O.J. Simpson’s “trial of the century” over the 1994 killings of his ex-wife and her friend bared divisions over race and law enforcement and brought an intersection of sports, crime, entertainment and class that was hard to turn away from.

Betty Prashker, a pioneering editor of the 20th century who as one of the first women with the power to acquire books published such classics as Kate Millett’s “Sexual Politics” and Susan Faludi’s “Backlash,” died July 30 at age 99.