Dead Ladies Show #41: F. Tennyson Jesse, Alice Guy & Victoria Woodhull!

Before year’s end, we’re convening one more Dead ladies Show next month! Our show on Friday December 12 is all in English, featuring three fascinating talks. Learn about an influential criminologist, a groundbreaking screenwriter/director, and a lady stockbroker and activist who certainly forged her own path in many a surprising way.

These are women who took their fascinations and ran with them. Our expert presenters this time are our fantastic podcast producer SUSAN STONE, your beloved co-host FLORIAN DUIJSENS, and the amazing Australian writer ALINA HOYNE. All held together, of course, by your other beloved co-host KATY DERBYSHIRE.

As ever, you can expect a charming audience and a warm and entertaining atmosphere. Standard tickets cost €10 and the reduced price is €4, get them here or at the door. Doors open 7:30 pm – come on time to get a good seat!

Much love,

Katy, Susan & Florian

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F. TENNYSON JESSE (1888–1958) was an English journalist, criminologist, and writer. The daughter of a vicar who dragged the family around the British empire, she trained as a painter before moving to London in 1911. Journalism beckoned, but she was not put off by losing the use of her right hand in a plane accident, learning to type left-handed. She reported from the ground during World War I and published fiction, before moving into criminology and true crime writing. Her 1924 book Murder and its Motives set out six basic motivations for killing, a very influential theory. She later co-wrote plays with her husband, including How to Be Happy though Married.

ALICE GUY (1873–1968) was a woman of filmmaking firsts. Secretary to a French camera manufacturer, she attended the very first film showing in 1895. Inspired by the moving image but not its dry subject matter, she became the first filmmaker to incorporate narrative, certainly the first woman director, and probably the only one until 1906. Having moved to the US, she was then the first woman to own a studio, in the pre-Hollywood moviemaking hub of Flushing, New York. Which was where she made one of the first films to feature an all-African American cast. Few of her films have survived, but her legacy is lasting.

VICTORIA WOODHULL (1838–1927) had a first career as a “medical clairvoyant” before starting a Wall Street financial firm with her sister in 1870. They used their fortune to start a newspaper, campaign for women’s and workers’ rights, and to publish the first English edition of The Communist Manifesto. Woodhull was a vocal supporter of the free-love movement, attempting to de-stigmatize divorce. She practiced what she preached, leaving her alcoholic first husband in 1865 and the second one in the mid-1870s. The Equal Rights Party nominated her as its presidential candidate in 1872, though she wasn’t taken seriously. Moving to England, she took part in the women’s suffrage movement there – but put a big blemish on her reputation by promoting eugenics.

BIOS

Susan Stone is a podcast producer and journalist writing about culture, social issues and business with a focus on Germany and Europe.

Alina Hoyne was born in Melbourne but has been living and working in Berlin for most of the last two decades. She writes about performance, art, film, books, music, fashion and culture – and is a lover of libraries, public swimming pools, cinemas and coffee convos. She also loves lists.

Florian Duijsens is an editor, teacher and literary translator, plus of course co-host and co-founder of the Dead Ladies Show.

Dead Ladies Show #40: Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, Jennell Jaquays & Una Marson!

This show sees us return to our bilingual concept, with two talks in English and one in German. And what humdingers they will be! All about three ladies who battled reptiles, dragons and discrimination to make the world a better place. Be it healthcare, gaming or literature, what unites them all is their willingness to defend a cause. Our expert presenters this time are our fantastic podcast producer SUSAN STONE, your beloved co-host KATY DERBYSHIRE, and the amazing German writer and game designer JAN KABASCI. All held together, of course, by your other beloved co-host FLORIAN DUIJSENS.

And because you seemed to like it last time, we’re putting on this show on a Sunday evening, the perfect way to wind down from the weekend – starting a smidgen earlier at 7 pm. As ever, you can expect a charming audience and a warm and entertaining atmosphere.

Standard tickets cost €10, the reduced price is €4, and you can buy them here. Doors open 6:30 pm – come on time to get a good seat!

