Salon.com > Death

Justin Bieber calls for tough rules after paparazzo death

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:30:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 29-year-old photographer had just snapped shots of Justin Bieber's exotic white Ferrari when he was struck and killed by a passing car — a death that has spurred renewed debate over dangers paparazzi can bring on themselves and the celebrities they chase.

The accident prompted some stars including the teen heartthrob himself on Wednesday to renew their calls for tougher laws to rein in their pursuers, though previous urgings have been stymied by First Amendment protections.

In a statement, Bieber said his prayers were with the photographer's family. Ironically, the singer wasn't even in the Ferrari on Tuesday.

"Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders, and the photographers themselves," Bieber said in the statement released by Island Def Jam Music Group.

Authorities have withheld the name of the photographer, killed after being hit by a Toyota Highlander, pending notification of relatives.

Much of Hollywood was abuzz about the death, including Miley Cyrus, who sent several tweets critical of some of the actions of paparazzi and lamenting that the unfortunate accident was "bound to happen."

Paparazzo killed just after photographing Justin Bieber’s Ferarri

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:22:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Police say a paparazzo was hit by a car and killed after taking photos of Justin Bieber's Ferrari sports car in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles police officer James Stoughton says the man died Tuesday evening at a hospital. Stoughton says Bieber was not in the car at the time.

Sgt. Rudy Lopez told the Los Angeles Times ( HTTP://LAT.MS/ZTTUCT ) that the pop star's friend was driving the car when it was pulled over for a traffic stop. It was parked on a busy street when the photographer arrived.

Police say the man was struck by a car as he returned to his own car.

Stoughton says no charges are expected against the motorist who hit the man.

A call to a Bieber publicist was not immediately returned.

Isabelle Huppert: “I always feel misunderstood, yet that is also what I seek”

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 00:30:00 +0000

There comes a point when all sinks in quietly, in the midst of prepping or minutes before an interview is to take place, when a journalist ponders on how her subject would turn out, imagining the rhythm of the conversation about to unfold. And there come interviewees like the actress Isabelle Huppert, who transcend expectations, skipping prolonged greetings and cutting straight to the chase — graciously.

Huppert, renown beyond borders and creative collaborations, is reached by phone in rainy Paris. Her voice is crystal clear, her English tinted in her native French accent. She speaks of “Amour,” the masterpiece by director Michael Haneke, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May and is currently Austria’s official selection for Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards. Huppert has a supporting role in "Amour" as Eva, the daughter of Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), an aging couple faced with their mortality. Eva, a character preoccupied with her own life — her husband, her career — gradually checks in on her parents with more regularity as the situation of the couple (and her mother's health) deteriorates. More than a character of great importance and screen time, she serves as a metaphor, representing life while her parents represent the path to illness, aging and death.

Character actor Charles Durning dies at 89

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 14:13:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Charles Durning grew up in poverty, lost five of his nine siblings to disease, barely lived through D-Day and was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge.

His hard life and wartime trauma provided the basis for a prolific 50-year career as a consummate Oscar-nominated character actor, playing everyone from a Nazi colonel to the pope to Dustin Hoffman's would-be suitor in "Tootsie."

Durning, who died Monday at age 89 in New York, got his start as an usher at a burlesque theater in Buffalo, N.Y. When one of the comedians showed up too drunk to go on, Durning took his place. He would recall years later that he was hooked as soon as he heard the audience laughing.

He told The Associated Press in 2008 that he had no plans to stop working. "They're going to carry me out, if I go," he said.

Durning's longtime agent and friend, Judith Moss, told The Associated Press that he died of natural causes in his home in the borough of Manhattan.

"Not only was Charlie a World War II hero but he was also a hero to his family. Charlie loved Christmas and if he could have chosen a time to pass, he would have chosen this day," said a statement from his stepdaughter, Anita Gregory, released Tuesday by Ana Martinez, spokeswoman for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

When is it ethical to kill somone?

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 12:45:00 +0000

Applied ethics should interest all but the most philosophy shy, as it poses moral questions of everyday use.

Applied ethics is the application of moral theory to the real world. I first read the five books that we are going to talk about here 25 years ago, which was the beginning of a burgeoning of applied ethics, with people like Jonathan Glover and Peter Singer applying theory to real issues like euthanasia, capital punishment, poverty, distribution of income, animal rights, abortion – questions of life and death.

Talking of which, I understand you’re a bit of an expert on “trolleyology”. What is a trolley problem?

Can comfort dogs console the people of Newtown?

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:23:00 +0000

Dogs are heroes. They work with law enforcement to search out missing persons and deadly explosives. They guard our homes and property. They guide the blind. And in the depths of grief, they give unconditional consolation.

Over the weekend, a group of golden retrievers arrived in Newtown, Conn., to do exactly what they do best – to offer a little warmth and sweetness to a town shaken to its core with sorrow. The team of specially trained comfort dogs from Lutheran Church Charities traveled 800 miles to arrive at Christ the King Lutheran Church, where the funerals of two of the children killed in the massacre are being held. As Tim Hetzner, head of the organization, explained to the Chicago Tribune, "Dogs are non-judgmental. They are loving. They are accepting of anyone. It creates the atmosphere for people to share." In just a short time, the animals have already put in their share of work. Hetzner told the Tribune, "You could tell which [townspeople] … were really struggling with their grief because they were quiet. They would pet the dog, and they would just be quiet … I asked [one man] how he is doing. He just kind of teared up and said: 'This year, I've lost five loved ones and now this happened.' The whole town is suffering."

Amy Winehouse inquest to be heard again

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 18:04:00 +0000

LONDON (AP) -- The inquest into the death of soul singer Amy Winehouse was overseen by a coroner who lacked the proper qualifications and must be heard again next month, officials said Monday.

