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 Book People we have Lost .For years, in our bookstores, we had a very low-key, semi-hidden display of works by authors who had just died. Our man Michael enjoyed putting the newest death displays up. Why not online? So on this page we will note the passing of people who have made their mark in the world of books. To complete the page's theme, I have adorned it with photos from one of my favorite cemeteries, Oakland's Mountain View. _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2.1.12  The great Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska has died at the age of 88. Her work touched millions around the world. Filmmaker Woody Allen, said of the poet, "She is able to capture the pointlessness and sadness of life, but somehow still be affirmative."Two decades ago, Szymborska couldn't have fathomed that she would ever receive so much attention. At the time, she was living in relative anonymity in a small soviet-style apartment in Krakow. Everything changed when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996. She was so shocked to receive the honor that she was unable to write for years afterwards. Thankfully for the world, her poetry recovered. That remarkable poetry is accessible, wise, and powerfully resonant despite Szymborska's light touch. She was 16 when Nazi Germany invaded her home country of Poland in 1939 and for decades after the war her country was under the totalitarian grip of the Soviet Union. But while Szymborska never shied from looking life's grim realities in the eye, she always found things to embrace. Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski wrote of her death, "For decades she infused Poles with optimism and with trust in the power of beauty and the might of the word." _____ 1.12.12  Crime fiction author Reginald Hill, whose Yorkshire detective duo Andrew Dalziel and Peter Pascoe gained international readership, has died, the Guardian reported. He was 75. Ian Rankin called Hill a "traditional crime writer, but with a modern sensibility." Hill called himself a crime novelist, but his work owed nothing to the hard-boiled tradition of the genre. His approach was cerebral, his plots labyrinthine, his characterizations sharply etched, and his dialogue richly laced with humor. His novels bristle with shrewd perceptions and whimsical wit. He wrote 24 bestselling Dalziel and Pascoe novels, which were the basis of 12 successful BBC television series. _____ 12.14.11  I could tell you about the latest e-books, bookstores closing, Amazon's news about scanning products (with their stupid/smartphone app) in brick and mortar stores to find them cheaper at amazon.com, but instead I bring you notice of this mere bookseller. He reopened a very famous bookstore in Paris and lived books, culture—and more importantly—people. He was known to let struggling writers sleep in the bookstore in exchange for a few hours work in the store. By his own estimate, he lodged some 40,000 people. GEORGE WHITMAN died peacefully at home in the apartment above his bookshop. George suffered a stroke two months ago, but showed incredible strength and determination up to the end, continuing to read every day in the company of his daughter, Sylvia, his friends and his cat and dog.As Mr. Whitman put it, “I wanted a bookstore because the book business is the business of life.” 'Whitman Put 'People, Culture and Books Before Money' "I found a second home at Shakespeare and Company. George always gave special privileges to writers--he lent me his dog to keep me company. He was an affront to modern capitalism, because h ran a successful business that put people, culture and books before money. He made his own world, and that is the best that anyone can do." — Author Jeanette Winterson in her Guardian remembrance of Shakespeare & Company's legendary owner George Whitman, aged 98, who died on Wednesday, December 14. _____ 12.15.11 We have also lost author CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS. Love him or hate him, he always freely gave a good argument and his viewpoint. His style and personality will be missed.  more on Christopher a fine remembrance by Robert ScheerChristopher Hitchens: 'the consummate writer, the brilliant friend' - Ian McEwanLastly, here's a Hitchens golden nugget from the Guardian website: Perhaps the most useful takeaway from a life so publicly and combatively well lived are these words of wisdom: "The four most over-rated things in life are champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics." _____ 11.21.11 ANNE MCCAFFREY, 85, author of nearly 100 books, co-author of more than 30 and best known for the Dragonriders of Pern series, died November 21, 2011 of a massive stroke at home in Ireland. McCaffrey was the first woman to win a Hugo Award (1968) and the Nebula (1969). She was was born in Cambridge, Mass., and grew up in Montclair, N.J. FAMOUS GRAVES from around the world  VIRGINIA WOOLF Monk’s House, Rodmell, Sussex, England _____  ROBERT FROSTOld Bennington Cemetery, Bennington, Vermont. _____  EMILY DICKINSONWest Cemetery; Amherst, Massachusetts _____  WILLIAM SHAKESPEAREHoly Trinity Churchyard; Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England _____  KARL MARXHighgate Cemetery, London, England |  .  One of our favorite Oakland places is the Mountain View Cemetery at 5000 Piedmont Avenue. I've been a graveyard lover since I was a child visiting old New England resting places of all kinds. Mountain View is a grand place (over 200 acres) and we get out there at least once a month. It a wonderful place to take pictures, relax and reflect, and to bring a picnic and a good book. They give very interesting guided tours, the architecture is spectacular, and the grounds were designed by none other than Frederick Law Olmsted (of NYC's Central Park fame) and it all started back in 1863. more on Mountain View Cemetery: livesofthedead.com more about graveyards: association of graveyard rabbits   .  shadow of a man & his camera | |
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