PASSAGES: Jay-Z Gets Probation; Brimley Ill

By Elizabeth Darst

12/07/2001 at 12:56 PM EST

SENTENCED: Rapper Jay-Z was given a sentence of three years' probation for stabbing music executive Lance "Un" Rivera at a New York City club in December 1999. Jay-Z pleaded guilty last month to the crime. . . DIED: William Jovanovich, 81, former head of publishing house Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, on Tuesday. He rose from textbook salesman to top editor, working with writers such as George Orwell, T.S. Eliot, Hannah Arendt, and Alice Walker. After 36 years at the company, he retired in 1990. . . AWARDED: The TV producing team of Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner and Caryn Mandabach will receive the David Susskind Lifetime Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America. The power trio is behind hits including "The Cosby Show,'' "Roseanne'' "3rd Rock From the Sun'' and "That '70s Show." Their latest effort, "That 80s Show," will premiere in January on Fox. . . ILL: Wilford Brimley, 67, the grandfatherly actor best known for oatmeal commercials and the 1985 hit "Cocoon," is suffering from pneumonia, according to the Associated Press. He had to cancel plans to sing in and narrate an upcoming holiday concert in Great Falls, Mont. . . . CLOSING: Broadway's "The Music Man" will close on Dec. 30 after 698 performances. The revival stars actor Robert Sean Leonard and has garnered good reviews, but has yet to recoup its investment.