Author John Mortimer, creator of the Rumpole of the Bailey series, died today in London.
Category Archives: Authors
New Winnie the Pooh Book Coming
“Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, penned by author David Benedictus, is to be released in Britain and the United States on October 5.”
Richard John Neuhaus Has Died
The great Richard John Neuhaus, a champion of religion in public life, has passed away. John Podheretz of Commentary Magazine writes:
He was ever a man of principle. As an official of the Rockford Institute, he could not hold his silence when the magazine published by that institute, Chronicles, began running barely veiled anti-Semitic work (much of it aimed at COMMENTARY and his contributors). His breach with Rockford led to the creation of the Institute on Religion and Public Life and the creation of First Things, the brilliant monthly he edited and then supervised until his passing.
Neuhaus also converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism during this period.
Read Calvin’s Institutes by Feed or Email
“What would John Calvin do?” you asked yourself no doubt over New Year’s Day. What he do in my place today with so much to watch on TV and such things? Why, of course, he would reread his Institutes over the year, having written a program to deliver them to his inbox or RSS reader (maybe Zwingli would have written the program for him). And you can do the same. Read Calvin’s great work of theology, the one that gave biblical doctrine to the people directly, online this year through Reformation21.org. (via The Cruciform Life)
Now that I’ve written this and it’s gone to press, wasting tons of paper and ink, I see that I’m wrong. The Institutes themselves are not going to anyone’s inbox. Only blog posts on them will be. The source material must be obtained elsewhere, such as this spot or over here or online here.
Happy Birthday to Tolkien
Again, I’m a day late, but happy birthday to J.R.R. Tolkien! May his tribe increase.
Walt Mills mentions the great one in his column today. ” . . . disease and starvation, heroism and the depths of human despair . . . I could have picked up almost any Dickens novel and had pretty much the same experience. Dickens is a true winter novelist, just as The Lord of the Rings trilogy are autumn books, my wife pointed out to me many years ago. Tolkien had an autumn imagination, the feel of leaves turning and the golden fields. Time to set off on an adventure. I turn to Tolkien in the fall.”
Tolkien is also on a new CD set from the BBC called The Spoken Word, a compilation of programs with literary figures.
Clash of Civilizations Author, Samuel Huntington, Died
The Harvard man who described the world in terms of large civilizations which would clash as they converged in his book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order has died. Author Samuel Huntington was 81.
The text of Huntington’s 1993 article, which was expanded into the book, is available online. Here’s a portion:
World politics is entering a new phase, and intellectuals have not hesitated to proliferate visions of what it will be — the end of history, the return of traditional rivalries between nation states, and the decline of the nation state from the conflicting pulls of tribalism and globalism, among others. Each of these visions catches aspects of the emerging reality. Yet they all miss a crucial, indeed a central, aspect of what global politics is likely to be in the coming years.
It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will be the battle lines of the future. . . .
Civilization identity will be increasingly important in the future, and the world will be shaped in large measure by the interactions among seven or eight major civilizations. These include Western, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American and possibly African civilization. The most important conflicts of the future will occur along the cultural fault lines separating these civilizations from one another.
(via Literary Saloon)
Bret Lott
“Author Bret Lott strives to write with the integrity of Christ“, in which I learn the author is taller than me.
‘Successful, Versatile’ Donald Westlake Has Died
Author Donald Westlake, 75, who wrote mystery and crime fiction under his own name and that of Richard Stark, Tucker Coe, Samuel Holt and Edwin West, has passed away. The report states that he began writing under pseudonyms because the reading public and publishing companies wouldn’t take his novels as fast as they came to him.
Sarah Weinman has a long list of tributes and reviews for a man she calls, “the incomparable writer of a great many fine crime novels.” Terry Teachout appears to think so too. He reviewed Westlake’s What’s So Funny? in 2007, comparing the author to Wodehouse.
It always surprises me to find out that there are people who don’t know Westlake’s crime novels, most of which are comic and all of which are intensely pleasurable. I’ve been reading him since 1967, which makes me not so much a fan as an addict, and though I’ve liked some of his books more than others, I can’t think of a single one that has failed to divert me, which is a pretty amazing track record.
Andrée Seu on Writing
How to write an essay: You’re drifting off and a thought pops in; and it sounds like a lead sentence so you jot it on the pad you keep under the bed. You look for sleep, but it tugs at your ear, till you finally give in and brainstorm the idea for all it’s worth — the gems and the junk alike. Come daylight, you mentally solve syntactical problems — while folding laundry, molding meatballs, conversing with your neighbor.
Then you sit in front of a white page, terrified. . . .
Isn’t that the way? Andrée has a new book, We Shall Have Spring Again.
My top 5: Mysteries and thrillers
Late posting tonight. I had to usher for Advent services.
Dale requested in Comments my list of the best mysteries/thrillers written in the past twenty years.
I’m reluctant to produce such a list, for a couple reasons.
One, my knowledge of the field is highly limited. I read authors I like and trust, and there are dozens (at least) I’ve never even tried. The mystery field in particular is dominated by female writers, many of whom have feminist agendas, and I just don’t cruise that side of the street. And there are a number of very popular writers whom I avoid either because I simply haven’t tried them yet, or I’ve tried one book and didn’t care to read any more. There’s a good chance there are several out there whom, once I discover them, I’ll be tugging at your (metaphorical) sleeve and boring you about. It’s also possible that an author I’ve weighed and found wanting in the past may surprise me with his/her growth and win me over (this has already happened with Dean Koontz).
But having said that, I’ll list my favorite books of the last twenty years. They’re all from two authors whom I consider preeminent in the field. They are books that not only entertain, but educate the heart, making the reader want to live more generously and courageously. Continue reading My top 5: Mysteries and thrillers