Pop-song writer Jean-Loup Dabadie, 69, has been admitted into “The Académie Française, France’s oldest and grandest cultural institution,” according to this TimesOnline aricle.

“For four centuries only literary stars and distinguished elders of the Establishment have been elevated to the status of ‘immortal,'” which is what the chosen are called. Allow this pop culture dude in is supposed to be keeping up with modern life. Keeping up with anything may be a problem for the Immortals.

“Seven members have died in two years and the surviving immortals, whose average age is 79, have rejected a string of literary contenders as unworthy. Six of the numbered chairs remain empty and there are not enough volunteers to attend the Thursday meetings to edit the dictionary. Work on the latest one began in 1935 and they have reached the letter R. The Second World War is blamed for the slow pace.”

Perhaps the surviving immortals should take a gander–or the French equivalent–at Bryan Appleyard’s book on living forever. It might read better than the dictionary project.

Tags: culture, pop culture, France