After suffering a mild stroke in 2009, the popular host of A Prairie Home Companion began publicly mulling a departure from radio; earlier this year, Keillor had even set a date of spring 2013. Now he says the idea of retirement “panicked me. … The show is going well. I love doing it. Why quit?”
Category: people
Unknown Portrait Of Jane Austen Surfaces
“Jane Austen scholar Dr Paula Byrne claims to have discovered a lost portrait of the author which, far from depicting a grumpy spinster, shows a writer at the height of her powers and a woman comfortable in her own skin.”
Cosima Wagner’s Only Defender Is Bookslut (They Look Alike)
Jessa Crispin: “It’s difficult for me to write out Cosima’s crimes without immediately coming to her defense. … I loved Cosima. I was appalled by her. I had arguments with her in my head. And yes, I horribly identified with her, with some of those thoughts you are ashamed even to think, let alone ever express on paper.”
How Pauline Kael Became Pauline Kael
“Pauline had a very tough time getting her plane off the ground. She began her writing life thinking she was going to be a creative writer — a playwright, and perhaps a screenwriter. She made several attempts in that direction, and I think she just discovered early on that she wasn’t very good at it.”
A Screenwriter With A Name And A Vision, And A Kid
Diablo Cody made a splash by writing “Juno.” Now the screenwriter spends her time trying to stay calm on the superhighway of fame.
What, And Who, Came From The WPA: A Life’s Work
Benjamin Abramowitz started working as a WPA artist when he was a teenager. But he quickly grew frustrated with its political restrictions, says his daughter.
Dev Anand, 88, Bollywood Star
Dev Anand starred in dozens of Bollywood movies, including “The Jewel Thief” and “Guide.”
Christa Wolf, One Of East Germany’s Top Authors, Dead At 82
“[She] was, with Günter Grass, Germany’s best known contemporary author. Before the end of communism she was revered on both sides of the Iron Curtain as a literary figure and a moral icon; afterwards, however, her reputation suffered a dramatic reverse.”
A Visit With Ai Weiwei Under House Arrest
“By the conditions of his release from detention, Ai was not then allowed to give formal interviews or make public political statements. He was not allowed to discuss censorship or human rights in China, what happened to him during his detention, or broader questions about China’s future. So instead, we chatted about art and cats.” (He has about 20 of them.)
Andrew Kazdin, 77, Legendary Classical Record Producer
“[He was] known for his recordings of the New York Philharmonic, the pianists Glenn Gould, Murray Perahia and Ruth Laredo, and the organist E. Power Biggs, and [he] revolutionized classical recording by using techniques more common to popular music.”