*****

BETTY MAE TIGER JUMPER (1923–2011) was the first female chief of the Seminole Tribe in Florida. She escaped a death sentence after being born a crime as a mixed-race child. Unable to attend segregated schools for either White or Black children, she persuaded her mother to send her to out-of-state boarding school. She became the first Seminole to graduate high school, and among the first to read and write English. Betty trained as a nurse, then served as tribal healthcare director, convincing her fellow Seminoles to accept vaccinations. She later founded a newspaper, was elected tribal leader, and wrote three books, all while having an awesome name.  Oh, and she also wrestled alligators on occasion. 

JENNELL JAQUAYS (1956–2024) was a US game designer, writer, illustrator and trans activist. Having been an early adopter of Dungeons&Dragons after its emergence in 1974, she soon became a prolific member of the early tabletop roleplaying game industry, working with a wide range of publishers and innovating game design so much that “Jaquaysing” is an established term today. From the 1980s onward she also worked a variety of jobs in videos games, notably as a level designer for the Quake and Halo series. After publicly coming out as trans in 2011, Jaquays worked alongside her gaming career as a creative director for the Transgender Human Rights Institute in Seattle.

UNA MARSON (1905–1965) was a Jamaican writer, journalist ,and radio producer, described as the first Black British feminist to speak out against racism and sexism in Britain. Having started her own magazine in Jamaica, she published poems and wrote and staged her first play. Ambition took her to 1930s London, where racism proved a major obstacle, however. She became involved in civil rights work and championed other Jamaican writers, eventually becoming a producer for the BBC’s Caribbean Voices radio show. We know little about her life after WWII, when she returned to Jamaica and continued writing poetry and fighting discrimination – but a recent rediscovery in the UK has led to a TV documentary and a library named in her honour.

*****

Katy Derbyshire (she/her) is a literary translator and part-time publisher, co-host and co-founder of the Dead Ladies Show.

Susan Stone (she/her) is a podcast producer and journalist writing about culture, social issues and business with a focus on Germany and Europe.

Jan Kabasci (er/ihm) ist Autor, Lektor und Game Designer und lebt in Berlin. Nach Arbeiten in Prosa, Lyrik und Drama widmet sich sein Schreiben gegenwärtig seiner großen Leidenschaft, dem Pen&Paper-Rollenspiel. Sein aktuelles Projekt ist ein Tagebuchspiel über Ulrike Meinhof. Neben der Autorentätigkeit studiert er Angewandte Literaturwissenschaft an der FU Berlin, lektoriert unter anderem für den Pegasus Spieleverlag und schlägt sich mit wechselnden Jobs durchs Leben.

Podcast #83: Flora Tristan

In this episode, DLS co-founder Florian Duijsens introduces us to Flora Tristan. 

A French-Peruvian writer, socialist activist and feminist theorist, Flora was amongst the first to tie women’s equality to social equality. Her personal life was touched by hardship, scandal, and the nefarious acts of various men. Seeking her own emancipation, she was moved to fight for universal freedom. And though she may not be well-known, Flora’s inspiring ideas live on today, when people stand united against oppression.

Recorded live at Lettrétage by Betty Kapun.

Also available on SpotifyApple Podcastsand Pocket Casts.

Show notes:

Continue reading “Podcast #83: Flora Tristan”

Dead Ladies Show #39: Caroline of Brunswick & Eileen Agar!

It’s our tenth anniversary! How did that happen? So on Tuesday May 13th we’re jubilating to the max, bringing you three ladies we’ve always wanted to talk about but never quite dared. And seeing as it’s our birthday, we’re doing it all in English – it’s our party and we’ll cry if we want to. Your beloved co-hosts Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire will be presenting two remarkable characters from history, and our special guest Saskia Vogel will worm the truth out of them about the event’s advent. 
As for you, our charming audience, we thought we’d offer you a fun opportunity. All you have to do is DRESS UP AS A DEAD LADY OF YOUR CHOICE, and we’ll let you in for free! Join us to marvel over how time’s passed, while looking ahead to a future full of laudable dead ladies. In a good way!

