Should clarify title a bit. At first I thought this was the director.
I think the year span given makes it pretty clear it is not the director.
James Gunn (1923-2020)
21–28 of 28 posts
Re: James Gunn (1923-2020)
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree. I was just terrified for a second.
Well that's just sad.
I think it's understandable if you enjoy something to be feel a bit apprehensive about the idea of never getting to enjoy new parts of it. Lots of people would be very dissatisfied if GRR martin or rothfuss died before finishing their series.
Re: James Gunn (1923-2020)
#23[deleted]
Re: James Gunn (1923-2020)
#24Tempted to flag on principal. I have no idea who this person is, yet he's front-paged in the same year that every post concerning Kobe Bryant's passing was dead-modded in some weird way (search his name and there are dozens of posts with zero comments, and the few with them were forced to mention it obliquely).
I don't think a US sports professional is as interesting to an international audience as an author. Enthusiasm for a specific sport is not as international as literature. I had to google who Kobe Bryant was. May both Kobe and James rest in piece - but 150 000 people die each day. This forum surely cannot fit obituaries for all of them - have to draw a line somewhere.
Kobe Bryant's death is arguably the most infamous of a year defined by death. This is the only HN post mourning Gunn; again, there were dozens of attempts to give HN readers a place to mourn Bryant's death in a venue they found comfortable. Each of them were either flagged or modded so that they would not show up on the front page.
It's interesting that you're unaware who one of the most famous people on the planet was (he was the third most searched topic of the year[1]), but for what it's worth, he was much more than simply a sports professional, and his influence was certainly felt in tech as well as elsewhere.[2]
There was no need to "draw a line." HN users could have been allowed to decide for themselves who and how they wanted to talk about things that are meaningful to them and the tech/hacker community.
1: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/12/09/googles-top-t...
2: https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/27/daily-crunch-kobe-bryant/
Re: James Gunn (1923-2020)
#25James E. Gunn, professor emeritus, University of Kansas He wrote science fiction, in particular a novel "The Listeners", 1972. I don't read much SciFi, but I think "The listeners" is very good. It is worth reading if you can find a copy.
After your recommendation, I went to Amazon and bought one of many used copies on sale there.
Re: James Gunn (1923-2020)
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think a US sports professional is as interesting to an international audience as an author. Enthusiasm for a specific sport is not as international as literature. I had to google who Kobe Bryant was. May both Kobe and James rest in piece - but 150 000 people die each day. This forum surely cannot fit obituaries for all of them - have to draw a line somewhere.
Kobe Bryant's death is arguably the most infamous of a year defined by death. This is the only HN post mourning Gunn; again, there were dozens of attempts to give HN readers a place to mourn Bryant's death in a venue they found comfortable. Each of them were either flagged or modded so that they would not show up on the front page. It's interesting that you're unaware who one of the most famous people on the planet w…
I don’t think it’s interesting I was unaware who he was. I am not located in US and Kobe was not an internatinal celebrity before his death. I remebered reading about the accident but could not link the name to the event. I sense he was important to you. We all have to let go of those who leave us behind. Go in peace.
Re: James Gunn (1923-2020)
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Kobe Bryant's death is arguably the most infamous of a year defined by death. This is the only HN post mourning Gunn; again, there were dozens of attempts to give HN readers a place to mourn Bryant's death in a venue they found comfortable. Each of them were either flagged or modded so that they would not show up on the front page. It's interesting that you're unaware who one of the most famous people on the planet w…
I don’t think it’s interesting I was unaware who he was. I am not located in US and Kobe was not an internatinal celebrity before his death. I remebered reading about the accident but could not link the name to the event. I sense he was important to you. We all have to let go of those who leave us behind. Go in peace.
Bryant was, in fact, a major international celebrity. He was among the most popular players in a sport with global reach - his jersey was the highest-selling for many years - and represented the US in 2 Olympic gold medal runs, including when the games were hosted by the nation that represents the largest market for basketball outside the US (China).
I suspect, as is common in the tech and venture capital scene worldwide, his race had something to do with the appraisal a limited number of influential people on HN had of him. What's important to me is that people in this community start to recognize the blindspots and, in unfortunate cases, biases which contribute to the schism between the makers and the people whose lives their creations are supposed to be making better. Step one would be taking this criticism seriously and with humility.
Re: James Gunn (1923-2020)
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t think it’s interesting I was unaware who he was. I am not located in US and Kobe was not an internatinal celebrity before his death. I remebered reading about the accident but could not link the name to the event. I sense he was important to you. We all have to let go of those who leave us behind. Go in peace.
Bryant was, in fact, a major international celebrity. He was among the most popular players in a sport with global reach - his jersey was the highest-selling for many years - and represented the US in 2 Olympic gold medal runs, including when the games were hosted by the nation that represents the largest market for basketball outside the US (China). I suspect, as is common in the tech and venture capital scene world…
Your analysis of ethnic biases sounds plausible in the general case, but in my specific case I'm fairly ignorant of all athletes and sports - I find them all equally unexciting regardless of ethnicity. I realize this puts me in the minority as rest of humankind is concerned.