¡VIVA!
Nicanor Parra
(September 15, 1914 - January 23, 2018)
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(Above and left: Parra's sister singing "Gracias a la Vida." (Thanks to Life.) She was the original composer & singer of the song, more often heard in the US as sung by Argentine, Mercedes Sosa. When the priests at Nicanor Parra's funeral objected to the song being broadcast in the church, mourners protested, and the song was soon heard loud and clear over loudspeakers on into the square outside.)
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela
(April 4, 1939 – January 23, 2018)
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In the time since South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela passed away, numerous musical tributes and obituaries have highlighted his struggle, both through his music and in the political sphere, to publicize ongoing atrocities in South Africa, to free Nelson Mandela, and to end Apartheid. Acknowledging and praising this noble aspect of Masekela's work is of the utmost importance, and at the same time, there were other aspects to his music. One recurring theme is the rhythm of the mines and the black miners' music, marabi, that he heard as a child in Witboro, outside Johannesburg. This early rhythmic influence informed much of the underlying beat of his oeuvre and comes through in monologues and singing, such as in the middle of "Stimela (The Coal Train)" at right. Like so many musicians, he struggled with alcohol and substance addiction, and this comes through in pieces such as "Don't Go Lose It." Masekela also championed progressive issues, such as winning 'the battle against AIDS' and being there 'for the victims of violence and abuse.' Finally, one aspect of his work that seems to have gone unremarked upon in so many obituaries is his support of women musicians in the male-dominated world of jazz. Even a cursory glance at his work shows how many women worked with him, such as the great Miriam Makeba and Letta Mbulu. Check out "Mahlalela," with Mbulu singing and Masekela arranging and playing trumpet at right.
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Ursula Le Guin
(October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018)
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Ursula Le Guin, writer of science fiction and fantasy, died in Portland, Oregon. It is notable that her father was the well-known anthropologist, Alfred Louis Kroeber, and that she grew up surrounded by a family of anthropologists. Her fictional worlds were constructed of alternate cultures and ways of life that, were there interstellar anthropologists among us, would certainly be lauded by such an august body. She wove feminist themes into her work, and was most noted for her Left Hand of Darkness, and the Earthsea series. Her passing was noted with praise for her work by such fellow authors as Margaret Atwood (see her brief eulogy of LeGuin in The Guardian News) and others.
See her website, especially for donations in her memory as well. It is also a fascinating read. If you get the front page (Home), click on "New." |
Stephen Hawking
(8 January 1942 - 14 March, 2018)
It may seem odd for a literary journal to commemorate a scientist; but, C.P. Snow be damned,
I think that is short-sighted. Science and Art can talk to one another, and not just in the literary genre of
science fiction. It is not lost on this writer that Hawking, confined to a wheelchair and physically
extremely disabled, did all his remarkable thinking in his head, mentally imaging, mentally setting out
formulae, and, when needing to communicate ponderously flexing one cheek muscle that activated a
computerized letter, symbol, or frequently used word. In a recent interview of Hawking before his
death, conducted by Irish comedian, Dara O'Briain (who graduated from University College, Dublin, in
math and theoretical physics), O'Briain pointed out that this process took a minute a word. Or was it a
minute a letter? This brings new intensity to the phrase, life of the mind; and I celebrate Hawking
for bringing science and the wonder of the cosmos to us, and for reminding us of our very human curiosity and ability to laugh in the midst of all the vicissitudes of life.
Coincidentally, Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death and died on Albert Einstein's birth day. For more,
NYTimes
Guardian
Hawking's gifts to physics
I think that is short-sighted. Science and Art can talk to one another, and not just in the literary genre of
science fiction. It is not lost on this writer that Hawking, confined to a wheelchair and physically
extremely disabled, did all his remarkable thinking in his head, mentally imaging, mentally setting out
formulae, and, when needing to communicate ponderously flexing one cheek muscle that activated a
computerized letter, symbol, or frequently used word. In a recent interview of Hawking before his
death, conducted by Irish comedian, Dara O'Briain (who graduated from University College, Dublin, in
math and theoretical physics), O'Briain pointed out that this process took a minute a word. Or was it a
minute a letter? This brings new intensity to the phrase, life of the mind; and I celebrate Hawking
for bringing science and the wonder of the cosmos to us, and for reminding us of our very human curiosity and ability to laugh in the midst of all the vicissitudes of life.
Coincidentally, Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death and died on Albert Einstein's birth day. For more,
NYTimes
Guardian
Hawking's gifts to physics