Theatre Historian Brooks McNamara Passes Away
Pat McKay (founder of LDI and former publisher of Theatre Crafts and Lighting Dimensions) pointed out the obituary in The New York Times for theatre historian Brooks McNamara, who passed away at the age of 72 in early May. As she pointed out, “Brooks was an early contributor to Theatre Crafts magazine, pioneer of popular culture studies, mentor to decades of NYU students and many members of the Theatre Crafts and Lighting Dimensions editorial staff.” MacKay also edited the book, Theatres, Spaces, and Environments (1975 with Richard Schechner, Jerry Rojo, and Brooks McNamara).
I hope that theatre historian is not a dying breed (no pun intended). With all kinds of information at our fingertips on the Internet, and paper of all kinds disappearing into the abyss… who knows how folks in the future will look at our history, which will of course be their past.
