Milestones 2

cont'd

They've finally replaced Ian Buruma at the New York Review of Books with a new editor—two new editors, actually: Emily Greenhouse and Gabriel Winslow-Yost. Who knows, maybe an infusion of new blood will be a good thing.

New York Review Names 2 Top Editors 5 Months After Ian Buruma’s Departure

Is it so wrong of me to think that she's going to need a little maternity leave any minute and offer to step in for her for a few months?

My god, is that not the most perfect office you have ever seen?

It certainly is.

All I could think of was that they had to live in Brooklyn.

Oh no, Merwin today at 91.

Vonda McIntyre

Her first novel, Dreamsnake, fell into my hands in high school and is one of the reasons I began to gravitate towards womanist science fiction.

A personal loss for me. Her books opened me up to new worlds.

Tony Horwitz

I'm in shock.

oh my god, so young! To lose a writer of his talent, wit and intelligence and curiosity is indeed shocking. i always assumed, once i had discovered Confederates in the Attic in a SLC ndie bookstore , that Id be treated to more of his histories every other year or so forever. That is not to be. He was similar to Bryson in being able to use humor to make historic events and people come alive, but never turned into the judgemental grump that Bryson seems into now. My fav of Tony's is probaby Voyage Long and strange for with the exception of Cortez, I knew very little of the conqueros pre plymouth rock in the rest of the country. Cant remember the name of the book of differnt inventors and artists who didn't quite make it big; love how he writes stories of all sorts of folk, and this was a perfect examplt of that.

Condolences to his wife, author Geraldin Brook and he family. Rest in Peace Tony; may your memory be a blessing

Oh, that's sad. But man, a life well lived, it seems like.

So sorry about this. My copy of her One Big Table has been loved and used into tatters.

Molly O'Neill

Obviously I'm a bit late to this news, but oh no! And I love that cook book too. It's the best of both worlds -- excellent recipes and lots of reading/browsing material.

I love that One Big Table. I read it even when I'm not cooking out of it.

Toni Morrison has died. I feel like the whole country, the whole world, should just stop for the day and mourn.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/books/toni-morrison-dead.html

Indeed, the whole world. RIP :(

I spent the first half of today writing her obit for LJ—it did the job but didn't improve on the NYT article linked to above, that's for sure. But it was very personally comforting to have that be my mandate for the day.

I think Morrison changed the world. When we talk about art "making a difference" it is Morrison I think of. Not Orwell, whose 1984 and Animals Farm became a kind of useful shorthand metaphor for state repression. Not Rachel Carson, whose Silent Spring woke people up to the fact their world was dying around them. Or Upton Sinclair, who grossed and shamed people into seeing the awful cost of industrialization. Not Harper Lee, who wrote a book that allowed (white) people to at least start to talk about racism without squirming with guilt. Morrison changed the world we live in...she changed the world of everyone who read her, everyone she wrote about, everyone she wrote for. Even if you have never read a book of hers, if you live in the United States, you live in a country and a culture she has worked to shape. She deserves a state funeral or something.

And if you read at all, you're reading off a canon she worked to change.

Just so.

Tayari Jones on Toni Morrison:

"I put my heart into this piece, and it is still not enough"

https://time.com/5646235/toni-morrisons-work-and-legacy

Paule Marshall

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/16/books/paule-marshall-dead.html

damn damn damn DAMN

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/17/media/cokie-roberts/index.html

I have listened to her on npr from the beginning. She informed me, inspired me, made me laugh and cry She lived a long good life, led the way for so many. Sad to lose such a voice. May her memory be a blessing.

Elijah Cummings

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/17/politics/elijah-cummings/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0m...

I know he had some controversies in Baltimore, but I've always seen him as a national treasure. He was the one, almost single-handedly, who forced this aberration of an administration to overturn their incomprehensibly cruel policy of sending children with life-threatening illnesses back to their countries of origin where they couldn't get the treatments they needed to stay alive. Children who were originally *invited* by U.S. experimental medical programs, and then given 30 days to leave or be deported by the Trump WH. It was appalling and it was rescinded at the 11th hour mostly due to Cummings' fierce efforts.

I loved listening to him speak when he got riled. He could be a real firebrand.

We don't see many like him in Congress, anymore.

