obituaries

Robert Gottlieb, RIP

  |  

Last weekend I watched the documentary Turn Every Page. Here is the trailer: Before I watched his documentary I knew that Robert Gottlieb was Robert Caro’s editor and he was the editor-in-chief at Alfred A. Knopf publishing house, but that […]

Pat Robertson (1930-2023)

  |  

I am sure we will have more to say about Robertson death in the coming days. Here is the Associated Press: Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried a […]

AI-generated obituaries?

  |  

Here is Eli Frankel at The Baffler: THE PITCH IS SIMPLE: drafting an obituary for a loved one can be a difficult and emotional task, so why not outsource the work to a computer? Recent advances in generative AI have […]

Amitai Etzioni (1929-2023)

  |  

In 2018 I got an e-mail from Amitai Etzioni. He invited me to participate in a “civil dialogue” at The Arena Theater in Washington D.C. titled “There Are No Deplorables Here: A Dialogue Between Trump Supporters and Opponents.” Needless to […]

The New York Times remembers Tim Keller

  |  

Keller’s hometown paper: The Rev. Timothy J. Keller, a best-selling author and theorist of Christianity who performed a modern miracle of his own — establishing a theologically orthodox church in Manhattan that attracted thousands of young professional followers — died on Friday […]

Timothy Keller (1950-2023)

  |  

Here is his son Michael: Here is Bob Smietana at Religion News Service: He was 72. Known for his brainy and winsome approach to evangelism, Keller founded Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan in 1989, and grew the congregation into a […]

Bob McGrath, RIP

  |  

Another piece of my childhood is gone. RIP, Bob! Here is The New York Times: Bob McGrath, who played the sweater-clad neighborhood music teacher and general advice-giver on “Sesame Street” for almost half a century, died at his home in […]

More responses to the death of Michael Gerson

  |  

I commented on the death of the former Bush speechwriter and Washington Post columnist here. We also linked to the PBS Newshour tribute. A few more responses: Daniel Silliman reporting at Christianity Today: He gave Bush’s speeches about compassionate conservatism […]

Staughton Lynd, 1929-2022

  |  

We brought Staughton Lynd’s death to your attention yesterday. We now have an obituary. Here is the New York Times: Staughton Lynd, a historian and lawyer who over a long and varied career organized schools for Black children in Mississippi, […]

Staughton Lynd, RIP

  |  

I haven’t found an obituary yet, but Twitter is reporting that the activist-historian/historian-activist has died at the age of 92. I am sure we will have a few more things to say about Staughton Lynd‘s death in the coming days, […]

Michael Gerson, RIP

  |  

This one hits hard. I am going to devote tomorrow’s column at Current to Gerson. In the meantime, here is the Washington Post obituary: Michael Gerson, a speechwriter for President George W. Bush who helped craft messages of grief and […]

Chris Lehmann remembers Barbara Ehrenreich

  |  

We lost a great cultural critic and writer last week. I have benefited immensely over the years from Barbara Ehrenreich‘s work on social class in America. She is well-known for her 2001 book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By […]

Michael Gerson and Alan Jacobs remember Frederick Buechner

  |  

Vocation is where “your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” –Frederick Buechner Writer and theologian Frederick Buechner passed away last week. Michael Gerson remembers him: When the late Frederick Buechner — novelist, preacher, Christian apologist — was asked […]

John Erickson, champion of the Bible cause, 1933-2022

  |  

I started my 2015 book The Bible Cause: A History of the American Bible Society with these words: John Erickson sits at a table in his home in Crawford, Nebraska, on a chilly March 2015 morning. He is sipping bottled […]

David McCullough, RIP

  |  

One of our most talented historical writers passed away yesterday. American historians have criticized David McCullough as a popularizer. Many have suggested, perhaps rightly so, that his work was not sensitive to issues of race, class, and gender. (I would […]

The Philadelphia Inquirer remembers Richard S. Dunn

  |  

Here is the obituary: Richard S. Dunn, 93, formerly of Philadelphia, an award-winning professor emeritus of American history at the University of Pennsylvania, director emeritus of the groundbreaking McNeil Center for Early American Studies, co-executive officer emeritus of the American […]