Comment Central - Times Online - WBLG

Your Clement Freud Reader

• Clement Freud in The Times: Inherit my wine, not my money
• Clement Freud in The Times: A high old time
• Just a Minute Blog: My thoughts - the great Clement
• Jenny Booth in Times Online: Freudian slips: little known facts about Sir Clement
• Matthew Weaver in The Guardian: Sir Clement Freud dies aged 94
• Times Online: Sir Clement Freud dies aged 84
• BBC Obituary: Sir Clement Freud
• Bishop Alan's Blog: Clement Freud: unusual achievements
• Just a Minute Blog: JAM costars pay tribute to Sir Clement

Aaron Sorkin on Ron Silver

Aaron Sorkin has now added some words about Ron Silver in Time magazine.

I've included it in my collection of tributes so that you can find them all in one place.

Roundup of Ron Silver tributes

• Ed Rollins in CNN: Ron Silver, an extraordinary friend
• Mark Steyn in The Corner: Ron Silver
• Aaron Sorkin in Time: Ron Silver
• Roger L. Simon in Pajamas Media: In Memoriam: Ron Silver
• Michael Barone in US News: Ron Silver was articulate, energetic and made the left to right political journey
• Robert Greenwald in The Huffington Post: Ron Silver Was a Mensch
• The Wall Street Journal: Silver star
• Lawrence O'Donnell: Ron Silver: A Great Friend, A Great Actor
• Daniel Finkelstein in The Times: It takes courage to stand aside from the gang
• Ann Coulter: Silver's bravery not an act
• Joe Klein in Swampland: Ron Silver
• Ben Stiller in The Huffington Post: Ron Silver, remembered
• John Podhoretz in Commentary: Ron Silver: 1946-2009
• Alec Baldwin in The Huffington Post: Mourning the death of Ron Silver
• Dennis McLellan in Los Angeles Times: Ron Silver dies at 62; Tony-winning actor and political activist
• Lionel Chetwynd in Big Hollywood: Ron Silver R.I.P: An Appreciation
• Claudia Rosett in The Rosett Report: Ron Silver- keeping faith
• Richard Fernandez in Belmont Club: The silver cord
• Paul Begala in The Huffington Post: A tribute to Ron Silver
• Bruce Weber in The New York Times: Ron Silver, 62, Persuasive Actor and Activist, Dies
• Frank Luntz in The Huffington Post: Ron Silver and the Courage of Conviction
• Adam Boulton in Boulton & Co: Ron Silver

Remembering Ron Silver

I have just heard the sad news of the death of my good friend, the talented and rather wonderful Ron Silver.

Ron had been ill for quite a while and we knew his cancer was terminal. Yet somehow when you saw him, even though he looked ill, his wit and vivacity made you think he would keep going for ever.

He will probably be best known here for his role as Bruno Gianelli, the political consultant to Jed Bartlett and later Arnie Vinick. But he was also stunning as Alan Dershowitz in Reversal of Fortune and as Angelo Dundee in Ali.

Ron was one of the most committed political figures in Hollywood, but not in the usual way.

A brilliant debater and public speaker, he had been the actor's union leader for a decade and a well known advocate of abortion rights. And then, in 2004 he took one of the biggest political steps in his life. He endorsed George Bush for President.

Meeting him in New York after he had addressed the Republican Convention, he explained to me that he had taken this big step because he believed that Islamist terrorism was a danger to liberal values, and he didn't believe the Democrats realised this.

He expected to pay a big professional price. And he did. He found it much more difficult to get big roles in quality productions after his Bush endorsement. But he did get another stint as Bruno, with Gianelli switching sides to become a Republican.

(Incidentally, for West Wing fans, Ron told me that he had originally been sounded out to play Toby, but had to turn down the opportunity because he was in a sitcom with Kirsty Alley)

He didn't regret it though. His politics were too important to him. Oliver Stone sounded him out about playing Paul Wolfowitz in his film W, but Ron didn't want Stone's words in his mouth and in any case, he had just discovered he was ill.

Ron wasn't a Republican, though. He remained a liberal. And in 2008 he voted for Barack Obama, telling me that Sarah Palin was the final straw.

If it is possible to reprise his roles and explain his politics, it is not so easy to recapture his spirit. When I was last in New York, he took me to dinner with Joe Klein and Ann Coulter at the same time. He just loved the jokes, the arguments, the crackle, the political buzz.

He was larger than life.

Just a few months ago, he visited George Osborne (also a good friend of his) and me in London and we had dinner and the usual laughs as if nothing was wrong. But when he left, we knew we probably wouldn't see him again, however much we pretended to ourselves that this wasn't so and made plans for a further visit.

We will both miss him very much.

UPDATE: Roundup of Ron Silver tributes

Your John Updike reader

• The New Yorker: Remembering John Updike
• Christoper Lehmann-Haupt in The New York Times: A Lyrical Writer of the Middle-Class Man
• John Updike: Hub fans bid kid adieu
• Henry Allen in The Washington Post: The realist
• The Times: Obituary of John Updike
• John Updike in The New Yorker: The full glass
• Lev Grossman in Time: Old master in a brave new world

The admirable Crichton

The sad death of the brilliant Michael Crichton reminded me of his wonderful speech about media speculation.

I thought you might enjoy reading it.

Your Solzhenitsyn Reader

• Der Spiegel: Interview with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 'I am not afraid of death'
• Tony Halpin in The Times: Last struggle is over for Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Harvard Class Day Address
• Michael T Kaufman in The New York Times: Solzhenitsyn, literary giant Who defied Soviets, dies at 89
• Clive James: Solzhenitsyn and the road to Berlin
• The Economist: An icon of his age

Your Tim Russert reader

• David Remnick in The New Yorker: Tim Russert
• Tom Shales in The Washington Post: Tim Russert: The smile that lit up journalism
• Matthew Yglesias in The Atlantic: Goodbye to The Master
• Jacques Steinberg in The New York Times: Tim Russert, ‘Meet the Press’ Host, Is Dead at 58
• The Times: Tim Russert: political journalist and author

Your Hamilton Jordan reader

Hamilton Jordan has died of cancer aged 63. Jordan ran Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign at the tender age of 31 and later became his chief of staff. Here's your reader on his life.

-- Rick Lyman in The New York Times: Hamilton Jordan, Carter's right hand, dies at 63

-- Joe Holley and Martin Weil in The Washington Post: Architect of Carter Presidency

-- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: That third-party opportunity has vanished, but Hamilton Jordan has not

-- John Stacks in Time (1976): Engineering the victory

-- James Fallows in The Atlantic: Hamilton Jordan

Your Humphrey Lyttelton reader

• The Times: Obituary of Humphrey Lyttelton
• Ross Leckie in The Times: It just occurred to me...
• The Guardian: In praise of...Humphrey Lyttelton
• Deborah Ross in The Independent: Humphrey Lyttelton: Getting the Humph
• The Telegraph: Humphrey Lyttelton, doyen of double entendres
• Andrew Martin in New Statesman: Class conscious - Praising the pioneers of revivalist jazz