R.I.P. Chris Dickey

https://www.thedailybeast.com/legendary-foreign-correspondent-chris-dickey-dies-...

Known to MSNBC regular viewers as that network's "Man in Paris." Son of writer James Dickey ("Deliverance"), and highly respected war correspondent. He brought us a singularly European slant to his reports, full of elegant insight. The past year saw a normally composed and measured chronicler turn from tightly clipped to refined disgust with the state of his home country. He was only 68 y/o. I'll miss his appearances. I don't see many authentic journalists on TV.

John Lewis

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/17/john-lewis-obit-civil-rights-congress-0...

Oh, damn.

from the obit

“Do not get lost in a sea of despair,” he tweeted in June 2018. “Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

RIP May his memory be for a blessing

I happened to pick up Book Three of the graphic novel March which was written and is about the life of John Lewis. then I came home and learned he had passed away.
If you haven’t read March,it’s an exceptional work. Book one is great but I think Book Two is even greater. The scenes of white people ready to kill the freedom fighters in restaurants is horrifying. Just a wonderful book and a wonderful tribute to a man I didn’t know anything about. By far the greatest graphic novel I’ve ever read.

Joy Reid had the author of "March" on her show today. The whole show was dedicated to Lewis and CT Vivian. Aydin was very emotional.

Olivia de Haviland

https://abc13.com/entertainment/olivia-de-havilland-gone-with-the-wind-star-dies...

Jan Morris

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/books/jan-morris-dead.html?action=click&a...

>33 DG_Strong: I knew it was coming, but that one hurts.

just coming here to report. Yeah, it hurts; loved her travel writing and essays and loved reading about her life. May her memory be for a blessing

Oh shit. She is one of the first authors I was turned on to back in the TT days. Knowledge of Angels is my fav of hers but so many others. She lived a long good life.

I'm a fan of Knowledge of Angels, although not the rest of her books for adults. That's a lovely obituary written with genuine warmth.

I’m always afraid to open this folder,I don’t know what to expect.

Me, too.

I've only read her kids lit - I was a great fan of Fireweed about the Blitz.

I was a great fan of Fireweed - I only know her kids lit.

There was one she did about a boy who was befriended by a Persian emperor, can't remember the name of it. Really liked it

Alison Lurie

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/books/alison-lurie-dead.html

Coming here to post the same. Guess it's time to read my copy of Foreign Affairs.

geesh, losing another author popular with the villians. I did love her work May need to reread Foriegn Affairs as well.

>47 southernbooklady: That hurts my heart.

This hurts my heart: Sharon kay Penman This was on her blog today oh my god, this is gonna be hard Sharon Kay Penman

Hi friends, this is Stephanie Churchill Ling posting. It's with a heavy heart that I have some shattering news to share. As many of you know, Sharon has been having various health issues for some time. In the past 18 months, things escalated, and she began to experience more symptoms and extreme fatigue. It was only recently she was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer that had already reached stage 4. On Monday of this week, she was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia. She passed away quietly, in her sleep, this morning. Her family grieves, and now those who loved her well along with you, her fans, join with them. News of a memorial is pending. I will keep you updated as I learn more.

I had the honor of meeting her in phx as well as exchanging letters for our trip to wales. Have read all of her books What a loss. May her memory be for a blessing

I haven't seen an obit yet but will post when I see it

This one hits hard: Sharon Kay Penman NYT Obituary

Even Historical Fiction haters rave about her Welsh Trilogy, but her magnum opus is The Sunne in Splendour. That work of fiction based upon years of research realized what most historical fiction writers can only dream: it almost single-handedly righted an historical wrong along the lines of Chernow's Alexander Hamilton. Even the snobby Richard III Society praised Penman's literary-historical investigation. Her great talent was her wonderful ability to meld her impeccable research into the best of storytelling. Her books are notorious doorstops that never feel over-long.

2007 Three-part Interview:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

May she RIP.

thanks for posting that interview; I was there for that reading that year, hadn't realized her interview was taped. Time to sleep, so saving it for tomorrow

Marianne Carus, the founder of Cricket Magazine. Which was a big, big part of my early reading life.

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz5005150Biz47751432

Helen McCrory: Born 08/17/68 Died 04/16/2021

A life in pictures.

Her Aunt Polly performances were magnificent. Gone way, way too soon.

