“(She) believed that it was Soviet repression which made her so powerful and distinctive a composer, though it was only after the fall of Communism that she became well known in the West, … becoming, in her 70s, one of the most sought-after composers in the world.” - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
The New York Times crossword editor and Sunday-morning NPR stalwart suffered two strokes a year ago. He came home from the hospital last April and has been hard at work on recovery ever since. New York mag restaurant critic Matthew Schneier tagged along for a therapy session. - New York Magazine (MSN)
“At the Library of Congress, his employer for 44 years, he ... created a jazz film series, solicited and catalogued collections of recordings and papers of jazz greats, hosted concerts and curated a huge collection that barely existed when he arrived as an intern in 1979.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
Citizenship had supplied Fugard with his mission as a writer. But he understood the difference between art and politics and resisted anyone dictating his agenda as a playwright. - Los Angeles Times
In 1965, Mr. Sellers and William Reineke, graduates of the Yale School of Architecture, had the radical idea that structures turned out better if they were built by the architects who had designed them. - The New York Times
In South Africa, “for decades he was considered subversive by the government; at times productions of his work, with their integrated casts, were considered illegal, and his co-workers in the theater were jailed.” - The New York Times
A new documentary “draws heavily from Mekas’s visual diaries, which Davison said seemed to reflect the rootlessness he experienced as a refugee during World War II and his enduring search for moments of beauty or calm.” - The New York Times
He was always a natural mimic, and he used that ability to make a remarkable career as a voice actor, most famously on The Simpsons. Yet, from his teenage years well into adulthood, he used his talent for becoming other people to avoid the question, “Who is Hank Azaria?” - The Washington Post (MSN)
As partner in Diller Scofidio + Renfro, he had a hand in designing numerous landmarks of contemporary public architecture, in New York — the High Line, the Shed, and major redesigns of Lincoln Center and MoMA — and elsewhere — the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. - CNN
“Thomas Jolly filed a complaint for death threats after receiving homophobic and antisemitic abuse on social networks. The online attacks erupted after Jolly’s acclaimed but controversial opening spectacle on the Seine in July — a queer-inclusive, high-energy fusion of tradition and modernity.” - AP
In radical breaks from the traditions of his profession, “his playgrounds and landscapes emphasized abstract, elemental forms for play and exploration, inserted into gritty New York City public housing projects, light-years away from the ornamental gardening approach that spawned the discipline in the 19th century.” - Bloomberg CityLab
For over a decade before that spring day in 1992, Barry Joule, a Canadian handyman with a rock-star mane, had been one of Bacon’s helpers, doing odd jobs around the artist’s London home and driving him to exhibitions. - The New York Times
“An artist known for his ubiquity around New York City’s cultural scene, (he) nevertheless managed to exist outside its manic commercial hustle, using antique cameras and homemade paints to produce haunting photographs and landscape paintings.” - The New York Times
“Once his jacket and shoes were off, he leaped onto the bed with surprising grace and struck the perfect pose. My only suggestion was for his palms to be facing upward.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
Holder was "a standout dancer ... who made his name in the 1960s and early ’70s in pointedly topical works like Astarte, a groundbreaking psychedelic ballet, and The Green Table, a haunting 1930s antiwar ballet made newly relevant by the Vietnam War.” - The New York Times
