine, which describes aviation accidents and the stupidities that led to them. On Sept. 3 at his home in Ojai.

John Molloy; Irish Actor, Playwright and Novelist

John Molloy, 70, an Irish actor and novelist who performed his popular one-man show “Molloy” in the San Francisco Bay area. Born in Dublin, Molloy ran away from home at 14 to join a troupe of actors that roamed the country, performing in small towns. He later worked with mime artist Marcel Marceau in Paris and with the Gate and Abbey theaters in Dublin, specializing in the works of Samuel Beckett. Molloy appeared in some 60 films and played Broadway in his own two-man show, “Double Dublin,” in 1963 and 1964. He wrote 39 revues, two musicals, many television and radio plays and a best-selling novel, “Alive, Alive-O.” Molloy first brought his one-man “Molloy” to California in 1981 for the San Francisco International Theatre Festival. It proved a hit and he continued to perform in the area through the 1980s. On Sept. 2 in Oakland.

Robert Musel; Foreign Correspondent and Lyricist

Robert S. Musel, 90, who covered wars, politics and royal weddings across Europe for more than 40 years as a correspondent for United Press International. Born in New York in 1909, the son of Russian Jewish parents, Musel joined United Press--which later became United Press International--in 1927 as a copy boy and worked there until 1982, when he covered the death of Princess Grace of Monaco. One of Musel’s first big assignments was covering the kidnapping and death of the son of Charles Lindbergh in 1932. He also covered the arrest, trial and execution of Bruno Hauptmann for the crime. Musel covered World War II from London and stayed there after the war. He covered the weddings of Queen Elizabeth II, her sister Princess Margaret, and Grace Kelly’s to Prince Rainier of Monaco, as well as funerals of King George VI, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. In addition to his work as a journalist, Musel was a lyricist and was senior European consultant of Broadcast Music Inc., an American performing rights society. In 1993 BMI established the Robert Musel Award for song of the year. On Wednesday in London of cancer.

Vincent T. Wasilewski; Head of Broadcasters Group

Vincent T. Wasilewski, 76, who headed the National Assn. of Broadcasters from 1965 to 1982. Born in Athens, Ill., in 1922, Wasilewski served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. After graduating from the University of Illinois Law School in 1949, Wasilewski joined the NAB, a trade association for the radio and television industry. He served as chief counsel and executive vice president before becoming the group’s president in 1965. He left the post in 1982 to go into private law practice and was replaced by Edward O. Fritts, who is still the group’s president. During his tenure, Wasilewski fought government regulation of the industry and plans for pay television. On Thursday at a Washington, D.C., hospital of heart failure.