Life Done Right™

Well, another big name is gone: Evel Knievel. Man, you know you’re getting closer to the ground when you pick up the paper and read about another iconic celebrity actually dying instead of reading about how scientists have figured out how to inject you with a miracle drug that will make you live forever. Thankfully [...]

Anyone who looks at the world, finds it lacking, and invents a perspective that radically changes the way humans subsequently view things from that point on has our respect. Herbert Saffir invented the ranking system for hurricane destruction. He died from “complications from surgery.” Not sure what that means, but it sounds like something went [...]

Leonara Russo has been living in Williamsburg, New York for sixty years. When you live in a neighborhood that long it kind of gives you the right to have a say in something. Her cause: “I’m an activist for the People’s Firehouse. It’s here in Williamsburg, and it’s being turned into condominiums. We’ve been fighting [...]

Carol Channing is performing at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend. She was asked what’s on her reading list. The answer: Integrating the Arts: An Approach to Teaching and Learning in Multicultural and Multilingual Settings. You see, you’re never too old to learn or…give back.
Pushy Questions for Carol Channing

Carol Channing at the Hollywood Bowl

I was just reading a book on how to teach fluency in reading. When you’re a tyke in grade school, the thought of comprehending HOW you to read is about as relevant as asking a dragon how he makes all that fire coming out of his mouth. As an adult, though, the question becomes far [...]

They really don’t make ‘em the way they used to anymore…not like Luciano Pavarotti. He died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 71. His body might be forgotten, but not his voice.
Pavarotti dead at 71

It’s rather humorous to read that President Bush is looking forward to replenishing “the ol coffers” with cash from his corporate friends that he helped so generously while in office. The joke, of course, is that this man is no President Clinton. Clinton is one of the smartest and most fluent speakers in the world. [...]

The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute website features a fascinating glimpse into the biographies of several of their members. They call it “The Face of Experience.” How wonderful to see such an experienced collection of individuals who have devoted their lives to understanding the human mind and have worked to make so many peoples’ lives [...]

Lois Wyse was the marketing genius who coined the phrase, “With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good.” She also convinced Bed and Bath to change their name to Bed Bath and Beyond. Her philosophy: “The only people in the world who can change things are those who can sell ideas.” Simple ideas [...]

Socialite Brooke Astor died of pneumonia; she was 105. After you’re done changing out of your grass-stained pants, consider this: “At night — almost every night, even into her 90s — she could be found surrounded by crystal and caviar, done up in her designer dresses and magnificent jewels, seated to the right of the [...]

Merv Griffin hitched his wagon to the stars. Here’s a lovely little number that’s hard to come by these days; it’s called “Lovely Bunch of Coconuts.” Au revoir, Merv.

Remember that whole dust-up involving James Frey’s book A Million Little Pieces? You know, how Frey, as an author, passed off some experiences as real when in fact it may have been a teensy bit fictional. Since Oprah pushed his book on her show, she felt morally obligated to respond to her viewers when they [...]

When you get dumped in the internet age, the thought of letting the world know it is certainly tempting, especially if there’s pictures and insider knowledge that might be damaging to the other party. In the case of Pulitzer prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler the temptation to write out of his anger got the best [...]

Having taught undergraduate film at Harvard, it was sad to read that film director Ingmar Bergman died. The final exam in Contemporary Cinema involved analyzing Bergman’s masterpiece, Persona. The days of movies being made based on the artistic sensibility of one man’s life are pretty much over. Today it’s all about hustling merchandise and special [...]

Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson reminisces about the first time he joined the mile high club. He’s currently 57. He also relates how he’s smoked some grass with his son. Father knows best, right?
“I remember getting off the plane and she turned to me and said, ‘Look, it’s slightly embarrassing but I am meeting [...]

Poor Lauren Bacall. She’s 82 and living alone. It’s not by choice. It’s just the way life sometimes works out. After Humphrey Bogart, the well ran pretty much dry. Bacall: “I like intelligent, witty men. I would have loved to have found a great guy, but they don’t exist any more. Why? Don’t ask me. [...]

The days of hearing Luciano Pavarotti appear to be waning. The singer is battling pancreatic cancer. A friend of the family recently succumbed to pancreatic cancer. It’s nasty. Once you’re diagnosed with it, there’s very little that can be done. It’s a stealthy form of cancer. By the time it lets you know it’s around, [...]

© Annie Leibovitz
Queen Elizabeth supposedly was bitching about Annie Leibovitz’s request to remove her crown during a recent photo shoot for her 80th birthday. Why this woman hasn’t stepped down so Prince Charles can have a go as King of England is beyond me. Power seems to have its own needs. Looking at Annie’s portrait [...]

We’re a sucker for a good singing voice, so it makes sense that we would be seduced by director Olivier Dahan’s new movie about Edith Piaf entitled La Vie en Rose. Check out the trailer and judge for yourself whether a trip to the theater beats another night of Katie Couric peddling stale news.
La Vie [...]

A sad day: John Szarkowski, director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, recently died. I remember the first time I picked up his book, Looking at Photographs, and studied every image for its telltale details that made it great, according to Szarkowski.
John Szarkowski, 81; photography curator
Photo Op: John Szarkowski’s Art Vision
John [...]