"Tutankhamun represents an extremely narrow slice of Egyptian history; imagine if, in the year 4850, the world understood the United States largely through the Presidency of Millard Fillmore." - The New Yorker
In a 1983 interview that has resurfaced, the then-92-year-old Effie Wisdom remembers how the dirt-poor, parentless London child (his father ran away with a chorus girl, his mother had a breakdown) used to steal eggs and wear rags until her aunt took him in. - The Guardian
He channels his audience into extended conversations with famously smart people who are willing to give them hours of attention. Through him, they feel like the world is a little bit less incomprehensible and their lives are a little bit less uncontrollable. - Post Alley
No voice was so completely associated with the music of Bollywood movies as that of Lata Mangeshkar: she sang on the soundtracks of more than 1,000 films and recorded more than 25,000 songs (a figure exceeded only by her younger sister, Asha Bhosle) over a 60-year career. - The Guardian
From the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, Parnas was the principal cellist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He went on to be a prizewinner at the Tchaikovsky, Geneva, and Musich International Cello Competitions, as well as a Pablo Casals Prize recipient at the Paris International Cello Competition. - The Violin Channel
While rejecting the sometimes arid 12-tone technique of Modernists, Mr. Crumb beguiled audiences with his own musical language, composing colorful and concise works that range in mood from peaceful to nightmarish. - The New York Times
Epstein was the editor of Philip Roth, Jane Jacobs, and W.H. Auden; one of the founders of The New York Review of Books; and the masterful pusher of the trade paperback. "His major publishing achievements owed much to an uncommon mix of literary and marketing instincts." - The New York Times
Later, Gitlin critiqued identity politics, annoying some former colleagues in Students for a Democratic Society and other causes. In 2021, he pulled together "a group of ideologically disparate writers and activists to oppose continuing efforts by Republicans ... to undermine free and fair elections." - The New York Times
Ellington’s legacy — as large and as meaningful as that of any artist in American history — remains enigmatic. We honor him, put him on stamps, name streets and buildings after him and teach him. But we still don’t know what to do with Ellington beyond keeping his best-known tunes in rotation. - Los Angeles Times
A 28-film, nearly 50-year collaboration with Spielberg. Fifty-two Oscar nominations – the most for a living person and second only to Walt Disney – with five wins. Four Olympic Games fanfares. One presidential inauguration (Obama). - The Guardian
Shelly C. Lowe, a Navajo who grew up in rural northern Arizona, was nominated by President Biden as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities in October and was confirmed by the Senate on February 2. - MSN (The Washington Post)
Concetta Antico is a tetrachromat, which means she has a fourth colour receptor in her retina compared with the standard three which most people have. While those of us with three of these receptors can distinguish around one million different colours, tetrachromats see an estimated 100 million. - The Guardian
"A leading postmodern choreographer who crossed over into playwriting territory, he was massively prolific for about 60 years. He combined movement and words in ways that could be stimulating or jolting, focusing on family or fantasy, or delving into Ionesco, Shakespeare, or Aristophanes." - Dance Magazine
"Once a symbol of Italian mystique, ever-present on-screen and on fashion magazine covers, … (she) secured an enduring place in art house drama as the muse of Michelangelo Antonioni for his 1960s films about existential dread before redefining herself as a vibrant comedian." - MSN (The Washington Post)
