Lucy Simon, 82, was a Tony-nominated Broadway composer; Joanna Simon, 85, was a mezzo-soprano who (according to The New York Times) "stood out for her range of material, mastery of foreign languages and willingness to take risks." - Variety
Schjeldahl was a poet, art lover and sometime artist before he became an art critic. The Fourth of July parties he and wife Brooke Alderson threw were legendary. As a critic, "He was first and foremost a visual pleasure seeker, on the prowl for new thrills." - The New York Times
"A jury sided with Kevin Spacey on Thursday in one of the lawsuits that derailed the film star's career, finding he did not sexually abuse Anthony Rapp, then 14, while both were relatively unknown actors in Broadway plays in 1986. The verdict in the civil trial came with lightning speed." - AP
In addition to leading the St. Lawrence as it became one of the most admired string quartets in North America and artists-in-residence at Stanford (where he was a beloved faculty member), he directed the popular chamber music concerts at Spoleto Festival USA. - CBC
Tales of inappropriately sexual behavior (described by the actor as joking), screaming at colleagues, and even dropping a nine-year-old Seth Green into a trash can head-first have been cascading around lately, and it appears that if his latest project continues at all, it will be without him. - The Washington Post
For his generation of critics, reviews were not a freelance assignment but a beat, as regular as a sports columnist, whom such critics often resembled. Reporting what was on view was the first obligation. Verbs needed to be strong. Prepositions should not end paragraphs. Nouns were your friend. - American Theatre
"It's not stage fright exactly. But I'm not comfortable like I used to be. And it's far easier to do telly and films. They throw money at you for very little, and you get to do it until you do it right." - The Guardian
She tweeted the news on Monday but actually turned in her card this summer. LuPone said in a subsequent statement, "When the run of Company ended this past July, I knew I wouldn't be onstage for a very long time. And ... I made the decision to resign from Equity." - Playbill
She could probably now have any orchestra she wanted. But at the moment she doesn’t want any of them. She comes from a tightly knit musical family in her native Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital. She views the orchestra as a family. - Los Angeles Times
Why a new biography now, 14 years after the star actor died? "The book is assembled from five years’ worth of interviews that the actor gave, between 1986 and 1991, to Stewart Stern, the screenwriter. ... The interviews were presumed lost; those transcripts were only recently recovered." - The New York Times
John Cleese told the BBC, on the BBC, that the BBC probably wouldn't let him speak. "In a previous appearance, also on the BBC, he expressed the... opinion that there wasn’t enough debate about issues of free speech these days. Then ... he curtly terminated the conversation." - Irish Times
In a 20th reunion special, Coltrane - who knew he was dying - said, "You could be watching in 50-years time, easy. I’ll not be here, sadly, but Hagrid will, yes." - Variety
It turns out that Cecily Chaumpaigne, believed to have been the victim of Chaucer's alleged attack, was on the same side as Chaucer in the legal case at hand: they were both defendants in a lawsuit by Chaumpaigne's former employer, whom she left to work for Chaucer. - The New York Times
Few American magazine editors of the 20th century can match. Like Harold Ross of the New Yorker, Henry Luce of Time, Life, and Fortune, Clay Felker of New York, he conceived a hugely successful magazine ex nihilo, to satisfy a public appetite whose potential he alone saw and monetized. - Free Beacon
The arts figures included in this year's class of winners are visual artists Paul Chan and Tavares Strachan; musician/scholar Martha Gonzalez; film/video artist Sly Hopinka; novelist/journalist Kiese Laymon; percussionist and electronic music composer Ikue Mori; jazz cellist Tomeka Reed; and architect Amanda Williams. - NPR
