“A bronze bust of Spencer Tracy sculpted by Katharine Hepburn sold for $316,000 yesterday on the second day of an auction of the late actress’s effects. The sculpture had been estimated to sell for $3,000 to $5,000. Hepburn made the bust of her longtime love and frequent costar in the 1960s. She considered it one of her prized possessions. It sat on a bedside table in her New York City townhouse and often went with her when she traveled.”
Tag: 06.12.04
An Author Ungagged
Alice Randall, the author of The Wind Done Gone (the Gone With The Wind parody which the Margaret Mitchell estate tried to stifle) hasn’t been able to talk about her battle to get the novel published, thanks to orders from her own publisher’s legal team. But Randall has a new book out, and with the controversy well behind her, she’s finally speaking out. “A lot of older black people experienced it as a black voice being silenced. It was an intellectual awakening for me that the copyright act can be used for censorship.”
Not Taking No For An Answer
New York City Opera wasn’t particularly surprised when city officials rejected their request to move to Ground Zero once the new complex is completed. General director Paul Kellogg insists that the company isn’t giving up its quest for a new home. “Despite his brave talk, however, the rejection of this proposal represents an enormous setback for this innovative company. It’s hard to think of another arts organization in New York that is so hobbled by its performance space.”
Artistic Profiling?
Arthur Robins was spending a leisurely afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when suddenly he found himself being interrogated by several cops from the Joint Terrorist Task Force of the NYPD. According to the cops, Robins had been fingered as the man who had been surreptitiously hanging cartoonish paintings of President Bush in major museums up and down the Eastern seaboard. That night, the investigators showed up at Robins’s apartment for more questioning. Here’s the kicker, according to the suspect: “Out of 90,000 street artists in New York, they picked the one who doesn’t despise Bush.”