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Patti Smith — Punk Rocker, Performance Artist, Poet, Photographer, Painter

"I've had many second chapters in my life, often propelled by loss. ... As a human being, I'm relatively simple. I'm very work-oriented, I'm not extremely social. ... I'm not very curious about people, which is perhaps not the best way to be, but I have so much responsibility." - Artnet

Elayne Jones, A Pioneering Timpanist, Is Dead At 94

"(She) was said to be the first Black principal player in a major American orchestra when she joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1972, and (she) mounted a legal battle over racial and sexual discrimination when she was denied tenure two years later." - The New York Times

How Angelo Badalamenti’s Scores Made Sense of David Lynch’s Films

Matt Zoller Seitz: "Badalamenti did what Herrmann did for Hitchcock and John Williams did for Steven Spielberg: he created a recognizable musical character to go along with Lynch's already keenly developed ear for sound design." - Vulture

Stanley Drucker, Revered Clarinetist Of New York Philharmonic, Is Dead At 93

"(He) was known as the dean of American orchestral clarinetists during a 60-year career with the New York Philharmonic, ... presenting a style and sound that typified the Philharmonic's character — soloistic, technically and sonically brilliant, flamboyant and on the verge of brash." - The New York Times

Iceland’s Prime Minister Is Writing Crime Novels

She made her mark on the global cultural map this year when she published her first thriller novel, entitled 'Reykjavík', which she co-wrote with best-selling author of the ‘Dark Iceland’ series Ragnar Jónasson. - EuroNews

So Who Were The Two Mysterious Men Whose Coffins Were Discovered Under Notre-Dame De Paris?

Earlier this year, in the course of the post-fire reconstruction, researchers found two unfamiliar sarcophagi under the cathedral's floor. Now researchers have partly identified the remains: one was a wealthy clergyman who probably had gout; the other, name unknown, was a young nobleman with numerous injuries and ailments. - Live Science

How Frank Gehry Brings His Projects In On Time And On Budget

In the quarter-century since the Guggenheim Bilbao, Frank Gehry’s projects have repeatedly come close to or met the same demanding standard. - Harvard Business Review

Hundreds Of Musicians Sign Petition Asking Juilliard To Suspend Composer From Faculty

By late Friday, after an initial 120 people had signed the letter, Beaser, 68, a former chair of the prestigious Manhattan music school’s composition department, had taken leave from his teaching post as the school launched a third-party inquiry into the allegations. - Washington Post

Beryl Grey, Legendary English Ballerina, 95

Grey did everything from dancing with the Bolshoi to directing the English National Ballet, and quite a bit in between. As a young dancer, "Grey made an immense impression on New York dance connoisseurs." - The New York Times

How This Actress Quietly Became A Millennial Icon

Aubrey Plaza didn't anchor a blockbuster franchise like Jennifer Lawrence or Kristin Stewart, but she "has had a knack for choosing roles that seem to connect with something larger about the evolution of her generation." - Slate

When Alexander Inarritu Went Hollywood

The director of the new film Bardo, an Oscar-winner for Birdman and The Revenant, didn't want to leave Mexico, but, he says, "There wasn’t really a possibility for me to be a filmmaker there, which is what I most wanted to be." - Los Angeles Times

Adrienne Mancia, Who Brought The World In Film To New York, 95

At MoMA and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, she was a film curator who "scoured the world for significant films and brought them to New York" - and, thus, the rest of the U.S. "Her choices were crucial in expanding the horizons of American cinephiles." - The New York Times

How Allen Ginsberg Caused Gail Collins To Organize A Pro-Gay Rights, Anti-Censorship Rally In 1967 Milwaukee

The future New York Times columnist met the Beat poet and invited him to come to her college to speak.  Then the dean of students cancelled the talk. So she organized protests. "And I've got to tell you," she writes, "it was a turning point in my life." - The New York Times

Herbert Deutsch, Co-Inventor Of The Moog Synthesizer, Is Dead At 90

"(He) collaborated with engineer Robert Moog in the 1960s to invent a portable synthesizer that revolutionized the sound of rock, classical and other forms of music. ... Although the device became known as the Moog synthesizer, Deutsch was by all accounts an instrumental figure in its invention." - MSN (The Washington Post)

Library Acquires Archives Of The Famously Secretive Thomas Pynchon

The archive includes correspondence relating to the publishing process, the library said, but no private letters or other personal material. And no, there are no photographs of Pynchon either. - The New York Times

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