Saturday, October 23, 2004

Greensboro painter Louisa Lauver is blogging her work (link via Hoggard). 3:16:36 PM    comment []

Edward T. Cone died this morning in Princeton, New Jersey. He was 87. Edward was the last surviving member of his generation -- my grandfather's generation -- and with him dies a real part of our family history. He was, by some measures, the last interesting Cone, the bridge between the glamorous generations past and the regular lives we all lead today. For all his accomplishments and his fierce intellect, he was a kind and gentle person. My favorite memories of him include a double date to the Metropolitan Opera -- he escorted my mother on the first night that she met my future wife -- and a birthday party in New York where he and his two namesakes (my cousin Ed, then a babe-in-arms, and me) posed for a trans-generational photograph. Here's a draft of an obit I've written for the Greensboro paper:  Princeton, New Jersey -- Edward Toner Cone, 87, died Saturday, October 23, 2004. Edward Cone was a composer, pianist, author, and teacher. He enjoyed a distinguished career as a professor of music at Princeton University, where he joined the faculty in 1947 and taught music theory, history and composition until transferring to emeritus status in 1985. He also served for several years as Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. His compositions include a symphony, along with works for piano, voice, chorus, orchestra and chamber combinations. His scholarly work included several books, among them Musical Form and Musical Performance (1968), The Composer's Voice (1974), and Music: A View from Delft (1989). Edward Cone was born in Greensboro on May 4, 1917, to Julius W. Cone and Laura Weill Cone. He graduated from The Riverdale School in New York and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Princeton. In 2004, Princeton awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, at which time the University released a statement calling him an “ideal embodiment of composer, performer, teacher and scholar... The knowing beauty of his compositions, the graceful power of his piano playing and the inviting elegance of his critical essays teach us to think well of music's place in human affairs…his genial voice remains the melody so many of us hear when we ponder music.” He was a generous patron of the arts in Greensboro, Baltimore, and beyond. Edward was loved by his friends and family for his sharp wit and expansive intellect, and for his warmth and kindness. Edward Cone is survived by his longtime partner, George Pitcher; nieces, Jane Levy of Greensboro and Laura Freedlander of Baltimore; nephew, F. Sands Hetherington, III of Greensboro; and his loving great-nieces and nephews. A memorial service for family and friends in Greensboro is planned for a later date. 3:09:39 PM    comment []

More Munger on campus speech, in which he continues a conversation with a Pirate from the comments here in response to this post about free speech and a dopey article entitled "The Jews" in the Duke newspaper, which followed a conference that Munger (the chair of Duke's poly sci department) supported in principle while opposing the principles of the pro-Palestinian group involved... Munger: "I am not trying to give equal time, or organize debates, or control issues. My job in sponsoring speakers is simply to support discourse on the Duke campus. I will sponsor ANY group that (in my considered judgment) does not overtly advocate violence, and is invited by a legit Duke student group." 9:49:12 AM    comment []

Google and Bloglines join AP as sponsors of BloggerCon III. Dave Winer wants a bloggy blog unconference, and he's getting one. When Dave was in GSO this summer before our local blog shindig, he noted that we were thinking about having an old-timey panel for the session on politics, instead of the moderator-and-distributed-intelligence unconference model. I confessed that I was nervous about the open model -- I didn't know if it would let us leverage the expertise of the candidates in the crowd, and mine the wisdom of Matt Gross, and Hoggard had never run that kind of session... Trust the participants, trust the model, said Dave. We did. And as we say here in NC, it worked real good. BCon III is gonna work real good, too. 7:32:38 AM    comment []

Hoggard: "To a political junkie with an inoperable weblog, the last week has been like having to watch a porno movie with your hands tied behind your back." 7:24:03 AM    comment []