Buffett’s first hit, ‘Come Monday,’ was written when the artist was deeply depressed and suicidal.
Bettmann/Getty Images
For Buffett, escapism was not merely some fiddling flight of fancy. It acknowledged the brutalities and indignities of everyday life.
AAPImage/Network Ten
Michael Parkinson, who has died at 88, demonstrated the art of the good interview night after night.
William Friedkin, far right, with his Oscar for best achievement in directing for The French Connection.
AP Photo, File
New Hollywood filmmaker William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist and The French Connection, has died at 87.
Kole Omotoso.
Screengrab/YouTube/Exclusive Books/Premium Times
Nigeria’s writer and professor of drama, Kole Omotoso, died on 19 July 2023 aged 80.
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga in 2015.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
The jazz singer saw renewed success late in life on the back of collaborations with an eclectic array of artists.
McCarthy attends the 2009 premiere of the film adaptation of his novel ‘The Road.’
Evan Agostini/AP Photo
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author was always willing to experiment with his prose, pacing and narration, crafting an oeuvre that varied wildly in style and structure.
Ted Kaczynski was arrested after the longest and most expensive investigation in the FBI’s history.
Rich Pedroncelli/AFP via Getty Images
Similar techniques used to identify criminals have been employed to unmask anonymous authors. But they aren’t foolproof.
Derek Shapton/Knopf, AP
Cormac McCarthy, who has died aged 89, was a major American writer with a distinctive voice. In McCarthy’s world, war and violence are primordial realities.
Berlusconi, pictured in 2017.
EPA/Flavio Lo Scalzo
Despite his serving three separate terms in office, it’s still difficult to decide on a definitive view of the late Italian prime minister.
Astrud Gilberto backstage at New York City’s Birdland Jazz Club in 1964.
Popsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images
During the only major performance she gave in her home country, Gilberto was booed.
Professor Barry Dwolatzky was passionate about innovation in all that he did.
Wits University
Many speak fondly of how Barry Dwolatzky took them into a derelict disco and enthusiastically explained the tech co-working space he envisioned there.
EPA/BRITTA PEDERSEN
The legendary singer has died at 83. Her performance practice exemplified fierce hard work.
AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
Disgraced Australian entertainer and artist Rolf Harris has died at the age of 93.
Martin Amis pictured at home in 2012.
Bebeto Matthews/AP
Martin Amis’s writing style was instantly recognisable: caustic and savagely funny with a sense of pathos. His death at 73 marks the end of an era.
Len Goodman on the red carpet for Strictly Come Dancing in 2013.
Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock
The sparkle, camp and glam of ballroom days gone by was rekindled in Goodman’s cheeky quips and cheesy one-liners.
Harry Belafonte died at the age of 96.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
Singer, actor and activist died on April 25 at the age of 96. His legacy spans stage, screen and political activism.
John Tranter (1943-2023). Photo: Susan Gordon-Brown.
University of Queensland Press.
John Tranter’s poetry was defined by his relentless desire to experiment.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
I met Father Bob Maguire as a young filmmaker in 1990. The words he spoke to me then still reverberate today.
AAP Image/VBPR
The Australian comedian has died at 89, after a career spanning seven decades.
State Library NSW
Some of the media response to the death of John Olsen has been to proclaim the late artist as a ‘genius’. He was more complex than that.