Category: people

David Sutherland, an artist whose work appeared in various Dungeons and Dragons rule books, has died. He was 56 years old.

“A London-based pop singer is raising funds to kick-start his career by selling shares in himself on internet auction site eBay. In just three days, Shayan has raised £9,000 from buyers in London, New York and Toronto.”

The conductor was music director of the Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. “Once, during a rehearsal with soprano Kathleen Battle, he left the podium and stood a few inches away from her face. “Your singing is very beautiful but your acting is too human,” he said, quietly. He wanted a “purely spiritual” effect. He proceeded to conduct her from a distance of six inches, and she sang like the angel he expected.”

“The former president of the James Beard Foundation was sentenced to one to three years in prison Monday in New York after he pleaded guilty to stealing more than a million dollars from the charitable organization he led for nine years. Leonard Pickell, 50, acknowledged he had stolen $1,106,099 by writing foundation checks for such personal expenses as groceries, his daughter’s sweet 16 party, limousines, renovating his home in Howell Township, N.J., and a BMW.”

David Whitney, a respected curator and prominent collector of contemporary art who was Philip Johnson’s companion, acerbic alter ego and behind-the-scenes art adviser for more than 40 years, died on Sunday at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital.

William Eddins, who is 40, “may be the most flamboyant thing to happen to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra since British rockers Procol Harum showed up to make a live recording over three decades ago. Whatever happens during his tenure, it likely won’t be dull.”

American composer David Diamond has died at the age of 89 at his home in upstate New York. He composed 11 symphonies and 10 string quartets.

Alberto Vilar has pleased not guilty. “He said he was not guilty of investment adviser fraud, securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges in an indictment returned last week. Vilar has been unable to post $4 million in assets to secure a $10 million bail set after his May 27 arrest. Prosecutors have said Vilar is a threat to flee and suggested he is hiding assets. If convicted, he could face more than 10 years in prison.”

Zahi Hawass is the man responsible for bringing King Tut back to America. He “controls Egypt’s vast archaeological trove as secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, is part Indiana Jones, part P. T. Barnum – intent on dusting off Egypt’s holdings through a mix of entertainment, commerce and archaeology.”

Five years ago, Netscape founder Jim Barksdale and his late wife, Sally, “put up $100 million of their own money to improve ‘preliteracy’ skills for preschoolers and reading for children in kindergarten through third grade in Mississippi. The Oxford-based institute they created provides books and teacher training for some of the state’s neediest and lowest-performing schools. Barksdale chose his brother, attorney Claiborne Barksdale, to run the institute, with strict instructions that he wanted results. An independent analysis recently confirmed the program was making a statistically significant difference.”