Standard tickets cost €10, the reduced price is €4, and you can buy them here. Doors open 7:30 pm – come on time to get a good seat! What’s more, the first 39 people through the door will get a free drink ticket to celebrate our 39 shows in 10 years 🙂

Caroline of Brunswick was officially queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover for three whole weeks before she died in 1821, long-estranged from her horrible husband, her cousin King George IV. They had separated shortly after the birth of their only child, and Caroline’s access to her daughter was restricted. She later moved to Italy and lived with a handsome secretary, prompting huge amounts of gossip and countless caricatures. When George ascended to the throne, Caroline tried to cash in on her popularity and become queen, but she was literally locked out of the coronation.

Eileen Agar was the sort of artist who looked at a hat and thought, What if it grew feathers, sprouted seashells, and started whispering secrets to strangers? Born in Buenos Aires and raised in Britain, Agar was a painter, collagist and sculptor with a delicious taste for the absurd. She danced on the edges of Surrealism—sometimes elbowing her way in, sometimes pirouetting just out of reach—and exhibited alongside the likes of Dalí and Ernst, though she never let their moustaches overshadow her own wildly imaginative vision.

Katy Derbyshire is a literary translator and part-time publisher, co-host and co-founder of the Dead Ladies Show.

Florian Duijsens
 edits, teaches, translates, travels, and is the co-host and co-founder of the Dead Ladies Show.

Saskia Vogel
is a writer and translator and deputy editor of The Erotic Review. Her translation of Balsam Karam’s The Singularity won the University of Iowa Translators’ Choice Award in 2024.

Podcast #80: Dorothy Thompson

In this episode of our podcast, DLS co-host Florian Duijsens tells us about journalist, writer, and witness to history Dorothy Thompson.  As a foreign correspondent in Germany, she was among the first to caution against the growing tides of fascism, warning urgently against the Nazis and Hitler. Unfortunately, the world didn’t listen. Dorothy continued to speak out throughout her life, and during her career peak, was read and heard on the radio by millions.    

Her personal life at times also made the news — she was married to Pulitzer Prize-winning author and alcoholic Sinclair ‘Hal’ Lewis but was also less openly involved with German-Hungarian novelist, playwright and sculptor Christa Winsloe, the author of the notorious girl’s boarding school lesbian story which became Mädchen in Uniform, an even more notorious film starring Dead Lady Romy Schneider.

Katy Derbyshire, our other DLS co-founder joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce the story. 

Also available on SpotifyApple Podcastsand Pocket Casts.

Join our newsletter to stay updated on our events, including our May 13th Anniversary Show in Berlin: https://deadladiesshowberlin.beehiiv.com/

Tickets can be found here: https://literatur-berlin.tickettoaster.de/produkte/3707-tickets-dead-ladies-show-39-the-10th-anniversary-edition-lettretage-berlin-am-13-05-2025

Join the newsletter for Dead Ladies NYC here. Their next show is May 8: https://deadladiesshow.substack.com/

Show notes:

Continue reading “Podcast #80: Dorothy Thompson”

Dead Ladies Show #38: Boudica, Hannah Höch & Dorothy Thompson!

This February 16th, the Dead Ladies Show returns to Berlin, and this time we’re doing it on a SUNDAY – so it’s starting an hour earlier, at 7 pm. Other than that, you’ll get exactly what you know and cherish about the show: three talks on ladies you’ll love to learn about, one in German and two in English, a charming audience, and a warm and entertaining atmosphere. Your beloved co-hosts FLORIAN DUIJSENS and KATY DERBYSHIRE will both be presenting, joined by a very special guest, the writer and blog producer MIKU SOPHIE KÜHMEL.

The Dead Ladies Show no longer has funding, so the non-reduced price is €10, but reduced tickets still cost €4. You can pre-order all tickets here. Doors open 6:30 pm – come on time to get a good seat!

Who are the ladies this time? Well…

We start way back in about the year 60 CE, with BOUDICA of the British Iceni tribe, who led a rebellion against the occupying Romans. We don’t know a whole lot about her, since the victorious Romans wrote the history books, so she became a bit of a blank slate for imperialist projections – most of which spell her name wrong. But the suffragettes also adopted her as a mascot, and hey, Enya wrote a song about her.