:(

Nanci Griffith, Folk and Country Songwriter, Dead at 68

just came here to post same. Ok this really hurts. Was just listening to one of her CDs... discovered her music while listening to KrcL Radio Free Zion, in Salt lake city in the mid 80s and just fell in love ( this station also turned me on to Dave Bromberg, Steve Goodman, John Prine and others) She had a sweet voice but her lyrics were so powerful Love in the Five and Dime, Light beyond the woods, Trouble in these fields, From a Distance...I was lonely and a bit scared, but . Her songs made me feel like I wsn't alone and made me smile, cry and sigh. She will be missed , Ive got a lot of music to listen to this weekend. So damn young. May her name be for a memory, rest in peace

btw PatD been thinking of you, hadn't seen your posts in a while. Everything ok?

I had a few brushes with Griffith back in my restaurant/club management days. She had a reputation for being aloof but I ultimately found her likeable -- just painfully shy. She did have a tiny bit of a prickly streak, but for some reason I didn't mind it the way I did with, say, Lucinda Williams, who was also that odd combination of shy and prickly. I dunno, maybe it was the voice, or maybe I got better at recognizing that sometimes that's just the way shyness looks (except in Williams' case; she's a nightmare and I'll say that until I die).

I remember very distinctly a night when Nanci was trying to go through the kitchen to avoid paying a cover charge to the attached music room (she said she forgot her purse) and the thing that stuck out the most to me during our conversation was that she was wearing a loooong cashmere camel coat and waiters kept bumping in to her (it was a verrry busy night) and I was so freaked out about all those greasy plates touching the coat.

Lauren might have something to add here too - I'm sure they crossed paths.

(Griffith recorded - but didn't write - From a Distance, though. That was Julie Gold.)

she recorded that before bette middler. And yeah, I know about shyness making people think aloof And its often anything but! Glad you made contact with her. I wanted to see her in concert but there was some work related reason i couldn't..darn it

In my limited experience with her, she was a total prima donna and a bit ridiculous but it certainly could have been shyness. She was really a songwriter's songwriter, I've spent the weekend on and off listening to her and there's not a song that doesn't get me all choked up.

Yeah, me too with the listening this weekend -- she wasn't quiiite my lane, but it's interesting that I have so much of it! So I guess I veered lanes a little.

>56 cindydavid4: I'm ok. I just tire very easily these days, and this summer has been brutal down here. Thanks for asking, Cindy.

Most know but for those who don’t: Mr. Fuchsia died February last of covid pneumonia after years of Alzheimer’s dementia.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/james-lewark-obituary?id=894223...

Ms Diana Rochford. She was my high school English teacher.

Somebody once asked me who my favorite teachers were, and this is what I wrote about Ms. Rochford:

The other teacher was Ms. Diana Rochford, who taught English Composition. I credit her with my ability to write a decent sentence, because up until that point, all my English teachers had been doing things like telling us to keep journals and write haiku. I couldn’t diagram a sentence to save my life. Ms. Rochford, who was about four and a half feet tall, with long gray hair that she wore loose, and a sweet disposition, ruled the class with an iron, uh, ruler, and a ruthless red pen. “What about poetic license?” I remember someone in the class asking, fresh out of a semester reading e. e. cummings. “There is no place in this class for poetic license,” she said implacably. And yet, as essay after essay was returned, with fewer and fewer red-marked corrections each time, it was impossible not to feel, like I did with Ms. Tepas, that I really was getting somewhere. Ms. Rochford’s standards were high, but that just made you feel extra proud when you managed to reach them. I’m positive that all of us who ended up taking AP English did so well because of Ms. Rochford drumming into us the rules of getting your point across in a sentence, rather than because of all the journal-writing. And like Ms. Tepas, she had that talent for making kids want to try harder. “Keep trying” is probably the best lesson I learned from both.

( via Advanc Reading Copy)

That's such a great reminiscence. Makes me think I should write to my important English teacher—I think she's on FB—and say hi and you probably don't remember me but thanks.

>62 kwlwarren: Oh, Kat, I didn't know Mr. Fuchsia passed last Feb. F&%king COVID, too. Double cruelties. So sorry. I hope you stick around. Postings here aren't necessarily daily, but it's nice to know where all the old-school internet'ers from TT days are and how we're all doing.

