Mills College WeeklyTwo-time Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright August Wilson died Sunday, Oct. 2 losing his fight against liver cancer.
Robert Trussell, a commentator for the Kansas City Star wrote in an appreciation for Wilson: "As far as I'm concerned, it earned him a spot on the Mount Rushmore of American dramatists alongside Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams."
In response to American theater's Eurocentric tendency, Wilson's plays were meant to give voice to marginalized groups in society. He called himself "a race man," particularly driven to highlight and examine the African-American experience in America.
The 10 plays he completed in his 60 years span the 20th century, each taking place during a different decade.
Although Wilson had many things he wished to accomplish, like writing a novel, he will be remembered for the things he did accomplish, like giving African-American stories a long-term home on Broadway.
Stand-up comedian and actor Nipsey Russell lost his battle with cancer on Sunday, Oct, 2 in New York. He was 80.
Russell made his breakthrough in the late 1950s when he appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show." He also engaged in entertaining chats with Jack Paar on "The Tonight Show," and was most remembered for his regular role in the 1961-63 television sitcom "Car 54, Where Are You?" Russell appeared in several movies, among them he made a memorable Tin Man in the 1978 film version of "The Wiz."
Born in Altanta and never married, Russell was quoted once as having said, "I have trouble living with myself; how could I live with anyone else?"
Those that remember Russell's talent and great comedic timing will miss him.
