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What? Nobody died today?
- Thread starter turtle777
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Well, just to keep things on topic, and I'm not quite sure who reads (British) novels (especially detective novels) these days, but the death of the (excellent, subtle and nuanced) British crime writer P. D. James was reported yesterday……
Almost two decades ago, I was privileged to be present at a reading she gave at an arts festival; both P. D. James and her fellow crime writer, Ruth Rendell, shared the stage to discuss crime novels (especially the British variant on that theme).
Re announcing the dead, and post counts, well……the evidence does sort of speak for itself…….in that screen grab…..
Almost two decades ago, I was privileged to be present at a reading she gave at an arts festival; both P. D. James and her fellow crime writer, Ruth Rendell, shared the stage to discuss crime novels (especially the British variant on that theme).
Re announcing the dead, and post counts, well……the evidence does sort of speak for itself…….in that screen grab…..
I'm a new member and my posts referencing the departed are people I respected, so I wanted to comment on them. Hope that clarifies it for you.
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That is nice you got meet her, I enjoyed her Adam Dalgliesh's novels.
As did I; indeed, if an opportunity to meet a writer whose work I like comes my way, I will invariably seize it.
Exactly.
To be honest, I much prefer thoughtful (articulate) posts from a new member who wishes to discuss the contribution made by recently - and not so recently deceased - individuals (some of whom were veritable giants of politics, literature, theatre, and some of whom were not) to some of the other offerings on these fora.
Doubtless, you know the ones to which I refer: Those inarticulate, grammatically questionable, choleric and perfervid posts on topics such as abortion, guns, iPhones ..where frothing rage replaces reasonable debate, where rational thought goes out the window, and where splenetic incoherence is de riguer .
I agree with you about meeting authors, had the pleasure of a drink with Ian Rankin in the Oxford bar and with Stuart Woods at Elaine's in Manhattan before it closed down.
Precisely because I like books, and reading, (and writing), I welcome the chance to meet and enjoy chatting with authors.
Actually, the vast majority I have met have been pretty much as one would expect - in that they tend to be individuals who are articulate, intelligent, thoughtful, precise with language and given to using this brains before they open their mouths.
I read the NYT obits daily. All the interesting people and their interesting lives is fascinating, to me anyway.
I agree, and I love reading well written and well researched ones, too.
Obits are a fascinating part of proper old school journalism, (the old 'who, what, where, when' stuff - which must be absolutely accurate in an obit), and written properly, can be extraordinarily interesting.
When you get to my age, reading the obituaries is a good way of catching up with old acquaintances .
I called them out and then someone in this thread told me off for it
Yes, that would have been me, and rightly so.
I have already explained out that a discussion that may have appeared to have expired naturally may well be resurrected by a fresh thought or observation. In that context, JamesMike's observation that he had been shot by a Khalashnikov gun is certainly - to my mind at least - an interesting addition to the thread about the death of Mikhail Khalashnikov and the weapon he invented, which did transform the nature of armed conflict in the Third World.
Likewise, as Happybunny has already pointed out, nobody - other than mods and admins - has the right to determine who shall post on the threads, and, within the limits set by the rules of the forum, people who wish to post have the right to do so.
When you get to my age, reading the obituaries is a good way of catching up with old acquaintances .
And saluting them by way of a generous toast from your privileged perspective amongst the living.
At least two of my uncles used to do something similar; both are now dead, but, for one of them in particular, I recall the quiet smile, disguised as not quite convincing sorrow, with which he would quietly close the obit page on the daily paper. He would then would proceed to rustle the paper firmly before folding it neatly as he replaced it on the table, which was when he would return his attention to his morning coffee or tea. Occasionally, a comment (on the recently deceased, especially if my uncle knew him personally) - calm in tone and neutral in delivery - might accompany the closed paper, before the coffee cup was lifted to his lips and sipped, with quiet composure.
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Meanwhile you seem to have missed the definition of a rule most forums have naturally and arbitrarily come to on their own terms about grave digging. There is some irony that is also missed by yourself in the title of this thread that you might have otherwise enjoyed.
Most of the time its frowned upon because it causes confusion, especially surrounding the death of someone, that it may have happened in any way recently, or because the contents of the thread is no longer in any way relevant.
In more straight forward terms:
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Ah, my grateful thanks. I have learned something new today, which is always a treat. While - in general - I love dictionaries, the modern 'urban dictionary' is not one of the works normally found by my elbow.
Indeed, since I abandoned the groves of academe for what is referred to as 'the real world', my exposure to rapidly changing vocabularies has been reduced, alas, for my students used to enlighten me on such matters.
Never mind. Prior to reading your post, (and clicking on the link you so thoughtfully provided) I had not known of this specific use of the term 'grave-digging', and the context in which it is used, and I must say that I find it rather interesting.
When I read the title of the thread, I was expecting something else. But I want to leave with a little anecdote. When I first went to work in newspapers, I got a call from an incredibly angry subscriber. We'd forgotten to put the obituaries in the newspaper!
I quickly, got with the editor and the ad director to sort this out. We'd certainly have to make sure to make this right for the next day. Only when we began looking into it, we found out that no one actually had died that day. It wasn't that we forgot the obituaries, it was simply one of those incredibly rare days that we didn't have any to print.
I quickly, got with the editor and the ad director to sort this out. We'd certainly have to make sure to make this right for the next day. Only when we began looking into it, we found out that no one actually had died that day. It wasn't that we forgot the obituaries, it was simply one of those incredibly rare days that we didn't have any to print.
I'm sure they noticed a few days later.
I hear it depends on how how well you hide the body.
Well we know it wasn't Giants Stadium.I hear it depends on how how well you hide the body.