Drug law pioneer William Fine dies of complications from multiple atrophy syndrome on Friday, May 17, according to his daughter, reports the New York Times. The peacemaker, policymaker, magazine and publisher was 86-years-old. Fine is survived by his partner, Kay Pick, his four sons, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Fine's biggest impact on history, the Times noted, came from a dinner party conversation he had with Rockefeller in early 1972 on drug addiction, where the then governor concluded the chat asking William Fine to travel to Japan and report on the country’s movement against drug addiction.

The result of the trip ended in a legislation that was called the Rockefeller drug laws, which was signed into law on May 8, 1973. The strict penalty for pushing drugs imposed a 15-year minimum prison sentence for those found selling two ounces of heroin, cocaine or marijuana, or retaining four ounces of these drugs.

In the 1960s, William Fine was the publisher of a dozen magazines for the Hearst Corporation. Some of the titles he published included Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Town & Country. As President of Bonwit Tellet from 1969 to 1975, he commanded national attention for aggressively, yet unsuccessfully, promoting more modest skirt lengths to women who love the mini-skirt.

In the presidential administration of Ronald Reagan and the elder George Bush, William Fine was an adviser to the State Department, primarily on the international fund to boost the economic development in Northern Ireland as part of establishing peace in the country. His involvement inNorthern Ireland was recognized by the Irish Times in 2002, when he was named one of the five people most responsible for tentative peace in the territory.

Included in the list were Nobel Peace Prize-winners John Hume and David Trimble, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Tom King, Britain’s secretary fr Northern Ireland.

William Fine went on to lead several other companies as well as author books, including “That Day With God,” a collection of sermons preached the Sunday after John F. Kennedy was assassinated.