Rod McKuen - Dead at 81.
Colleen McCullogh - Dead at 77.
McCullough is the author of “The Thornbirds.” McKuen is the author of way too many over-wrought emo poems in the 60s/70s.
Sorry to hear about Rod McKuen. In the 60s, I was a big fan of the Glenn Yarbrough albums wherein he put a lot of McKuen’s poems to music. Sentimental and angst-ridden, yes, but Yarbrough’s voice turned them into lovely ballads, particularly the Stanyon Street poems. They resonated with those who had loved and lost.
Why did I think McKuen was long dead? Oh well, now I’m at least half right, may he RIP.
I liked Thorn Birds but bought the Rome series mainly for their very useful appendices.
Rod McKuen: emo when emo wasn’t cool.
McCullough also wrote the Masters of Rome series - a multi-volume, historically-consistent fictionalization of the history of Rome which is pretty fucking brilliant in my book!
Thanks Colleen - you did good work.
She made herself such an authority on Roman history that profs consulted her, or so I’ve heard.