“The public doesn’t really know the extent of censorship in prison libraries, and it seems that prisons don’t want us to know.” But Christina Cerio took a stab at figuring it out. – Melville House
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Small-Town Grouch Who Declared ‘Libraries Are Communist’ Was Right, Thank Goodness
Theman who said that was in a rural hamlet in the mountains of New York state, and Sue Halpern had just been dragooned by the town board to set up a lending library with a total of $15,000. About a year on, after tremendous success, Halpern decided she agreed: “A public library is predicated on an ethos of sharing and egalitarianism. … It is defiantly, proudly, communal.” – The New York Review of Books
The Occupational Hazards Of Theatre Criticism (It Can Get Messy)
Peter Marks recounts such difficulties as having a seat mate (an aging comedy star, no less) unable to contain his enthusiasm, having another seat mate unable to contain his dinner, and having your own seat refuse to hold you. – The Washington Post
After 45 Years, San Francisco’s Beloved ‘Beach Blanket Babylon’ To Close
The musical revue, known for its campy local humor and stupendously extravagant hats, will have its last performance on New Year’s Eve — and the reason is not financial. – San Francisco Chronicle
Berkeley Symphony’s New Music Director Is A Conductor They Met By Chance Three Months Ago
Joseph Young, a former assistant conductor at the Atlanta Symphony and currently Director of Ensembles at the Peabody Institute, was called in as a last-minute substitute for a Berkeley Symphony program at the end of January, and the chemistry was — well, we know that story. Young will now replace Joana Carneiro in a post that was held for decades by Kent Nagano. – San Francisco Chronicle
Rebuild Notre-Dame? No, Let’s Keep It As A Ruin (A #SlatePitch)
What’s a #SlatePitch? In keeping with the site’s original ambition to be anti-conventional wisdom, Slate has published an essay by writer and translator Bérengère Viennot (she’s the one who gets to translate Donald Trump’s speeches into French) arguing that the burned-out ruins of Notre-Dame should be preserved as “a memento mori of the 21st century.” – Slate
It Took Two Days To Raise €1 Billion To Rebuild Notre-Dame
Huge pledges from superrich individuals and multinational corporations such as LVMH, L’Oreal, and (subsequent to this story’s publication) Disney have been pouring in since news of the conflagration hit on April 15. – London Evening Standard
It Took 23 Minutes After The First Alarm To Find The Notre-Dame Fire
“A fire alarm first wailed inside the Notre Dame Cathedral at 6:20 p.m. Monday, but for 23 critical minutes cathedral staff searched for a blaze, unable to find the cause. It wasn’t until a second alarm went off at 6:43 p.m. that a fire was detected in the attic of the centuries-old religious landmark.” – BuzzFeed
While Notre-Dame Burned, There Was Also A Fire At Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque
Yes, it’s a strange bit of synchronicity. Thank heaven (as it were), the damage at Al-Aqsa is minor and the fire was put out in seven minutes. – ArchDaily
When Russia Dealt With Its Own Version Of The Notre-Dame Fire
On a frigid December day in 1857, the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg (now the site of the Hermitage museum) caught fire; in less than two days, the building was completely gutted. As with Notre-Dame, a renovation project helped the fire’s spread, and as with Notre-Dame, the nation’s leader (Tsar Nicholas I) vowed that the great monument would be rebuilt in an impractically short time. Historian Paul Werth recounts how the Russians pulled it off. – The Conversation