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Lawrence Ferlinghetti, an acclaimed poet and longtime proprietor of City Lights, the San Francisco bookstore and avant-garde publishing house that catapulted the Beat Generation to fame and helped establish the city as a center of literary and cultural revolution, died Feb. 22 at his home in San Francisco. He was 101.

The cause was interstitial lung disease, said his son, Lorenzo.

Intensely private and fiercely political, Mr. Ferlinghetti became a household name in the 1950s when he stood trial on obscenity charges for publishing Allen Ginsberg’s hallucinatory anti-establishment manifesto “Howl.”

The trial brought attention from around the world for Ginsberg, his ecstatically irreverent poem and, by extension, the entire Beat Generation — a roving band of hipsters, poets and artists who rebelled against the country’s conservatism, experimenting with literary forms as well as with drugs, sex and spirituality.

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Vicar of Dibley actor Trevor Peacock dies aged 89

Jessica McClintock, a fashion designer who outfitted generations of young women for their homecoming dances and proms, supplied their bridesmaid dresses and bridal gowns and thus evoked for many a lace-draped aura of nostalgia, died Feb. 16 at her home in San Francisco. She was 90.

She had congestive heart failure, said a half sister, Mary Santoro.

For more than half a century, ever since she struck out in California as a divorced mother with an untrained but keen eye for fashion, Ms. McClintock was one of the most popular designers of affordable formal wear for young women.

If a red carpet blazed the way to an average high school dance, and celebrity reporters craned over the velvet rope to pepper arrivals with that time-honored query — “Who are you wearing?” — the name “Jessica McClintock” would surely become a familiar reply.

For brides who did not wish to bankrupt themselves or burden their bridesmaids with the purchase of dresses in the four-digit price range, Ms. McClintock became a go-to label for attractive options. Perhaps the most famous bride to don a Jessica McClintock frock was Hillary Rodham when she married a Yale Law School classmate, Bill Clinton, in 1975. The dress was long-sleeved and lacy, with a ribbon in front — purchased, according to Brides magazine, for $53 at the Fayetteville, Ark., mall.

Yaphet Kotto, the African-American actor best known for memorable roles in Alien and the 007 film Live and Let Die, as well as the hit TV series Homicide: Life on the Street, has died aged 81 in the Philippines.

James Levine, the guiding maestro of the Metropolitan Opera for more than 40 years and one of the world’s most influential and admired conductors until allegations of sexual abuse and harassment ended his career, died on March 9 in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 77.

His death was confirmed on Wednesday morning by Dr. Len Horovitz, his physician. The cause was not immediately released, nor was it clear why the death had not been announced earlier. He had been living in Palm Springs.

After investigating accounts of sexual improprieties by Mr. Levine with younger men stretching over decades, the Met first suspended and then fired him in 2018, a precipitous fall from grace at the age of 74. He fought back with a defamation lawsuit.

Before the scandal emerged, Mr. Levine was a widely beloved maestro who for decades helped define the Met, the nation’s largest performing arts organization, expanding its repertory and burnishing its world-class orchestra. And his work extended well beyond that company. For seven years, starting in 2004, he was the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, earning high praise during his initial seasons for revitalizing that esteemed ensemble, championing contemporary music and commissioning major works by living composers.

Estiveo wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:46 pm Norton Juster, 91. Author of The Phantom Tollbooth.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertai ... 641946001/

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:56 am https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/bj ... uxbndlbing

B.J. Thomas died of stage 4 lung cancer. The voice of my teen years.

MN-Skeptic wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:00 pm

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:56 am https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/bj ... uxbndlbing

B.J. Thomas died of stage 4 lung cancer. The voice of my teen years.

I believe that he just revealed that he has stage 4 lung cancer. He's still alive at this point.

Estiveo wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:46 pm Norton Juster, 91. Author of The Phantom Tollbooth.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertai ... 641946001/

PaulG wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 2:16 am

Estiveo wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:46 pm Norton Juster, 91. Author of The Phantom Tollbooth.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertai ... 641946001/

I read The Phantom Tollbooth so many times I can't count. My favorite quote I repeat endlessly these days “You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and still come out completely dry. Most people do.”

Jessica Walter, the award-winning actress best known for portraying Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development, has died. She was 80 years old. A representative for Walter confirmed the news to Rolling Stone.

Walter’s five-decade acting career spanned across film and television, from Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut Play Misty for Me, to the voice of Malory Archer on the animated series Archer, to Emmy-nominated roles on Trapper John, M.D. and Streets of San Francisco. Walter won an Emmy for portraying the title character on the police drama series Amy Prentiss.

For younger audiences, Walter was most recognizable for her role as Arrested Development matriarch Lucille Bluth, which earned her yet another Emmy nomination (for Outstanding Supporting Actress) as well as two SAG nominations. Walter served as the second National Vice President of the Screen Actors Guild and was an elected member of the SAG Board of Directors for over a decade.