NORTH BRANCH, Minn., May 31 (UPI) -- The popular Newport (R.I.) Music Festival's artistic director died when his car sped off a highway, rolled and crashed in a ditch in Minnesota, authorities say.
Mark P. Malkovich III, 79, of Portsmouth, R.I., was driving on Interstate 35 north of Minneapolis in a rented Chrysler Sebring when it crashed Sunday afternoon, Lt. Eric Roeske of the Minnesota State Patrol told the Duluth News-Tribune.
Based on witnesses' reports, Roeske said, investigators believe Malkovich had been traveling at speeds up to 100 mph, and weaving in and out of traffic, about a half-hour before the crash near North Branch.
Malkovich, who apparently was not wearing a safety belt, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Eveleth, Minn., native, who was beginning his 36th season as artistic director of Newport's classical music festival, had been visiting friends in his hometown, his wife Joan told the News-Tribune.
He was on his way to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to pick up their son, Eric, who was heading to town to help his father move his 82-year-old sister's possessions into a nursing home.
