Monday, February 28, 2011
MASSACRE ON EIGHTH AVENUE: Wow. Yesterday was the final NYT Magazine for Randy Cohen (12 years), Amanda Hesser (5 years), Virginia Heffernan (4 years), and, barely a month after the debut of the ALOTT5MA Friday Grammar Rodeo, the On Language column (32 years). Ariel Kaminer will replace Cohen at The Ethicist desk, Edith Zimmerman from The Hairpin is getting a column and Fametracker/NYMag's Adam Sternbergh is on board as culture editor. Also, if you didn't notice, Deborah Solomon has been condensed and edited for the last time.
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I'll miss Cohen (who was reliably funny and insightful), but the others I don't mind as much--Heffernan's column was better in concept than in execution, Hesser, I rarely read (though I read more when they moved her to front of book), and On Language probably should have ended with Bill Safire.
ReplyDeleteRelatedly, Sternbergh is on Extra Hot Great this week, talking primarily about the cinematic masterwork of Drive Angry 3D.
ReplyDeleteIt was like a bloodbath, reading all those goodbyes this past weekend. I'm with Matt - I'll miss Cohen, but not so much Heffernan or Hesser.
ReplyDeleteAm I the last person under the age of 40 to subscribe to a paper-format newspaper (on the weekends)?
ReplyDeleteI'll miss On Language, but I understand cutting it, because it was as much Safire's creation as a feature. Zimmer never successfully made it his own. Kaminer for Cohen may be a lateral move. I can't believe that it's already been 12 years since the debut of the Ethicist column.
Heffernan's column has always felt both dated and superficial, even while being timely and insightful. I'd rather read her blog and let her expand the column into longer Magazine pieces less frequently. This Hesser column never really worked. But then I've always skimmed over the food column in the magazine unless the photos look really appetizing.
The only column that I look forward to reading is Diagnosis.
More importantly, Pete Wells announced the end of Cooking With Dexter. Hurrah!
ReplyDeleteDiagnosis is awesome.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm happy that Cooking with Dexter is done. I'm over it.