Category: people

“The house is in the process of being joined to its neighbour, acquired in 2009 for $4.5 million dollars from a theatre designer, whose penchant for exuberant chandeliers and mirrors is still in evidence. Together the houses will form a centre for scholars – some will even be invited to stay in its upper rooms – with an intimate sculpture garden at the back.”

“I can understand that attitude: It parallels my own toward the playing in public of rock music or Stravinsky. And I too am especially annoyed when the intrusion upon my inner peace occurs while I am part of a captive audience, as on a municipal bus or in the waiting room of a public agency.”

“Like Betty White, Mr. Takei has used naughty-oldster humor to fuel a late-career surge. But his ribaldry is often in the service of social causes, whether gay rights or Japanese-American visibility.”

Having won awards in both short story and novel form, “Flowers for Algernon went on to sell more than five million copies and to become a staple of English classes. It inspired television adaptations, one of which also starred [Cliff] Robertson” – who won an Oscar for the film version, titled Charley – “and stage productions, including a musical and a play in Korean.”

“His presence is guaranteed to make anything go viral, whether it’s a literary festival, a TV miniseries, or one of the most frequently staged Shakespearean tragedies. … Combine photos of him looking intuitive or alluring with pictures of fuzzy kittens and it’s a wonder the Internet doesn’t implode.”

“Equally at home in panto and Pinter, sitcom and Shakespeare, Sam Kelly … was a quirky, instantly recognisable character actor, often playing beyond his natural age, and often peering through rimless spectacles like a mole pushing through to the surface. And once there, he quipped and cavorted with the best of them.”

“For those of us looking for an introduction to the world of music, Kasem and his team delivered streamlined content and history, and they humanized both the artists and the ideas driving their hit songs.”

“Whenever they’re at a party or a social gathering of some sort and they meet new people, often those people will confide their whole life stories to Rem. Or at least all kinds of personal, intense stuff, like their father recently dying or something. Is it the fame? What is it about Rem that makes people do this?”

“Every parent, when faced with a decision like that, makes it on the basis of real, personal and specific circumstances relating to their child. For some, the right decision is to medicate, for some it is not. … I’m positive that your son will someday recognize that he has a mother who is fiercely devoted to him and that every decision she ever made was out of love for the child he is and the adult he will become.”

Before taking the helm at the Kauffman Center, Chu had served as fund executive at the Kauffman Fund for Kansas City; vice president of external relations for Union Station; and vice president of community investment with the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation.