Vale

Over at Sarsaparilla, Kerryn alerts me to two deaths. Playwright Alex Buzo, one of the pioneers of the New Wave Australian drama, died after a battle with cancer at only 62. And James Hall, former literary editor of the Australian and variously arts editor and editor of the Bulletin, died suddenly the day before. Jim was in fact responsible for my becoming a critic: he gave me the job of Melbourne theatre critic when he was arts editor at the Bulletin and I was a young tyro. I respected him tremendously and am very saddened to hear of his death.