Arts and Politics Lose Leaders

By Stephen M. Silverman

11/26/1997 at 12:00 AM EST

George Segal, 75, pop sculptor known for his life-size plaster statues of people in everyday situations, died of cancer on Friday in New Jersey . . . Jacob Lawrence, 82, modernist painter of the African-American experience, died Friday in Seattle . . . Irish tenor Frank Patterson, 58, who recorded 36 albums and performed for world leaders, died Saturday of cancer . . . Michaela Odone, 61, who was played by Susan Sarandon in the 1992 film "Lorenzo's Oil" (about her search to find a treatment for her son Lorenzo's rare brain disease), died of lung cancer on Saturday at her home in Virginia . . . Syrian ruler Hafez Assad, 69, who reigned for 30 years, suffered a fatal heart attack on Saturday. His son, eye doctor Bashar Assad, 34, was nominated to succeed him.