Word: cutlass
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...after Christmas 1976, John Louis Evans and a friend he met in prison, Wayne Ritter, rented an Oldsmobile Cutlass and went on a spree. By Evans' count, the pair committed 37 robberies, two extortions and nine kidnapings. When they got to Mobile, Ala., Evans shot a pawnbroker in the back while the victim's two daughters, aged 7 and 9, looked on. It was all a "deadly game," says Evans. "I was planning on dying. I would never go back to prison...
DIED. F. van Wyck Mason, 76, prolific and bestselling historical novelist (among his more than 60 books: Three Harbours, Stars on the Sea, Cutlass Empire); of a heart attack while swimming; near Southampton, Bermuda. A skilled storyteller especially interested in colonial and Civil War America, Mason embellished his complex plots with minute detail and romantic flourish. He also penned a popular series of tales of intrigue featuring Captain (later Major and Colonel) Hugh North, and during World War II served as chief military historian for Dwight Eisenhower's SHAEF command...
...today's pirates have better weapons than the cutlass...
...Cutlass and sword are passe. Asian pirates today pounce from hidden coves in supercharged speedboats or trawlers armed with automatic rifles, M-79 grenade launchers and even antitank guns. Their easiest prey is the flotilla of fishing trawlers, ferries and small trading boats that ply the island waters. The booty includes everything from cargoes of fish to duty-free goods being trafficked in a centuries-old barter trade between East Malaysia and the Philippine island of Mindanao. "The greed of the pirates is unbelievable," says a Malaysian official. One ruthless pirate tradition of yore prevails: walking the plank...
Also faring well, but not as well as expected, are Detroit's "scaled-down intermediates," mainly such mid-size GM cars as the Oldsmobile Cutlass, Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Century and Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Lighter and more economical than their ancestors, the new middies' prices are causing some buyers to balk over what they see as getting less car for more money. That has put dealers on the spot. Says Detroit Ford Dealer Jim McDonald: "The customers feel that since a car is smaller, it's bound to have less in it. Our job is basically education...