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☆ John Lansing, Who Guided NPR Through Tumultuous Times, Dies at 67
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

John Lansing, who as chief executive of NPR from 2019 until earlier this year guided the broadcasting organization through a global pandemic, an imploding media landscape and widening political polarization that called into question some of its journalistic principles, died on Aug. 14 at his home in Eagle River, Wis. An NPR representative confirmed the death but did not cite a cause. Mr. Lansing, who had been in the news business since he graduated from high school, arrived at NPR with a mission to broaden its reach beyond traditional radio into media like podcasts and newsletters. He also announced what he considered his “north star”: a commitment to expand NPR’s audience to include a younger and more diverse demographic, and a parallel commitment to diversify, equity and inclusion in its coverage, sources and staff. His changes included documenting the diversity of sources, introducing unconscious bias training and hiring people of color for both on- and off-air positions.

Persons: John Lansing, Lansing Organizations: NPR Locations: Eagle River, Wis

☆ What’s So New About the ‘New Right’?
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-10 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the last few years, a loose coalition of conservative thinkers, journalists, publications and think tanks have emerged under the banner of the New Right. With Senator JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, as its flag-bearer, this still-disparate group has been hailed as the intellectual heft behind the MAGA movement, and even as the future of American conservatism. Its very name declares a radical break with the Republican past — “very nascent, very bleeding edge,” is how Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate, described it. But how new is the New Right? Still, there are some unifying features.

Persons: JD Vance, Donald Trump’s, MAGA, —, Vivek Ramaswamy, Vance, Josh Hawley, “, Curtis Yarvin Organizations: Republican, Hollywood, Wall Locations: Washington

☆ Lorenza de’ Medici, Who Elevated Italian Cooking, Is Dead at 97
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before Lorenza de’ Medici began publishing her cookbooks in the late 1980s, Italian cuisine outside of Italy was often considered unremarkable fare: red sauce, white sauce, pizza and pasta, all of which could be whipped up in haste from frozen, processed ingredients. But in books like “Italy the Beautiful Cookbook” (1988) and “The Renaissance of Italian Cooking” (1989), and later in her 13-part PBS show, “The de’ Medici Kitchen,” Ms. de’ Medici showed that Italian cooking could be something else entirely: light salads and soups, elegant preparations and, above all, fresh ingredients, ideally bought that morning from a local farmer. For those with enough money, she offered intimate one-day to one-week cooking courses at her family’s winery outside Florence, Badia a Coltibuono. Her students stayed in the estate’s thousand-year old complex, originally an abbey, in between lessons on things like how to pick the right vegetables, properly stuff potatoes and separate eggs by hand.

Persons: de ’ Medici, Ms, Badia Organizations: PBS Locations: Italy, Florence

☆ Randy Kehler, 80, Dies; Peace Activist Inspired Release of Pentagon Papers
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Randy Kehler, a peace activist whose opposition to the Vietnam War so moved Daniel Ellsberg that he decided to leak the Pentagon Papers, the set of top-secret documents whose exposure changed the course of the war, died on July 21 at his home in Shelburne Falls, Mass. His wife, Betsy Corner, said the cause was myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. Mr. Kehler’s pivotal encounter with Mr. Ellsberg, a defense analyst, at an antiwar conference in 1969 was just one episode in a life defined by determined opposition to America’s military machinery. By 1969 he had already been to prison for blocking access to an Army induction center in Oakland, Calif., and was preparing to go back, this time for returning his draft card to the Selective Service.

Persons: Randy Kehler, Daniel Ellsberg, Betsy Corner, encephalomyelitis, Kehler’s, Mr, Ellsberg Organizations: Selective Service Locations: Vietnam, Shelburne Falls, Oakland, Calif

