Book Nook Cafe discussion

Neil Sheehan Dies at 84; Times Reporter Obtained the Pentagon Papers

His exhaustive coverage of the Vietnam War also led to the book “A Bright Shining Lie,” which won a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize

Neil Sheehan, the Vietnam War correspondent and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who obtained the Pentagon Papers for The New York Times, leading the government for the first time in American history to get a judge to block publication of an article on grounds of national security, died on Thursday at his home in Washington. He was 84.

Susan Sheehan, his wife, said the cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease.


Full article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/bu...

A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam-----Neil Sheehan.

, Narinder S. Kapany, ‘Father of Fiber Optics,’ Dies at 94
A physicist and entrepreneur who cut an imposing figure, he did more than anyone to make optical research a priority in government and corporate budgets..

When Narinder S. Kapany was in high school in the 1940s in Dehradun, an Indian city in the Himalayan foothills, his science teacher told him that light travels only in straight lines. By then he had already spent years playing around with a box camera, and he knew that light could at least be turned in different directions, through lenses and prisms. Something about the teacher’s attitude, he later said, made him want to go further, to prove him wrong by figuring out how to actually bend light.

By the time he entered graduate school at Imperial College London in 1952, he realized he wasn’t alone. For decades researchers across Europe had been studying ways to transmit light through flexible glass fibers. But a host of technical challenges, not to mention World War II, had set them back.

He persuaded one of those scientists, Harold Hopkins, to hire him as a research assistant, and the two clicked. Professor Hopkins, a formidable theoretician, provided the ideas; Dr. Kapany, more technically minded, figured out the practical side. In 1954 the pair announced a breakthrough in the journal Nature, demonstrating how to bundle thousands of impossibly thin glass fibers together and then connect them end to end.

Their paper, along with a separate article by another author in the same issue, marked the birth of fiber optics, the now-ubiquitous communications technology that carries phone calls, television shows and billions of cat memes around the world every day.
Full article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/te...


If you don't get the NY Times here is another article
https://news.ucsc.edu/2020/12/narinde...

Jean Valentine, Minimalist Poet With Maximum Punch, Dies at 86
A former New York State Poet, she won the National Book Award and was a Pulitzer finalist for poems in which small details could accrue great power.

Jean Valentine, a former New York State Poet whose minimalist, dreamlike poetry was distinguished by crystalline imagery followed by an unexpected stab of emotion, died on Dec. 29 in Manhattan. She was 86.

Her daughter Rebecca Chace said the cause of her death, in a hospital, was complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Over a six-decade career, Ms. Valentine published 14 collections of poetry. Seamus Heaney once described her verses as “rapturous, risky, shy of words but desperately true to them.”

She received the 2004 National Book Award in poetry for “Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003” and was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for “Break the Glass,” a collection of poems, the Pulitzer citation said, “in which small details can accrue great power and a reader is never sure where any poem might lead.”

Full article
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/ar...


Jean Valentine

Daily i visit Wiki 2021 Deaths and didn't see any of these people listed.

Sheehan was brilliant with the Pentagon Papers but earned his reputation with outstanding reporting while in Vietnam in '63-64. His contributions shined a light on many problems in that nation, some a result of the US government and some from the Vietnamese.

I didn't know the story of Kapany but find it inspiring. What changes he wrought!

I am unfamiliar with Valentine's work but am going to rush to locate some. Thank you for sharing all these with us.

RIP Sheehan
RIP Kapany
RIP Valentine

Tommy Lasorda, legendary Los Angeles Dodgers manager, has died

(CNN)Tommy Lasorda, who spent seven decades in the Dodgers organization -- first as a player in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles as a two-time World Series winning manager -- has died. He was 93.

Lasorda had a sudden cardiopulmonary arrest while home Thursday evening. Less than an hour later, he was pronounced dead at 10:57 p.m., the team said in a statement.
"Regarded by many as baseball's most popular ambassador, Lasorda spent 71 seasons in the Dodger organization with Dodger Blue running through his veins," the team said.

Full story
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/us/tom...

RIP Tommy Lasorda. (It was a sad day when the Dodgers moved to L.A.)

RIP Lasorda

Ted Lumpkin, one of the Tuskegee Airmen, dies from COVID-19 at 100



Theodore “Ted” Lumpkin, one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, died Dec. 26 from complications of COVID-19. He was 100.

Lumpkin, who was days short of his 101st birthday, died at a hospital in his native Los Angeles.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...

This disease is taking so many people. Truly tragic.

RIP Ted Lumpkin.

Can you imagine not even knowing your husband was part of the famous Airmen? This man held on to his story, i must say. He sounds wonderful, although the idea of someone 100 recently buying a car is a tad chilling.