Our next dead lady lived closer to home: you can visit her house in Berlin-Heiligensee. HANNAH HÖCH was an artist in the Dada movement, creating collages from 1916 on and often addressing gender roles and expectations. The Nazis labelled her work “degenerate art” and made survival hard for her, but she managed to preserve numerous Dada artworks and documents from destruction. After the war she exhibited internationally again and gave lectures on women and art.

DOROTHY THOMPSON was a foreign correspondent and the first US journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany, a pretty good sign. In Vienna and Berlin, she’d hung out with all the cool kids – maybe even Hannah. Back in the States, she provided commentary and analysis on Europe for newspapers, magazines, and NBC radio, warning urgently against the Nazis and advocating on behalf of Jewish refugees. Katharine Hepburn played a journalist loosely based on Thompson in a 1942 romcom, which Louis B. Mayer had rewritten to be less feminist.

Miku Sophie Kühmel hat Literatur- und Medienwissenschaften in New York und Berlin studiert. Seit 2017 produziert sie freiberuflich Podcasts für u.a Süddeutsche Zeitung, Deutschlandfunk, Wondery, Audible und andere. Dabei ist sie auch als Dramaturgin und Autorin tätig. Nach Veröffentlichungen in Anthologien und Magazinen folgte 2019 der Debütroman Kintsugi, der einen Platz auf der Shortlist des Deutschen Buchpreises einbrachte, sowie den Jürgen-Ponto- Preis und den aspekte Literaturpreis des ZDF. 2022 erschien bei S.Fischer der zweite Roman Triskele, der im Folgejahr für den Clemens-Brentano-Preis nominiert war. Im Mai 2024 erschien die erste literarisch-essayistische Anthologie BRÜSTE, die sie zusammen mit Linus Giese beim Tropen Verlag heraus gab, Beitragende sind u.a. Antje Ravík Strubel, Daniela Dröscher und Audrey Naline. Zur Zeit arbeitet Miku im Deutschen Theater Berlin als Atelierautor*in an einem Stück, das im Juni 2025 im Rahmen der Autor*innentheatertage aufgeführt wird. Im Juli 2025 erscheint ihr neuer Roman.

Katy Derbyshire is a literary translator and part-time publisher, co-host and co-founder of the Dead Ladies Show.

Florian Duijsens edits, teaches, translates, travels, and is the co-host and co-founder of the Dead Ladies Show.

We would like to point out that the lift in the building is unfortunately not working at the moment. For this reason, access is currently restricted. We would like to apologise for this.

DLS NYC #32

Join us on Thursday, January 16, 7–9pm at the Red Room at KGB Bar (85 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003, Third Floor).

Buy tickets here!

Our 32nd show in NYC will feature an infamous English muse, an American (not Canadian!) spy, and a Senegalese women’s rights activist.

Your presenters include a very local history buff and two (2) humorists of pen and stage! All held together by Sheila and Molly, per usual! We can’t wait to see your shining faces.

P.S. We are charging a cover to defray costs of the event—if this presents any issue, please contact us and we can absolutely work something out. Tickets purchased online are $10 plus fees; tickets at the door will be $15.

Get those tickets early!

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Your Ladies:

EFFIE GRAY (1828-1897) was the woman at the center of the most shocking love triangle of the Victorian era. Caught between John Ruskin – the art critic who championed the Pre-Raphaelite painters – and John Everett Millais – Ruskin’s protégé and one of the leading pre-Raphaelites, her bold challenge to Victorian sexual hypocrisies led Queen Victoria to ban her from court. Nearly two centuries later, those hypocrisies have lost much of their institutional power – but her story nevertheless resonates powerfully for women as they navigate their complex, often contradictory desires to be muse, mother, and master of their own fate.

VIRGINIA HALL (1906–1982), a.k.a., “The Limping Lady” of Baltimore who f*cked with Nazis, was one of the most daring and effective spies of World War II. Undeterred by losing a leg at age 27, she joined the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and later the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), infiltrating Nazi-occupied France, organizing resistance networks, and orchestrating sabotage missions. Hall evaded capture despite being relentlessly pursued by the Gestapo, who called her that “Canadian b*tch.” (She was neither Canadian, nor a b*tch. Stupid Nazis.)

