Category: people

“In an era that prized experimentalism, [Hétu] represented dedication to old-fashioned craftsmanship and a preference for traditional forms, particularly concertos, of which he wrote at least 20. This orientation earned him the appreciation of practicing musicians and established orchestras and the resentment of new-music societies.”

“In honor of Valentine’s Day, all of the Cummings’ bawdy poetry and drawings have been collected for the first time.”

“[His] career lasted more than 60 years, and he was appearing on the British television series The Royal as late as last year. He was probably most familiar to American audiences as Wimsey, appearing in the role in several BBC series that were shown on American television in the 1970s.”

“He’d gone from working as a publicist and living in [L.A.’s] Echo Park, to working in the White House, to working as director of communications for the National Endowment of the Arts, to being unemployed” – drummed out of D.C. over an edited quote from a conference call that led to accusations that he was propagandizing for Obama with government money.

In public appearances and in his latest book, France’s most famous public intellectual has been quoting from the work of Jean-Baptiste Botul, putative author of The Sex Life of Immanuel Kant. M. Botul (founder of the Botulisme school of thought) is, in fact, the creation of a satirist who writes for Le Canard enchaîné. (Lévy has been a remarkably good sport about the embarrassment.)

“McSweeney’s was told by Timothy’s family that he passed away after a ‘long struggle with illness’ on 24 January, aged 67. ‘As a young man, Timothy was an artist of tremendous talent. The canvasses he leaves behind are … filled with a palpable desire – to be heard, to connect, to be understood better by others and himself.'”

“Royal Opera House chief executive Tony Hall has been awarded a peerage in the House of Lords. His precise title has not yet been confirmed, but Hall, who is also chair of the Cultural Olympiad board, has been appointed as a non-party political peer.”

“With Dankworth’s death we see the passing of a generation; men and women who enriched British musical life and wove jazz into the fabric of so many other art forms.”

Former arts philanthropist “Vilar was also given three years of probation to be served after his prison term and a $25,000 fine. He was ordered to pay $21.9 million in restitution.”

“From 1988 to 1999, [he] served as managing director and executive director of the Pasadena Playhouse, where he was responsible for presenting more than 150 plays and musicals, including four that went to Broadway.” (He died two days after the Playhouse announced that it would close its doors.) Hansen went on to head L.A.’s Theater League Alliance and USC’s cultural relations office.