☆ Francine Pascal, Creator of ‘Sweet Valley High’ Book Series, Dies at 92
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Francine Pascal, a former soap-opera scriptwriter from Queens who conjured up an entire literary universe among the blue-eyed cheerleaders and square-jawed jocks of suburban Los Angeles, most notably in her long-running and mega-best-selling “Sweet Valley High” series of young-adult novels, died on Sunday in Manhattan. Her daughter Laurie Wenk-Pascal said the death, at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, was caused by lymphoma. With covers instantly recognizable by their varsity-style lettering and soft-focus illustrations, “Sweet Valley High” books enraptured a generation of teenage readers with the lives of Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, identical twins attending high school in the fictional Los Angeles suburb of Sweet Valley. The twins are “the most adorable, dazzling 16-year-old girls imaginable,” Ms. Pascal told People magazine in 1988. They, and the books, are also strikingly innocent: Even as the thoughtful Elizabeth and the scheming Jessica clash over boys, friends and spots on the cheerleading team, drugs, alcohol and sex barely permeate the 181 titles in “Sweet Valley High,” or the scores of others in the spinoffs — and the spinoffs of spinoffs — from the series.

Persons: Francine Pascal, Laurie Wenk, Pascal, Elizabeth, Jessica Wakefield, Ms, Jessica Organizations: Presbyterian Hospital Locations: Los Angeles, Sweet, Manhattan, NewYork, Sweet Valley

☆ Tommy Robinson, Colorful Arkansas Sheriff and Congressman, Dies at 82
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tommy Robinson, who over two terms as a county sheriff in Arkansas in the 1980s made repeated national headlines with stunts like chaining inmates to a prison tower to protest jail overcrowding, and who then used that reputation to win three terms in Congress, died on July 10 in Forrest City, Ark., east of Little Rock. His daughter Fran Moseley confirmed the death, in a hospital. She said that while he had been ill recently, a cause of death had not been determined. Mr. Robinson was once among Arkansas’s best-known political figures, referred to universally by his first name or simply “T.R.” His unconventional, often outlandish behavior won him hordes of admirers, but just as many enemies. “People either loved or hated my dad,” his daughter said.

Persons: Tommy Robinson, Fran Moseley, Robinson, ” Organizations: “ Locations: Arkansas, Forrest City, Little, ”, Pulaski County, Little Rock

☆ Shelley Duvall, Star of ‘The Shining’ and ‘Nashville,’ Dies at 75
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-11 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ms. Duvall wasn’t planning on a film career when she met Mr. Altman while he was filming “Brewster McCloud” (1970); she had thrown a party to sell her husband’s artwork, and members of his film crew were in attendance. Taken with her, they introduced her to Mr. Altman, a director with his own reputation for oddball movies and offbeat casting. She also starred as Olive Oyl opposite Robin Williams in “Popeye” (1980). “I thought: boy, if it’s this easy, why doesn’t everybody act?” she told The New York Times in April. Her work with Mr. Altman cemented Ms. Duvall’s career; with her gossamer frame and toothy smile, she was the go-to actress for any role that called for an out-of-the-ordinary performance.

Persons: Shelley Duvall, Robert Altman, Jack Nicholson, ”, Duvall wasn’t, Altman, Brewster, —, Mr . Altman, “ McCabe, Miller ”, Olive Oyl, Robin Williams, Popeye ”, Duvall’s Organizations: New York Times Locations: “, Blanco , Texas

☆ Yoshihiro Uchida, Peerless Judo Coach, Is Dead at 104
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-06 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Yoshihiro Uchida, the longtime San Jose State University coach who helped establish judo as one of the most popular martial arts in America — and who was widely regarded as the best college judo coach in history — died on June 27 at his home in Saratoga, Calif. The son of Japanese immigrants, Uchida, who went by the nickname Yosh, began coaching judo at San Jose State in the 1940s, while he was still a student there. Americans had long incorporated elements of judo into other combat sports, and returning soldiers from the Pacific Theater brought a new level of interest in martial arts to the country. Uchida, who had been practicing judo since he was 10, despaired over the quality of the training available, especially at the higher levels. Working with a judo coach at the University of California, Berkeley, he established standards for competition, including weight classes, and in 1953 won approval from the Amateur Athletic Union.

