“One of Australia’s most successful and renowned contemporary poets, Murray’s career spanned more than 40 years. He published close to 30 books. … In 2016, he was named by The Atlantic as one of the greatest English language poets of his time.” – The Guardian
Category: people
Jan Morris At 92
“Morris has lived many lives, and it is impossible to separate who she is now from who she was before. … She is impatient with questions about transgender politics, possibly because she made peace with her own decisions so long ago. Having reached her age and lived for equal amounts of time as a man and as a woman, she says, the transition she made so long ago somehow feels less relevant.” – The New York Times
Filmmaker John Singleton In Coma Following Stroke
“The 51-year-old director behind films including Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice and 2 Fast 2 Furious was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. last week after falling ill after a trip to Costa Rica. While under medical care, he suffered a stroke, which had been described as ‘mild,’ but it apparently wasn’t.” – Yahoo!
Mark Medoff, Playwright Of ‘Children Of A Lesser God’, Dead At 79
“Medoff wrote 30 plays and wrote, produced or directed 19 movies. He found his greatest success with Children of a Lesser God, the tale of a troubled love affair between a speech teacher and a deaf woman who struggle to overcome the communications gap between their two cultures.” – AP
Organist Marilyn Mason Dead At 93
“She commissioned more than 70 works from composers, including William Bolcom and Jean Langlais … and shaped generations of organists over a record-breaking 67 years on the faculty at the University of Michigan.” – The New York Times
Major Study: Worldwide, People Are Angrier, Sadder Than Ever Before
In 2018, about 4 in 10 people said they experienced a lot of worry the day before the interview, while a third said they were stressed and nearly 3 in 10 said they felt a lot of physical pain. A quarter experienced sadness, and 22% were angry. – CNN
Charity Tillemann-Dick, Who Kept Singing Opera Even After A Double Lung Transplant, Dead At 35
“[She] was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2004, forcing her to undergo two emergency lung transplants needed to save her life. Despite her illness Tillemann-Dick pursued a renowned career, performing … across the world.” – BBC
China’s Biggest Movie Star Makes First Public Appearance In Over A Year
“Megastar Fan Bingbing has appeared in public for the first time in almost a year, after a mysterious disappearance from the public eye believed to be linked to charges of tax evasion. [She] appeared at a Beijing gala on Monday night in honour of iQiyi, a popular video-streaming platform.” – The Guardian
Pianist Jörg Demus Dead At 90
While he tended to keep his performing career fairly close to home (especially in his later years), Demus became widely known through his more than 100 recordings. He’s especially remembered for his ahead-of-his-time interest in historic pianos and his work in chamber music, particularly with such great singers as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. (in German; Google Translate version here) – Der Standard (Austria)
Herb Alpert Was A Helluva Trumpet Player. For 30 Years He’s Also Been A Brilliant Philanthropist
He has been a consistent and articulate proponent of the arts at a time in which the field is under siege. His free-wheeling and improvisational approach belies a coherent underlying strategy that is both forward-looking and impactful. And in an almost uniformly risk-adverse philanthropic climate, Alpert has shown a refreshing tendency to boldly go where other funders are unwilling to tread. – Inside Philanthropy