Billy Buckner’s Decisive Moment in Death
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In photography, it’s called “the decisive moment.” The term, coined by French master, Henri Cartier-Bresson, refers to the shot which captures all of the significance of an event, including hints of antecedent conditions. Think of the exhilarating moment recorded by Alfred Eisenstaedt with the kiss in Times Square on VJ day, August, 1945. Or the […]
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Julius Caesar Didn’t Own A Life Insurance Policy
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“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” So begins the most famous eulogy ever written: Marc Antony’s stirring tribute to the assassinated leader of Rome, Julius Caesar. With words carefully chosen, some subtle, others inflammatory, Antony cleverly praised Caesar — his aim was to rally the […]
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The Night I Kissed Doris Day
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When Doris Day passed away last week at the age of 97 in her Carmel, Ca. home, it was announced that there would be no funeral, no memorial service and interment would take place in an unmarked grave. That’s not surprising to anyone paying attention to her career — this superstar never followed a conventional […]
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It’s Not Your Grandparent’s Funeral Anymore
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In the opening scenes of “The Big Chill,” Lawrence Kasdan’s fine 1983 film, a group of aging former 60’s radicals gather in a stately Baptist church for the funeral service of a friend who has committed suicide. “Rock of Ages” is being played on the organ as people assemble in the pews. A traditional sermon, […]
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Playing For Your Life During The Holocaust
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Maria Mandl was known as The Beast. As the top ranking officer in charge of the female inmates in Auschwitz, she oversaw a real life ninth, innermost circle of Dante’s hell. Her fellow Nazis marveled at her “conviction to the cause” and the exuberance with which she dispatched her duties. Duties being a euphemism for […]
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