Goodbye Uncle Alex

Alexander Greenfeld, 77, a retired Washington libel lawyer who formerly was a U.S. attorney for Delaware and staff lawyer for the New York Times, died Dec. 1 at Washington Hospital Center. He had a kidney ailment.

Mr. Greenfeld worked in Delaware in the 1960s -- handling legal issues involving racial integration of the public schools -- and for the New York Times in the 1970s. He also taught media and libel law through journalism programs at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Maryland.

From 1985 to 1988, he was counsel to U.S. News & World Report magazine, and he operated a private practice in Washington from 1990 to 2004. He lived in the District.

The son of Polish immigrants, Mr. Greenfeld was born in Wilmington, Del., and was a 1949 honors graduate of the University of Delaware. He was a 1953 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania law school and served briefly in the Army.

Early in his legal career, he worked for the attorney general's office in Delaware and the Federal Communications Commission.

His marriage to Lucille Orden Greenfeld ended in divorce.

Survivors include two brothers, Ted Greenfeld of Washington and Dr. Albert R. Greenfeld of Los Angeles.