Soprano Frances Yeend, 92 Acclaimed soprano Frances Yeend, a regular on New York stages in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s has died aged 92. "Her last performance with the Met was in 1963, as Gutrune in Wagner's Götterdämmerung... Most recently Ms. Yeend was an emeritus faculty member of West Virginia University in Morgantown."

The New York Times 05/08/08

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Schiller Remains Still A Mystery "Who is buried in Friedrich Schiller's tomb? Several people, apparently, but none of them the famous poet and playwright, according to new research. After two years of painstaking DNA research, experts have determined that none of the remains billed as those of Schiller belong to the German writer."

USA Today (AP) 05/06/08

email this story | Posted 05/08/08@06:11AM

Modernist Architect Dies At 92 "Victor F. Christ-Janer, a member of a group of influential architects who built Modernist homes and offices in New Canaan, Conn., died on March 24 at the home he designed for himself there. He was 92."

The New York Times 05/08/08

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Finding Room For Serra's Steel "France is making a fuss this week over Richard Serra, the 68-year-old American bantamweight who fashions elegant, gargantuan art out of steel... But the sheer scale of Mr. Serra's work has always created difficulties, to which Paris has found two creative solutions..."

The New York Times 05/07/08

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The Livent Fraud Trial: Charges Of Duplicate Books "Among the allegations: Drabinsky and Gottlieb directed staff to inflate earnings, income and assets, allowing the company to maintain its share price. Suppliers were induced to issue invoices with false dates. Accounting software was changed to foil auditors."

Toronto Star 05/06/08

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Kevin Spacey Apologizes To Andrew Lloyd Webber Spacey had previously criticised the reality shows as a "13-week promotion for a musical." Lloyd Webber is currently on the judging panel for I'd Do Anything which sees hopefuls compete for a role in the musical version of Oliver Twist.

BBC 05/04/08

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Andrea Bocelli: Fame Over Art Bocelli has admitted that at times he sold his talent short. He said: I regret being forced by circumstances to do things that were very profitable, but occupied a lot of time I could have dedicated to more artistically satisfying work."

The Times (UK) 05/05/08

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Rushdie: Death Threat Made Me Better Person "Sir Salman Rushdie has confessed how he emerged a better person after being under a fatwa that saw him live a life in virtual seclusion for almost a decade."

The Independent (UK) 05/04/08

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Alice Walker To Daughter: I Resign As Your Mother Alice Walker's daughter has talked about what a terrible mother Walker was. "Walker is furious with Rebecca for making such sentiments public, and mother and daughter are estranged with little hope of reconciliation."

The Times (UK) 05/04/08

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Remembering Composer Henry Brant "Much of the music of America's past, its dances and marches and dirges, was played simultaneously. But Brant's ingenious use of the location and carefully engineered counterpoint allowed the ear to accommodate the various musical strands. Music not meant to get along did."

Los Angeles Times 05/01/08

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Broadcaster Humphrey Lyttleton, 86 Lyttelton will leave an enormous gap not just in British cultural life as a whole but in the lives of many millions of listeners,'' BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said in a statement today. ``One of the towering figures of British jazz, he excelled too as a writer, cartoonist, humorist and, of course, as a broadcaster.''

Bloomberg 04/28/08

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Composer Henry Brant, 94 A composer of hundreds of works, many featuring enormous and unique ensembles such as 80 trombones, Brant was one of last surviving members of the original generation of early 20th century American maverick composers.

NewMusicBox 04/28/08

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A Less Flattering Portrait Of Norman Mailer From His Secret Papers "An archive of Mallory's personal papers, recently bought by Harvard University, was shown exclusively to The Sunday Times on Friday. It contains a devastating portrait of Mailer's sexual decline from world-class lothario to malfunctioning lover."

The Times (UK) 04/27/08

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Actress Sells Norman Mailer Papers To Harvard An actress and writer who said she was Norman Mailer's former longtime mistress has sold papers that include lengthy accounts of their sex life and hand-edited drafts of her writing to Harvard University, Mailer's alma mater.

USAToday 04/25/08

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Edith Wharton Estate Fends Off Foreclosure "The 97-year-old estate where the Pulitzer Prize-winning author penned House of Mirth and found inspiration for Ethan Frome has temporarily avoided foreclosure after raising $800,000 by today's deadline."

