81.   That might ceate an awkward situation that Steger wanted to avoid, said the friend, who refused to be identified.

82.   The apartment also contains precipitous drops, modernist crevasses, which, a close friend said, resulted in the loss of a pet cat.

83.   That started the downward spiral, friends said.

84.   The cause of death was a lung ailment, said a friend, Roger Mansell.

85.   The cause was AIDS, said a friend, Penny Frank.

86.   The cause was AIDS, said a friend, the conductor Robert Bass.

87.   The cause was AIDS-related, said a friend, Paul Donaher.

88.   The cause was complications from injuries in the Northridge, Calif., earthquake in January, said her friend Lester Glassner.

89.   The cause was heart failure, said a friend, Ilona Sommer.

90.   The cause was meningitis, said a friend, Abbas Milani, who teaches at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, Calif.