Author: Matthew Westphal

264 Episodes, Decades Of Reruns, And 50 Spin-Off Novels — Why ‘Murder, She Wrote’ Endures

Sure, it’s because of Jessica Fletcher, both an independent woman and a nice old lady who fights crime with a sharp eye instead of a gun. And the TV scripts were solid. Yet, observes Jon Land (who wrote that 50th novel), what made the franchise different from earlier crime series was the setting of Cabot Cove, Maine, “the kind of cozy place where nothing bad ever should happen, but always seems to.” – CrimeReads

At The Theater Olympics (Where Russia Is Not Banned)

Like its more famous athletic counterpart, this international gathering, founded in Greece in 1994, happens (roughly) every four years in a different city. This year, for the first time, it’s in two locations, St. Petersburg, Russia and Toga, Japan, and it’s the longest and largest Theater Olympics yet, with 104 productions from 22 countries. – The New York Times

D.C. Fontana, ‘Star Trek’ Writer Who Shaped Character Of Spock, Dead At 80

“Fontana, the first female writer on the show, … was perhaps second only to Gene Roddenberry, the series’ creator, in molding the sprawling Star Trek story-telling empire. … [She] wrote or co-wrote some of the most notable episodes of the original series, which ran from 1966 to 1969, and, with Roddenberry, co-wrote the pilot for its revival as Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987.”. – NBC News

Turkey’s Top Court Rules That 1,000-Year-Old Church-Turned-Mosque-Turned-Museum Must Be Turned Back Into Mosque (Could This Happen To Hagia Sophia?)

“The Church of St Savior in Chora, which was converted into the Kariye Mosque in the early 16th century by an Ottoman vizier, was designated a museum by the Turkish government in 1945. Its 14th-century frescos and mosaics are regarded among the world’s finest examples of Byzantine art. Turkey’s Council of State … ruled last month that the historic cabinet decision that made Kariye a museum was unlawful because a mosque ‘cannot be used except for its essential function’. … [President] Erdoğan vowed [during Istanbul’s municipal elections] in March to re-consecrate Hagia Sophia as a mosque.” – The Art Newspaper

Founders Of Chicago’s Halcyon Theatre Abruptly Quit And Leave City

“On Tuesday, the co-founders of Halcyon Theatre, Tony and Jenn Adams, said that they have stepped down [after 14 years] and have moved to Maine. Effective immediately, Arlicia McClain will become the company’s new artistic director. … Halcyon Theatre was founded in 2006 in [the] Albany Park [neighborhood] and describes itself as committed to connecting people, transforming borders and ascending toward a more just union.” – Chicago Tribune

Minnesota Orchestra Posts Largest Deficit In Its History But Says It Has ‘Strong Financial Foundation’

“The [$8.8 million operating] deficit, which followed four years of small surpluses, exceeds the previous record shortfall of $6 million in 2012, when the orchestra was mired in a contract dispute between management and musicians that resulted in a 15-month lockout. Yet orchestra President and CEO Michelle Miller Burns described the organization’s financial position as ‘strong.'” And, it turns out, she does have a point. – The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

And The 2019 Turner Prize Goes To — All Four Finalists Together

From the Booker Prize to the Bad Sex in Fiction Award, this seems to be the year of shared accolades in the UK. The judges of the Turner, Britain’s leading visual art prize, split the honors between Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, Oscar Murillo and Tai Shani at their explicit request, made “in the name of commonality, multiplicity and solidarity – in art as in society.” – The Guardian

Grantmaking in the #MeToo Era

Bess Rothenberg, senior director of strategy and learning at the Ford Foundation: “The scale and momentum of the #MeToo movement compelled the Ford Foundation to take a long, hard look in the mirror. What should be our role in responding to abuses of power within the organizations we support? In preventing them? Had we been doing enough?” – Stanford Social Innovation Review