Who's Next To Croak?

[modage]

Jay Reatard.   

[pete]

Teddy Pendergrass.

[Ravi]

Yabby You

[MacGuffin]

Hannah Montana

[pete]

howard zinn

[hedwig]

ouch. that hurts. rest in peace, howard. 

[Gold Trumpet]

Certainly of age, but it's always a little surprising when someone that active suddenly passes. He's an influence and since I subscribe to the Nation magazine, I'm thinking an honorary issue devoted to him is coming my way. He recently contributed a small piece (more like a lengthy blurb) to the rag about Obama's first year in office. I'm not his biggest fan but he's definitely a voice I paid attention to when going around looking for voices to see the full range of thought on something.

[Tictacbk]

JD Salinger

[children with angels]

Fuck.

[Stefen]

I actually see it as kind of being good news. For one, the dude was 91; he lived a full life. Two, he was a grumpy ass old man who, even though he was writing (I'm sure), he refused to publish anything. Now maybe his stuff can get published and on the even brighter side, if any posthumous work sucks, who cares? It was released after he was dead and if he was alive, he'd only release stellar work.

[New Feeling]

If JD has really been writing all these years and the stuff gets published his death will probably go down as one of the greatest things ever.  Dude's whole body of work so far is 10/10.  I am excited beyond belief to see how this plays out!

[children with angels]

Oh, absolutely on the above points. I was just marking the objectively sad news of the death of a fine writer, whose work at one time meant the world to me, and still does to a great extent. However, I too am very curious, excited, and nervous to see what work he may have cooked up and whether it will now see the light of day. In the meantime, I'll bet we can expect some snooty obituries damning him with faint praise: "A writer whose work struck a nerve especially with adolescent males", etc.

[Gold Trumpet]

As far as a public identity goes, he's been dead for years. If I knew him intimately, I'd be sad over his death, but Salinger doesn't even give me a public memory to find sadness for. I once read a lengthy piece on how his pieces were going to be printed posthumously so there should be a mild excitement now.

Also, the New Yorker has all of his short stories online and free. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/backissues/2010/01/postscript-j-d-salinger.html

[polkablues]

It's an odd position to be in where fans of an artist's work are actively anticipating his death, but here we are. For his friends and family, this is a sad day; for readers of his writing, it's a day of celebration.

[MacGuffin]

R.I.P. Miramax Films: 1979 - 2010
Source: The Wrap

The writing was on the wall when Disney made this announcement, but The Wrap is reporting that today the studio will be closing the New York and Los Angeles offices of Miramax Films and 80 people will lose their jobs.

The site says that six movies awaiting distribution, including Last Night, The Debt and The Tempest, will be shelved or get a tepid release.

Founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Miramax was a leading independent movie distribution and production company before it was acquired by Disney in 1993. In 2005, the Weinsteins decided to leave the company and founded The Weinstein Company.

"I'm feeling very nostalgic right now," Harvey Weinstein told the site yesterday. "I know the movies made on my and my brother Bob's watch will live on as well as the fantastic films made under the direction of Daniel Battsek. Miramax has some brilliant people working within the organization and I know they will go on to do great things in the industry."

The Weinsteins have tried to buy the name of their former company back. Disney has not responded. But Bob Iger has made it known that he would be willing to sell Miramax outright – for about $1.5 billion.