Don't You Forget About Me

“We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all.” -- The Breakfast Club

The unexpected news of filmmaker John Hughes’ death is not unlike losing a high school classmate.  Though it may have been a while since we thought of him, his name brings back a rush of memories.  Hughes was the storyteller who saw us for who we were, amidst the confusion and absurdity of the teen experience.  He defined a generation with both angst and laughter, and watching his movies again is like flipping through a yearbook.  Hughes’ films did more than epitomize an era; they also immortalized Chicago as setting.  Home Alone, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and (of course) Ferris Bueller’s Day Off were all set against the backdrop of the northern suburbs.  John Hughes was the one who reminded us that “We are Not Alone,” and for that we owe him thanks.

Rabbit, Rest

Pulitzer Prize winner John Updike, one of the greatest novelists of his time, died Tuesday at the age of 76.  Best known for the series which began with Rabbit, Run, Updike often wrote of ordinary middle-class citizens against the backdrop of post-war America.  “I like middles,” he explained in a 1966 interview.  “It is in the middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules.”  After witnessing the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, Updike imagined the life of a radicalized American Muslim in Terrorist.  His most recent novel is The Widows of Eastwick, a sequel to 1984’s The Witches of Eastwick.

A Man for Mystery

Donald E. Westlake, award-winning mystery writer of more than 100 books, died unexpectedly on New Year’s Eve.  Under one of several pseudonyms, Richard Stark, he chronicled the adventures of a master criminal named Parker, most recently in 2008’s Dirty Money.  Another of Westlake’s current series, published under his own name, focused on unintentionally comic criminal John Dortmunder, including What’s the Worst That Could Happen? and What’s So Funny?.  Several of his books were adapted into films, and as a screenwriter he received a 1991 Academy Award nomination for The Grifters.  An unpublished novel, Get Real, was scheduled for release in April.

The Incomparable Michael Crichton

Chicago-born Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park and creator of the television series ER, died unexpectedly on Tuesday.  A trained physician, Crichton often drew story ideas from the science and medical fields.  His first great success, The Andromeda Strain, was followed with bestsellers Disclosure, The Lost World, and the controversial State of Fear.  A filmmaker, too, he directed the adaptation of his own book The Great Train Robbery.  As his family noted, “Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand.” Crichton’s last published title was Next (2006).  A new novel, previously scheduled for release next month, has been postponed indefinitely.

Tony Hillerman, Storyteller

Tony Hillerman, author of the popular Navajo Tribal Police novels and more than thirty books, died on Sunday.  Though his first agent advised him to “get rid of that Indian stuff,” Hillerman excelled in spinning tales such as Skinwalkers, The Thief of Time, and The Shape Shifter.  His passion was for Americans "to stop thinking of Navajos as primitive persons, to understand that they are sophisticated and complicated.”  His straightforward style highlighted memorable characters, interesting plots, and the tension of cultural identity.  Of all Hillerman’s honors, the one that meant most to him was Special Friend of the Dineh, bestowed by the Navajo Tribal Council in 1987.  Other works of note are his 2001 memoir, Seldom Disappointed, and Talking Mysteries: A Conversation with Tony Hillerman. 

Color Our Eyes Blue

“I'd like to be remembered as a guy who tried - who tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in his own life, tried to extend himself as a human being." – Paul Newman

Screen legend and philanthropist Paul Newman closed those famous blue eyes for the last time on Friday, September 26.  An Oscar winner for The Color of Money, Newman brought his incomparable style to a variety of roles throughout his career.  He is best known for distinctive performances in The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Sting (1973), and The Verdict (1982).  As fellow actor Ernest Borgnine expressed, “He left his mark, God bless him, and you can’t say no more than that.”   

Sydney Pollack, The Way He Was

Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack died yesterday, leaving a legacy of great films and an even greater love of movie-making.  Out of Africa (1985), starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, earned Pollack Oscars both for Best Director and for Best Picture.  He also collected multiple nominations for Tootsie (1982), They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969), and most recently as a producer for Michael Clayton (2007).

Few directors can claim the camaraderie with A-list actors that Sydney Pollack cultivated.  Often named as the quintessential 'actor’s director', “Sydney let the dialogue and the emotion of the scene speak for itself,” said Michael Apted, president of the Director’s Guild of America.  Pollack started out as an actor himself, and he continued to make his mark in memorable character roles.  Among his many other directorial successes are The Way We Were (1973) and The Firm (1993).  His most recent release is the documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005).

Charlton Heston, an epic life

   "If you need a ceiling painted, a chariot race run, a city besieged, or the Red Sea parted, you think of me."    -- Charlton Heston

Evanston-born Charlton Heston, Oscar winner for his star turn in Ben Hur (1959), died Saturday, April 5, 2008.  Best known for heroic roles in grand epics such as The Ten Commandments (1956) and El Cid (1961), Heston brought intensity and presence to his work both on screen and off.  A World War II Army veteran, he visited troops during the Vietnam War and in 2003 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.  Author Patrick O’Brian counted Heston as a friend and even envisioned him one day playing his title character Captain Jack Aubrey.  A writer himself, Heston penned his autobiography In the Arena as well as a book entitled To Be a Man: Letters to My Grandson.  Among his many other film credits are The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Julius Caesar (1970), and The Planet of the Apes (1968).