RIP Lumpkin

Ved Mehta, writer who illuminated India, is dead at 86
Jan 11 2021

Ved Mehta, a longtime writer for The New Yorker whose best-known work, spanning a dozen volumes, explored the vast, turbulent history of modern India through the intimate lens of his own autobiography, died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 86.

The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, his wife, Linn Cary Mehta, said.

Associated with the magazine for more than three decades — much of his magnum opus began as articles in its pages — Mr. Mehta was widely considered the 20th-century writer most responsible for introducing American readers to India.

Ved Mehta

I know i've read a number of articles by Mehta & am better informed as a result.

RIP Mehta

RIP Ved Mehta

Andrew Brooks, Who Developed a Coronavirus Spit Test, Dies at 51

His breakthrough helped millions get their results quickly in the early days of the pandemic, when tests were scarce and lines were long.



Andrew Brooks, a research professor at Rutgers University who developed the first saliva test for the coronavirus, died on Jan. 23 in Manhattan. He was 51.

The cause was a heart attack, his sister, Janet Green, said.

In April 2020, when coronavirus tests were scarce and lines to get them were long, Dr. Brooks made worldwide news when the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency approval to his technique, which promised to radically increase the speed and safety of the testing process.

“Instead of having a naso- or oropharyngeal swab that’s placed in your nose or the back of your throat, you simply have to spit in a tube,” he told Bill Hemmer of Fox News adding, “It doesn’t require a health care worker to collect it, six inches away from an infected person.”

In the 10 months since Dr. Brooks received approval, health care workers have performed more than four million tests using his approach, and it remains one of the most reliable means of determining whether someone has the coronavirus.

Full article
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/sc...

Sonny Fox, Whose ‘Wonderama’ Mixed Fun and Learning, Dies at 95

He was not a comic or a clown, just a smart and genial TV host who for almost a decade spoke to children, not at them. He died of Covid pneumonia.


Sonny Fox in an undated photo. “Wonderama,” the popular New York children’s TV show he hosted from 1959 to 1967, was a dazzling mixture of cartoons, games and many other elements.Credit...Bettmann

Sonny Fox, who as the host of the children’s television show “Wonderama” presided over a four-hour combination of fun and learning on Sunday mornings from 1959 to 1967, died on Jan. 24 in Encino, Calif. He was 95.

The cause was Covid pneumonia, his son Dana said.

Mr. Fox was a veteran of television when he was hired for “Wonderama” by the New York station WNEW-TV (now WNYW). He had hosted a live local educational program in St. Louis and “Let’s Take a Trip,” on CBS, on which he took two youngsters on a field trip each week.

Full article
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/30/ar...

YouTube
SONNY FOX, A Wonderama Guy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltywP...

It's sad to learn that someone who was as helpful as Brooks has died. He certainly made us all feel a bit safer.

RIP Brooks

Did you grow up watching Fox, Alias. I watched a couple of the youtube videos and think he must have been a favorite for kids. I'm grateful you gave us a taste of him. His story about the adult walking into the room & stopping was priceless.

RIP Fox

I'm sad to hear this.

RIP Andrew Brooks
RIP Sonny Fox

madrano wrote: "It's sad to learn that someone who was as helpful as Brooks has died. He certainly made us all feel a bit safer.

RIP Brooks

Did you grow up watching Fox, Alias. I watched a couple of the youtube ..."

No. I vaguely recall the shows name. I must have seen re-runs.

Thanks for the reply. Because i hadn't heard of him, i wasn't sure if he was around longer locally or not. So many cities had their own children's TV host. In Oklahoma City it was "Foreman Scotty". In addition to airing cartoons, there was an audience of kids, often part of birthday parties, as well as recorded continuing stories.

As you may imagine, given his name, the stories were set on a ranch. Scotty was the foreman and shared about the regular activities as well as had skirmishes with outlaws. It was pretty fancy for a local show. But we loved it!

Chick Corea passed away from cancer at age 79. He was a jazz musician who played piano and electric keyboards and was a leading figure in Fusion Jazz.

Link to NPR article

Dru83 wrote: "Chick Corea passed away from cancer at age 79. He was a jazz musician who played piano and electric keyboards and was a leading figure in Fusion Jazz.

Link to NPR article"

Thank you for the article link. I saw a news scroll headline of passing on the news this evening. :(

RIP Chuck Corea

Dru, thank you for that link. I treasure the quote in it from Corea, ""I want to thank all of those along my journey who have helped keep the music fires burning bright. It is my hope that those who have an inkling to play, write, perform or otherwise, do so. If not for yourself then for the rest of us. It's not only that the world needs more artists, it's also just a lot of fun."

The personal aspect is neat.

