Obits
-
In Praise of Martha Lavey
I did not know Martha Lavey, who died this afternoon. She was a living legend, a towering figure who made Chicago better, made us more relevant to the world, and contributed to the advance of American art in ways that people who are were close to her will tell over the coming days. But I…
-
In Praise of Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka, one of the most important American poets of the last century, died today in New Jersey. By nearly all accounts, including his obituary, Amiri Baraka was a difficult person. But I loved his words, and his crankiness, and the beauty with which he stitched them together. Notwithstanding— or because of— the fact that…
-
Family Time and the Decades-Long Churn of Equality
I love the obituaries. More consistently than any other type of news story, they have the random power to inform me about something intensely personal while marking decades of movement in the broadest swaths of society. Today is one of those days. Throughout her career, she worked to study parenting as it was practiced, not…
-
What I Learned in the Obituaries Today
I love the obituaries. Today there is an amazing one. ROBERT G. EDWARDS, 1925-2013Changing Rules of Conception With the First ‘Test Tube Baby’ Robert G. Edwards, who opened a new era in medicine when he joined a colleague in developing in vitro fertilization, enabling millions of infertile couples to bring children into the world and…
-
An Appreciation of Aaron Swartz
Aaron Swartz, an Internet freedom leader, committed suicide yesterday, January 11, 2013, in New York. On this page of his personal Web site, he gives instructions about what to do if he gets hit by a truck. One of the instructions: “Feel free to publish things people say about me on the site”. I have some…