Grim Reader, June 3, 2011: Gil Scott-Heron, Abdias do Nascimento and Margo Dydek

by Michael Schaffer

JUNE 3, 2011 TAGS: OBITS, MUSIC ADD A COMMENT

Almost all of Gil Scott-Heron’s obits note that the musician did not want to be identified as the progenitor of rap music. And almost all of Gil Scott-Heron’s obits then proceed to ignore that request, using their lead paragraphs to label him “an important early influence on hip-hop” (the New York Times), “a crucial forerunner of rap” (the Guardian), and “the American musician and poet whose work inspired hip-hop artists ranging from Public Enemy to Kanye West” (Spin). Numerous outlets follow the lead of the Associated Press, which dubs the avowed non-hip-hop fan the “godfather” of the genre. “Before there was rap, there was the music and prose of this prescient and troubled performer,” declares a headline in The Root.

Gil Scott-Heron

In fact, most of the coverage spends a lot more time on Scott-Heron’s prescience than his troubles. Scott-Heron “was articulating the rage and the disillusionment of the black masses through song and spoken word” long before hip-hop artists rode that musical rage to platinum status, explains the Associated Press. The Los Angeles Times catches a great quote from one of them, Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, who says that "as far as black people are concerned, Gil Scott-Heron is like Bob Dylan.” Nearly everyone singles out his 1970 classic, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” “an attack on the mindless and anaesthetising effects of the mass media and a call to arms to the black community,” according to the United Kingdom’s Telegraph.

And yet, like Dylan, the Scott-Heron of the obits takes a lot more shapes -- jazzman, blues-lover, coffeehouse poet -- than many of his musical descendants. The Guardian explains that, rather than considering himself a rapper, “he was keener to view his song-like poetry as just another strand in the diverse world of black music.” (Others say he just didn’t like rap.) His politics also feature in the coverage, with the New York Times labeling him a “star of the black cultural left,” while Politico, grasping for the Washington media’s preferred bipartisan form, dubs him “an equal opportunity political critic” because he lampooned Nixon, Reagan, and insufficiently zealous black civil rights leaders. (To Grim Reader’s eyes, that’s not equal-opportunity so much as a consistent stance to the left of all those targets.)

The obits are also all over the place on the addiction that dominated the second half of Scott-Heron’s life. While many obits tuck it in at the end, the Independent doesn’t flinch, going high with a description of his late years as “a bleak negative of those prolific and positive times,” and calling him a “chronic crack cocaine addict.” It’s also among the small minority of outlets to note that he was HIV positive.

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Leading from the right

Bill Clements “shattered Texas’ image as a one-party state by becoming its first Republican governor in more than a century,” says the Dallas Morning News. Clements served two nonconsecutive terms between 1978 and 1990, arriving when the state legislature had roughly 20 Republicans out of almost 200, and surviving into an era when Texas is among the nation’s most Republican states. “The rise of Southern Republicans remains the dominant political narrative of the era,” explains Politico. And Clements, as portrayed in the obits, seems fairly emblematic of the Dixie Republican: “He affected a dual political identity, a good-ol'-boy from the oil patch on the one hand, and a self-made business leader on the other,” says the Wall Street Journal, while the New York Times notes his “belief that state government should operate like a big business.” All basics of the modern Republican hymnal. But Grim Reader wishes the obits expended some energy examining whether he lived up to the hype. Is Texas’ bureaucracy on a par with that of IBM? Or, for that matter, is there a contradiction between the “small government initiatives” noted in the Politico obit and the massive “war on drugs” Clements led?

Muse, painter, Mexican

Leonora Carrington was a sufficiently prominent artist to draw obits around the globe, but in the Washington Post, her status does double duty with her role as the inspiration for a still more prominent male artist. Carrington “gained a cultural foothold as the muse and lover of painter Max Ernst and later emerged as a significant artist in works that fused surrealism with the occult and mystical explorations of femininity,” the obit explains. Though the placement strikes Grim Reader as a bit demeaning, the chronology actually fits with most of the obits, with the New York Times quoting Carrington saying “from Max I had my education.” The obits paint a portrait of Carrington’s world in inter-war Europe, with cameos by Picasso and Dali, among others. Carrington came into her own, though, after fleeing Paris ahead of WWII and landing in Mexico. “Carrington's style became recognizable worldwide, a combination of anthropomorphic whimsy and an undercurrent of shadowy darkness,” says the Los Angeles Times, which dubs this daughter of the British upper crust “perhaps the last great living Mexican artist.”