Assistant deputy coroner Suzanne Greenaway, who handled the inquest, resigned in November 2011 after her qualifications were questioned.

Camden Council said a new hearing has been scheduled on Jan. 8.

"The inquest into the death of Amy Winehouse had not technically been heard," it said in a statement.

Winehouse was found dead in her London home in July 2011 at age 27. In an inquest in October 2011, Greenaway ruled that the "Back to Black" singer had died of accidental alcohol poisoning.

Greenaway had been appointed an assistant deputy coroner in London in 2009 by her husband, Andrew Reid, the coroner for inner north London. But she resigned after authorities learned she had not been a registered U.K. lawyer for five years as required by the rules.

She had practiced law for a decade in her native Australia.

Reid was suspended, and he resigned earlier this month.

Must-see morning clip

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 14:12:00 +0000

Eighty-four year old "Night" author Elie Wiesel tells Oprah Winfrey that when he won the Nobel Prize, he saw his deceased father in the hall. Though he wanted to join his father on "the other side," Wiesel explains that he had "more things to do," and hasn't "even begun."

“Three Cups of Tea” co-author David Oliver Relin dies at 49

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 14:15:00 +0000

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- David Oliver Relin, the co-author of the best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea," died in Oregon, authorities said. He was 49.

Relin committed suicide in the Portland-area town of Corbett on Nov. 14, deputy Multnomah County medical examiner Peter Bellant said late Sunday night.

He said Relin died of blunt force head injury, but declined to provide any other details.

Relin was co-author with Greg Mortenson of "Three Cups of Tea," which recounts how Mortenson started building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The book came under scrutiny last year when "60 Minutes" and Jon Krakauer alleged that it contained numerous fabrications.

In April, U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon rejected a lawsuit by four people who bought the book, dismissing claims that the two authors, the publisher, and a charity conspired to make Mortenson into a false hero to sell books and raise money for the charity. Haddon called the claims overly broad, flimsy and speculative.

Mortenson had denied any wrongdoing, though he has acknowledged some of the events in "Three Cups of Tea" were compressed over different periods of time. The New York Times reported that Relin did not speak publicly about the charges.

America’s next top mortician: “It really improves your life to be around corpses”

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 22:00:00 +0000

When we think of morticians, we certainly don’t imagine a bubbly, self-effacing 28-year-old woman like Caitlin Doughty. But that’s who you’ll encounter in “Ask a Mortician,” the YouTube series she has been posting over the past year in which she discusses death, decomposition, funeral practices and grief.

The darkly funny shorts — there are 12 installments to date — have drawn in 434,000 views. Doughty gleefully describes the gory details of her job, answering questions like: “Is it true caskets sometimes explode due to the gasses released in decomposition?” (Yes); “Do crematory operators cut the leg tendons of corpses to prevent them from sitting upright as they burn?” (No); and “What do decomposing bodies smell like?” (“Citrus fruits, licorice and fish, mixed in a bucket and left in the sun for several days”).

Poland searches for Auschwitz hero

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:30:00 +0000

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — It could hardly have been a riskier mission: infiltrate Auschwitz to chronicle Nazi atrocities. Witold Pilecki survived nearly three years as an inmate in the death camp, managing to smuggle out word of executions before making a daring escape. But the Polish resistance hero was crushed by the post-war communist regime — tried on trumped-up charges and executed.

Six decades on, Poland hopes Pilecki's remains will be identified among the entangled skeletons and shattered skulls of resistance fighters being excavated from a mass grave on the edge of Warsaw's Powazki Military Cemetery. The exhumations are part of a movement in the resurgent, democratic nation to officially recognize its war-time heroes and 20th century tragedies.

"He was unique in the world," said Zofia Pilecka-Optulowicz, paying tribute to her father's 1940 decision to walk straight into a Nazi street roundup with the aim of getting inside the extermination camp. "I would like to have a place where I can light a candle for him."

Manhattan’s art of the dead

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 21:18:00 +0000

New York City’s population of the dead, like its living souls, has mostly relocated to the outer boroughs due to the overcrowding and high real estate prices of Manhattan.

Many of the island’s cemeteries were exhumed (although the bodies were not necessarily all collected, resulting in some skeletons lingering in the ground) during the past 150 years and reinterred in these new cemeteries, but there remain a few burial grounds embedded in the urban landscape of Manhattan, from gated lots so small as to be unnoticed, like First Shearith Israel Graveyard, the only surviving 17th century structure in Manhattan, to Potter’s Fields that have since become parks, including Washington Square Park and Bryant Park. The borough’s remaining active cemetery is Trinity Cemetery in Washington Heights, which, with Trinity and St. Paul’s churchyards in Lower Manhattan, is part of the Episcopal Parish of Trinity Church burial grounds, a group of three cemeteries that maintains a historic and artistic presence for memorial history in the city.

Before Nora was Nora

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The following originally appeared on John Blumenthal's Open Salon blog.

Nora and I worked at Esquire at the same time -- she as a columnist, me as a lowly fact-checker. It was 1973. We'd passed each other in the halls occasionally, perhaps rode an elevator together, but she had no idea who I was, and I wasn't quite bold enough to tell her. Not that she would have cared.

Esquire was my first editorial job, and I was lucky enough to serve under the magazine's legendary editor, Harold Hayes, who plucked me out of obscurity from a job as a house painter and whale's tooth polisher on Nantucket Island. Esquire paid me exactly $65 a week, which, even in those days, was chump change.

One day, Nora stalked into the fact-checking area -- a large room containing the four of us who made up the overworked department. It wasn't hard to discern that she was unhappy. For some reason, she chose me to snap at. I forget what it was about, but I snapped back, and she strode angrily out of the room.