Bloomberg 04/24/08

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Burroughs Gets Serious "At 42 Augusten Burroughs is the first to admit he has written 'more memoirs than anyone my age should be entitled to write.'" But he's got another coming out, about his father this time, and "gone are the sharp one-liners, the exaggerated portraits and the wacky antics. In their place is a chilling and terrifying depiction of a soulless sociopath who can barely contain a murderous rage."

The New York Times 04/24/08

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Edward Albee At 80 "I'm the author of some 30 plays, and I think only six or seven returned their investment, I have a very bizarre mind, by the way. I can read a book and forget about it. ... And 20 years later, a character that I am writing can quote from the book. and I can't even recall that I read it."

Yahoo! (AP) 04/23/08

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Trevor Nunn: Confessions Of A Star Director "At 68, Trevor Nunn has every reason for confidence but is surprisingly insecure. He is principled, wealthy, married to the actress Imogen Stubbs and, all cavils aside, a brilliant director. Nobody can handle a large stage, and few a small one, more effectively than Nunn."

The Times (UK) 04/23/08

email this story | Posted 04/23/08@06:51PM

Artist Steve Kurtz Cleared Of Bio-Terrorism Charges Why the FBI chose to pursue this case is unclear, but Kurtz's supporters are convinced that it was an intentional attempt to punish an artist who is critical of the government's authoritarian tendency. As Nature magazine put it: "It seems that government lawyers are singling Kurtz out as a warning to the broader artistic community".

The Guardian (UK) 04/23/08

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Zimbabwean Writers Speak Out On Crisis Today's Zimbabwe is filled with a sense of foreboding, though many had hoped that the recent election would enable it to sing again. But the country has a long tradition of writers speaking out - sometimes prophetically - against the excesses of dictators.

The Guardian (UK) 04/22/07

email this story | Posted 04/22/08@07:13PM

Doing The Right Thing (Politically) David Mamet is the latest of several prominent writers to abandon the Left for the political Right. "As former victims of political delusion, these defectors claim a unique authority. But there is something quite particular about spending the second half of your life taking revenge on the first."

The Guardian (UK)03/19/08

email this story | Posted 04/20/08@05:42PM

Roger Ebert Returns To Print "His criticism shows a nearly unequaled grasp of film history and technique, and formidable intellectual range, but he rarely seems to be showing off. He's just trying to tell you what he thinks, and to provoke some thought on your part about how movies work and what they can do."

International Herald Tribune 03/17/08

email this story | Posted 04/20/08@12:23PM

Rushdie Thinks About His Time Running Out Salman Rushdie typically takes three to five years to write a book. "You think 'How many more have I got?' And so the question of which ones ... becomes unusually important when you are no longer immortal.

Yahoo! (Reuters) 04/20/08

email this story | Posted 04/20/08@11:40AM

Toronto Fest Reups Its Chief "The board of Luminato, Toronto's festival of arts and creativity, has signed Janice Price, its visionary and energetic leader, to a three-year extension of her contract as CEO. That means Price will be at the helm for a minimum of the first five Luminato festivals, starting with its debut last year and lasting through the 2011 edition."

Toronto Star 04/17/08

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Animator Ollie Johnson, 95 "The animator Ollie Johnston, the last of the Disney "nine old men," as the studio's core group of senior animators was called, died on Monday in Sequim, Wash... He was especially proud of his work on "Bambi" and its classic scenes, including the heartbreaking death of Bambi's mother at the hands of a hunter."

The New York Times 04/16/08

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Diddy's Extreme Theatrical Makeover To those not enamored of rap music, Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy, Puffy, P Diddy, etc.) is often seen as a punchline. But Combs has lately caught the serious acting bug, and he's doing whatever he can to establish credibility on the legitimate stage.

The Telegraph (UK) 04/16/08

email this story | Posted 04/15/08@07:30PM

JK Rowling Says Court Case Has Sapped Her Creativity Rowling told a New York court on Monday that the demands of the case had caused her to halt work on a new novel. The author, who wrote seven novels about the boy wizard, said the stress has "decimated my creative work over the past month."

Canada.com (Reuters) 04/14/08

email this story | Posted 04/15/08@08:16AM

How Trevor Nunn Got To Gone With The Wind "Whether through workaholism or ambition, director Trevor Nunn has been both unflagging and unpredictable; a champion of highbrow modernis and then cheery populism."

