Category: Memoriam

Hughes Adieu.

Barnard Hughes, 1915-2006. A veteran stage actor, Hughes is probably best known in my generation as Grandpa in The Lost Boys (“One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach, all the damn vampires“), although I remember having a certain fondness for the goofy Mr. Merlin as a little kid, a short-lived show that somehow made it to Belgian TV.

Lay to Rest.

In a surprising coda to the Enron trial, company founder, presidential confidant, and recently convicted felon Ken Lay died this morning of a heart attack. His dubious legacy: “Enron’s bankruptcy filing cost thousands of workers their jobs, spooked investors into doubting the integrity of the stock market and spurred lawmakers to enact the most significant changes to corporate practices in more than 70 years.“

Godspeed, Galbraith.


“In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when they are comfortably, contentedly, even happily wrong.” R.I.P. John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006), a giant of 20th century economics and politics, and the wry conscience of an affluent society.

The Death and Life of Great American Urban Activists.

“In the weeks to come, much will be written about her central role in shaping our ideas — and our ideals — of urbanism. The praise will be deserved. During the 1960s, a time when the reigning orthodoxy was urban renewal, which generally took the form of urban demolition, she championed a more evolutionary, humanist, and small-scale approach to city planning.” Slate‘s Witold Rybczynski ruminates on the legacy of Jane Jacobs, who passed away yesterday (1916-2006.)

His Revels are now ended.

“So, what do you do when you find out your effervescent childhood hero is a violent, potentially evil man? You can repudiate him, forgive him, or try to compartmentalize and love the ballplayer while deploring his actions.” Friend, colleague, and baseball fan Jeremy Derfner remembers Kirby Puckett for Slate.