Empire

Ralph C. Reedman Jr., whose used-car business in Langhorne mushroomed over five decades into one of the largest and most innovative new automobile dealerships in the country, died Thursday at St. Mary Hospital in Middletown, Bucks County. "He was a legend and innovator in this business," said Bob Ebert, who worked with Mr. Reedman for 39 years and now is the firm's operation manager. Mr. Reedman began operating the mall concept of selling cars - several showrooms in close proximity - decades before it was successfully imitated by others.

One evening in August 2006, reputed drug kingpin Maurice Phillips confessed to his then-mistress, Chanell Cunningham, while they were lying in bed at her home, that he had killed a cooperating witness, Cunningham told a federal jury yesterday. Taking the stand for a second day, Cunningham testified that Phillips told her that he killed the witness, Chineta Glanville, in order to protect her. She said that Glanville's name came up after Phillips suspected that another drug dealer might be cooperating against him. Cunningham testified that Phillips remarked that he was going to "have to take care of that n-----.

Bob McMurtrie was a smart, lanky kid with eyes for bigger places than Two Street, the hard-bitten pocket of South Philadelphia where he came from. At 22, McMurtrie set out on a journey of unfathomable distance in pursuit of glitter and riches. From Two Street, he traveled to Center City, where he got a job in 1964 as a clerk in a real estate office. He worked hard and kept his eye out for opportunities. By 1990, he'd stitched together a small empire. His assets were $29 million.

It's Thursday, and your restaurant has 150 people in the book for Saturday night. The meat guy pulls up out back as the produce and beer trucks drive away. Kitchen and waitstaffs are scheduled. Then Friday morning, the weather calls for a storm. It doesn't matter if they're saying "possibly affecting the Poconos," the cancellations pour in. Such is the life of a restaurateur. But not the lot of a caterer, who operates with fewer variables. Head counts: firm. Menu: fixed.

How the English Language Became the World's Language By Robert McCrum Norton. 312 pp. $26.95 Reviewed by Howard Shapiro To anyone who travels beyond the United States, it's not news that, for better or worse, English has become the world's language. No longer will people abroad automatically let you try out your French or Spanish or Japanese at the start of an everyday transaction in a restaurant, or shop, where your American-tinged tongue is more likely to draw an immediate English response, no questions asked.

Let's go to the adjective store to describe Luther, a British police show premiering Sunday at 9 p.m. Powerful, challenging, ambiguous, surprising, dark, odd, stunning, grisly, disturbing, raw, sexy, taut, intense, captivating. One critic called it "creepy. " Another adjective comes to mind to describe the programmers at BBC America, which will be telecasting Luther: stupid. There are so many places to schedule a series, and they chose Sundays between 9 and 10:30 p.m. This show is sure to appeal to Masterpiece: Mystery!

A state grand jury is focusing on possible tax fraud in an investigation of the lavish lifestyles of Jessica Hahn and the Long Island preacher she served as secretary, the New York Post reported today. Two people who identified themselves as Hahn's former lovers say they were called to testify before the grand jury in Albany last week, the Post said. They told the newspaper they testified that Hahn was in love with the preacher, the Rev. Gene Profeta of the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Massapequa, and that her lifestyle seemed far above what she could afford on her $80-a-week salary.

Three top executives of developer Donald Trump's Atlantic City casino empire were killed yesterday when their helicopter lost its main rotor and crashed on the wooded median strip of the Garden State Parkway about two miles north of the Barnegat toll plaza. The helicopter's pilot and co-pilot also were killed in the crash, which occurred shortly before 2 p.m. about 30 miles north of Atlantic City. Witnesses said they heard a loud bang and saw the sleek, Italian-made helicopter's 36-foot main rotor stop spinning and then "pop" off. The craft, flying at 2,800 feet and probably traveling about 150 m.p.h.

There's a scene in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby in which Daisy Buchanan arrives at Nick Carraway's bungalow for afternoon tea in a stunning, straight-from-the-Roaring Twenties ensemble. Buchanan, played by Carey Mulligan, oozes old money in a lacy, lavender sheath with illusion detailing and tiers of ribbons that look like flowers almost ready to bloom. The silhouette is similar to a group of dresses featured in Tadashi Shoji's spring 2013 runway collection.

On the outside, it looks like a standard Cinnaminson Colonial, vintage 1960s. The only indication of anything unusual is a front door painted in purest lavender in a neighborhood of more standard beiges, browns and an occasional red. Step inside that door, however, and nothing is a bit ordinary. Anna and Joseph Tumas have created an enchanted European cottage within these all-American walls, a testament to Anna Tumas' German roots - and to her uncanny knack for filling interior spaces with extraordinary finds from yard sales and flea markets.