Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and Women

With the political news so depressing, let's cheer about some things.

Patti Smith has won the National Book Award for "Just Kids". She deserves it. "Just Kids" is a beautifully written memoir of her early days in New York City and Brooklyn and her life-time friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe. We reviewed it when it first came out.

Jim Carroll, punk rocker and poet, left "Petting Zoo", a novel about a New York-born artist struggling with his inspiration after he had won fame and fortune. The last chapter was finished by the executor of his estate after Carroll died writing it. The book has an introduction by Patti Smith.

"Because the Night", a song written by Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen, shows up on Bruce's "The Promise", a compilation of 26 songs not included with the original "Darkness on the Edge of Town". Nice to hear Bruce in his prime.

Mark Twain entered the New York Times bestseller list at #2 for his 100-year old "Autobiography". This is actually startling since the book is printed as a scholar's edition and not for easy reading.

I guess congratulations to Tom Wolfe for getting a Lifetime Achievement National Book Award. I stopped reading him after "Bonfire of the Vanities", a truly terrifying urban nightmare.

Congrats to Stan "the Man" Musial and Jasper Johns for receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Obama. People have been lobbying for Stan "the Man" since the days of Dubya. Also congrats to Bush Senior for his Medal of Freedom and Maya Angelou.

Also at the White House, President Obama, our Geek-in-Chief, awarded the National Medals Laureates of Science,Technology and Innovation to:

Steven Sasson, the inventor of the digital camera.

Marye Anne Fox, Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry at the University of California , San Diego. She received the National Medal of Science for her research contributions in the areas of organic photochemistry and electrochemistry. Her work has led to the development of materials that can capture solar energy and thin films which can be used for information storage.

Warren Washington,Senior Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research. He receives the National Medal of Science for his development and use of global climate models to understand climate and explain the role of human activities and natural processes in the Earth's climate system. Naturally, he will have to be investigated by the House Republicans for perpetrating the climate change hoax.

Sargeant Guinta was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the first living person awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. Right-wing Christians protested that the Medal of Honor has been feminized because it has been awarded in recent memory to those who risked their lives saving their fellow soldiers. The suggestion is that it should be awarded to people who have a maximum of enemy kills. Onward Christian Soldiers!