Moishe Rosen, 78, a flamboyant and controversial convert to Christianity who founded the missionary group Jews for Jesus, died Wednesday of prostate cancer in San Francisco.

Rosen launched Jews for Jesus in San Francisco in 1973 and over the next decade turned it into a flourishing movement that drew thousands of converts from among the youthful seekers of the counterculture era. Its success stirred the wrath of Jewish leaders, who denounced Rosen as a cultist and fought back through groups such as Jews for Judaism.

James E. Burnett Jr., 62, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board who led efforts during the 1980s to prohibit train operators from drinking on the job, died May 15 in Clinton, Ark., from complications related to diabetes.

Burnett had been a municipal judge in Arkansas and a Republican Party activist when he was appointed to the safety board by President Ronald Reagan in December 1981.

Michael Kuchwara, 63, who for 25 years found a worldwide readership in writing about the theater for the Associated Press as both reporter and critic, died Saturday in New York City. As passionate about the theater as he was industrious, Kuchwara was known in the theater world for his seeming ubiquity.

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