“Following his suicide in 1940 at age 48, in Portbou, Spain, his name had been kept alive by a small number of friends and colleagues, the kind of trickle of a readership that hardly suggested he would one day be counted among the most significant and far-ranging critics, essayists, and thinkers of the past 100 years—and one whose reach may still not be completely fathomed.”
Category: people
The Criminal Secret Life of the Godfather of Literary Theory
Paul de Man wasn’t just a professor at Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and Yale. He wasn’t just a Nazi collaborator in Belgium during the war. He was, it turns out, an embezzler, fraudster, deadbeat dad, and bigamist.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Last of the Beats, to Publish His Travel Journals
The poet, publisher, and co-founder of the legendary City Lights bookstore, “at 94 one of the last living links to the Beat generation, has sold his travel journals to Liveright Publishing, a division of W.W. Norton, which plans to publish them in September 2015.”
Pat Oliphant, Still Drawing Sharp Political Satire at Age 78
“For nearly 60 years, Mr. Oliphant has been skewering politicians, statesmen and other hapless souls in cartoons that have won him virtually every award in his field, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1967 while he was still in his early 30s – and sometimes condemnation in equal measure.”
How Actor Maximilian Schell Made A Career – And Saved The Soul Of Germany
“Every burden of postwar Europe is reflected in the face of Maximilian Schell. For the curious career of Maximilian Schell was not about re-creating the past. It was about those who were trying to survive in its aftermath.”
Mitch Leigh, Who Wrote ‘Man of La Mancha,’ Dead At 86
“Mitch Leigh, the Brooklyn-born son of a Jewish furrier from Ukraine, had no theater experience to speak of. All he had ever done was compose incidental music for a couple of short-lived Broadway comedies — “Too True to Be Good” (1963) and “Never Live Over a Pretzel Factory” (1964).”
Tonight Show’s Record-Setting Funny Guest Dies At 78
David Brenner “was a frequent guest on game shows and talk shows throughout his career. And long before Chris Rock and Dennis Miller were getting HBO specials, Brenner had four of his own — even getting married on one.”
Lyricist Tim Rice On The Key To Success: Failure
“I always worry today when I see everybody has to pass – there’s very little failure these days. I think failure is the best thing for some people.”
Voice Over (Literally) Hal Douglas Dies At 89
His dramatic range, from Olympian-thunderous to comic-goofy, suited him for trailers for movies as diverse as “Philadelphia,” “Forrest Gump,” “Coneheads,” “Meet the Parents” and “Lethal Weapon.” (“Under 17 not admitted without a parent.”)
Being a Paparazzo
As part of its series “You Hate My Job”, Marketplace sends a correspondent to work with guerrilla celebrity photographer and photo agency head Giles Harrison. (includes video and audio)