Category: people

Mr. Lang — who long maintained that his greatest fear was an injury that would leave him unable to play the piano, and therefore, as he once put it, “render me useless for life” — spent his forced sabbatical taking stock. “I used the time,” Mr. Lang said in an interview, “to rethink everything I do.” – The New York Times

“[He was] a well-regarded book and magazine editor who had his own moment as a literary cause célèbre in 2015 when he published Bettyville, a memoir about caring for his aging mother that also delved into his growing up gay in a Midwestern town.” – The New York Times

Thirty-five years ago, Owens and co-founder Raphael Parry established what may have been North Texas’ first, literally underground theater. They christened it the Undermain because its home was – and still is – a basement in Deep Ellum at 3200 Main. – Art & Seek

“Merz was the lone woman among a loose coterie of men who came to be grouped in late-1960s Italy under the banner of Arte Povera — ‘poor art’ — a term [denoting use of] humble, raw materials. … Recent exhibitions have made it clear that she was the most versatile and inventive member of the group.” – ARTnews

“[His] erudite, acerbic and elegantly crafted writing about dance and classical music filled the pages of The Chronicle and countless other local and national periodicals for more than 40 years.” – The San Francisco Chronicle

Before running the NEA and, briefly, the Metropolitan Opera, Southern was the first executive director of the Theatre Development Fund. Though Broadway producers resisted the discount TKTS booth at first, they came to see its value later: “In the fiscal year that ended June 30, in which a record 14.7 million people saw Broadway shows, the TKTS booth at all three locations sold more than 1.1 million same-day discounted tickets, about 8 percent of all tickets sold.” – The New York Times

Camilleri picked up the Sicilian-Italian mystery series mantle almost by accident: At 69, he thought he was a “sloppy” writer who would be served by trying to write mysteries. To put it mildly, that worked. – The New York Times

Wyman wandered New York & Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s “to capture compelling images of everyday people working, playing, idling, dancing or selling newspapers.” Her work for Life, Business Week, Look and other magazines “went largely unheralded for decades” but was recognized later in her life. – The New York Times

Golub was concertmaster at the group’s founding in 1972, and he shaped the sound and direction of the group through choosing the musicians, until he retired from Music of the Baroque in 2006. A critic wrote, “Golub was an inspiring musician to hear and see. … Technically, he was virtuosic. Interpretively, he was consistently passionate. In concert, that was a powerful and irresistible combination.” – Chicago Tribune

Pelli, born in Argentina, was the former dean of Yale’s architecture school. He designed the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, and architecture critic Paul Goldberger called him “an architect of great dignity and lively creativity who did as much as anyone in the last generation to evolve the form of the skyscraper.” – The Guardian (UK)