>63 southernbooklady: Some jealousy here. I couldn't remember the name of any of my English teachers (pre-college) if you put a gun to my head.

>66 Pat_D: I couldn't remember the name of any of my English teachers (pre-college) if you put a gun to my head.

If it wasn't for social media, I wouldn't be able to remember the names of most of my classmates. Teachers, however, were responsible for GRADES. I lived in fear of getting bad grades. :-)

>62 kwlwarren: Kat, I know that was meant for folks who didn't know about Jim, but I didn't want to skip over this... you know you're in my thoughts always.

I’ll be sticking around, PatD. Appreciate your words.

Lisa, dear one, you are kind.

She will live on with her amazing books. She opened up whole worlds to me. She will be missed. May her name be for a blessing

Couldn't agree more,Cindy.

>72 Pat_D: btw, how are you holding up. I remember you were on the west coast of fl. You guys doing ok?

I was just coming in to ask the same, Pat.

lisa I wonder if her area lost powerl.Hopefully we will hear from her soon

loretta lynn

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/04/loretta-lynn-country-singer-of-lov...

>76 cindydavid4: It's like a whole different planet now.

Isn't it. She passed peacefully but I can honestly say, it's like a whole world went with her. I felt the same about Levon Helm - like they took a million stories and a way of life with them when they went.

>73 cindydavid4: Actually, I'm on the Treasure Coast, Cindy. If you draw a line from Sarasota across the state to the east coast, you'll find Pt. St. Lucie.

We got a bunch of very strong Nor-easter quad bands, but nothing like the west coast. I feel so bad for them. I've experienced a bunch of hurricanes, and, sad to say, their misery is just beginning. I keep seeing reporters interviewing Ian victims who are complaining about still being without power after 7 days, and I just have to shake my head. We were 21 days without power after Frances and 10 days without after Jean. Based on what I've seen, they'll be lucky if they get power back within months in some of those areas. The hurricanes themselves are traumatic, but it's the aftermath that's really and truly horrible, despite how well one prepares.

just saw this, glad youare safe (my sense of geograpjy of that place is nill) But so sad for everyone involved. and puerto rico got hit again too. How do you build back after so many of these? I can't even begin to imagine.....

Here's something that got by me. Tom Phillips has died:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/nov/29/tom-phillips-obituary

He's the artist who did A Humument -- I still have my original copy, it was one of the first books I bought from the first bookstore I worked at, back in 1985.

Cormac McCarthy :((((

Cormac McCarthy, Novelist of a Darker America, Is Dead at 89
Cormac McCarthy, American novelist of the stark and dark, dies at 89
Cormac McCarthy, spare and haunting novelist, dies at 89
Cormac McCarthy, celebrated US novelist, dies aged 89
Cormac McCarthy, among America’s greatest authors, dies at 89

Never a fan but I understand the magnitude.

Robbie Robertson

100 %

I couldn't do an all Band show on Monday but I was able to pay tribute in a few small ways.

https://www.wxnafm.org/broadcasts/31521

>85 laurenbufferd: Oh, good on ya', Lauren. Have you seen the tribute mix by multiple artists for "The Weight"?

"It Makes No Difference" might be Rick Danko's best vocal.

I watched "Once Were Brothers" again and a bunch of interviews with Robbie on YouTube I'd never seen before.

This one hit me hard.

Not sure where else to put this as we don't have a science thread.

Here in FL, we've gotten used to these random sonic booms caused by Musk's SpaceX experiments. At first, they were just disconcerting - no warning and at all hours of the day and night. However, last night's was downright scary. Coincidentally, we were sitting in the living room watching the last episode of "Masters of the Air" when it quite literally seemed like a bomb went off in our neighborhood. It was, simultaneously, the loudest and most physically jarring one, yet. To say the house shook would not be exaggerating. I was living in Tonantzintla, Cholula, Puebla, Mexico during the Great Earthquake of Orizaba, and I'm not kidding when I say yesterday's boom gave me serious flashback. Not sure why I'm feeling the urge to write about it here, except that this does feel like Milestone stuff. Between this and A.I., it feels like our species is teetering on a precipice.

been thinking that for a very long time now

>87 Pat_D: Oh that's awful, Pat. We really aren't doing well as a species, are we.