The Palace of Westminster is a crumbling fire trap, warn MPs and building maintenance professionals, and fire patrols on the premises round the clock are the only reason the place hasn’t burned up already. – The Guardian
Author: Matthew Westphal
Nôtre-Dame-De-Paris Fire: What We Do And Don’t Know About The Damage
As President Macron said, “The worst has been avoided” — meaning that, at least, the walls and the twin front towers didn’t collapse and there were no deaths. Here’s the current info. – The New York Times
An Eyewitness Account Of The Nôtre-Dame-De-Paris Fire
Rachel Donadio: “I was standing in a hushed, pained throng along the Quai d’Orléans of the Ile Saint-Louis facing the back of the basilica, and when I watched the spire fall, I gasped and choked back tears. In this, I was not alone.” – The Atlantic
Actress Georgia Engel, Known For ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ And ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, Dead At 70
“She could get a laugh on literally every line you gave her,” remembered Raymond‘s creator. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” She received three Emmy nominations for her work on that series and two others for her performance as Georgette, the sweet-but-dim girlfriend of anchorman Ted Baxter, on MTM; she had an extensive stage career as well. – The New York Times
Ellen Reid’s ‘p r i s m’ Wins Pulitzer Prize For Music
“The Pulitzer jury described the winning piece as a ‘bold new operatic work that uses sophisticated vocal writing and striking instrumental timbres to confront difficult subject matter: the effects of sexual and emotional abuse.'” Here, along with sound samples, is a Q&A with the composer and reporter Tom Huizenga. – NPR
Jackie Sibblies Drury’s ‘Fairview’ Wins Pulitzer Prize For Drama
And Vox‘s Constance Grady says the play “made me the most uncomfortable I have ever been inside a theater. In a good way.” – Vox
Aretha Franklin Awarded Special Posthumous Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer board gave the late singer a Special Citation “for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades.” She is the first individual woman to receive the Special Citation in its 89-year history. – Detroit Free Press
Carlos Lozada Of Washington Post Wins Pulitzer Prize For Criticism
The Post‘s nonfiction book critic was honored “for his ambitious and innovative essays that range across politics, presidential history, immigrant memories, national security reporting and feminist analysis to probe national dilemmas.” – The Washington Post
Powers’s ‘Overstory’, Stewart’s ‘The New Negro’, Blight’s Frederick Douglass Bio, Griswold’s ‘Amity And Prosperity’ Win Literary Pulitzers
The 2019 Pulitzer Prizes for freestanding books went to The Overstory by Richard Powers (fiction), Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold (general nonfiction), The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart (biography), Frederick Douglass, Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight (history), and Be With by Forrest Gander (poetry). – Publishers Weekly
Catastrophic Fire Rages At Nôtre-Dame Cathedral In Paris
The blaze in the great medieval cathedral broke out before 7 pm local time. While no human casualties have been reported, the church’s spire and most of its roof have collapsed, smoke is pouring through the historic stained-glass windows, and crews are rushing to salvage what they can of the building’s art. – The Guardian