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 13, 2015
Gunter Grass
Nobel-winning writer, and poet, playwright, essayist, sculptor, and activist -- via the New York Times. He has a jacked-up legacy. A person who condemned his countrymen for their involvement with Nazism, he revealed 60 years on that he himself was a member of the SS during World War II. This severely compromised the integrity of his calls for an honest facing up to the past.
His writing is still meaningful and inspiring. An early wielder of magic realism, Grass taught us how to weld together fantasy, realism, and cultural observation in effective and profound ways. Although he will be best remembered for "The Tin Drum," two other books of his had a far greater effect on me personally -- "The Flounder" and "On Writing and Politics." I forgive him.
