The long-heralded "Lord of the Dance" (who retired in 2016) once had his feet insured for $30 million, at the height of the traditional Irish dance craze of the late 1990s. - Washington Post
"The hearing focused on additional charges brought against Spacey in November, including three ... of indecent assault, three of sexual assault and one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. They are all related to a male complainant and cover from 2001 to 2004." - The Hollywood Reporter
Stephanie Ybarra joins Mellon following her tenure as Artistic Director of Baltimore Center Stage, where she broke ground as the country’s first Latina artistic director of a League of Resident Theaters (LORT) member theater. - Mellon Foundation
In Berlin, the former-musical-prodigy-turned-artistic-director increasingly became a cultural politician. In keeping with his self-image, he found his equals at the federal (rather than the state) level. - Van
Brod sanitized and polished quite a bit when he published his friend's journals (which Kafka had wanted burned), and a new, uncensored translation reveals a lot: the author's visits to brothels, his bi-curiosity, his crying at movies, his strong opinions about theater, his thing for noses. - The New York Times
"To the chagrin of his fans, (Doug) Henning himself sold his illusions to David Copperfield and other magicians, and permanently quit the world of fake magic to devote himself, full-time, to the real magic of Transcendental Meditation." - The Baffler
Slowly, among all the things I learned from Frank (that is, everything of importance that I know), was the understanding that the true mark of sophistication in response to performance is enthusiasm. Not cynical dismissal, but enthusiasm. - American Theatre
"Author of dozens of books, Simic was ranked by many as among the greatest and most original poets of his time, one who didn’t write in English until well into his 20s. His bleak, but comic perspective was shaped in part by his years growing up in wartime Yugoslavia." - AP
Banks's "vivid portrayals of working-class Americans grappling with issues of poverty, race and class placed him among the first ranks of contemporary novelists." His work was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. - The New York Times
Meskis was the owner of the Tattered Cover in Denver. "In addition to creating a bookstore famed for its vast selection and bibliophile-friendly atmosphere, Ms. Meskis often took a stand in matters related to censorship and the First Amendment." - The New York Times
The novelist and screenwriter (My Beautiful Laundrette) fell in Rome the day after Christmas. He wrote in a series of tweets that he can't move his arms or legs after the fall and a surgery on his spine. - The Guardian (UK)
They bicker all the time, about every comma, period, and semicolon. Actually, don’t even get them started on semicolons. Gottlieb refers to a “civil war” that took place over the punctuation mark’s usage. The flintiness about every little thing is part of their shtick. - The Atlantic
When the researchers predicted how many of them would stick to their resolutions after six months, their expectations ranged from 10% to 25%. The real number turned out to be 40%. - Wall Street Journal
"A polemicist whose opinions shaped themselves around the plot of her latest book, a pragmatist who giggled her way through every sentence, she was mischievous and evasive, yet wilfully and wittily life-affirming. … Weldon gave a big wink to her future obituarists: catch me if you can, (she's) saying." - The Guardian
The 1960s were Stan Lee’s most astonishing decade, during which he came up with ideas and scripts for the first appearances of such heroes as the original X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Black Panther, Daredevil and Doctor Strange. - The Conversation
