Frank Perdue, who is to chicken in America what Coco Chanel was to perfume in France, or, from a chicken's viewpoint, what Caligula was to his enemies, has passed away from an undisclosed illness. The reluctance to disclose the illness has led some to suppose that he died of avian flu. The New York Times obituary remarks that part of what made Frank Perdue so effective in advertisements for his company was the striking resemblance he bore to an actual chicken. If you've ever wondered why a Perdue bird looks so yellow, it's because Frank Perdue developed a method of adding marigold petals and dye to the feed. Frank's son James has been Chairman of Perdue Farms since 1991. Frank is survived by his third wife Mitzi; we do not know if he was henpecked. (By Scott Rose)