NEW YORK (AP) — George Avakian, a Russian-born jazz scholar and architect of the American music industry who produced essential recordings by Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and other stars has died at age 98. FILE – In this Jan. 11, 2011, file photo, NEA Jazz Masters George Avakian, left, and Jimmy Heath pose for a […]
Author Archives: Hillel Italie
AP National Writer
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Poet Nikki Giovanni Shares Memories, Tears in New Collection
NEW YORK (AP) — Nikki Giovanni has a thing about words, even a single one — like “needed.” FILE – In this April 7, 2015 file photo, Nikki Giovanni appears at the unveiling of the Maya Angelou Forever Stamp in Washington. The 74-year-old poet has a new collection entitled, “A Good Cry.” (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, […]
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Robert Guillaume, Multiple Emmy-Winning Actor for ‘Soap’ & “Benson”, Dies at 89
NEW YORK (AP) — Robert Guillaume, who rose from squalid beginnings in St. Louis slums to become a star in stage musicals and win Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the sharp-tongued butler in the TV sitcoms “Soap” and “Benson,” has died at age 89. FILE – In this Nov. 18, 1986 file photo, poses […]
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Jesmyn Ward Among Finalists for National Book Awards
NEW YORK (AP) — Jesmyn Ward, Masha Gessen and Frances Fitzgerald are among this year’s finalists for the National Book Awards. On Wednesday, the National Book Foundation announced short lists of five each in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, young people’s literature and poetry. Winners will be announced at a Manhattan dinner ceremony on Nov. […]
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Coates Promotes New Book ‘We Were Eight Years in Power’
NEW YORK (AP) — On publication day for his new book, Ta-Nehisi Coates had personal and political thoughts to share. Award-winning author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates promotes his new book, ‘We Were Eight Years in Power’. (AP and Courtesy Photos) The award-winning author and journalist spoke before hundreds of people gathered Tuesday night at the […]
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Whitehead’s ‘Underground Railroad’ Wins Fiction Pulitzer
NEW YORK (AP) — Colson Whitehead’s “The Underground Railroad,” his celebrated novel about an escaped slave that combined liberating imagination and brutal reality, has won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. This image released by Doubleday shows “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead. The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize on Monday, April 10, 2017 for […]
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Rep. John Lewis Receives 4 Literary Awards for ‘March: Book Three’
NEW YORK (AP) — Rep. John Lewis is having quite a run in the literary world. FILE – This Nov. 18, 2016 file photo shows Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., in the Civil Rights Room in the Nashville Public Library in Nashville, Tenn. The American Library Association announced Monday that the Georgia Democrat received four prizes […]
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Columnist Nat Hentoff Dies at 91
NEW YORK (AP) — Nat Hentoff, an eclectic columnist, critic, novelist and agitator dedicated to music, free expression and defying the party line, died Saturday at age 91. His son, Tom Hentoff, said his father died from natural causes at his Manhattan apartment. FILE – In this Friday, Jan. 13, 2006 file photo, Jazz legends […]
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Walter Dean Myers, Children’s Author, Dies at 76
This Dec. 13, 2010 file photo shows author Walter Dean Myers tours his old Harlem neighborhood in New York. Myers, a best-selling and prolific children’s author and tireless champion of literacy and education, died Tuesday, July 1, 2014, after a brief illness, according to publisher HarperCollins. He was 76. NEW YORK— Walter Dean Myers, a […]
Posted inNational News
Poet, Author Maya Angelou Dies at 86
NEW YORK (AP) — Maya Angelou, a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen, the printed page and the inaugural dais, has died. She was 86. Her death was confirmed in a statement issued by Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she had served […]
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Black Activist, Poet-playwright Amiri Baraka Dies at 79
Amiri Baraka, the militant man of letters and tireless agitator whose blues-based, fist-shaking poems, plays and criticism made him a provocative and groundbreaking force in American culture, has died. He was 79. His booking agent, Celeste Bateman, told The Associated Press that Baraka, who had been hospitalized since last month, died Thursday at Newark Beth […]
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Maya Angelou Mourns Death of Poet Amiri Baraka
NEW YORK (AP) — Maya Angelou is mourning her friend Amiri Baraka, remembering him as a vital poet whose private persona differed greatly from his fiery public image. “He was very kind. He was very intelligent and very funny,” Angelou said Friday during a telephone interview. Baraka, whom Angelou had known for more than 40 […]