MARIAMA B (1929–1981) was an influential Senegalese author and women’s rights activist in Senegal. Born and raised in a Muslim family, her novels critiqued inequalities between men and women, religious beliefs, and polygamy. She won the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa for her first book Une Si Longue Lettre (“So Long a Letter”), and gave a speech at the 1980 Frankfurt Book Fair. She died a year later of cancer, right before the publication of her second novel Un Chant écarlate (“Scarlet Song”). A school was named after her in Dakar.

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Your Presenters:

NANCY RITTER lives in the East Village and needs more neighborhood friends, so come say hi after the show!

JULIE KLING is a humor, health, and parenting writer based in (a very boring suburb of) New York City. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Scary Mommy, and on-stage at the Upright Citizens BrigadeSign up for her free and sporadic newsletter Mom Rage(r): Turning Your Mom Rage Into Raging Fun @ juliekling.com

STEVEN MOITY works for The New York Times as a News assistant in New York City. Born and raised in France, he moved to New York 12 years ago. In his spare time, he can be seen performing improv sketches across various comedy clubs.

Podcast #78: Paula Fox

It’s our last episode of Season Seven, and our last episode of 2024, which means it’s Rotkäppchen time! Join us as we toast to Dead Ladies with German fizzy wine, and hear the story of another fabulous woman.

DLS cofounders Katy Derbyshire and Florian Duijsens join the party as we get ready to hear the story of writer Paula Fox. As Florian explains, this talented author’s personal plot twists and turns include a stint as foreign correspondent, receiving a baby alligator in the mail, writing award-winning children’s books and a novel adapted for a film starring Shirley MacLaine, oh—also being Courtney Love’s grandmother (but not knowing that for decades).

Want to hear our end of year review and our Dead Lady gift list chat? This time it’s exclusive on Patreon, but you can join up starting at only $2 or 2€ and get access to all our special content past, present, and future. You can also gift (or request) a subscription to the Dead Ladies Show by following this link.

We can tell you this already: we will be live in Berlin on February 16th and May 13th, when we celebrate our 10th anniversary of the Dead Ladies Show in Berlin! Save the date, dears!

If you’re in NYC, go see our pals Dead Ladies Show NYC on January 16 at the KGB Bar Red Room. Find out more from them on Instagram @deadladiesnyc or join up for their newsletter if you like here.

We’d also be pleased as punch if you follow us on social media @deadladiesshow where we share pictures and info about all of the wonderful Dead Ladies we’ve covered so far. You can also drop us a line via info@deadladiesshow.com and we’re on BlueSky too!

Also available on SpotifyApple Podcastsand Pocket Casts.

Show notes:

Read more: Podcast #78: Paula Fox
Paula Fox’s gorgeous, terrible parents, Elsie de Sola and Paul Hervey Fox
Paula and her beloved Uncle Elwood Corning
Paula’s first movie star, Lilyan Tashman
Young Paula in Queens
The last thing Paula needed
The movie that bought Paula her brownstone
Paula in said brownstone
The only biography of Paula’s so far is in German

Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next year.

Dead Ladies Show #37: Flora Tristan, Helen Duncan & Mary MacLane!

Come Saturday, 30 November, we’re back at last to our bilingual format! Our podcast producer Susan Stone and your beloved co-host Florian Duijsens will be joined by the fantastic Magda Birkmann, an expert on almost-forgotten women’s writing. And it’s all held together by your other beloved co-host Katy Derbyshire. This is your chance to learn about three extraordinary women who certainly did not do as they were told. Put on your glad rags and join us for an inspiring and informative evening. The aim of the show is to raise money for more podcasts, so we’ve adjusted the non-reduced price to €10, but reduced tickets still cost €4. Get your tickets here. Doors open 7.30 pm – come on time to get a good seat!

We would like to point out that the lift in the building is unfortunately not working at the moment. For this reason, access is currently restricted. We would like to apologise for this.

Please arrive at least 10 minutes before the start of the event, otherwise your seats may be released if there is a large crowd.

