Virginia Heinlein, 86, who gave her husband, science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, the idea for his acclaimed 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land and inspired many of the strong women characters in his stories, died Jan. 18 in Atlantic Beach, Fla.

Her husband's muse, manager and literary guardian, she was widely known and respected in the science fiction community for her devotion to the Heinlein legacy after the prolific writer's death in 1988 at age 80.

She was responsible for the posthumous publication of the original, uncut manuscript of Stranger in a Strange Land in 1990.

Lucien Blackwell, 71, a former congressman and Philadelphia City Council member, died Friday in Philadelphia. Mr. Blackwell, a Democrat close to Mayor John Street, represented an inner-city district in Congress from 1991 to 1995. Late last year, he was appointed to serve on the transition team of incoming Gov. Ed Rendell.

Mr. Blackwell was a longtime union official who styled himself a political brawler for the working class.