The Lives They Lived - The New York Times

The Lives They Lived - The New York Times: Remembering some of the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost in the past year. The New York Times Magazine December 26, 2020 Each year, The Lives They Lived honors the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost. But this was the year of the coronavirus. As the numbers of the Covid dead climbed into the thousands, and then the hundreds of thousands, they risked becoming an abstraction. But for those left behind, each loss is deep and individual. We spent Thanksgiving with seven families who lost someone to the virus. Article Image The Lives They Lived Remembering some of the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost in the past year. By The New York Times Magazine Article Image The Lives They Lived A Holiday Haunted by Loss This was the year of the empty seat at the table. We spent Thanksgiving with seven families who lost relatives to Covid. By Susan Dominus Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT OUR END-OF-YEAR SPECIAL ISSUE Article Image Sam Jones/Trunk Archive The Lives They Lived Chadwick Boseman Played Great Men, and Created One He built his career portraying giants of American history. But it was a fictional character that transformed him into a kind of political figure. By Ismail Muhammad Article Image Julio Cortez/Associated Press The Lives They Lived The Meme-ification of Breonna Taylor People shared her name and image in grief and solidarity, but why didn’t it feel like enough? By Jenna Wortham Article Image Associated Press The Lives They Lived John Thompson Was Every Black Boy’s Longed-For Coach A stern disciplinarian with a white towel on his shoulder, he made Georgetown’s basketball team champions. By Kiese Makeba Laymon Article Image Courtesy of Allison Tripp Foley The Lives They Lived Linda Tripp Was Cast as a Villain During the Clinton Impeachment Recent years have been kinder to women once judged harshly. But she is unlikely to ever get redemption. By Irina Aleksander Article Image Windy Rhoads The Lives They Lived Tad Jones Lived Alone in Nature, Until Nature Revolted He spent decades under the redwoods. Then came this summer’s fire season. By Michael Paterniti Article Image Frank Stewart The Lives They Lived Stanley Crouch Was a Critic Who Didn’t Hold Back Punches He was an intellectual, a holder of court, a jazz connoisseur, a snob and a contrarian of the Black condition. By Wesley Morris Article Image GAB Archive/Getty Images The Lives They Lived Helen Reddy Embodied Her Feminist Anthem, ‘I Am Woman’ She hit No. 1 with that song, and her own life was proof of what it took to get there. By Rob Hoerburger Article Image Trevor Leighton The Lives They Lived Shere Hite Explained How Women Orgasm, and Was Hated for It “The Hite Report” provoked a sexual revolution. Then came death threats and the paparazzi. By Jazmine Hughes Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Article Image Bettmann/Getty The Lives They Lived Tom Seaver Was the Greatest Met Ever. The Mets Still Broke His Heart. He put the franchise on the map — and was traded away in return. By Devin Gordon Article Image Horace Cort/Associated Press The Lives They Lived Mimi Jones Understood the Power of Public Resistance From a Young Age When she was 17, she leapt into a segregated Florida swimming pool — and landed on the front page. By Maggie Jones Article Image Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery. The Lives They Lived James Harvey Celebrated the Pleasure of a Packed Movie Theater No one was more passionate about the cinema, one more experience we lost this year. By Anthony Giardina Article Image J. Michael Catron The Lives They Lived Denny O’Neil Changed the World of Superheroes The comic-book writer took stock of a country’s turmoil and put it into his work. By Rowan Ricardo Phillips Article Image Fin Costello/Redferns, via Getty Images The Lives They Lived Bill Withers Was a Working Man Who Became a Star He went from manual labor to musical phenomenon in a matter of months, but his struggles were always there in the music. By Reginald Dwayne Betts Article Image Richard Stacks/Baltimore Sun The Lives They Lived Mary J. Wilson Was Baltimore’s First Black Senior Zookeeper She had no specialized training, but she did have a way with the fiercest and most vulnerable animals. By Kaitlyn Greenidge Article Image Shari Sperling The Lives They Lived Sy Sperling Brought Dignity to the Bald You didn’t need to be ashamed to join the Hair Club for Men. By Taffy Brodesser-Akner Article Image Max Farago/Trunk Archive The Lives They Lived Cecilia Chiang Lost Everything in China, and Built It Back in California She twice escaped war in China, and eventually landed in an America that was hungry for a new kind of Asian cuisine. By Jade Chang Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Article Image Pako Dominguez/Alamy The Lives They Lived Stanley Chera Was a Mogul Who Made Covid-19 Personal for Trump The New York real estate titan was in some ways a foil to the president — and was on his mind as he went to Walter Reed. By Jamie Lauren Keiles Article Image William Colgan/CIRES/GEUS The Lives They Lived Konrad Steffen Was a Prophet of Climate Change, and its Victim The very ice melt he warned would threaten the planet turned out to be his undoing. By Mark Binelli Article Image Don McCullin/Camera Press/Redux The Lives They Lived Mike Hoare Was a Soldier for Hire Who Led a Spectacularly Failed Coup Mad Mike was already in his 60s when he tried to overthrow the Marxist president of the Seychelles. By Sam Dolnick Article Image Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images Grant Imahara Was a Geek Before (and After) It Was Cool His lifelong love of robotics led to a star turn on “Mythbusters.” By Dessa Article Image Peter Moore / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY, Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York The Lives They Lived Diane di Prima Was a Rare Woman Among the Beatniks A writer and poet who came of age before the women’s movement, she forged a path toward her own desires. By Carina del Valle Schorske