Persons: Yoshihiro Uchida, America —, —, Lydia Uchida, Sakai, Uchida Organizations: San Jose State University, San, Pacific Theater, University of California, Amateur Athletic Union Locations: America, Saratoga , Calif, San Jose State, Japan, Berkeley

☆ Kinky Friedman, Musician and Humorist Who Slew Sacred Cows, Dies at 79
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Kinky Friedman, a singer, songwriter, humorist and sometime politician who with his band, the Texas Jewboys, developed an ardent following among alt-country music fans with songs like “They Ain’t Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore” — and whose biting cultural commentary earned him comparisons with Will Rogers and Mark Twain — died on Thursday at his ranch near Austin, Texas. The writer Larry Sloman, a close friend, said the cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Friedman occupied a singular spot on the fringes of American popular culture, alongside acts like Jello Biafra, the Dead Milkmen and Mojo Nixon. He leered back at the mainstream with songs that blended vaudeville, outlaw country and hokum, a bawdy style of novelty music typified by tracks like “Asshole From El Paso” and “We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You.”With a thick mustache, sideburns, a Honduran cigar and a broad-brimmed cowboy hat, he played his own version of Texas-inflected country music, poking provocative fun at Jewish culture, American politics and a wide range of sacred cows, including feminism — the National Organization for Women once gave him a “Male Chauvinist Pig Award.”

Persons: Kinky Friedman, Makin, Will Rogers, Mark Twain —, Larry Sloman, Friedman, Biafra, Mojo Nixon, —, ” Organizations: Service, National Organization for Women Locations: Texas, Austin , Texas, Paso, Honduran

☆ Nathan Hare, 91, Dies; Founded the First Black Studies Program
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nathan Hare, a sociologist who helped lead a five-month strike by faculty and students at what is now San Francisco State University, resulting in an agreement in 1969 to create the country’s first program in Black studies, with him as its director, died at a hospital in San Francisco on June 10. His death was confirmed by the poet and playwright Marvin X, a close friend of Dr. Hare’s. He considered himself a Black nationalist, and in all three roles he clashed with both the establishment administrations and other factions on the political left, particularly Marxists. Dr. Hare was forced out of his job at Howard in 1967 after a public fight with its president, who wanted to accept more white students. The next year, he arrived at San Francisco State, which already had courses in “minority studies,” and immediately began pushing for an interdisciplinary program dedicated to studying the Black experience.

Persons: Nathan Hare, Marvin X, Dr, Hare’s, Hare Organizations: San Francisco State University, University of Chicago, Howard University, San Francisco State College, University, Howard, San Locations: San Francisco, San Francisco State

☆ Bob Kelley, Who Made the Kelley Blue Book an Authority on Cars, Dies at 96
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bob Kelley, who turned the Kelley Blue Book, a price list published by his family’s used-car dealership, into one of the world’s leading authorities on cars, trucks, motorcycles and pretty much anything else that gets you from point A to point B, died on May 28 at his home in Indian Wells, Calif., east of Los Angeles. The Kelley Blue Book started in 1926 at the Kelley Kar Co., a Los Angeles dealership founded by Mr. Kelley’s father, Sidney, and an uncle, Leslie Kelley. Mr. Kelley joined the company after the end of World War II, a prime time to get into the used-car business. The war had put an end to new-car production, and it would be several years before automakers could meet the demand. He was initially in charge of both valuations on new inventory and compiling the book, and he brought a jeweler’s eye to the job.

Persons: Bob Kelley, Kelley, Charlie Vogelheim, Kelley Kar, Kelley’s, Sidney, Leslie Kelley Organizations: Kelley, Kelley Kar Co Locations: Indian Wells, Calif, Los Angeles

☆ Nonny Hogrogian, 92, Honored Illustrator of Children’s Books, Dies
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Nonny Hogrogian, an illustrator who mined her Armenian heritage to bring diversity and wonder to her woodcuts and watercolors — an approach that helped expand the world of children’s literature and made her a two-time Caldecott Medal winner, died on May 9 at a hospital in Holyoke, Mass. Her husband, the poet David Kherdian, said the cause was cancer. Ms. Hogrogian was among a small number of illustrators to win multiple Caldecotts, considered one of the highest honors in children’s literature. She received her first medal in 1966 for the book “Always Room for One More,” written by Sorche Nic Leodhas, and her second in 1972 for “One Fine Day,” based on an Armenian folk tale that she retold and illustrated. She also received a Caldecott Honor, an award for distinguished runners-up, for “The Contest” (1977), another Armenian folk tale that she retold and illustrated.

