...and we've also lost Julia Child. A great lady in her own way, and a goodhearted person too.
Posted by Martha Bridegam at August 14, 2004 01:13 PMWhat an interesting character she was. The great French Chef received not only the French Legion of Honor recently, but as recently reported on Bloomberg News (the link seems to have died, but I copied this a couple of days ago):
"President George W. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in July 2003, which her niece accepted on her behalf."
I suppose Bush likes his French Fries.
Too bad about Milosz. When I was studying at Berkeley I had no idea he was on the faculty there. All I knew was that once in a while I'd see this guy who looked (so I thought) just like Andy Rooney walking around, usually in the company of Robert Hass. Later, I think it might have been in Poland, I saw a picture of him and suddenly I realized who that had been.
This is just speculation, I'm no expert on contemporary poetry, but comparing some of Milosz's work, and some other recent Polish poetry, to some of the stuff I see in the TLS and other magazines, it seems as though Polish poetry tends to be less interested in fancy technique, ambivalent stances, and nice words. Polish poets seem more willing to talk to the reader, to be more direct. They don't hide themselves behind a wall of disorienting technique. I much prefer that.
I suppose that we have recent Eastern European history to thank for that, in part.
Then again, I really like The Waste Land, and directness could certainly bring out the worst in Eliot (e.g., The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock) , so maybe the comparison is unfair.
Posted by: Alan Hogue at August 15, 2004 12:11 PMTu Lan is a best-kept-secret Vietnamese restaurant on one of San Francisco's worst downtown corners. It has for years displayed a clipping about a visit from Julia Child, who liked the food. So SF Chron columnist Leah Garchik called them up for comment and got a different view from the guy who answered.
He admired Child, but he wasn't going to get mawkish and sentimental.Posted by: Martha Bridegam at August 17, 2004 10:15 AM"She have a good life and good everything,'' he said. "Our lives were terrible, but her life was perfect. ... She gets rich, she got everything. OK. That's all. Goodbye.''