The Times (UK) 04/12/08

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Legend Of Arabic Writing Earns Some Western Respect "At 73, the novelist Bahaa Taher has weathered political purges and a lengthy exile from his native Egypt to carry off the [first ever] Booker prize for Arabic fiction... One of the most respected living writers in the Arab world, he has written six novels (three translated into English), four short-story collections, plays and non-fiction."

The Guardian (UK) 04/11/08

email this story | Posted 04/10/08@07:26PM

Mailer Memorial Packs Carnegie Hall "You need a big block of time, and space, to say goodbye to Norman Mailer. More than 2,000 mourners filled Carnegie Hall to near capacity Wednesday for a two-hour-plus memorial, concert, literary tribute, family therapy session and Friars Club roast for the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of The Armies of the Night and The Executioner's Song."

The Globe & Mail (AP) 04/10/08

email this story | Posted 04/10/08@06:19AM

Utzon Feted By Sydney On His 90th Birthday "He has never actually laid eyes on the finished product, but the creator of the Sydney Opera House has been serenaded in Australia on his 90th birthday." Jorn Utzon quit the Sydney project 8 years in over budget disputes. The birthday serenade took place beneath one of the opera house's famous white sails.

The Telegraph (UK) 04/10/08

email this story | Posted 04/09/08@07:41PM

The Estranged Wagner The descendants of Richard Wagner are generally reluctant to discuss their familial links to Adold Hitler and the Third Reich. But then, there's Gottfried Wagner. "Gottfried became ashamed of being both German and a Wagner," and has no problem explaining why.

The Independent (UK) 04/09/08

email this story | Posted 04/08/08@07:15PM

Bulgarian Crime Novelist 'Murdered By His Characters' "Bulgaria's Georgi Stoev, the author of crime stories who died after he was shot in the head in downtown Sofia, feared for his life because of the books he wrote, publisher Nedyalko Nedyalkov said. 'Georgi was murdered by his characters,' Nedyalkov declared Tuesday in an interview for Nova Television."

Sofia News Agency (Bulgaria) 04/08/08

email this story | Posted 04/08/08@07:46AM

Charlton Heston, Faithful Pen Pal, Constant Reader "Charlton Heston, who died Saturday at age 84, was an avid newspaper reader, eager to share his opinions. In addition to writing dozens of letters to the paper over four decades, the 'Ben-Hur' star often would telephone Los Angeles Times editors with his comments." Here's a sampling from his missives.

Los Angeles Times 04/08/08

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Publisher Simon Michael Bessie Dies at 92 "Simon Michael Bessie, who in 1959 left a top editorial position at what was then called Harper & Brothers to help found Atheneum Publishers, perhaps the last major literary house to be started from scratch in the 20th century, died on Monday at his home in Lyme, Conn."

The New York Times 04/08/08

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The Heston We've Forgotten "Charlton Heston, who has died at the age of 83, became known for his reactionary views on gun ownership as much as his film roles. But it wasn't always that way... There was once a younger Charlton Heston who threw his fame and good looks behind the civil rights movement, and other causes that required courage and conviction."

The Independent (UK) 04/07/08

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The Evolution Of Laurie Anderson (And Her Audience) "With million-selling albums and countless tours under her belt, Laurie Anderson is often still regarded as the kooky, spiky-haired queen of 1980s pop experimentalism, guaranteed to provide a little social comment but never to spark actual outrage." So even she was taken aback when her latest project sparked walkouts and catcalls in Boston.

The Guardian (UK) 04/07/08

email this story | Posted 04/07/08@08:34PM

Rothko's Family Sues To Move His Remains The children of artist Mark Rothko are petitioning the New York Supreme Court to allow their father's remains to be moved from the Long Island cemetery where they have lain for 38 years to a Jewish cemetery in Westchester County, north of New York City. There will be plenty of resistance to the petition.

The New York Times 04/08/08

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Tracy Letts, Junot Diaz Among Pulitzer Winners The 2008 Pulitzer Prize winners are ...

The New York Times 04/07/08

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Did Oscar Wilde Beget Paris Hilton? "Oscar Wilde, it seems, is our contemporary. He died in Paris 108 years ago, a near-friendless exile, impoverished, shunned, disgraced. Today, he is world-famous and universally admired... He would not have quarrelled with the attention: he was a pioneer of celebrity culture."

The Times (UK) 04/05/08

email this story | Posted 04/06/08@06:45PM