Gore Vidal

  The writer I've admired most in my life, one of the first who made me want to become a writer myself, is gone. Gore Vidal died yesterday evening at his home in California, aged 86.

  I know that Gore himself didn't believe there was any kind of afterlife, but in my mind's eye today I'm seeing him as he was back in the prime of his life, bounding up the steps at his beloved La Rondinaia in Ravello to find Howard Austen, Tennessee Williams (the Glorious Bird), Paul Newman, and, yes, Jimmy Trimble, all lounging on the terrace, drinks in hand, awaiting his arrival.

  Thank you, Gore Vidal, for the impact you had on my life. Rest in peace.

Rest in Peace, Elizabeth Taylor

As you've no doubt heard by now, the world lost a film icon and a legendary beauty today when Elizabeth Taylor passed away at the age of 79.

More importantly, though, the world lost a woman who worked tirelessly to fight AIDS, raising awareness and millions of dollars for the cause. She helped to found the American Foundation for AIDS Research and then her own organization, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

It's especially worth noting that she began her work in the fight against HIV and AIDS back when many people outside of the LGBT community, and certainly most of those in public life, preferred to ignore the epidemic.

She left behind many wonderful movies (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor each at the height of their beauty and talent, is one of my favorite films) and an epic personal life that was pure soap opera at times, but for me she'll always be first and foremost a true hero in the fight against AIDS.

Rest in peace, Elizabeth.

The Lights Have Gone Out in Georgia

Around the time I was 13 or 14 years old, I discovered a television show in reruns that, for a few years anyway, I seemed to watch all the time. In the years since I haven't watched a single episode and yet I can still quote, nearly verbatim, several of the speeches of my favorite character from the series.

I'm talking, of course, about a show called Designing Women and a character named Julia Surgarbaker. I liked the entire cast (at least, the entire original cast; the station I watched it on never seemed to rerun the post-Delta Burke years, which was fine with me!), but I lived for the moments when Julia, an elegant, strong, intelligent, liberal woman, would get riled up and launch into a passionate tirade. Her co-workers called her 'The Terminator'.

My personal favorites were the famous 'Night the Lights Went out in Georgia' speech (watch it here) and when she let a narrow minded client, a woman who said that AIDS had one thing going for it, that it was killing all the right people, truly have it. I could only find a very blurry clip of that, but it's certainly worth listening to! The episode was from 1987, when there was still a lot of fear and ignorance among the general public about the disease.

Julia was an iconic character, and the actress who brought her to life, Dixie Carter, passed away yesterday at the age of 70. I think one of the most disappointing celebrity moments I ever had was when I found out that Dixie was a Republican in real life! It's not that her politics really mattered, of course, it's just that on some level I wanted her to be Julia in real life, too!

But then, I guess that's actually a tribute to how perfectly she played the role. Rest in peace, Dixie. Thank you for some of my favorite television moments.

Rest in Peace, Frances Reid

I just read the news that Frances Reid, the last original cast member of Days of Our Lives still on contract with the show, passed away yesterday at the age of 95 (though some reports list her birthdate a year earlier, making her 96). As someone who has literally watched the show since I was still in diapers, I honestly feel as if I just lost a family member.

I had two wonderful Grandmothers while I was growing up, but that didn't stop me from acquiring a surrogate Grandmother of sorts in the fictional character of Alice Horton, the matriarch of the Horton family on Days of Our Lives. Alice was always there with her homemade donuts, her advice, and her love for her family and friends.

What made Alice Horton more than just your run of the mill soap character was the wonderful Frances Reid, who brought more than just warmth and love to Alice, she also gave her an occasionally wicked twinkle in her eye and kept her grounded and somehow very real, even as the stories on the show became more and more fantastical and outlandish over the last few decades.

Her onscreen partnership with the late Macdonald Carey, who played Alice's husband Dr. Tom Horton until his own death in 1994, was something truly special. I missed the glory days of their pairing, of course, but have been able to see some clips of it thanks to the Internet. They truly made television magic together.

