Gao Zhen, who had moved to New York and was in Beijing visiting family, is the first artist charged under the 2018 "Heroes and Martyrs Protection Law." At issue are works (including one a Florida man tried to bomb, thinking it glorified Communism) from over a decade ago satirizing Mao Zedong. - Artnet
Perhaps one reason why she was a superb editor is because her personality so completely concorded with the wider cultural understanding of editing as belonging off-stage. And yet that view is entirely incorrect. - LitHub
"I shall just keep at it as long as the legs and the lungs and the mind keep working," says the 85-year-old actor. As for his film role as Gandalf, "I'm not letting anyone else put on the pointy hat and beard if I can help it." - BBC
"As a sculptor he contributed to cathedrals both old and young, from survivors of the Middle Ages such as Exeter and Wells to the unfinished 19th-century behemoth of St John the Divine in New York. ... He also resurrected the art of grotto-making, dormant since the 18th century." - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
A highly respected soloist and chamber musician admired for the elegance and precision of his playing, Meneses died four weeks after revealing that he had been diagnosed with the aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme. - Gramophone
"They had begun making their lives there around a date in December 2012 coinciding with the 5,125-year cycle of an ancient calendar, widely reported as a 'Mayan apocalypse.' ... Le Bloc had begun at the world’s end, they would say. The squat picked up where the world had left off." - The Paris Review
"(Her) work for PBS’s 'Frontline' investigative series exposed frailties in the U.S. criminal justice system — the coercive use of plea bargains, the failure to consider DNA evidence, the reliance on informants to prosecute drug cases — and helped free 13 people who had been wrongly charged or convicted." - The Washington Post (MSN)
After two career collapses (one due to cocaine, one to a nervous breakdown), he has "carved out a space in Hollywood of his own, a sort of sui generis everyman who might not fit as a rom-com or action star but could instead do just about anything else." - The Washington Post (MSN)
He started in 1971 by buying the Barnes & Noble name and flagship Manhattan store, acquired hundreds more outlets (including the B. Dalton chain), then, in the 1990s, launched the "superstores" B&N became known for. Indie booksellers despised him — until he joined forces with them against Amazon. - AP
"If Goehr’s own music has come to seem less significant than his importance as a teacher of some of the leading British composers of subsequent generations, then his role in creating what became a genuinely new force in British music after the second world war cannot be overestimated." - The Guardian
He never did get that high-school degree—let alone attend a doctoral program in philosophy. His layman’s approach to serious thinking has left him untainted by the self-regard that so often attaches to expertise. - The Atlantic
"As book critic I’ve read, on average, three books per week, about 150 per year, which adds up to about 2,500 books over 17 years. My home decorating theme is bookshelves, accented by piles of books." - Tampa Bay Times
Malone, who played with Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall, "was highly regarded for his versatility: He was able to support a variety of singers and instrumentalists in a range of styles, but he also had his own well-defined sound as a bandleader and soloist.” - The New York Times
Sawai says that while filming, “I didn’t understand the intensity of what I was mentally going through, and how much it had affected me, but it speaks volumes now. I want to approach all my projects the way I approach Mariko.” Alert: Spoilers in the article. - The New York Times
