Category: people

He was “a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who captured in simple verses the complexity of 20th-century American life, including the beauty and the emptiness he sometimes found in middle-class suburbia.”

“Some of the British Muslims now say, ‘We think we were wrong.’ Some of them for tactical reasons, but others are actually using the free-speech argument: ‘If we want to say what we want, he has to be allowed to say what he wants’.”

“Although perhaps best known as Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s moustache-twirling detective, on BBC radio, … [Moffatt] was a devastatingly clinical and classical stage actor of irreproachable taste and valour. He seemed something of a throwback, but there are very few today who could rival his armour-plated technique, his almost uncanny empathy with comic style … or his incisive articulation.”

“From 1958 to 1968, he was principal conductor for the BBC Northern Orchestra, and is credited with establishing it on the global stage. The orchestra, based in Salford, is now known as the BBC Philharmonic. … In 1968, he established the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, and acted as artistic advisor to both this orchestra and the Bournemouth Symphony until 1974.”

“Mr. Martin has appeared in so many bland movies lately … that it’s easy to lose sight of how funny he is. … While stand-up is typically best at its most intimate, Mr. Martin’s act was an exception. His satirical routine kept growing with the size of his theaters, turning rock-star comedy into a delirious spectacle, performance art for the masses.”

John Gray, the new director of the National Museum of American History, suffered a heart attack last week, so the museum made a quick temporary appointment.

“On Wednesday, Dietmar Machold, 63, comes up for trial in Vienna, Austria. It is the largest fraud case in the history of a trade that goes back to at least the middle of the 18th century: Apart from criminal charges, Machold faces civil claims estimated at $200 million.”

Emika Iwashita, “who is among the youngest artisans in the aging community of kimono dyers, says she sees unlimited creative potential in her field.”

“With literary sources and official records painting a cloudy picture of the poorly understood medieval king, archaeologists are seeking more concrete answers in an unlikely spot: a parking lot in Leicester, England.”