Persons: Nonny Hogrogian, Caldecott, David Kherdian, Hogrogian, Sorche Nic Leodhas, ” Organizations: “ Locations: Holyoke , Mass

☆ Bette Nash, Longest-Serving Flight Attendant in the World, Dies at 88
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Bette Nash, whose nearly seven decades of serving airline passengers aboard the Washington-to-Boston shuttle earned the route the nickname the Nash Dash and won her a spot in Guinness World Records as the longest-serving flight attendant in history, died on May 17. Ms. Nash never officially retired, and her death, from breast cancer, was announced on Saturday by her employer, American Airlines. She lived in Manassas, Va.Ms. Nash entered service with Eastern Air Lines in November 1957, at the dawn of the jet age. Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, “I Love Lucy” was on TV and even short domestic flights were still a glamorous adventure. Wearing white gloves, heels and a pillbox hat, Ms. Nash served lobster and champagne, carved roast beef by request and passed out after-dinner cigarettes.

Persons: Bette Nash, Nash, Dwight D, Eisenhower, “, Lucy ” Organizations: Boston, Guinness World Records, American Airlines, Eastern Air Lines Locations: Washington, Manassas, Va

☆ Barry Kemp, Who Unearthed Insights About Ancient Egypt, Dies at 84
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Barry Kemp, an archaeologist whose decades of painstaking digging at the abandoned capital of a mysterious pharaoh helped revolutionize our understanding of how everyday ancient Egyptians lived, worked and worshiped, died on May 15 in Cambridge, Britain, one day after his 84th birthday. The death was announced by the Amarna Project, an archaeology nonprofit where Mr. Kemp was director. Almost from the moment he arrived to teach at Cambridge University in 1962, fresh out of college, Mr. Kemp was a phenomenon. Much of his work had little to do with the pharaohs, though. He was among the first to apply the questions of social history, in which scholars explore the lives of everyday people in the past, to ancient Egypt.

Persons: Barry Kemp, Kemp Organizations: Amarna, Cambridge University Locations: Cambridge, Britain, Egypt

☆ Frank Shrontz, 92, Dies; Led Boeing in the Last of Its Golden Years
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Frank Shrontz, a widely admired executive who led Boeing in the 1980s and ’90s, a decade of spectacular growth in both its bottom line and its prestige as one of the world’s premier aerospace companies — a period very different from its current crisis of public confidence — died on May 3 at an assisted living home in Seattle. His son Craig confirmed the death. Although he spent the bulk of his career at Boeing, Mr. Shrontz, who had a law degree and an M.B.A., was an unlikely choice to lead a company that prided itself on letting engineers and not businessmen set the pace. Yet during his time at the helm — he became president in 1985, chief executive in 1986 and chairman of the board in 1988 — he led Boeing through a growth market, a recession and a thorough restructuring that produced one of the most successful commercial aircraft ever put into service, the 777.

Persons: Frank Shrontz, —, Craig, Shrontz Organizations: Boeing, Mr Locations: Seattle

☆ Bennett Braun, Psychiatrist Who Fueled ‘Satanic Panic,’ Dies at 83
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Bennett Braun, a Chicago psychiatrist whose diagnoses of repressed memories involving horrific abuse by devil worshipers helped to fuel what became known as the “satanic panic” of the 1980s and ’90s, died on March 20 in Lauderhill, Fla., north of Miami. Jane Braun, one of his former wives, said he died in a hospital from complications of a fall. Dr. Braun lived in Butte, Mont., but had been in Lauderhill on vacation. Dr. Braun gained renown in the early 1980s as an expert in two of the most popular and controversial areas of psychiatric treatment: repressed memories and multiple personality disorder, now known as dissociative identity disorder. He claimed that he could help patients uncover memories of childhood trauma — the existence of which, he and others said, was responsible for the splintering of a person’s self into many distinct personalities.

