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Meet Esa-Pekka: “I’m Just Getting Started”

"It is not to say that there wouldn’t be room for improvement, and that’s the fun part actually, because I’m nearing an age where many other people are planning their retirement and slowing down and enjoying life. My feeling is, I’m just starting." - Nob Hill Gazette

At 93, Pioneering Asian-American Actor James Hong Is Still Working

Born and raised in Minneapolis, he's had a 70-year career (so far), with around 500 credits on IMDb and, evidently, another 200 in voiceovers — and he founded the Los Angeles troupe East West Players, the country's leading Asian-American theater company. - The Hollywood Reporter

New Yorker Cartoonist George Booth Is Dead At 96

"(He) created a world of oddballs sharing life's chaos with a pointy-eared bull terrier that once barked a flower to death, and sometimes with a herd of cats that shredded couches and window shades between sweet naps." - The New York Times

The Fertile Creative Mind Of Freeman Dyson

From spaceships powered by exploding nuclear bombs to the eponymous “Dyson spheres” that could be used by advanced alien civilizations to capture energy from their suns, Dyson’s roving mind roamed across the physical and human universe. - 3 Quarks Daily

How Gael Greene Invented The Modern Restaurant Critic

She was famous for a kind of glamorous hauteur, which the bedraggled dining critics of today, with their furtive TikTok feeds and constantly buzzing phones, can only imagine. She was famous for her taste, which was considerable, and her work in the restaurant community. - New York Magazine

Ian Jack, Journalist, Essayist, And Ex-Editor Of Granta, Dead At 77

He wrote for the Glasgow Herald, the Sunday Times of London, "the Observer and Vanity Fair before joining the team that created the Independent on Sunday, which he edited from 1991 to 1995. From there he moved to the editor's chair at literary magazine Granta, where he remained until 2007." - The Observer (UK)

Legendary Restaurant Critic Gael Greene, 88

"(She was) an influential New York magazine food writer who shook up restaurant reviews with a cutting wit, vibrant passions and descriptions of dining as a feast of the senses." - MSN (The Washington Post)

The Collected Jerry Saltz

Although Saltz blasts the usual targets — speculative collectors, unscrupulous auction houses, gender bias at museums — the tenor is overwhelmingly positive. This might come as a surprise to Saltz readers who know him as an irascible, post-first-think-later firebrand on social media. - The New York Times

Julie Powell (Of Julie/Julia Fame) Dies At 49

Powell narrated her struggles in the kitchen in a funny, lacerating voice that struck a nerve with a rising generation of disaffected contemporaries. The Julie/Julia Project became a popular model for other blogs, replicated by fans, and helped build the vast modern audience. - The New York Times

Thomas Cahill, Author Of “How The Irish Saved Civilization”, Is Dead At 77

"A devoted student of ancient Greek and Latin, the Jesuit-trained Cahill worked in journalism and publishing before becoming a full-time author. Capitalizing on the phenomenal success of How the Irish Saved Civilization, ... he wrote five more books about key moments in the development of Western civilization." - MSN (The Washington Post)

For The First Time In 20 Years, Shelley Duvall Is Appearing In A New Movie

The co-star of The Shining, Popeye, and a slew of Robert Altman films had retired in 2002 after a career that attracted high praise from many and withering scorn from some — and she has evidently been struggling with mental illness for several years since then. - Deadline

David Geffen’s Cultural Philanthropy

At 79, Geffen has planted himself into the pantheon of leading American philanthropists. He has handed out $1.2 billion over the past 25 years to museums, theaters, concert halls, universities and medical centers and pledged to “give away” a fortune estimated to be $7.7 billion.  - The New York Times

He Made 300,000 Paintings. Sold Most Of Them, Too

At 65, Steve Keene may still be New York’s most prolific painter, and certainly the one most beloved in ’90s indie-rock circles. A college radio D.J. in his native Virginia, he got his start showcasing his paintings in scuzzy bars during his favorite bands’ sets, and did album art and commissions. - The New York Times

Jerry Lee Lewis, 87

Lewis ultimately transcended category. With typical arrogance, he would frequently declare that there were only four real stylists in American music: Al Jolson, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and, of course, Jerry Lee Lewis. - Variety

Did She Introduce Eastern Spirituality To America Or Merely Hoodwink People? The Tale Of Madame Blavatsky

The answer to that question is "yes." - Mental Floss

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