Roald Dahl’s Family Apologizes For The Author’s Antisemitism

The author’s antisemitism was well known and public, including in a 1983 interview in which he claimed “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity. … Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.” The apology statement is buried, but present, on the author’s site, but “no mention is made of Dahl’s antisemitic views in the author’s official biography on the site. The family’s apology was not sent to Jewish organisations.” – The Guardian (UK)

Not To Be Hyperbolic, But Writers Save Lives

Just ask author Alex Wheatle, the (fictionalized) subject of one of Steve McQueen’s new Small Axe series of films. Wheatle served time in prison after the Brixton riots of 1981. A cellmate told him to read Black British history and books by Black authors. “Wheatle, now an author with 15 books to his credit, says the fiction novels which gripped him most in jail were those of Chester Himes.” – BBC

The Nutcracker As More Than Just A Show

That is, Nutcracker, but make it about touch and sound. Blind and visually impaired students in these classes, now via video from the students’ homes, each receive “a package of Nutcracker artifacts: a pointe shoe, a candy cane, a long stretch of tulle (from which tutus are made), a story synopsis and glossary in large print or Braille, sheet music with sections of Tchaikovsky’s score, and, of course, a nutcracker.” – The New York Times