Obituaries
Jazz great Freddie Hubbard dies at 70
By John Andrews, January 3, 2009
Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard exploded onto the 1958 New York jazz scene at the age of 20. Over the next decade, he blew fiery “hard bop” with virtually all the greatest East Coast musicians and appea...
American painter Robert Rauschenberg 1925-2008: Avant-garde to Pop
By Lee Parsons, December 29, 2008
Noted American artist Robert Rauschenberg died May 12 this year of heart failure at his home in Captiva, Florida at the age of 82. The passing of this influential artist obliges us to consider his wor...
Harold Pinter and Eartha Kitt, artists and opponents of imperialist war
December 27, 2008
British playwright Harold Pinter died Wednesday at the age of 78, and American singer and actress Eartha Kitt died Christmas day, at 81. Both will be remembered as artists and as well for speaking out...
To the memory of Adrian Mitchell
By David Walsh, December 24, 2008
This is more of a personal response to the death of poet Adrian Mitchell December 20 than an informed, much less scholarly, commentary. My encounter with his works took place several decades ago.
The deaths of singers Miriam Makeba and Odetta
By D. Lencho, December 13, 2008
Two prominent vocal artists identified with the struggle against racial oppression—Miriam Makeba and Odetta—recently died within a few weeks of each other. They came of age and achieved fame in th...
Sydney Opera House architect, Jørn Utzon dies
By Paul Bartizan, December 10, 2008
Jørn Utzon, whose name is bound to his greatest, and perhaps one of the world’s best-known post-World War II pieces of architecture, the Sydney Opera House, died in his sleep aged 90 on Saturday, N...
Austrian right-wing politician Jörg Haider dies in car crash
By Markus Salzmann, October 16, 2008
Jörg Haider, the governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia and chairman of the extreme right Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) died in a car accident in Klagenfurt in the early hours of ...
Paul Newman (1925-2008)
By Hiram Lee, October 1, 2008
The death of actor Paul Newman on September 26, after a long battle with lung cancer, was followed by a flood of tributes and remembrances.
From Pabloism to the Greens
Peter Camejo dead at 68
By Fred Mazelis, September 16, 2008
This past weekend brought news of the death of Peter Camejo, a leading figure in the US Green Party, three times its candidate for governor of California, and Ralph Nader’s vice presidential run...
Ken Campbell (1941-2008): A unique theatrical talent
By Paul Bond, September 11, 2008
The death of the restlessly brilliant Ken Campbell, aged just 66, has robbed the theatre of one of its most inspiring talents. He was instantly recognisable: a short, bald man with increasingly unruly...
Jerry Wexler, producer of Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, dead at 91
By Hiram Lee, August 20, 2008
Jerry Wexler, the legendary music producer of Atlantic Records, died of congestive heart failure on August 15 at his home in Sarasota, Florida. He was 91.
Social satirist George Carlin dead at 71
By David Walsh, June 24, 2008
American comedian George Carlin, an acerbic commentator on life and at times a sharp social satirist, died June 22 in Santa Monica, California at the age of 71. His was a critical voice in American pu...
