"Though he lacked formal training in art, he was widely respected for his exacting eye, which he used to identify promising young painters. … (Yet he was) brought low by a long series of tabloid-worthy scandals, including tax evasion, extortion and implication in (a) grisly 1985 murder." - The New York Times
In 1944, Janis became Horowitz’s first student and made his orchestral debut with conductor Arturo Toscanini’s NBC Symphony Orchestra. At 18, he was signed by RCA Victor Records as its youngest artist. - The Hollywood Reporter
Negishi “was in his 40s when he came up with the idea of prototyping a mass-produced, coin-operated karaoke machine, branded 'Sparko Box,' after a colleague at the consumer electronics assembly business he ran in Tokyo criticized his singing." - NPR
Hayao Miyazaki was the oldest person ever nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature - and then, in a surprise moment (Spider-Man: Into the Multiverse was tipped to win), the oldest to win. Now, “rumours are swirling that he will return to work yet again." - The Guardian (UK)
"After a decade on Twitter I’d had every possible insult hurled my way. The most awful abuse you can think of. It stopped affecting me. I became desensitised. It’s hard to hurt me now – there’s nothing I’ve not heard. Still, I’m not on there any more.” - The Guardian (UK)
Yes, we know she was intelligent and gifted, leftist and patriotic, long-suffering physically and emotionally. She also scorned the New York elites feting Diego, had to terminate a pregnancy in Detroit, and absolutely despised the French Surrealists who championed her work. - Artnet
Victoria Bruzelius Benedictsson, marooned in a stifling Swedish village, began writing and publishing books and stories under the name Ernst Ahlgren, left her family for a gender-fluid life (half-Benedictsson-half-Ahlgren) of literary celebrity in Copenhagen, and then, rejected in love, committed suicide — whereupon Strindberg immediately co-opted her life as subject matter. - Aeon
"A year ago, Youssef wouldn’t have expected his defense of the Palestinian people to be the arc of his return to public discourse. Meanwhile, by his own admission, making a living out of being funny remains his priority." - The Hollywood Reporter
"The trial is scheduled to take place on Aug. 4, 2025, following a lawsuit that accused Polanski of giving a (13-year-old girl) alcohol and raping her at his Benedict Canyon home. The complaint was filed last June in Los Angeles County Superior Court." - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
Russian authorities apparently accessed Ksenia Karelina’s phone and discovered she had donated approximately $50 to Razom, a pro-Ukrainian charity, in 2022. - The Guardian
Bill was a mentor to two generations of writers—writers of narrative reporting, primarily, but also novelists, biographers, intellectuals, essayists, and humorists. He expanded The Atlantic’s topical range and its cultural presence. - The Atlantic
"As an actor, talk show guest and broadcaster, Mr. McCourt was a boisterous and entertaining counterpart to his more dour and literary-minded brother Frank, a high school English teacher whose 1996 memoir about growing up dirt poor in Ireland (Angela's Ashes) became a publishing phenomenon." - The Washington Post (MSN)
He played tennis with George Gershwin, who idolized him. He delighted in the American habits of his children, who, to the alarm of other émigrés, ran all over the house. He taught at U.S.C., at U.C.L.A., and at home, counting John Cage, Lou Harrison, and Oscar Levant among his students. - The New Yorker
Roberta Smith started freelancing for The New York Times in 1986, after writing for Art in America and The Village Voice, and after a semester at the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program. Before writing full time, she also worked at MoMA; with Donald Judd, the celebrated Minimalist; and at the Paula Cooper Gallery. - The New York Times