The show was built around the two of them in 1965, these two talented film and Broadway stars who provided a center of gravity and dignity to something that many looked down on then and still do today, the daytime soap. Can you imagine a show being built around two actors who are already in their 50's in today's youth obsessed entertainment industry? Maybe that's a big part of the reason soaps are in trouble.

Even though she remained a cast member until the end, her last actual appearance on the show was just over two years ago, on the Christmas episode in 2007. She hadn't been well enough to appear since then, though I'd read that scenes continued to be written for her, at least during 2008.

Frances was an incredibly talented actress who touched a lot of people with her portrayal of Alice. It was even more impressive when you heard the stories about how very different Frances herself was from Alice, as evidenced by her former co-star Deidre Hall in her tribute to Frances:

"Frances Reid, although the consummate actor's actor, was far from the donut baking, apron clad wife of Tom Horton most of America knew and loved. She was a saucy, wildly outspoken and politically incorrect woman. Frances was never shy about speaking her mind openly and passionately — even as we counted down to tape. She called it like she saw it, whether she was taking on the union, or critiquing your hairstyle — mincing her words was never an option. She earned the respect and admiration of her friends and peers with her candid approach to life, work, and philosophy. Whether you loved or feared her, you always respected her — and if you had the courage, she was a magnificent teacher, mentor, friend. I feel a strong sense of personal loss as Frances makes her way to Heaven, and know that we shall not look upon her like again."

For me, she'll always be Alice Horton, but I sure would have liked getting to see more of Frances herself! She sounds fascinating.

I'm certainly not the only one who thought of Alice as another Grandmother. It's truly hard to believe that we'll never be seeing Mrs. H on our screens again.

Jason47's Days Page has an incredible tribute to Frances, complete with several video clips. Check it out.

Rest in Peace, Howard Zinn

I just read the sad news that author and historian Howard Zinn died today at the age of 87. Reading his book A People's History of the United States completely changed my way of looking not only at my own country and everything I'd been taught in school, but at history in general.

As big of an impact as it had on me, though, I wouldn't call it my favorite of Zinn's works. That honor belongs to his own personal history, his memoir You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train. If you haven't read anything of Zinn's and are daunted by the size of A People's History (which you really shouldn't be, since it's a very engrossing read), start with this memoir, which details Zinn's time as a pilot in World War Two and his teaching days in the south during the Civil Rights movement, his anti-war efforts during the Vietnam War and much, much more.

Zinn's voice was an incredibly important one and while his work will live on, I'm truly sorry that he won't be around to write and speak out any longer about what's happening now or about all that's still to come.

Rest in Peace, James Mitchell

I've written before about the relatively small number of openly gay actors on daytime television. At the moment, there are only two out gay men acting on soaps, both on One Life to Live, and neither is actually on contract: Scott Evans, who plays Fish, and Nicholas Rodriguez, who plays Nick.

The Young and the Restless boasts the only out lesbian cast member, Clementine Ford, though if we count Lea Delaria's recurring role as Madame Delphina on One Life to Live, the number goes up to two. Ford is the only out actor or actress working in daytime with a contract.

Of course, there are plenty of actors and actresses in daytime whose sexuality is more or less an open secret, people who are widely known to be gay but who have never officially come out of the closet. These are people who don't hide their sexuality with fake relationships with the opposite sex, but who never address the issue publicly, either.

Earlier this week, actor James Mitchell passed away at the age of 89. Mitchell spent the last thirty years playing All My Children's Palmer Cortland.

Mitchell was one of those actors who never publicly discussed his sexuality, so I was surprised to read in the Associated Press article about his passing that his death had been confirmed by his longtime partner, Albert Wolsky, an academy award winning costume designer. Their relationship was also mentioned in The Advocate.

It's not surprising that Mitchell never opened up to the public about his sexuality. He was from a generation that largely remained closeted their entire lives, even to those closest to them. On top of that, he worked in a medium where almost all of the younger gay actors are still staying in the closet today, forty years after Stonewall. Some are even actively hiding their sexuality, rather than just not discussing it at all.

