in memoriam

Remembering Folk Icon Richie Havens

Ian Pickus — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:35:00 +0000

Musician Richie Havens died at 72 on Monday. The soft-spoken singer and guitarist stayed on the road for 45 years until ill health finally forced him to give up touring in 2012.

Ed Koch talks about his gravesite on Person, Place, Thing

Randy Cohen — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:25:00 +0000

Former New York City mayor Ed Koch died after a brief illness early this morning at 88, ending a long and often rambunctious public life. The former Congressman and permanent Big Apple ambassador spoke with Randy Cohen on WAMC’s Person Place Thing last year. They discussed Koch’s burial place in one of the last open plots in Manhattan.

David Rakoff, A Wonderful Lens

Joe Donahue — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 15:35:44 +0000

David Rakoff, author humorous essay collections Fraud, Don’t Get Too Comfortable, and Half Empty - and frequent contributor to Public Radio International’s This American Life has died.

Gore Vidal, Echoed by Many

Joe Donahue — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:35:00 +0000

Gore Vidal came from a generation of novelists whose fiction gave them a political platform. Norman Mailer ran for mayor of New York City; Kurt Vonnegut became an anti-war spokesman. And Vidal was an all-around critic. His novels sometimes infuriated readers with unflattering portraits of American history.

He also wrote essays and screenplays, and his play The Best Man currently has a revival on Broadway.