Whether godless or godly, we all consult a private pantheon of authorities, living or dead, to gauge our comportment. We read ethics columns on subway trains and in cafes for vicarious solutions to our secret troubles. Since the days of Dear Abby and Ann Landers, the availability of emotional and behavioral self-help information has grown exponentially. In the digital age, now adrift in a wide, shallow sea of media outlets, wondering where to turn for advice only increases our anxiety. Cable TV and the Internet have left us splintered and atomized; they've negated the comforting clarity of our few favorite go-to gurus.

One such erstwhile guru has just left us [...]

Just six days after Times reporter Anthony Shadid died in Syria, Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin was killed, along with photographer Remi Ochlik, when a building used as a media center in Homs was shelled. Also killed: a prominent citizen journalist. Here is Colvin's recent report from Syria, given after the most recent three weeks of the non-stop government bombing. According to the BBC, Colvin was actually the only British newspaper journalist in Homs. Here is her speech on war reporting from 2010. Similar to the bombing of the media, doctors and nurses are being targeted by the government. Now reporters are [...]

Out of nowhere, or Monaco, comes the sad news that Barbara Piasecka Johnson, who was the maid to and then third wife of J. Seward Johnson I (born 1895!), has now died, far too young at the age of 76.

Ms. Johnson was busy until late out-surviving the six children of her husband from his first two marriages. Upon his death, in 1983, the Johnson and Johnson heir left all his money—$402,824,971.59—to her instead of them. They sued; the courts gave them 12% of their dad's inheritance (they all had trust funds anyway! It was just spite!) and everyone moved on happily ever after, rich as fourteen Bush [...]

Nooo! No. According to People, RUE MCCLANAHAN has departed this terrible planet. From Starship Troopers to Murphy Brown to Murder She Wrote to Touched by an Angel, Ms. McClanahan was a hard-working woman, who never missed an opportunity to show up with a wink and an unparalleled repertory of great schtick. The Summer of Death 2™ is already a horrorshow.

"I first saw Mark on a dudeblog, someone reblogged a video of her and I was supposed to think what I was watching was bizarre/pitiful/gross/funny. Instead I felt better about everything I had ever been through, and I laughed, and felt bad for anyone too plain and typical to get anything positive out of it." —Tumblr user "BRB Nightmares."

According to friends, artist Mark Aguhar has died. Among other projects, Mark ran a blog called Call Out Queen. Aguhar's MFA performance at the University of Illinois can be found here; an archive of drawings can be found here; an archive of performances and sculpture can [...]

The fabulous Louise Bourgeois died yesterday at 98. The first minute of this interview reveals everything you need to know about her wonderfulness.