From what I know of him, Mitchell at least had the courage to live his life openly with the love of his life at his side, and that's no small thing.

I have never been a regular viewer of All My Children, but the few times I have tuned in over the years and seen Mitchell's work, he always seemed to have a sly, amused air about him that made me think that Palmer would probably be one of my favorite characters if I watched the show.

I know he'll be greatly missed by all the fans of All My Children. Rest in peace, James.

Rest in Peace, Stephen Gately

The first thing I saw when I got online today was the headline that openly gay Irish pop star Stephen Gately had died in Spain at the age of 33. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Back in 1999, boy bands pretty much ruled the pop scene and I have to admit that at the time I was a huge fan of N Sync and the Backstreet Boys. I had enormous crushes on certain members of each group and listened to their music all the time. It was in that atmosphere that I first read about a member of an Irish boy band called Boyzone coming out of the closet as gay.

Up to that point, I'd never really heard of Boyzone or of Stephen Gately, but having a member of a hugely popular boy band come out of the closet seemed like a dream come true, and so I ended up becoming a fan of Stephen.

At that time, I especially liked Boyzone's song No Matter What, which can be heard in the movie Notting Hill over the end credits. It seemed to me (and still seems) like an anthem for the LGBT community. Sample lyrics:

No matter what they tell us
No matter what they do
No matter what they teach us
What we believe is true
No matter What they call us
However they attack
No matter where they take us
We'll find our own way back.
I can't deny what I believe
I can't be what I'm not

Even though my boy band phase came to an end, I still followed Stephen's career from afar, as he did some solo work after Boyzone went their separate ways, and also worked in the theatre in the UK.

Stephen married his partner Andrew Cowles first in a commitment ceremony in Las Vegas in 2003 and then married him in the UK in 2006.

Last year, Boyzone reunited and put out a new album. One of the songs was a cover of 'Better' and in the video, which can be found here on YouTube, each of the guys has a love interest that they sing to. Stephen's was played by another man, which for a pop music video is still pretty unique, and which lead to some religious condemnation of the video in Northern Ireland. I watched it last year when it first came out and thought it was beautiful, watching Stephen sing romantic lyrics to another man.

I think Stephen was the first young celebrity to come out of the closet in my own experience, which was probably why he meant so much to me at the time and why I've remained a fan ever since.

At this point, they're saying that his death was natural, not a suicide or drug related, though they don't yet know the specific cause. He was on vacation in Spain with his husband and was working on finishing up a novel that he'd been writing.

Stephen was a beautiful man who seemed to have an equally beautiful soul. My heart goes out to his husband, family, and friends, and to the rest of his fans.

Rest In Peace, Senator Kennedy

I haven't had a chance until now, but I wanted to mention the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy. His death this week garnered a lot of attention, largely because he was the last of the Kennedy brothers. Leave aside the Camelot mystique and the turbulent personal life, though, and you'll find that the Senator was someone who spent nearly fifty years in the Senate as a true champion for progressive causes.

He was a strong voice for human rights, for civil rights, and he spent his whole career fighting for health care reform, to name but a few of the causes for which he stood. He was also a leader on LGBT rights issues, being one of the forces behind the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which has not yet been passed into law but which stands a good chance in the near future, thanks largely to Kennedy.

The Senator also strongly opposed the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act and he pushed to have the Employment Non-Discrimination Act include rights for Transgendered workers.

Kevin Robert Frost of amfAR wrote that Kennedy was an unrivaled ally in the Senate in the fight against AIDS:

"What was clear to me in that meeting was how much he genuinely cared about fighting -- and winning -- our battle against the AIDS epidemic. When Senator Kennedy took over the leadership of the Senate Committee on Health in 1987 and made AIDS the committee's top priority at a time when there was still so much stigma surrounding the disease, he took a political risk that few politicians would have been willing to take. And when he pushed for the Ryan White CARE Act in 1990, he did so not only because he believed in what he was doing, but because he had come to personally know Ryan White."