I read on his Wiki bio page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_C... ) that in 1993 he was excluded from a concert because officials were investigating Scientology and contributions or some such. Corea took it public and members of the US Congress sent a letter of complaint to German officials.

RIP Corea

Margaret Maron, creator of two successful mystery series, dead at 82



Margaret Maron, North Carolina native, died of complications from a stroke this week. Her first successful series, set in Manhattan, where she and her husband Joe Maron lived, was a police procedural featuring Sigrid Harald. Harald, a lieutenant in the NYPD, was a loner whose police officer father died in the line of duty when Sigrid was a toddler.

After the Marons moved back to North Carolina, Margaret created the popular Judge Deborah Knott series, beginning with Bootlegger's Daughter. In that first episode Knott was running for a seat as a judge in her home county but her father's reputation as a bootlegger was causing issues. Over 20 years readers became acquainted with her extended family (fortunately Maron inserted a family tree at the beginning of each book), while becoming familiar with life in North Carolina.

Margaret Maron was a founding member and past president of Sisters in Crime, offering networking, advice and support to mystery authors. SEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisters...

I have been a fan of Maron's for decades and am sad that i'll never know what happens next in the Knott series.

R.I.P. Margaret Maron

I liked the Deborah Knott books. RIP Margaret Maron.

RIP, Maron. It's nice that authors works will live on and keep their memory alive.

Barbara, the Knott series is among my favorite ever. I was uncomfortable with the first Harald mystery i read but ended up seeing that angle as a part of the main character.

Alias, it is neat that authors will live on via their works. It's another reason i enjoy reading older ('40s and early '50s, particularly) novels.

Architect and author NORTON JUSTER died

Architect Norton Juster died last week. His career was fairly traditional and a lifelong interest. However, most people know him as the author of the highly creative The Phantom Tollbooth, which he wrote and Jules Feiffer illustrated.

The book meant much in my life because my son was a fan of maps. He used to draw them on chalk on the sidewalk in our neighborhood. Folks walking by were often intrigued by the intricacy of the effort. So, you may imagine how Juster's work pleased my little boy. The reading took some time because the vocabulary was beyond his understanding but it was worth it. Upon completion the first thing my son did was try to create such a "tollbooth".

Ok, i mourn the loss of this highly creative author and architect but it's the way he mesmerized my son that has me posting about the man's death. This Wiki article has some cute stories about Juster's life in the military. He wrote a few more books but none with the following of the first. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_...

R.I.P. Norton Juster

Great book, The Phantom Tollbooth

RIP Norton Juster

madrano wrote: "Architect and author NORTON JUSTER died

Architect Norton Juster died last week. His career was fairly traditional and a lifelong interest. However, most people know him as the author ..."

Coincidently, I just watched the film The Phantom Tollbooth this weekend so it is a surprise to find out he has passed away.

Oh, i love hearing about that serendipitous event, Julie.

Children's Author Beverly Cleary, Creator Of Ramona Quimby, Dies At 104

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/26/311881...

Beveryly Cleary

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

The Ramona Quimby books are classics.

RIP Beverly Cleary

Larry McMurtry, author of 'Lonesome Dove' and other novels, dies at age 84

CNN)Award-winning novelist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry has died of heart failure, according to his publicist, Amanda Lundberg.

McMurtry, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for "Lonesome Dove," died on Thursday.

"Larry McMurtry passed away last night, on March 25 of heart failure at 84 years old surrounded by his loved ones who he lived with including long time writing partner Diana Ossana, his wife Norma Faye and their 3 dogs," according to a statement from Lundberg. "His son James, his grandson Curtis, and his goddaughter Sara Ossana were also at his bedside."

McMurtry wrote many other novels, including "Terms of Endearment" and "The Last Picture Show," three memoirs, a short biography of Crazy Horse and a collection of essays, according to the National Endowment for the Humanities, which awarded him a National Humanities Medal in 2014.

His books were often set in Texas and focused on the mythical values of Texas and the American West, often trying to dispel those values. Lundberg said he would be buried "in his cherished home state of Texas."

The screenplay for the film "Brokeback Mountain," starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two cowboys who secretly fall in love, was written by McMurtry and Ossana. Adapted from a short story by Annie Proulx, it won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay in 2006.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/26/us/lar...

--------------
Wikipedia
Larry Jeff McMurtry was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. His novels included Horseman, Pass By, The Last Picture Show, and Terms of Endearment, which were adapted into films.
Born: June 3, 1936, Archer City, TX
Died: March 25, 2021
Movies: The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment, MORE
Spouse: Norma Faye Kesey (m. 2011), Jo Scott McMurtry (m. 1959–1966)



Lonesome Dove

Terms of Endearment

Beverly Cleary was well celebrated in the Portland area. There were maps of the area where Ramona's family lived, as well as events to honor her work & her life. My son was a fan of Ralph Mouse Collection: The Mouse and the Motorcycle / Runaway Ralph / Ralph S. Mouse. My Brownie troop reenacted scenes from Ramona Quimby, Age 8 at meetings for badges.

