Writer

"American Idol" finalist Joshua Ledet won't be belting it out on this season's final showdown. The booming 20-year-old vocal powerhouse from Westlake, La., was revealed Thursday to have received the fewest viewer votes on the Fox talent contest, leaving bluesy 21-year-old crooner Phillip Phillips of Leesburg, Ga., and sassy 16-year-old budding diva Jessica Sanchez of San Diego to compete for the show's record deal grand prize on next week's finale....

An Emmy Award-winning comedy writer who spent much of his career working for legendary comic Jack Benny has died in Los Angeles. Al Gordon was 89. His son, Neil, tells Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/JXFWte) that Gordon died Wednesday of age-related causes at a Los Angeles hospital. Gordon began his comedy-writing career after World War II and teamed with Hal Goldman. They shared two Emmys with fellow Benny writers and a third with Sheldon Keller for a Carol Channing special.

What does National Geographic consider the best island in the world? Tahiti? Capri, Italy? Lord Howe Island, Australia? Nope. According to its recent book, "The 10 Best of Everything," it's actually Nantucket, which takes the coveted spot in the ten best islands category.  Nantucket? No disrespect to the Massachusetts hotspot, but it seems a bit of an odd choice on a list that doesn't even include Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, or the Bahamas. Travel writer Leslie Thomas came up with the list for National Geographic and had the following to say about...

NEW YORK — Even for a fly-on-the-wall observer, the child protection division of a police squad is not for the faint of heart. Just ask the single-named French writer-director-actress Maïwenn. As part of the research for her third feature film, "Polisse," which captured the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year and opens on Friday, Maïwenn spent a psychically grueling several months embedded with the detectives in the Paris Child Protection Unit. Every day, the officers grapple with cases of child abuse and pedophilia.

On a recent Friday morning, a classroom of teenagers at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School broke up into small groups and spent an hour not answering questions about Albert Camus's "The Plague. " It wasn't that the students were shy, or bored, or that they hadn't done the reading. They were following instructions: Ask as many questions as they could, and answer none of them. The kids wrote in rapid fire on sheets of butcher paper. "Why is everyone acting normal when people are dropping dead?"

Published in France in 1954, "The Story of O" knocked a sizable dent in the buttoned-up sexuality of Western culture -- it was, in effect, the literary equivalent of "The Kinsey Report. " Written by the pseudonymous Pauline Réage, the novel tells of the consensual abuse of a young woman at the hands of her lover, Rene, and an older man named Sir Stephen, among many others. Blindfolds, whips, and various . . . devices are introduced, and the novel offers a cool (and for some, cold)

Edward Lodi, author of "Secrets and Shortcuts for Successful Writing," will share his techniques and insights during a workshop from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Raynham Public Library, 760 South Main St. Topics include writer's block, ways to get started, where to get ideas, where and when to write, and specifics such as perspective, pacing, conflict and dialogue. A question-and-answer period will follow. Registration is requested via the library's website, www.raynhampubliclibrary.org, or by calling 508-823-1344.

Flint Memorial Library will welcome fiction writer Tara Masih of Andover at 7 tonight. Masih will read from her book "Where the Dog Star Never Glows" and lead a writing workshop in flash fiction - very short stories. Her workshop will help warm up people for National Novel Writing Month, which is celebrated in November. Writers who participate in the program begin writing on Nov. 1. The goal is to write a 50,000-word novel by the end of the month. The limited writing window forces aspiring novelists to lower their expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. Registration for Masih's workshop is requested.

The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates, 1973-1982 Edited by Greg JohnsonEcco, 509 pp., illustrated $29.95 As one of America's most prolific writers, whose acclaimed literary contributions include novels, novellas, short stories, essays, reviews, even plays, it's no surprise Joyce Carol Oates also kept journals. It reflects what we know of this remarkable writer as obsessively reflective and creative, so disciplined she confesses a sense of "profound worthlessness" if a day or two passes without writing.

I GOT SICK THEN I GOT BETTER Presented by Berkshire Theatre Festival At: Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge, tonight and tomorrow. Tickets: $25. 413-298-5576, www.berkshiretheatre.org Jenny Allen is a wonderfully funny writer and performer — and a cancer survivor, a tale she told in her 2009 off-Broadway hit, “I Got Sick Then I Got Better.’’ This weekend Allen brings her one-woman show, directed by Tony winner James Lapine and...

