- UK comedian, actor and writer Rik Mayall died on Monday. American audiences might recognize him from the British sitcom, The Young Ones, which aired on MTV in the ’80s. But he was also well-known for his stage work in London. He starred with Stephen Fry in Simon Gray’s Cell Mates in 1995. After receiving a poor review, Fry left the production abruptly and allegedly thought of suicide. Upon hearing about Mayall’s death, Fry tweeted: “Simply distraught to hear of the death of Rik Mayall. An authentic comedy genius and a prince among men.” Monty Python’s Eric Idle noted, “Very sad to hear of the passing of Rik Mayall. Far too young. A very funny and talented man.” Mayall was 56 years old.
- John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” will not save YA fiction because, well, it doesn’t need to be saved. So says Mary Ann Bavadi in The Atlantic. She argues that Green’s work is taken more seriously than the work of female authors. There are many female YA writers, but “the manner in which these women are written about is fundamentally different from the way Green is written about.” No kidding.
- Quit picking on Blue Ivy’s hair, says Yesha Callahan in The Root. Seems as though some people don’t like how Beyonce and Jay Z are grooming their daughter. They think her hair looks unkept. Callahan argues that issue is really about natural hair. “Honestly, I think some black people (the operative word is “some”) have an issue that goes a lot deeper than Blue Ivy’s roots.”
- Hillary Clinton is talking about sexism and President Obama’s 2008 campaign. According to Politico, Clinton says that before she worked with Obama in 2008, she had to deal “clear the air” regarding the issue.
- There’s been another high school shooting, this time at Reynolds High School in Oregon. What does it have to take for this to stop? What needs to happen? And in the long term, how is this going to shape the next generation?
