Meskis was the owner of the Tattered Cover in Denver. "In addition to creating a bookstore famed for its vast selection and bibliophile-friendly atmosphere, Ms. Meskis often took a stand in matters related to censorship and the First Amendment." - The New York Times
The novelist and screenwriter (My Beautiful Laundrette) fell in Rome the day after Christmas. He wrote in a series of tweets that he can't move his arms or legs after the fall and a surgery on his spine. - The Guardian (UK)
They bicker all the time, about every comma, period, and semicolon. Actually, don’t even get them started on semicolons. Gottlieb refers to a “civil war” that took place over the punctuation mark’s usage. The flintiness about every little thing is part of their shtick. - The Atlantic
When the researchers predicted how many of them would stick to their resolutions after six months, their expectations ranged from 10% to 25%. The real number turned out to be 40%. - Wall Street Journal
"A polemicist whose opinions shaped themselves around the plot of her latest book, a pragmatist who giggled her way through every sentence, she was mischievous and evasive, yet wilfully and wittily life-affirming. … Weldon gave a big wink to her future obituarists: catch me if you can, (she's) saying." - The Guardian
The 1960s were Stan Lee’s most astonishing decade, during which he came up with ideas and scripts for the first appearances of such heroes as the original X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Black Panther, Daredevil and Doctor Strange. - The Conversation
A double Tony winner, a mainstay of the Steppenwolf and Goodman Theaters, Galati was admired as an adapter of literature for the stage, an actor, and, especially, a director, one who was genuinely adored by his colleagues. - Chicago Sun-Times
My students could appreciate his skill as a musical dramatist, his innovations as a craftsman, his inventive wit and longing harmonic lines. But what really drew them in—or, perhaps, what they drew out—was his preoccupation with people excluded from the dominant society. - The Atlantic
"Juan Tamariz has been a professional magician for 52 years, ... becoming both a household name in his home country and a living legend in magic everywhere. … In Spain, Tamariz is an icon, less like David Copperfield and more like Kermit the Frog." - The New York Times Magazine
"'It was exhilarating to be edited by Andrea,' said Margo Jefferson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning essayist and former Times writer. 'Can one feel chastened at times but still exhilarated?'" - The New York Times
Walters "repeatedly enjoyed the last guffaw over doubters and detractors during a career spanning five decades. She shattered glass ceilings, sending shards into many male egos. She became the most durable and versatile TV host of her era." - Washington Post
"His prolific career spanned more than six decades, with over 100 completed buildings erected. ... The bold, helical Art Tower Mito in Japan, the Sidra tree-inspired Qatar National Convention Center in Doha and the Palau Saint Jordi, created for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, are among his best-known works." - CNN
"Iannone depicted female sexuality in a bold graphic style that drew from Japanese woodcuts, Greek vase painting, and visual themes from various Eastern religions." As she told a magazine in 2009, "When my work was not censored outright, it was mildly ridiculed, or described as folkloric, or just ignored." - Artforum
"Ironically, the ban has brought droves of new readers to his work, ... (and Maus) sold 665,000 copies this year, more than triple its 2021 sales. But the renewed attention has also been exhausting, and left him with little time or energy for his art." - The New York Times
The creative people who died this year include many whose lives helped shape our own — through the art they made, and through the words they said. - The New York Times
