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How Sondheim’s Collection Came To The Library Of Congress

The Library announced this week that it has acquired more than 5,000 items from Sondheim's collection, which will be available to the public on July 1. - CBC

Study: What Makes A Person “Cool”?

A new study suggests that there are six specific traits that these people tend to have in common: Cool people are largely perceived to be extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous. - The New York Times

Frederick M. Nicholas, L.A.’s “Mr. Downtown Culture,” Has Died At 105

“A war hero, attorney and real estate developer, … (he) led the design and development of major L.A. landmarks, including the Museum of Contemporary Art and Walt Disney Concert Hall, … (shepherding) the city out of a cultural stasis and turn(ing) it into a global cultural and architectural powerhouse.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Mark Brokaw, Award-Winning Broadway/Off-Broadway Director, Dead At 66

“A prolific director of Off-Broadway, Broadway and regional productions, beginning in the 1990s (he) worked with some of the brightest emerging playwrights, including Douglas Carter Beane, Kenneth Lonergan, Nicky Silver, and Paula Vogel,” directing the acclaimed premieres of Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth and Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive. - Deadline

What Toni Morrison Was Like As An Editor

 Her unwavering commitment to shoring up the integrity of a book at every stage solidified her legacy as an editor who could turn talent, hers and that of the authors she published, into cultural and literary power. - Slate

Jordan Roth Made A Career Getting Other People’s Work Onto Broadway. Now He’s Making His Own

“I worked for a long time facilitating other people’s creativity, and that was very meaningful and very fulfilling, but I started to miss my own,” Roth, 49, told me during a rehearsal break at a black box studio in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood. - The New York Times

Diana Oh, Passionate Advocate For Queer Theatre, Has Died At 38

Oh was "a glitter-dusted experimental artist-activist whose theater works intertwined political provocation with profound compassion in rituals of communion with audiences,” beloved by theatre folk in New York and across the country. - The New York Times

A Former Museum Director’s Cautionary Tale About Intimidation And Coercion

 “There is a kind of performative sheen or a performative element that is not about just the fact of quashing opposition wherever it might be found … but also demonstrating the facts of that quashing through the overt and open humiliation … of the persons involved.” - Hyperallergic

Composer Lalo Schifrin, Who Wrote Iconic “Mission: Impossible” Theme, Has Died At 93

The Argentine-born musician, who had long performing experience in both classical and jazz, wrote memorable music for an impressive list of feature films and television series, earning four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations. In addition, he composed over 50 concert works and maintained a conducting career. - The Washington Post (MSN)

Bill Moyers, Dean Of American Public TV Journalism, Dead At 91

His career ranged from Baptist minister to LBJ’s press secretary to publisher of Long Island’s Newsday to a decade at CBS News, but it was for PBS that he produced hundreds of hours of some of American TV’s most cerebral and provocative series. - AP

Léon Krier, New Urbanist Architect Who Designed King Charles’s Model Town, Has Died At 79

“Poundbury is Krier’s most substantial built legacy, a project that was widely ridiculed when it began in the 1980s, but which time has vindicated. … Poundbury’s principles of mixed-use, low-rise high-density have been widely taken up, forming the basis of the present government’s new towns plan – if, perhaps, without the classical fancy dress.” - The Guardian

1960s Teen Idol Bobby Sherman Is Dead At 81

“Sherman was a squeaky-clean regular on the covers of Tiger Beat and Sixteen magazines, often with hair over his eyes and a choker on his neck. His face was printed on lunchboxes, cereal boxes and posters that hung on the bedroom walls of his adoring fans.” - AP

The Man Who Became History-Keeper Of A Legendary Dance Mecca

Norton Owen has worked in the press office, run the summer school for students, and done development work. But along the way, he began to stage exhibitions and work his way through the programs, films, photographs, posters and other documentation that filled boxes and shelves in the festival offices. - The New York Times

Sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, Master of The Bronze Sphere, Is Dead At 98

“Pomodoro’s massive spheres are instantly recognizable: shiny, smooth bronze globes with clawed out interiors that Pomodoro has said referred to the superficial perfection of exteriors and the troubled complexity of interiors. … (They) decorate iconic public spaces from the Vatican to the United Nations.” - AP

Actor Jay Ellis Found Inspiration In Colson Whitehead’s Books

The star of movies, and now Off-Broadway, says, "I feel like I did not understand or see myself in fiction until I read him. Sag Harbor was the first thing I read. I’ve been a huge fan since.” - The New York Times

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