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The Brilliant Art Of Being A Critic: Peter Schjeldahl

Peter’s prose was always ruthlessly concentrated. His wit had a bubbling, organic quality: The line punched, but you never heard the clanking windup machinery. He had ready opinions on everything. - Washington Post

What It Takes To Mount A Film Festival In The Greatest City In The World

The security manager’s days "span 12-plus hours and can wrap as late as 2 a.m., but she doesn’t mind the long days. ‘It’s only for three weeks, and I’m on a high the whole time because I get to watch New York … being celebrated.’” - The New York Times

Jac Venza, Who Gave The World ‘Great Performances,’ Has Died At 97

Venza was "a shoemaker’s son who almost single-handedly delivered to the proverbial ‘vast wasteland’ that was American television in the 1960s and ’70s an oasis of cultural programming, including ‘Great Performances’ and ‘Live From Lincoln Center.’” - The New York Times

How Helen Vendler Pressed Meaning Into Poetry

Helen insisted that it was the poem’s shape—its form, the thing that made it look unlike any other type of utterance—that gave it meaning. In clear and elegant language, Helen proved this time and again across her 60-year career. - LA Review of Books

Harvey Weinstein Will Likely Face New, Separate Sexual Assault Charges In New York

Manhattan prosecutors, preparing for retrial after Weinstein's 2020 conviction was overturned by New York state's highest court in late April, say they'll try to get indictments on additional charges because "some people who were not ready to speak out in 2020 now appear ready to do so in 2024." - CNN

Richard Sherman, 95, Co-Creator Of Iconic Disney Songs

“They were made by God for Walt Disney,” said Dick Van Dyke, who starred in “Mary Poppins” opposite Julie Andrews. “They somehow managed to convey Walt’s meaning in those songs.” - Los Angeles Times

Someone Tells The New York Times He’s The Guy Behind The Foreclose-On-And-Auction-Off-Graceland Scam

Little about this matter has turned out to be what it first appeared, and there's little independent confirmation besides the email address that messages to the paper came from, but for what it's worth, the self-proclaimed culprit says he's based in Nigeria but wrote in a Ugandan language. - The New York Times

Caleb Carr, Military Historian And Author Of “The Alienist,” Has Died At 65

"The scarred and gifted son of founding Beat Lucien Carr, (he) endured a traumatizing childhood and became a bestselling novelist, accomplished military historian and late-life memoirist of his devoted cat, Masha." - AP

Morgan Spurlock, Who Made Documentaries “Super Size Me” And “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” Has Died At 53

After Super Size Me, in which he ate only at McDonald's for a month (and suffered for it), Spurlock was for a time as prominent a documentarian as Michael Moore, producing 70 films on subjects like consumer susceptibility to marketing (The Greatest Movie Ever Sold) and minimum wage labor (30 Days). - Variety

Law Enforcement Is Now Investigating Attempt To Foreclose On And Auction Off Graceland, Elvis Presley’s Home

Once Presley's granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, filed suit and provided evidence that the organization attempting to foreclose doesn't actually exist, the apparently fraudulent attempt was withdrawn. Now the Tennessee Attorney General is investigating, and so, reportedly, is the FBI, which won't officially comment. - AP

Memphis Judge Puts Hold On Auction Of Graceland To Pay Debt That May Not Actually Exist

"Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued a temporary injunction against the proposed auction that had been scheduled for Thursday in Memphis, where the king of rock ‘n’ roll’s former home is located." Elvis Presley's granddaughter says the debt allegedly racked up by Lisa Marie is based on fraudulent documents. - AP

Tom Lehrer Is A Biting Satirist And Still Alive At 96. So Why Did He Give It All Up?

Was it because, as a child mathematics prodigy, he wanted to fulfil his real vocation and become a great mathematician? Apparently not. He taught the course that humanities and social science majors have to take in the US university system. “Math for tenors,” he calls it. - The Guardian

Elvis Presley’s Granddaughter Sues To Prevent What She Says Is A Fraudulent Foreclosure On Graceland

Riley Keough argues that the planned auction of Elvis's home in Memphis to repay a $3.8 million loan to her mother, Lisa Marie Presley (who died last year), is based on forged documents — and that not only did the loan never exist, the company demanding repayment doesn't actually exist, either. - NPR

Fraud Trial Begins For Ozy Media Co-Founder Carlos Watson

The former MSNBC morning news anchor created the digital news media company Ozy in 2013. Prosecutors allege that, as it failed to make money, Watson falsified visitor statistics, forged financial documents, and had his co-founder impersonate a YouTube executive on a call with Goldman Sachs. - The Daily Beast (Yahoo!)

Artist Kehinde Wiley Accused Of Sexual Assault By Ghanaian Colleague

"British-born, Ghana-based artist Joseph Awuah-Darko accused star artist Kehinde Wiley of sexual assault in an Instagram post published Sunday and said that he is seeking 'legal action.' On his own Instagram, Wiley denied the allegations." - ARTnews

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