It's interesting to note that both of these series began in the 50s and 60s. What an accomplishment to still be read and appreciated decades later by her readers. I'm glad she wrote autobiographies about her life, too. It nicely reminds us how life once was in the 20th century, A Girl from Yamhill and My Own Two Feet, the latter about her college years.

R.I.P. Beverly Cleary

My father read very little fiction but he read all the books in McMurtry's The Lonesome Dove Chronicles series. For this reason alone, McMurtry is a gem to me & mine. That he owned & operated book stores a time or two in his life, even after literary fame, is another reason he'll be missed.

RIP McMurtry

RIP Larry McMurtry

The 'Godmother' Of Egyptian Feminism Has Died: Remembering Nawal El Saadawi

After decades of fighting the patriarchy – enduring death threats, censorship, exile and imprisonment – Nawal El Saadawi died of natural causes in Cairo on March 21, outliving the two Egyptian presidents who tried to silence her: her jailor, Anwar Sadat and her censor, Hosni Mubarak. She was 89.

El Saadawi was the loudest voice for women's rights in the Arab world. Modern Egyptian feminists like journalist Mona Eltahawy consider her the "godmother" of the current feminist revolution galvanizing in Egypt.

"She is a reminder that feminism is indigenous to the region and not something we need to import," says Eltahawy, author of the newsletter, Feminist Giant. "Her fight against patriarchy will live on."

A feminist from an early age, El Saadawi blackened her teeth to ward off potential suitors when her parents tried to marry her off at 10 years old.

----For full article see link
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsand...
----------------------

I saw this on FB

Nawal el Saadawi rebelled from a young age, rejecting her grandmother’s assertion that “girls are a blight” and that “a boy is worth 15 girls at least.” Furious at the deeply ingrained sexism of the patriarchal Arab world, she grew up to become a physician, an author, and one of the most prominent women's rights activists in the Middle East. Dr. Saadawi, who died this month at the age of 89, wrote over 50 works -- both fiction and nonfiction -- including powerful treatises against female genital mutilation (FGM) in which she graphically described having her own clitoris removed at the age of six. Because of her defiance of both secular and religious authorities in Egypt, she regularly faced firing, death threats, and arrest; she wrote part of one autobiography from a prison cell on toilet paper and an eyeliner pencil that had been smuggled in. "Writing became a weapon with which to fight the system," she asserted. "The written word for me became an act of rebellion against injustice exercised in the name of religion, or morals, or love."

Born in a village in the Nile delta in 1931, Dr. Saadawi received a medical degree from Cairo University and practiced as a village physician despite the belief that only men were capable of handling the hardship of life in rural Egypt. Her first book, "Women and Sex," was banned in Egypt for over 20 years and she was dismissed from a high-ranking position in the Health Ministry after it resurfaced in the 1970s. In 1981, she was jailed as an "enemy of the state" and spent three years living in exile in the U.S. in the 1990s after receiving death threats for her critiques of Islam. Dr. Saadawi eventually returned to her home country to continue to push for change; in 2011, at the age of 79, she joined the pro-democracy protests against President Hosni Mubarak in Tahrir Square. As she observed at the time, “I have noticed that writers, when they are old, become milder. But for me it is the opposite. Age makes me more angry.”

Nawal El Saadawi

What a rich story of leadership by doing. Alias, thank you for sharing about this woman and her persistence. It must have been dark and challenging to confront such opinions time & again.

R.I.P. Saadawi

What a toxic atmosphere to grow up in. I very much admire Nawal el Saadaw for forging ahead.

RIP Nawal el Saadaw.

Am quite surprised no one’s mentioned it, but . . .

RIP Prince Philip, Royal consort to Queen Elizabeth II for the past seven decades 🪦 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

RIP Prince Philip.

Yes, RIP. I don't know much about the royal family. I was surprised to learn he was Greek.

For many recently dead, i read the obituaries and marvel at the things i didn't know about them. While i knew he was Greek, i didn't realize he lived there at all. Weird that i didn't know that.

RIP Prince Philip

Came across this nice article if you’re interested in the history background of Prince Philip:

https://apple.news/ApPeaEVVxRDOzETOab...

Thank you, Simon. There were many photos i've never seen and liked.

Felix Silla
1937-2021
He played Cousin Itt on The Addams Family.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/4/1...

Felix Silla
1937-2021
Actor
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/4/1...
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-ne...

Silla is not a household name but i am sure many families have enjoyed his work over the years. Thanks for the articles, Julie. His career was a long one.

RIP Silla