Telling unpleasant truths

Also in Latin America, the New York Times obit for Abdias do Nascimento doubles as a lesson in the strange history of race in Brazil. More slaves were imported to that country than to the United States, and slavery lasted longer there. But the comparative integration of society meant Brazil has long seen itself, unlike America, as a “racial democracy.” Nascimento, the most prominent activist for black Brazilians, is credited with changing that self-conception and obliging his country to acknowledge its racism. “He was a little bit of Marcus Garvey, a little of W. E. B. DuBois, a little bit of Langston Hughes and a little bit of Adam Clayton Powell,” an American professor tells the paper. And because Brazil was under military rule for so long, he did his art -- and his activism -- from exile in North America and West Africa.

Georgia on his mind

Further overseas, there are obits for Abkhazian leader Sergei Bagapsh, who was a head of state in the eyes of Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Nauru. Elsewhere, he’s viewed as the leader of a breakaway region of Georgia that’s been under Russian military control since a 2008 war. Bagapsh “was credited with leading the region to de facto independence,” says the Associated Press, leaving mention of Moscow’s troops for later in the story. A New York Times obit, though, makes him seem like less of a patsy, noting that he’d originally beaten the ex-KGBer favored by Vladimir Putin. “He is the kind of person who plays 15 steps ahead,” an Abkhaz writer tells the paper. “There are leaders who play a child’s game, but Bagapsh is not one of them.”

“Large Marge”

In sports this week, 7’2’’ Margo Dydek is remembered as having been “the tallest active female basketball player in the world,” according to the New York Times. Pregnant with her third child, “Large Marge” died of a heart attack at 37, though none of the obits Grim Reader found speculate as to what caused her medical problems. ... Bicyclist Xavi Tondo is credited with “being one of Spain's most outspoken anti-dopers.” The Independent’s obit makes it clear that that was tough in a sport where performance-enhancing drug use is widespread and non-dopers have a hard time joining teams. Tondo was preparing to file for unemployment when he got a last-minute offer; a string of strong performaces -- validated by drug testing -- made it likely he’d be in the Tour de France. He was crushed between his car and the garage door in a freak domestic accident. … And Pauline Betz Addie was the reigining Wimbledon champ, dubbed the “first lady of tennis” on the front page of Time magazine in 1947. But, the Washington Post obit explains, she never played another major tournament after being banned for the sin of discussing the possibility of going pro -- a no-no in those amateurism-obsessed days. She wound up on a tour with pros including Bobby Riggs, and caused a scandal when her short tennis skirt lifted up to reveal lacy underwear.

One and done

In pop culture, everyone notes that Leonard Kastle directed The Honeymoon Killers, which Variety calls a “cult classic.” He never made another film. … Jeff Conaway was a 1970s TV staple and starred in 1978’s Grease. But, spurred by his public addiction -- he appeared on a rehab reality show, naturally -- obits like this ABC piece go long on his personal demons; there’s also lots of coverage from sources like E! about just what chemical combination killed him. ... And Clarice Taylor was best known for a recurring role as Bill Cosby’s mother on The Cosby Show. Her career began in segregated radio, moved on to the stage, and stopped at Sesame Street en route to the popular 1980s sitcom, says People.

Typing up history

Finally, Grim Reader has always been fascinated by court reporters. They sit through huge moments in history, but never say what they think. So he was heartened to see the Washington Post devote obit space to Elizabeth Eastman, a freelance court reporter who worked on the Robert Hansen espionage case and depositions in the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, among other D.C. headline-grabbers. Unfortunately, we learn little about what Eastman concluded about the personalities whose legal wrangling she transcribed. Which likely means she was a true pro, but is kind of too bad.

Michael Schaffer’s Grim Reader appears Friday in Obit. He is the author of One Nation Under Dog, about culture and the American pet industry.