Two Lives

Wendy Wasserstein died yesterday. She was only 55 and it wasn't widely know she was ailing.

She was a talented playwright with a popular touch--a rarity. Her stuff was quite funny--also rare. Most of her work dealt with the specific problems she and her friends were facing. Her most popular work, and her best, The Heidi Chronicles, follows the baby boomer generation from its teens to the edge of 40.

Wasserstein's stuff was always highly contemporary. It'll be interesting to see how it plays when the X or Y Generation turns 40--will they see themselves as well, or will it seem dated?

I once thought I saw Wasserstein at a party. I wanted to tell her how much I enjoyed her work, but she seemed busy talking to friends, so I stayed away. I guess the lesson is to be a noodnik.

Nam June Paik also died yesterday. He was the first and best-known video artist. Museum art, not MTV art--and he goes way back before MTV. He was installing his video art, often using numerous screens at once, way back in the early 60s.

I don't know if the world needs more than one video artist, but he got there first, and sometimes, that's what counts.