Looking Back at 2010: Part 2
DECEMBER 12, 2010 TAGS:
Although 2010 didn't offer us obit aficionados a "Summer of Death" like last year, the first year of the new decade saw an intriguing list of luminaries join the ranks of the recently deceased. It also witnessed a diverse array of reactions, tributes, appreciations and straight up obits. Here's part two of Obit-Mag.com's annual look back at the most interesting lives that came to an end this calender year.
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The Darling of the Fashonistas
Eunice Johnson helped African Americans find footing in the world of haute couture.
by Maureen Jenkins
Star-studded events are de rigueur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which honors fashion icons of great renown. But earlier this month, the institute feted Ebony Fashion Fair founder Eunice W. Johnson, even though much of the country didn’t know who she was.
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Dame Joan Sutherland
The Burden of the Voice and Its Stupendous Delights
by David Patrick Stearns
Living with the voice of the century can’t be easy, particularly when that voice is your own. Dame Joan Sutherland, who died recently at age 83, couldn’t help regarding her coloratura soprano with a certain amount of detachment. She called it “the voice.” The voice dictated where she would live and work for three or more years in advance, whether at the Metropolitan Opera, where she had a vociferous public, the Royal Opera in London, where she first became a star in 1959, or in her native Australia, where she wound down her career in the late 1980s as one of the country’s foremost national icons.
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Please Please Me
Alex Chilton’s death reveals our fondness for opposite goals.
by Alan Scherstuhl
This is the legacy of Alex Chilton: the idea that unpopular pop matters as much as what the big stars churn out for the kids. It’s also yet another irony of his life, death, and art. From hipster blogs to C-Span 2, fans honor the man for his commitment to honest music that never settled for the merely popular. But they love him for those early attempts at honest-to-God hits, when he gave his all to record great popular music.
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At Home with Louise Bourgeois
A personal reminiscence
by Phyllis Tuchman
When she passed away on Monday, May 31st at the age of 98, she had enjoyed the honors that are bestowed on great artists. She’d been awarded medals by the president of the United States, where she lived after she married in 1938, and by the president of France, where she was born and raised and attended art schools. At the end of her long life, her art sold for top dollar, and museums were collecting her work in depth. When her biography is published, it will read like a work of fiction.
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Byrd Song
A tune of long years, arcane rules, power and pork.
by Judy Bachrach
More than any other attainment, silver-haired Sen. Robert Byrd, who died on Monday at 92, will likely be remembered for his unsurpassed legislative longevity and ability to get what he wanted. He served 51 years in the Senate, six of those as Majority Leader, and was during that time third in line to become president. This speaks directly to the deficiencies in the American political system.
The Darling of the FashonistasEunice Johnson helped African Americans find footing in the world of haute couture.
by Maureen Jenkins
Star-studded events are de rigueur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which honors fashion icons of great renown. But earlier this month, the institute feted Ebony Fashion Fair founder Eunice W. Johnson, even though much of the country didn’t know who she was.
Dame Joan SutherlandThe Burden of the Voice and Its Stupendous Delights
by David Patrick Stearns
Living with the voice of the century can’t be easy, particularly when that voice is your own. Dame Joan Sutherland, who died recently at age 83, couldn’t help regarding her coloratura soprano with a certain amount of detachment. She called it “the voice.” The voice dictated where she would live and work for three or more years in advance, whether at the Metropolitan Opera, where she had a vociferous public, the Royal Opera in London, where she first became a star in 1959, or in her native Australia, where she wound down her career in the late 1980s as one of the country’s foremost national icons.
Please Please MeAlex Chilton’s death reveals our fondness for opposite goals.
by Alan Scherstuhl
This is the legacy of Alex Chilton: the idea that unpopular pop matters as much as what the big stars churn out for the kids. It’s also yet another irony of his life, death, and art. From hipster blogs to C-Span 2, fans honor the man for his commitment to honest music that never settled for the merely popular. But they love him for those early attempts at honest-to-God hits, when he gave his all to record great popular music.
At Home with Louise BourgeoisA personal reminiscence
by Phyllis Tuchman
When she passed away on Monday, May 31st at the age of 98, she had enjoyed the honors that are bestowed on great artists. She’d been awarded medals by the president of the United States, where she lived after she married in 1938, and by the president of France, where she was born and raised and attended art schools. At the end of her long life, her art sold for top dollar, and museums were collecting her work in depth. When her biography is published, it will read like a work of fiction.
Byrd SongA tune of long years, arcane rules, power and pork.
by Judy Bachrach
More than any other attainment, silver-haired Sen. Robert Byrd, who died on Monday at 92, will likely be remembered for his unsurpassed legislative longevity and ability to get what he wanted. He served 51 years in the Senate, six of those as Majority Leader, and was during that time third in line to become president. This speaks directly to the deficiencies in the American political system.
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