Attended a number of BSO concerts he was conducting, in both Boston and Tanglewood. I guess he royally pissed some folks off at Tanglewood, but I didn’t follow closely enough to have an opinion. My Boston family admired people on both sides of the controversy and seemed to think it was unfortunate that they couldn’t all get along.
Kiptum died in a car crash. Only 24, he had only run 3 competitive marathons, ranging from his world record in Chicago to his slowest being the 7th fastest of all time. Typically marathon runners don’t peak until notably older, her had a legit shot at being the first person to go sub-2 in competition.
(Died 21 February 2023, so not recent, but it randomly showed up on twitter.)
Simone Segouin, mostly known by her codename, Nicole Minet, was only 18-years-old when the Germans invaded. Her first act of rebellion was to steal a bicycle from a German military administration, and to slice the tires of all of the other bikes and motorcycles so they couldn’t pursue her. She found a pocket of the Resistance and joined the fight, using the stolen bike to deliver messages between Resistance groups.
She was an extremely fast learner and quickly became an expert at tactics and explosives. She led teams of Resistance fighters to capture German troops, set traps, and sabotage German equipment. As the war dragged on, her deeds escalated to derailing German trains, blocking roads, blowing up bridges and helping to create a German-free path to help the Allied forces retake France from the inside. She was never caught.
Segouin was present at the liberation of Chartres on August 23, 1944, and then the liberation of Paris two days later. She was promoted to lieutenant and awarded several medals, including the Croix de Guerre. After the war, she studied medicine and became a pediatric nurse. She passed away at the age of 97 in 2023.
Had not realized that Mulroney led the charge to isolate South Africa and free Mandela. Despite being buddies with Thatcher and Reagan, he challenged them on their attitudes on SA and their opposition to freeing Mandela on the grounds he was a communist.
Also pushed though the free trade deal with the US and introduced a GST in Canada. A very active Canadian PM!
The only PM I ever met in person was Pierre Trudeau when he spoke at Queen’s in 1968. It was an accidental meeting as I happened to be outside the door he escaped through after a speech. Trudeaumania was as big as Beatlemania in Canada and I was pretty thrilled by the brief chat with him.
Mulroney and Trudeau were probably the most polarizing PMs of the past 55 years. Trudeau wins the social reform category but Mulroney wins in the fiscal competency arena. His introduction of the GST was brilliant policy even though it cost him the subsequent election. I will always salute a politician who does the unpopular but right thing.
I did like his chumminess with Reagan/Bush and Thatcher at the time but it did result in some concessions for Canada so I have accepted that. Canada has zero influence on US policy these days and that will only worsen when Trump ascends.