All of these things I've mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Edward Kennedy did for this country. He will be missed greatly for reasons that go far beyond being the last in his generation of a larger than life political dynasty.

Well, I'm once again behind on the soaps. It's just been a very busy few days for me, but I plan to catch up on Kish and the rest over the weekend and write about their goings on sometime on Sunday evening.

Rest In Peace, E. Lynn Harris

I just saw the news that E. Lynn Harris, the openly gay writer who wrote several novels about gay African American characters, has died suddenly at the all too young age of 54.

I haven't yet read any of the novels Harris wrote, but I did read his memoir, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, a few years back. It was actually assigned reading in a Gay & Lesbian History class I took and I found his story to be very moving.

It's always tragic when anyone dies before their time. You can't help but think of all the books he had yet to write. The silencing of a strong African American voice in gay fiction is especially sad.

Rest in peace, Mr. Harris.

Rest in Peace, Bea Arthur

I just read the sad news that Bea Arthur passed away today from cancer at the age of 86. She was an incredibly funny woman with a great deal of talent.

I loved The Golden Girls while I was growing up, which really speaks to the reality that as long as something is well written and in the hands of talented actors, age is irrelevant. What did a young kid know about the issues of single women in their sixties? That didn't matter, though, because the show was brilliant. There's nothing like it today because the idiots in charge of programming think that their coveted demographics only want to see their own age group reflected back at them.

I can still turn on a rerun of The Golden Girls, even though I think I've seen them all at least five times, and laugh. What a talented cast of women! It's so sad to think that Bea and Estelle Getty are both gone now.

The first season of Bea's earlier hit show, Maude, was released on DVD a couple of years ago. I'd heard of the show, of course, but I'd never actually seen it at that point. Thanks to Netflix I was able to watch the entire season in about a week's time. I'd wondered if it would seem too dated to really enjoy, given the social and political issues it tackled, but it has stood the test of time very well and many of the issues remain relevant today. It truly was a groundbreaking show, especially in regard to feminism, and it was also incredibly funny.

I'm still waiting impatiently for the rest of the seasons to be released on DVD. It's a shame that the show hasn't lived on in reruns like The Golden Girls has.

Bea Arthur struck television gold twice in her life and we were all richer for it.

Rest in Peace, Natasha Richardson

You've probably seen the terrible news that actress Natasha Richardson has died tonight from injuries she suffered in a skiing accident two days ago, at the tragically young age of 45. I feel so incredibly sad for her family, especially her husband Liam Neeson and their two young sons. To lose a parent at such a young age has to be one of the worst things that can happen in life.

Natasha was incredibly beautiful and talented, but she was also a humanitarian. None of the U.S. based articles on her death that I've read so far have mentioned this, but The Guardian notes that she was on the board of amfAR, the AIDS research foundation, and they included a quote from an amfAR spokesman:

"Our hearts go out to her family. This is a catastrophic loss for them, and it is a terrible loss for amfAR and the fight against Aids. Natasha Richardson was a dedicated Aids advocate and an eloquent spokesperson for amfAR. She generously contributed her time and resources to amfAR for over 15 years. Natasha's passion for the cause and tireless efforts gave hope and inspiration to the scientists and healthcare workers on the front lines of this deadly epidemic, as well as to the millions of people living with HIV/AIDS around the world."

Natasha's own father, the film director Tony Richardson, passed away from AIDS in 1991, which no doubt played a role in her dedication to the cause.

This is a truly senseless loss.

Updike

I haven't yet mentioned the death, earlier this week, of John Updike. This is mostly because I haven't yet read a lot of Updike's work and it always feels weird to write about someone just because they've died. If their work or something they did meant something to me, of course, that's one thing, but to chime in just for the sake of noting their passing seems a bit silly to me.

