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William F. Buckley dies

In spite of William F. Buckley being wrong on tons of issues, I respected Mr. Buckley. He didn’t hurl insults like Sean Hannity or just make up stuff like Bill O’Reilly.

Update: I guess that Buckley did hurl some insults. (h/t – Connie)

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From NYT:

Mr. Buckley suffered from diabetes and emphysema, his son, Christopher, said, although the exact cause of death was not immediately known. He was found at his desk in the study of his home, his son said. “He might have been working on a column,” Christopher Buckley said.

William Buckley, with his winningly capricious personality, his use of ten-dollar words and a darting tongue writers loved to compare to an anteater’s, was the popular host of one of television’s longest-running programs, “Firing Line,” and founded and shepherded the influential conservative magazine National Review. (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2008-02-27T23:49:24-04:00February 27th, 2008|Books, General|Comments Off

Bobby Fisher dies

Bobby Fisher, the chess master, died today at the age of 64. I was a very young man when Fisher beat the Russian Boris Spassky. This was the early 70’s. The US was looking for something to cheer about with Nixon and Whitegate dominating the airwaves.

After winning, Fisher became an odd figure. I didn’t know anything about his anti-semitic rants. Still for a second in time he was an American hero. Okay, maybe that is overstating a bit. He was an American icon.

By ecthompsonmd|2008-01-18T09:50:06-04:00January 18th, 2008|General|Comments Off

Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson dies

Much has been written about Oscar Peterson. He died on Sunday at age 82. He was one of the jazz greats that didn’t kill himself with alcohol or other drugs. He lived a good long life. He was very productive. Some years he produced 4 or 5 albums. He played with everybody. His style strikes me as the anti-Miles. Miles Davis tried to eliminate notes. At the same time, he wasn’t John Coltrane either with his notes-on-notes. Oscar Peterson had plenty of notes but they cascaded and flowed.

More clips and commentary here. Of course, C&L have a little something to say.
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From WaPo:

Oscar Peterson at the piano? Oscar Peterson was the piano.

His touch could be light and feathery, as ethereal as a memory. It could operate with blinding speed, releasing liquid lines that felt like a river bursting a dam. Or it could release rumbling cascades of notes, pounding out a stratagem of confidence and assurance. (more…) NYT article here.

By ecthompsonmd|2007-12-25T19:16:35-04:00December 25th, 2007|Music|Comments Off