Category: people

Even during the years when he was working in factories, pushing a broom, getting fired from jobs, battling illness and going through rehab, Mr. Jones always thought of himself as a writer. “I’m a great believer in fate, and I believe that all those things in my life had to happen — being a drunk, a boxer, the epilepsy, the diabetes,” he told the Seattle Times. “You have to suffer a lot before you can be a writer of fiction.”

“Mr. Chess and his brother Leonard Chess arrived in America as little boys, two Jewish immigrant kids from Poland. They started Chess in 1950, recording Muddy Waters, Etta James, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and other top musicians who spread the gospel of the blues. Teens in England and around the world heard the so-called ‘race music’ Chess helped popularize, and the cross-pollination helped birth rock.”

Claudine Rankine is part of a group of thinkers who are dreaming up a “presenting space and a think tank all at once” where artists and writers can really wrestle with race. She wants it to be a “space which allows us to show art, to curate dialogues, have readings, and talk about the ways in which the structure of white supremacy in American society influences our culture.”

“While there’s much to process from his past, Wilson is living in the present, touring with a band for the 50th anniversary of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. … We reached him in Portland, Ore., as he prepared for a sound check. He seemed courteous, but wary: a man who prefers to express himself in song.” (audio)

“Originally a child prodigy at the Paris Opera Ballet, Ms. Chauviré was acclaimed as a national symbol of French culture by an adoring public and by the French government, which bestowed its highest honors on her. Although she belonged to a generation of gifted ballerinas at the Paris Opera, she was set apart by a mesmerizing elegance that was never confused with chic.”

Abramovic’s performances have always been about generating a kind of catharsis for herself, then for the rest of us, pushing people’s buttons, their limits, as she has her own. All to a particular transformative end. “I am one of the few people who don’t have secrets,” she says. “All of my secrets, I made performances out of them, or theater pieces.”

“[He] was a flamboyant figure – known for his waxed handlebar mustache and the boar tusk he wore around his neck – who often produced, wrote, directed and edited his films. He relied on outlandish plots, cheesy special effects and curvaceous actresses like Tura Satana … [as he] cranked out an endless stream of bloody shockers, sci-fi thrillers, action films and jiggle-fests.”

“Identified by the Poetry Foundation as part of ‘a group of artists and poets who brought new definitions and ambitions to poetry in the early 1970s,’ Antin won acclaim for his signature ‘hybrid of criticism, poetry and storytelling that involved Antin discoursing freely on a subject in front of an audience,’ as the foundation described his talk poetry.”

The Canadian pianist was an innovator, a maverick who went his own way. But he had some ideas about innovation not being just for the sake of innovating…

“Under his leadership, [television station] WCVB instituted news programming changes that continue to shape Boston’s broadcasting landscape today. Dr. Beranek also was a leading philanthropist for major arts institutions, particularly the Boston Symphony Orchestra … Yet, it was his work in acoustics that created a lasting legacy, through improved concert venues in Boston, at Tanglewood, and around the world.” He was also, alas, involved in one of the 20th century’s great acoustical fiascos.