Yeah, we only really hear about the famous people who we lose. The not-famous people, those are personal tragedies, but the famous ones, they’re not so much tragedies to us as a moment to pause and reflect about how a human being could be excellent. Or maybe I’m just cold? Or distracted?...

For many disturbing reasons—personal, financial and global—I unequivocally declare 2008 one of the most miserably catastrophic years within memory. With a new government promising a new strategy of reform and change, I join the rest of the world in a new thing called hope. But before we dust off...

In thinking about the year soon to pass, I can't help think about some famous people who died that had some significance for me, such as Sir Edmund Hillary, who climbed Everest the year I was born, or Suzanne Pleshette, who appeared on a TV show ending screwed up b7y our local affiliate. An inordina...

A little light reading for those of you stuck at work, or in front of your computer, today (some stories may even give you anecdote material for your New Year's socializing): • Stephen Holden recalls the career of Eartha Kitt, who passed away at age 81 on Thursday. [NYT] • Kelefa Sanneh em...

Eartha Kitt was one of few entertainers to win accolades in show business as a triple threat, namely, as an accomplished singer, dancer and actor.  In fact, nothing affirmed her multifaceted talent in this respect quite like the fact that she was nominated for the Grammy, Tony and Emmy awards. Yet ...

In January 1968, Eartha Kitt was invited to a luncheon at the White House. The subject was "What Citizens Can Do To Help Ensure Safe Streets." Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Johnson, was hosting the event. When asked by the First Lady, Eartha Kitt responded: '"You send the best of this ...

The not-quite-irony of a woman who recorded Santa Baby dying on Christmas Day was, sadly, not lost on any news network, all of whom used it as a hook for their obituaries of Eartha Kitt. Kitt lost her fight against cancer yesterday. Born out of wedlock in 1927 - when such things mattered - into a po...

I was listening to the radio the last 4 days trying to get into the Christmas Spirit and this Santa Baby shit would hit every couple hours and I listened to the words and couldn’t believe how materialistic shit was. She was looking for a duplex, checks, a deed to a platinum mine, she wanted Sa...

The talented singer and actress died of colon cancer on Christmas Day at her home in Connecticut at the age of 81. The video above is from 2006. Damn! I wanna look that good when I’m 79. What a phenomenal woman and exceptional performer. You will be missed, Eartha....