Category: people

“[What] there is that is worthwhile at all, in my view, of life, is the fiction. When I am doing something with a purpose, with a direct public purpose, then it’s in the non-fiction. … If you are writing with a direct cause in mind, you are writing propaganda. It’s fatal for a fiction writer.”

Now aged 53, Sellars’s trademark rapid-fire intensity and enthusiasm remains intact from his days as a wunderkind, as do the lurid shirts, the beads, that distinctive haircut and the hugs for anyone who comes within his orbit. His scattergun fluency is still punctuated by almost comically exaggerated displays of admiration or indignation: “Puh-leeze!”

“Ms. Clayburgh, who began her career in films and on Broadway in the late 1960s, was among the first generation of young actresses – including Ellen Burstyn, Carrie Snodgress and Marsha Mason – who regularly portrayed characters sprung from the new feminist ethos: smart, capable and gritty, sometimes neurotic, but no less glamorous for all that.”

“Now all the nations of the developed world are trying to do business with China. Of course, it’s an arrangement in which both sides profit. But on the Chinese side it means more unfairness to labourers and damage to the environment. This kind of business is done through the sacrifice of basic values and human dignity. … China looks efficient only because it can sacrifice most people’s rights.”

“In her prime years Ms. Verrett was a remarkably complete and distinctive operatic artist. She had a plush, rich and powerful voice, thorough musicianship, insightful dramatic skills, charisma and beauty. If she never quite reached mythic status, she came close.”

“Don’t get the idea that you can just call her up to see if she’s got some citrus to spare. Her foundation doesn’t accept applications and doesn’t donate to individuals. Green gives her support to institutions she knows are in line with what she calls her ‘certain interests’.”

“In the continuing quest to understand Ozzy Osbourne, scientists have finally unravelled the singer’s most microscopic mystery: his genes. Following in the footsteps of mice and mammoths, Osbourne had his full genome sequenced and analysed by American researchers, who uncovered mutations related to addiction, metabolism, and Osbourne’s Neanderthal ancestors.”

“Chinese artist says police have told him to remain at home until Sunday night, the day of a party to mark his studio’s demolition.”

“Jazz saxophone legend James Moody, a San Diego resident for the past 21 years, has disclosed that he has had pancreatic cancer since at least February – and that he had decided not to receive any chemo therapy or radiation treatment.”