Posts Tagged ‘Obit’

Limerick Ode To Ed Koch

Friday, February 1st, 2013

Rest In Peace, Edward Koch. ( December 12, 1924 – February 1, 2013)

Limerick Ode To Ed Koch
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Ed Koch sure was one of a kind:
Got my city right out of its bind.
“How’m I doing?” he’d ask.
Praise would flow, and he’d bask.
We shall miss his New York state of mind.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Celebrity Verse, New York Mayors, New York Politics, Obit Limericks, Political Limericks, Political Verse | 4 Comments »

Ode To Ted Kennedy (Tribute Limerick)

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Most limericks are humorous … or at least meant to be funny. But today I’ve written a serious double limerick to commemorate the life and death of the great Senator Ted Kennedy:

Ode To Ted Kennedy (Tribute Poem)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A Kennedy fondly called Ted
Has, alas, been declared to be dead.
He was loved cross the aisle
And did so much worthwhile
Which is why floods of tears shall be shed.

Teddy worked for the poor and the weak,
The oppressed and the wronged and the meek.
He was proudly progressive,
A lib’ral-obsessive.
Pass health reform — crown Teddy’s streak.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Political Limericks, Political Verse, Ted Kennedy | 8 Comments »

John Mortimer (Barrister, Author, Rumpole Creator) Dies at 85

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

I was very saddened to read that Rumpole creator John Mortimer died. Not only am I a fan of his books, but I had the pleasure of meeting, interviewing, and profiling John Mortimer for British Heritage Magazine back in 1996 … not to mention sharing champagne with him while we chatted.

Needless to say, I sipped very slowly.

We spoke about everything from feminism and God to computers and murderers. Here are some excerpts from my Mortimer profile:

Judges, according to Mortimer, “take themselves too seriously,” while prisons are a “university of crime.” Mortimer speaks from experience; he earned considerable acclaim as a barrister, especially for his successful defenses in censorship cases. He also represented many divorce clients and accused murderers during his barrister years. According to Mortimer, he much preferred the murderers.

…

I asked Mortimer which was more difficult to write, comedy or tragedy. “Comedy,” he answered without hesitation. “It is very easy to make people cry, be sad, be miserable. Farce is an incredibly difficult genre. Comedy requires enormous imagination. There are quite a lot of great tragedies, and there aren’t many great comedies.”

Mortimer was equally emphatic about the relative difficulties of his two careers. “Writing is much, much harder than being a lawyer. If you’re a lawyer you can rattle on doing things other people can do. If you’re a writer, you’ve got to do something which nobody else can do. Except writing has less disastrous results. If you write a bad book, no one goes to prison, which is rather a relief.”

…

Mortimer appears to relish making comments that would tend to provoke a rise, or at least a laugh. Indeed, he laughs easily and often, a condition I found quite contagious. When asked if it’s possible for men and women to communicate without gender getting in the way, he said, laughing, “No. Thank God for it. Vive La Difference.” He added with another chuckle, “I think women don’t want to be sex objects, but I’d love to be a sex object. My own ambition is to be loved only for my body.”

Mortimer, like Rumpole, enjoys making fun of feminists. Yet I sensed that behind his flippant love-me-for-my-body remark was a man who, again like Rumpole, measures women when it matters on merit alone. I suggested that while many women enjoy being sex objects, they don’t want gender to interfere with their careers. “Absolutely,” Mortimer responded, “and so it shouldn’t.”

You can read my entire John Mortimer interview here.

(Cross-posted on my general Humor Blog.)

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Books, Law Satire, Profiles | 1 Comment »

Rest In Peace, Mom

Thursday, January 1st, 2009

2008 was a very difficult year for me and for my family. My father died in January, and my mother died December 30th and is being buried tomorrow.

Rest in peace, mom. I hope you and dad are together again.

I love you both and miss the two of you more than my words can express.

Beatrice Begun (1925-2008)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Personal | 7 Comments »