Novelist -- via the New York Times.
Interesting, overlooked, and significant obituaries from around the world, as they happen, emphasizing the positive achievements of those who have died. Member, Society of Professional Obituary Writers.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Michael "Flathead" Blanchard
A colorful individual who penned his own obituary -- via the Denver Post.
From the New York Times: the obit-writing process
A nice story from NYT public editor Arthur S. Brisbane on the process and criteria of a New York Times obituary -- "Times obituaries go not to the conventionally
virtuous but to the famous, the influential, the offbeat and to others
whose lives, through writerly intervention, can be alchemized into
newsprint literature."
Hal Chester aka Harold Ribotsky
Film producer and actor -- via the Telegraph. He started off as a Dead End Kid -- then moved into the (I'm not kidding) "Little Tough Guy" series. He later produced the Joe Palooka films for Monograph (he got the film rights to be the popular comic strip through his friendship with Palooka creator Ham Fisher). Still later, he went to England, producing two memorable films -- Jacques Tourneur's "Night of the Demon" and Robert Hamer's "School for Scoundrels."
Side notes: 1) Chester infamously contracted someone to create and film the "demon" of the title of Tourneur's film, earning the eternal hatred of the director. Tourneur, who had directed such horror classics as "Cat People" and "I Walked with a Zombie," prided himself on being able to create a superlative atmosphere of dread through suggestion. Chester, however, did not trust Tourneur and overrode him. Anyone who compares the film cuts with and without the "demon" will have to agree with the director.
2) Although Hamer takes the director's credit for "Scoundrels," Cyril Frankel really directed the picture -- as Hamer turned up drunk every morning to work until he was fired.
Side notes: 1) Chester infamously contracted someone to create and film the "demon" of the title of Tourneur's film, earning the eternal hatred of the director. Tourneur, who had directed such horror classics as "Cat People" and "I Walked with a Zombie," prided himself on being able to create a superlative atmosphere of dread through suggestion. Chester, however, did not trust Tourneur and overrode him. Anyone who compares the film cuts with and without the "demon" will have to agree with the director.
2) Although Hamer takes the director's credit for "Scoundrels," Cyril Frankel really directed the picture -- as Hamer turned up drunk every morning to work until he was fired.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Edmund Epstein
Scholar, editor and publisher -- via the New York Times. He most famously reprinted "Lord of the Flies," making it a popular success.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Neil Travis
Editor for film and television -- via Variety. He won an Oscar for "Dances with Wolves" and an Emmy for "Roots."
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