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Sylvère Lotringer, Who Founded Semiotext(e) And Brought French Theory To America’s Art World, Dead At 83

We leave it to you to speculate on which direction St. Peter will send him for that, but his work did spark enormous changes in American arts and intellectual life — not least through the riotous 1975 colloquium "Schizo-Culture" he organized at Columbia. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)

Man And Daughter Killed Over Four Stradivarius Violins

“Our principal hypothesis is that the motive for the double crime was to find the international certification of authenticity of the violins so they could be sold.” - Daily Beast

David Graeber Was A Startlingly Smart Anthropologist. He Died Just After Completing His Magnum Opus

"Since one cannot know a radically better world is not possible, are we not betraying everyone by insisting on continuing to justify and reproduce the mess we have today?” - New York Magazine

How A Nice Jewish Boy From Oakland Became A Busy Bollywood Actor

Richard Klein seemed well set as a math and science teacher and amateur performer in the Bay Area. Then, at 45, he up and moved to Mumbai, determined to make it in Indian showbiz. Now he's one of Bollywood's go-to white-guy character actors. - The New York Times

John Cleese Cancels Cambridge Union Appearance Over Speaker Blacklist

"I was looking forward to talking to students at the Cambridge Union this Friday, but I hear that someone there has been blacklisted for doing an impersonation of Hitler I regret that I did the same on a Monty Python show, so I am blacklisting myself before someone else does." - The Telegraph (UK)

Actor Dean Stockwell Dead At 85

After a successful but unhappy career as a child star, he left and returned to acting several times: in the late '50s and 60s, winning two prizes at Cannes; in '70s B-pictures; under '80s and '90s auteurs Demme, Altman, Lynch, etc.; and finally in science fiction TV. - The Guardian

Golden Age Hollywood Director John Farrow Had An Extraordinary Life. Why Have We Forgotten Him?

He was more than Mia's father and Ronan's grandfather. He ran away to become a sailor, he wrote a Tahitian-English-French dictionary; he pretended to be an Annapolis grad and a physician; he really did fight in Latin American rebellions. And he made 50 movies. - The Guardian

Big Bird In The Crosshairs: Ted Cruz Attacks After The Big Guy Gets Vaccinated

“My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy. Erica Hill even said I’ve been getting vaccines since I was a little bird!” Cruz responded: “Government propaganda … for your 5-year-old!” - The Guardian

Making A Big Indie Movie And Then a PR Turnaround

How do you go from being mocked for playing the love interest of a vampire to being the first American actress to win a César, not to mention getting into the Oscars discussion this year? "She is a master of misdirection, deflection, and pregnant glances." - Slate

Julie Green, Artist Who Memorialized Death Row Inmates’ Final Meals, 60

Green "planned to paint the meals until capital punishment was abolished, or until she had made 1,000 plates, whichever came first. In September, she painted her 1,000th plate." - The New York Times

Brazilian Star Singer Marilia Mendonca, 26, Dies In A Plane Crash

Mendonça, Grammy winner and social media sensation, was killed in a small plane crash in Minas Gerais. "Her legions of fans found power in her song lyrics, which implored women to reject bad and abusive relationships." - The New York Times

Trial In Spain Of Former Director Of Valencià d’Art Modern Accused Of Buying Forgeries

Consuelo Císcar is accused of using €3.4m in public funds to buy 98 works of art by the late artist Gerardo Rueda that she knew were forged. Císcar was in charge of the museum between 2004 and 2014. - The New York Times

The Trauma That Upended Kenneth Branagh’s Life At The Age Of Eight

He's been reeling from it, one way or another, ever since, and it's the reason he made his latest film, Belfast. - The New York Times Magazine

The Art World’s Most Wanted Criminal (No, Not Inigo Philbrick)

"Not so long ago, Christian Rosa was a buzzy young artist on the rise. Now he's facing a series of charges related to alleged forgeries and on the run from the FBI. How did it come to this?" - Vanity Fair

Jazz Guitarist Pat Martino, 77 — Overcame Amnesia To Perform Again

In 1980, brain surgery left him with no memory, but he painstakingly relearned the instrument, and his own past, and went on to three more decades of innovative musicianship. - The New York Times

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