Presidents from Eisenhower to Trump caught the flak. He sang “Bail to the Chief” for Richard M. Nixon, urged George H.W. Bush to retire “to a home for the chronically preppy,” likened Jimmy Carter’s plan to streamline government to “putting racing stripes on an arthritic camel,” and recalled first seeing Ronald Reagan “in the picture-frame department at Woolworth’s, between Gale Storm and Walter Pidgeon.”
Did he have any writers? “Oh, yes — 100 in the Senate and 435 in the House of Representatives.” The true meaning of the Cold War? “In communism, man exploits man. But with capitalism, it’s the other way around.” Gun control? “I will defend my Second Amendment right to use my musket to defend my Third Amendment right to never, ever allow a British soldier to live in my house.”
I was a big Mark Russell fan when I was in high school, but I lost touch with his work after I went to college the first time.
Michael Blackwood, filmmaker. He wasn’t someone I’ve heard of before, but I want to find some of his work.
He followed the jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk on tour in Europe. He tagged along as the minimalist composer Philip Glass prepared for the 1984 premieres of his opera, “Akhnaten,” in Houston and Stuttgart, Germany.
He observed the creative process of the Bulgarian-born conceptual artist Christo during his creation of epic environmental projects like “Running Fence” and “Wrapped Walkways.” And he let Isamu Noguchi explain his approach to his art as they walked among his sculptures.
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His fascination with architecture led him to make films about some of its stars, including Louis Kahn, Richard Meier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Peter Eisenman and Frank Gehry.
In his review of “Frank Gehry: The Formative Years” (1988) in The New York Times, the architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote that Mr. Blackwood “has built up an admirable oeuvre of films about architects and architecture,” and that Mr. Blackwood has Mr. Gehry “ramble though his work in a way that is both inviting and informative.”
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I always loved Mark Russel, he was able to find the humor in the most bitter news of the day. And he was not afraid to tackle the most loved subjects of either party. For some reason they did not condemn him for it. I think that it was due to the fact that he was an equal opportunity offender. And they would look bad if they tried to attack him or censor him. And make no mistake, just because the Democrats have been getting the flak for their censoring now, the Republicans are not innocent from doing the same thing, if it were to suit their purpose.
If I recall correctly, Mark Russel was doing his comedy routine when I was still in high school, graduating back in 1978, so that has been a long time ago. He has definitely killed a lot of sacred cows in his time. The world is now a little less well off having lost him. I hope that he will get some recognition for all he did for the American people. Because he made us laugh and he made us think.