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Poet laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner Van Duyn dies

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. - Mona Van Duyn, the nation's first female poet laureate and a Pulitzer Prize winner, died Thursday morning at her home from bone cancer, her husband said. She was 83.

A writer of poetry since the second grade, Ms. Van Duyn published nine volumes of poetry and won a Pulitzer for Near Changes in 1991. The next year she became the sixth poet and the first woman named U.S. poet laureate, an eight-month position appointed by the Librarian of Congress since 1986.

Ms. Van Duyn won a National Book Award for her book of poems To See, To Take in 1971.

Ms. Van Duyn was a member of the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis for decades, developing a reputation for strong instruction of young writers. Her husband, Jarvis Thurston, is a former chairman of the English department.

Ms. Van Duyn is survived by her husband, who said memorial arrangements were pending.

Law & Order star Jerry Orbach has received a diagnosis of prostate cancer, the Associated Press reports.

"We expect he'll be fine," said manager Robert Malcolm. "He's been playing golf, shooting his episodes and doing real well."

Orbach, 69, starred for 12 seasons in the original Law & Order series but left to head the spin-off Law & Order: Trial by Jury, set to debut next year.

IMPERIOLI APPEARANCES: Sopranos regular Michael Imperioli has been tapped to appear in this season's final episodes of Law & Order.

While Jesse L. Martin is off making the big-screen adaptation of Rent, the Emmy winner will play a temporary new partner for Dennis Farina.

Pledging to improve its primetime performance, NBC has announced premiere dates for four midseason additions to its schedule.

The new entries will cover the growing number of soft spots on the schedule at NBC, which is expected to tie ABC for second place behind CBS in the 18-49 demographic it dominated in past November sweeps. The changes include Medium, which takes over the 10 p.m. Monday slot Jan. 3, and The Contender, which premieres Feb. 21 in the 8 p.m. Tuesday slot.

Also coming to NBC next month is Committed, which will air in the 9:30 p.m. Tuesday slot currently inhabited by Scrubs, which moves to 9 p.m. Committed premieres Jan. 4.

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search joins the schedule Jan. 5.

The days of the sweater-clad, thumb-ranking, warm-and-fuzzy TV film critic may be at an end: Rocker Henry Rollins is in the movie house.

In addition to such staples of review shows as discussions of recent blockbusters and DVD choices, Henry's Film Corner, which premieres Saturday at midnight on IFC, will include an examination of political and social issues in films. Rollins also will discuss cinema with celebrities and everyday folks.