wmtc: rest in power, larry kramer

We activists like to paraphrase the legendary labour activist Joe Hill by saying “First mourn, then organize”. Larry Kramer, who died yesterday at the age of 84, defined the phrase. He taught a generation — he taught an entire culture — how to use grief as fuel, how to channel anger

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wmtc: toni morrison, rest in power

I was so shocked and saddened to learn of Toni Morrison’s death. I’ve been reading her work since a university creative writing teacher recommended The Bluest Eye in 1979. I’ve read all her novels. Although Beloved is her masterpiece, most of her work is phenomenal, and every book is worth

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wmtc: rip philip roth

I was literally reading this article in The New York Times about Philip Roth when I heard he had died. It’s a wonderful story: an 85-year-old celebrated author who has come to the end of his career with no regrets, is grateful to wake up every morning, and is now bingeing

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wmtc: rip tom petty

The death of Tom Petty is terrible, shocking, dare I say heartbreaking news. From the moment I heard those unmistakeable first notes of “American Girl,” I was hooked. I was a teenager when Petty first fought the battle to hold down the price of records. (Archival story about that here.)

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wmtc: fidel castro, 1926-2016

More than any ruler I can think of, Fidel Castro defies our insistence on seeing leaders as solely either good or evil. As this excellent assessment in Social Worker (UK) puts it, “History must judge him both as the freedom fighter whose defiance humiliated US imperialism and as the ruler

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wmtc: bobby keys, 1943-2014

Terrible news for the music world this week, and for the world of unabashed, unrepentant, hard partying rock-and-roll. I have loved Bobby Keys for as long as I’ve known of his existence, which is to say a very long time. If you read Life, Keith Richards’ memoirs, you know a

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wmtc: nadine gordimer, 1923-2014

Nadine Gordimer was a great writer, and a steadfast voice for justice. Gordimer, a white South African, was a member of the African National Congress when the organization itself was illegal. Several of her novels, which explored the affects of apartheid on those who lived it, were similarly banned. Gordimer

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wmtc: charles barsotti, 1933-2014

Two obituary posts in a row, and I didn’t even mention Tony Gwynn. My favourite cartoonist, Charles Barsotti, has died from cancer at the age of 80. My favourite Barsotti character is, of course, The Pup. The Pup often saw his therapist. And sometimes lawyers were involved. But Barsotti had

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