Persons: Bennett Braun, Jane Braun, . Braun Locations: Chicago, Lauderhill, Fla, Miami, Butte, Mont

☆ Rev. Cecil Murray, Leader Amid Los Angeles Riots, Dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Cecil Murray, a minister who turned a struggling church in Los Angeles into one of the country’s largest congregations, then made it a base to combat the many ills facing the city’s Black population — most notably during and after the 1992 riots — died on Friday at his home in the View Park-Windsor Hills section of Los Angeles. The death was announced by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, where he had taught after retiring from the church. When Mr. Murray arrived at First African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1977, it was both storied and troubled: It was the oldest Black church west of the Mississippi, but it was loaded in debt and attracted just a few hundred congregants. Mr. Murray, known as Chip, brought new life to the church. Within a decade he had retired the church’s debt and brought attendance up to about 7,000.

Persons: Cecil Murray, —, Murray Organizations: Center for Religion, University of Southern, First African Methodist Episcopal Church Locations: Los Angeles, Windsor, University of Southern California, Mississippi

☆ Eleanor Collins, Canada’s ‘First Lady of Jazz,’ Dies at 104
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When the singer and pianist Nat King Cole’s 15-minute variety show debuted on NBC in November 1956, he made history as the first Black American to host a television program. But just over the country’s northern border, another Black entertainer had him beat: In the summer of 1955, Eleanor Collins had her own show on the CBC, Canada’s national broadcasting network. Though her show was a landmark in TV history — she was both the first woman and the first Black person to host a program in Canada — her selection was hardly a surprise. By the mid-1950s, Mrs. Collins was already widely regarded as Canada’s “first lady of jazz,” known for her mastery of the standards and her commanding performances on radio, early TV specials and in nightclubs around Vancouver, where she lived.

Persons: Nat King Cole’s, Eleanor Collins, Collins, “ Organizations: NBC, CBC, Canada’s Locations: American, Canada, Vancouver

☆ Rose Dugdale, Heiress Turned Irish Independence Fighter, Dies at 82
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Rose Dugdale, an Oxford-educated Englishwoman who left a life of wealth to become a partisan activist fighting for Irish independence, in a career that included bomb making, hijacking and art theft, died on March 18 in Dublin. Her death, in a nursing home, was confirmed by Aengus O Snodaigh, a friend and a member of the Irish Parliament. Throughout the 1970s, Ms. Dugdale, whose family owned a large share of the insurance company Lloyd’s of London, captivated the British and Irish news media with her exploits. She and an accomplice were arrested in 1973 for stealing thousands of dollars in art and silverware from her parents’ home, with plans to sell it and give the proceeds to the Irish Republican Army. Her father, Eric, appeared as a witness at her trial, and under British law she was allowed to cross-examine him herself — an opportunity she used to make political statements.

Persons: Rose Dugdale, Aengus O, Dugdale, Patricia Hearst, ’, Eric, — Organizations: Irish, Irish Republican Army Locations: Oxford, Dublin, London, United States

☆ Andrew Crispo, Disgraced Manhattan Gallery Owner, Dies at 78
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Andrew Crispo, a once high-flying art gallerist in Manhattan brought low by a long series of tabloid-worthy scandals, including tax evasion, extortion and implication in the grisly 1985 murder of a Norwegian art student, died on Feb. 8 in Brooklyn. Mr. Crispo left no immediate survivors, and word of his death emerged only recently. Mr. Crispo opened his namesake gallery at the corner of Madison Avenue and 57th Street in 1973, and for the rest of the decade he ranked among New York City’s best-known art dealers. Though he lacked formal training in art, he was widely respected for his exacting eye, which he used to identify promising young painters. “He could have been another Larry Gagosian today,” said Edward Ligare, an artist whom Mr. Crispo represented in the 1970s, referring to the Manhattan mega-gallerist.