In Updike's case, I just don't feel familiar enough with his body of work. I will say that the few things I have read have been incredibly good, stylistically speaking, which is not surprising. You don't get a reputation like his just for having a prolific number of books published. If you did, James Patterson and Nora Roberts would be considered literary geniuses!

I got the feeling, again just from the little I've read (short stories and critical essays; none of the novels, yet), that Updike's overall outlook was that of a typical straight white male of his generation, confused and put off by the social changes of the last fifty years.

One thing of his that particularly left me feeling irritated was his review of Alan Hollinghurst's novel The Spell (this is collected in his essay collection Due Considerations) which seemed to me to boil down to the fact that Updike thought Hollinghurst had included too much gay sex in the book. I couldn't help but feel, as I was reading the essay, that any gay sex would have seemed like too much for Updike, but maybe that's not an entirely fair point of view on my part.

I think that's largely why I've not read more of his work, though I still intend to.

Anyway, the reason that I'm bringing up John Updike now is that I just finished reading Ian McEwan's piece on his passing from The Guardian. McEwan is a writer I admire and I think the piece itself is worth reading, no matter what you thought of Updike's writing.

It certainly makes me want to read some of Updike's novels so that I can have a more fully informed opinion of this man who was undeniably a giant of 20th century American literature.

Senator Pell

I'm starting out the new year with a cold and am feeling pretty miserable today, so I'm going to keep this short.

I just wanted to note the passing today of the former Senator from Rhode Island, Claiborne Pell. The Senator was a champion for education during his six terms in the Senate and sponsored the legislation that created Pell Grants for college students. He was also a force in the Senate behind the legislation that created the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

On top of all of that, he was adamantly opposed to the Vietnam War. We could sure use more people like him serving in the Senate today.

Studs Terkel 1912-2008

I meant to write this a few weeks ago when Studs Terkel passed away, but I wasn't able to find the time before now.

I was tempted to start out by saying that we'd lost an important figure a few weeks back, but the truth is that we haven't, not really. Terkel has left us, that much is true, but he had ninety six long years in which to leave behind a record that I suspect will last not for mere decades, but for centuries.

Howard Zinn, a man born a decade after Terkel, accomplished the amazing task of re-writing American history from the perspective of average people, rather than from the point of view of those in power. Terkel took things a step further and created a record of the actual voices, thoughts, opinions, and feelings of those people, average Americans living everyday lives in the turbulent 20th Century.

Imagine if we had such a record from Ancient Rome or Greece, if someone had taken the time to sit down and write out what common people, those otherwise completely lost to history, thought about the issues they were facing and about the world around them! Not the chronicle of those in power or the dry listing of dates and events, but the actual voices of the people who lived with the consequences of those events in real time. We'd know what they thought about their work situations, the social structures around them, their views on entertainment and religion, on hard times and good times.

The future will have just such a record of 20th Century Americans, thanks to Studs Terkel. His oral histories cover a variety of topics, from the Great Depression to music, from race issues to feelings on our jobs and working conditions, from hope in hard times to death and faith. It's all there, a valuable historical record that people centuries or perhaps even a few millennia from now will turn to for a sense of what life in our time was like for average people.

The future owes Studs Terkel a great debt of gratitude, and so do we.

Rest in Peace, Molly Ivins

I just got home from work and saw the bad news. Molly Ivins, a columnist who has become a hero to me ever since I first became politically aware, is gone. I knew she was battling breast cancer again, but somehow I never doubted that she'd beat it. All you had to do was read her columns to know that this woman was a fighter. In fact, she'd already beaten the disease twice before.

Her monthly columns in The Progressive were always the first thing I turned to when the magazine arrived. She was wise, passionate, and so very, very funny. She stood up for true progressive values and spoke the truth to power on a daily basis.

I really don't feel like I have adequate words to express how tragic this loss feels. At 62, it was far too early for her to leave us. The loss of her voice will leave a huge void to be filled.

If you've never read Molly's writing, do yourself a favor and go check out her books. I'd recommend Who Let the Dogs In or Bushwhacked.

Rest in peace, Molly Ivins. You were one of a kind.