March 10, 1999

New Yorkers recall career of Joe DiMaggio following his death at age 84; students of his career say that DiMaggio had nearly flawless instinct for dressing himself up in myths that wowed New Yorkers; say that he was remarkable case study in image management, New York style; photo (M)

RJR Nabisco, burdened by debt and threat of new suits over smoking, plans to split its food and tobacco businesses, unraveling 1985 merger, and sell its foreign tobacco business; domestic tobacco will become separate company, R J Reynolds Tobacco, and will be responsible for any smoking-related claims in United States; holding company, renamed Nabisco Group Holdings, will continue to own food business and be liable for claims if domestic tobacco company were to go bankrupt; international tobacco division will be sold to Japan Tobacco for $8 billion, with most of money used to pay down Reynolds Tobacco's debt; moves are aimed at lifting stock price; chronology of events; graph; table; photos (M)

David Gonzalez About New York column discusses late Olga Conway, who cultivated garden on lawn of Elmhurst branch of Queens Public Library; community residents, vowing to maintain her work, discuss how garden became showcase and brought to Elmhurst a sense of community (M)

Business of mass litigation, with its broad syndication of legal and financial resources and political clout, is rapid evolving; well-organized courthouse crusades, such as attacks on tobacco and gun industries, have potential to change laws and make national policy on issues where Congressional and legislative action is blocked by lack of consensus or corporate lobbying; some business and political leaders fear trial lawyers, armed with billions of dollars of fees from tobacco settlements, seek to usurp legislative prerogatives through class-action suits on whole range of issues; Wendell H Gauthier, leading class-action lawyer, comments; photo (M)

National Endowment for Arts Chmn William J Ivey cancels grant for The Story of Color after learning from reporter that bilingual children's book was written by Mexican Zapatista guerrilla Subcomandante Marcos and bears picture of him wearing ammunition belt and mask; overrules multilayered, yearlong grant approval process; expresses concern that NEA funds might aid rebels; decision stuns Texas publisher, Cinco Puntos Press, shoestring operation that laid out $15,000 to print books; Bobby Byrd, who runs company, says he made it clear in grant proposal that guerrillas would not get NEA money; photos (M)