FLORA TRISTAN (Flore Célestine Thérèse Henriette Tristán y Moscoso) was a French-Peruvian socialist activist and feminist theorist. Born in 1803 into a military family, she experienced deprivation first-hand when her father died and her uncle nabbed the inheritance. Her writing organized the fragmented ideas on women’s equality arising from the French Revolution, laying the foundations for 19th-century feminism. She was the first to say that the proletariat must unite as a class and free itself, an idea that Marx would later incorporate in his work. Her publications included Peregrinations of a Pariah (1839), Promenades in London (1840), and the booklet The Workers’ Union (1843).

HELEN DUNCAN was a Scottish medium and the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act of 1735 for fraudulent claims. She used her “paranormal talents” to make ends meet (and because it was better than working in a bleach factory). Her crude methods were quickly exposed by flash photography but she continued nonetheless. The British Navy took an interest in her after she leaked the sinking of a ship at a séance in 1941. She was arrested mid-performance in 1944, shrouded in a white sheet, and sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment. A sample of her “ectoplasm” is held at Cambridge University Library.

MARY MACLANE was an American writer whose memoirs started scandals and helped introduce the confessional style of autobiographical writing. A bisexual feminist, she wrote her first book at the age of 20 in 1901. Her publisher rejected its original title of I Await the Devil’s Coming, but the book was still a massive hit, especially with other young women. Following two more experimental memoirs, she wrote and starred in an autobiographical silent movie in 1917, entitled Men Who Have Made Love to Me. It was the earliest recorded on-screen breaking of the fourth wall outside of comedy cinema, with MacLane addressing the camera while smoking cigarettes between vignettes of failed love affairs, although sadly the film is considered lost.

DLS NYC #31

Join us on Wednesday, November 13, 7–9pm at the Red Room at KGB Bar (85 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003, Third Floor). Same bat time, same bat channel.

Buy tickets here!

At this, our 31st show, learn about an cutting-edge industrial designer, a mom who knows just when it’s clobberin’ time, and a Sister/resister. Brought to you by an industrious designer, a repeat presenter with a particular love for overlooked stories, and a man who loves his cat. Sheila and Molly will be there as well, steering the good ship DLS NYC as is our passion.

P.S. We are charging a cover to defray costs of the event—if this presents any issue, please contact us and we can absolutely work something out. Tickets purchased online are $10 plus fees; tickets at the door will be $15.

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Your Ladies:

HELEN HUGHES DULANY (1885–1968), was an Industrial Design pioneer who made significant contributions to stainless steel, commercial china, kitchen ranges, and dining car equipment for railroads. Although Dulany had a short lived career, lasting about seven years, she made significant contributions to American modernist design. Dulany’s innovative work is found within major museum collections such as the Art Institute of Chicago, The Met Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum. 

KATHERINE MCHALE SLAUGHTERBACK (1893–1969) was a farmer from the rugged plains of Colorado who earned the nickname “Rattlesnake Kate” when she and her young son found themselves under attack near a den of snakes; she single-handedly clobbered 140 of them to death. She later turned their skins into a flapper style dress with matching accessories and collected venom for scientific research. Her feat captured the imaginations of Americans, earned her the amorous interest of a cowboy poet and is the subject of a solo album by Neyla Pekarek, a former singer with the Lumineers.

SISTER MEGAN RICE (1930–2021) was a Roman Catholic sister of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and disarmament activist from Morningside Heights in New York. Beginning life as a school teacher and missionary, Rice later became involved with multiple anti-war activist groups resulting in multiple run-ins with the law. As a result of her involvement with the Transform Now Plowshares group, she spent three years in prison for her protest of the nuclear industrial complex.

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Your Presenters:

SAM BARONE is currently pursuing a BFA in Interior Design at Parsons School of Design. With a passion for both modern and historical design, Sam is working at Weinberg Modern, Apartment 48, and CvH Gallery.

AMY PADNANI is a senior staff editor on the Obituaries desk at The New York Times and the creator of Overlooked, a series that tells the stories of remarkable women, people of color and others who never got a Times obit.

GREG LOWE is a transplant from Michigan with a penchant for following his cat around his apartment and coercing people to play trivia despite not being good at it. For a collective list of his works, click here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004874/