Who, in recent memory, has received an above-the-fold obituary and pictures, three leading tributes utilizing one-half of the Sunday Perspective and then a lead editorial?
Arthur Miller was a playwright who wrote understandable English and created some interesting characters, and whose plays, when well-directed, provided some interesting situations and entertainment.
He neither captured nor described “America’s soul,” as the Feb. 12 editorial stated. He was humorless and pedantic. “America’s soul” is positive, moral, optimistic and tuned to humor, attributes he never captured.
Like many artists he gave us snapshots of his perspectives, not the perspectives of his times. He was a bystander for the most momentous event of his times, World War II. He was clearly financially successful, thriving under an economic system, capitalism, which he denigrated and decried.
Neither his private nor public life embodied the character and courage that define the American spirit. He was a good playwright but no Shakespeare nor the greatest of the 20th Century. Your coverage was an overstatement, just as was much of his work.