Persons: Andrew Crispo, J, Benjamin Greene, Crispo, New York City’s, “, Larry Gagosian, ”, Edward Ligare Organizations: New York, Manhattan Locations: Manhattan, Norwegian, Brooklyn, Madison

☆ Giandomenico Picco, Diplomat Who Freed Hostages in Lebanon, Dies at 75
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Giandomenico Picco, an Italian diplomat who as a lead negotiator for the United Nations helped resolve conflicts across the globe — most notably spending nearly a year in the early 1990s shuttling around the Middle East to secure the release of 11 hostages held by terrorist groups in Lebanon — died on Sunday in Wilton, Conn., north of Norwalk. His son Giacomo said the cause of his death, at an assisted living home, was complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Picco spent 20 years with the U.N., mostly in a series of loosely defined roles that placed him at the center of some of the world’s most dangerous hot spots. Early in his career he helped manage the conflict between Greece and Turkey over the island of Cyprus; in 1986 he mediated between New Zealand and France after French secret agents sank the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace ship, in the Auckland harbor; and in 1988 he helped arrange the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Persons: Giandomenico Picco, Lebanon —, Giacomo, Picco Organizations: United Nations, Greenpeace Locations: Italian, Lebanon, Wilton, Conn, Norwalk, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, New Zealand, France, Auckland, Afghanistan

☆ Karl Wallinger, Who Sang With World Party and the Waterboys, Dies at 66
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Karl Wallinger, a Welsh singer-songwriter who helped define college radio in the 1980s and ’90s as a member of the Waterboys and the founder of World Party, died on Sunday at his home in Hastings, England. His daughter, Nancy Zamit, confirmed the death but did not provide a cause. Mr. Wallinger suffered a brain aneurysm in 2001 that forced him to stop performing for several years. Following on the heels of the post-punk, new wave and new romantic movements of the early 1980s, Mr. Wallinger embodied something of a throwback to the classical pop and folk styles of an earlier era, with music and lyrics influenced by the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Though he rejected the label “retro,” onstage he looked like a stylish hippie, with long stringy hair and tinted round glasses that would have fit in at Woodstock.

Persons: Karl Wallinger, Nancy Zamit, Wallinger, Bob Dylan Organizations: Waterboys, World Party, Beatles Locations: Welsh, Hastings , England, Woodstock

☆ Paolo Taviani, Half of a Famed Italian Filmmaking Duo, Dies at 92
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paolo Taviani, who with his brother Vittorio made some of Italy’s most acclaimed films of the last half century — including “Padre Padrone,” which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977 — died on Feb. 29 in Rome. His son, Ermanno Taviani, said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was pulmonary edema. The Taviani brothers emerged in the late 1950s as part of a generation of Italian filmmakers — including Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gillo Pontecorvo — who were inspired by the country’s Neorealist movement but determined to push beyond it. (Vittorio Taviani died in 2018.) “Padre Padrone,” for example, tells the story of a boy’s struggle between the demands of his overbearing father, who wants him to be a farmer, and his own dreams of becoming a linguist.

Persons: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio, Padre Padrone, —, Ermanno Taviani, Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Gillo Pontecorvo —, Vittorio Taviani Organizations: Cannes Film Locations: Rome

☆ Max Hardy, 40, Dies; Helped Bring Chef-Driven Cuisine to Detroit
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Max Hardy, who helped bring a new level of chef-driven yet accessible cuisine to his native Detroit, and who was widely considered among the most promising of a young generation of Black culinary stars, died on Monday. His publicist, David E. Rudolph, announced the death but did not provide a cause or location. He said Mr. Hardy had been in good health as recently as the weekend. Though he was born in Detroit, Mr. Hardy moved with his family to South Florida when he was young. He married those influences with a deep love for South Carolina Lowcountry cuisine like shrimp and grits, fried fish and hoppin’ John.

Persons: Max Hardy, David E, Rudolph, Hardy, ’ John, Amar’e Stoudemire Organizations: South, Caribbean Fusion Locations: Detroit, South Florida, Jamaica, South Carolina, New York City

☆ Richard Lewis, Acerbic Comedian and Character Actor, Dies at 76
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His publicist, Jeff Abraham, said the cause was a heart attack. Mr. Lewis announced last year that he had Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Lewis was among the best-known names in a generation of comedians who came of age during the 1970s and ’80s, marked by a world-weary, sarcastic wit that mapped well onto the urban malaise in which many of them plied their trade. He became a regular on late-night talk shows, favored as much for his tight act as for his casual, open affability as an interviewee. And he was at the forefront of the boom in stand-up comedy that came with the expansion of cable television in the late 1980s.

Persons: Richard Lewis, Robin Hood, HBO’s, ”, Jeff Abraham, Lewis Locations: Los Angeles

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