Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, an influential figure in Democratic politics who was also U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary in the Clinton administration, died on Sept. 1.
Obituary
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Parrotheads know: Jimmy Buffett was much more than booze and debauchery
Jimmy Buffett was noted for his many silly pop songs in obituaries after his death on Sept. 1. But his music wasn’t always just a matter of rum and flip-flops.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Remembering Father James F. Keenan, a model of Jesuit life
Jim remembered everyone—even my mother whom he had never met or spoken with. A special occasion would not go by without a phone call or a handwritten note from Jim.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Some Catholics will never forgive Sinéad O’Connor for tearing the pope’s photo. Others will never forget its power.
Sinéad O’Connor, who was found dead in London on July 26, thwarted any attempt throughout her life to extinguish her creativity or her output.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Remembering Martin Amis: literary bad boy—and an unexpected moralist
Martin Amis leaves behind a remarkable corpus of fiction, essays and memoir—even if he could be eminently dislikable.
Posted inFaith, Vantage Point
From 1991: Avery Dulles on Henri de Lubac
After the death of Henri de Lubac, S.J., on Sept. 4, 1991, Avery Dulles, S.J. penned a long tribute to the theologian, a major influence on Vatican II and later theological developments.
Posted inFaith
Dolores Leckey, founding director of U.S. bishops’ laity secretariat, dies at 89
Dolores R. Leckey, who was founding director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for the Laity in 1977 and at the time one of the highest ranking women in the U.S. Catholic Church, died peacefully of natural causes Jan. 17 in her home in Arlington.
Posted inFaith, Vantage Point
Dorothy Day’s obituary from 1980: ‘All Was Grace’
After Dorothy Day’s death in 1980, her biographer William Miller wrote her obituary for America, noting that “the amazing thing about her life was the improbability of it all.”
Posted inArts & Culture, News
Thomas Cahill, author of ‘How the Irish Saved Civilization,’ dead at 82
In his million-selling “How the Irish Saved Civilization,” Cahill cited Ireland’s crucial—and unappreciated—preservation of classical texts after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Remembering John Meier, the ‘dean of Jesus research’
As an outstanding student of the Gospels, the Rev. John Meier set himself to present the historical Jesus to the world, producing in five volumes one of the longest works ever published on the life and person of Jesus.