"Derek defined himself as a reviewer rather than a critic, having started when more judgmental figures were leaving the arena. Among many choice anecdotes, he recalled that one of his predecessors on The Guardian ... was fired for dismissing The Sound of Music in a one-word review: 'No'." - The Guardian
Birkin "helped define chic female sexuality of the 1970s as an actress in arty and erotic European movies and in her relationship — equal parts romantic and artistic — with the singer Serge Gainsbourg." (Later came the Birkin Bag.) - The New York Times
Minco "described the stark crisis of Jewish life in the Netherlands during World War II, based on her own experiences." Her first book, Het Bittere Kruid or Bitter Herbs, blew open Dutch silence on the more than 100,000 Dutch Jews murdered in the Holocaust. - The New York Times
Described by the Poetry Foundation as "a consummate channeler of children's sensibilities," she wrote more than 50 books for young readers, starting in 1957 and continuing to this year, and she won a National Book Award in 1983 for A House Is a House for Me. - MSN (The Washington Post)
Schjeldahl’s best stuff, to borrow something he said about Clement Greenberg, is always “in command of what it omits.” One conspicuous omission is any kind of overarching theory. - ARTnews
"(He) was the most widely read Czech writer of the 20th century after Kafka. … Although, unlike Kafka, he lived to see fame, he also survived long enough to witness the waning of his reputation, and never received the Nobel Prize that had once been talked of as a certainty." - MSN (The Telegraph)
Four historians weigh in, with takes ranging from "(he) resolved to be a good king and even a reformer" to "one of the most lamentable tenures of England's medieval monarchs" to "his reign was too short to give a definitive answer." - History Today
I didn’t have any ambition to be a “novelist.” I just had the strong desire to write a novel. I had no concrete image of what I wanted to write about—just the conviction that I could come up with something that I’d find convincing. - The New Yorker
Pratt, originally from Alabama, "moved between the worlds of literature, scholarship and activism over nearly five decades as the LGBTQ+ community achieved gains such as legalization of same-sex marriage and greater recognition of trans and nonbinary identities. But Ms. Pratt rarely adopted a celebratory tone." - Washington Post
Shall it be the will in the cupboard, or the will from the sofa cushions? "I think they all wish this had been settled a week after she passed away. ... But they’re not blaming anyone — it is what it is." - The New York Times
"Biermann was born under Nazism, in 1936, and raised in West Germany. As a teenager, he defected to the East and made a career as a singer of witty, folk-inspired songs — until an anti-authoritarian streak in his music began to trouble the Communist authorities." - The New York Times
"Nero was a national treasure. He appeared with Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis and other headliners; released 72 albums; conducted the Philly Pops for 34 years, often with one hand while the other played a piano." - The New York Times
Over the decades, Carter had formed a “repertory company of writers, editors, designers, illustrators, and photographers,” as David Kamp, a member of the troupe, put it, and they were soon called upon to join his new venture. - Columbia Journalism Review
He was a virtuoso, able to match any jump by Nureyev or Baryshnikov (and he worked with both). But, at 5'2", he'd never dance romantic leads. That gave him time to do theatre and movies and TV, party with Elton John and Freddie Mercury, and become a household name. - The Guardian