Some reaction to the death of Mexican author Carlos Fuentes: –– "With his parting disappears a writer whose work and whose presence has left a profound mark. His short-stories, novels and essays were primarily inspired by Mexico's problems and history but he was a universal man. " — Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa –– "One of a kind. An era, a genre. A writer for all seasons. To Silvia, all my affection. " — Mexican writer Hector Aguilar Camin –– "I deeply lament the death of our beloved and admired Carlos Fuentes, a universal Mexican...

NEW YORK - Angelica Garnett - the last direct link to the Bloomsbury set, whose memoir of growing up amid its potent brew of sex, secrets, artistry, and renown is notable for offering a child's-eye view of that darkly charmed circle - died May 4 in the south of France. She was 93. Her death was announced on the website of the Charleston Trust, the organization she helped found to preserve the Sussex farmhouse, known as Charleston, that was the country retreat of the Bloomsbury group and in which she had been born and reared.

NEW YORK - C. David Heymann, a literary biographer turned best-selling celebrity biographer who came to wide attention in 1983 after his life of the heiress Barbara Hutton was withdrawn by its publisher because of factual errors, died Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 67. Mr. Heymann died after collapsing in the lobby of his apartment building, said his wife, Beatrice Schwartz. The cause was believed to be cardiopulmonary failure. Trained as a literary scholar, Mr. Heymann began his career with "Ezra Pound, the Last Rower: A Political Profile," published in 1976; continued it...

ALBUQUERQUE - Digby Wolfe, the comedy writer who co-created the 1960s variety show "Laugh-In," has died. He was 82. Friends have confirmed that the British-born writer, actor, singer, and teacher died May 2 of lung cancer at his home in Albuquerque. A friend and former teaching colleague, Jim Linnell, described Mr. Wolfe as a "whirlwind of ideas and encouragement. " Mr. Wolfe had the power to set loose uncontrollable laughter in people, he said. Mr. Wolfe and his "Laugh-In" colleagues earned an Emmy in 1968 for their work on the television show.

A dramatic trailer surfaced Tuesday for Ben Affleck 's latest directorial project, "Argo," which is set to be released in October. The film, which also stars Affleck, is about Tony Mendez , the real-life CIA guy who helped Americans escape from Tehran in 1979 by convincing the Iranian government that the group was a Canadian film crew. ... Sharon author Chuck Hogan , who wrote the book on which Affleck's "The Town" was based, has signed on to co-write a movie with crime writer Don Winslow , who penned the book that inspired Oliver Stone 's upcoming...

The literary conference known as the Muse and the Marketplace was the place to be for aspiring and established writers over the weekend. Held at the Park Plaza and hosted by Grub Street, the two-day confab covered all aspects of the craft, and presenters included a slew of celebrated scribes, agents, and editors. The keynoters were "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" author Julia Alvarez and Richard Nash , publisher of Red Lemonade and former overseer of the influential Soft Skull Press, but also addressing the crowd were authors Anita Diamant , Hallie ...

FAYETTE, Maine -- Andrew Weegar, a writer and part-time farmer who helped conduct seminars for environmental reporters, was killed April 19 when he fell from his tractor and got trapped under one of its rear wheels. Mr. Weegar, 41, had gone to clear brush near his home in this central Maine town and was found after his wife returned from work late in the day. "It was an accident, clearly," Fire Chief Ronald McLallen said. "We're still trying to piece together what happened.

“Super 8,’’ which opens Friday, may or may not turn out to be the biggest movie of the summer. That’s for the accountants to decide. The impressive thing is that it’s even a contender for the title. Unlike all the other candidates — the fourth “Pirates’’ movie, “The Hangover Part II,’’ “Cars 2,’’ “Green Lantern,’’ the latest “Transformers,’’ the final “Harry Potter,’’ “Captain America,’’ “The Smurfs’’ (just kidding) — “Super 8’’ doesn’t have a single big name in it. The closest thing it has to a star is Elle Fanning — Elle,...

The literary prize season is in full swing, with three recent announcements honoring New England authors. Maine native Paul J. Fournier's "Tales from Misery Ridge: One Man's Adventures in the Great Outdoors" (Islandport) was named the best book of 2011 by the New England Outdoor Writers Association. Fournier (right) has been a bush pilot, Maine guide, and sporting camp owner. Drawing on experiences dating to the 1950s, he writes about rampaging black bears; "Moose Alley," the stretch of highway near Canada notorious for moose-car collisions; and the unsuccessful mission to re-introduce...

Authors Adam Gopnik, Allegra Goodman, and Margot Livesey, whose recent writings about food earned them a seat at WBUR's "Food and Philosophy" forum, had dinner with UpStairs on the Square's Mary-Catherine Deibel and Deborah Hughes. Joining the boldfaced bibliophiles were chef Paul O'Connell, WBUR's Robin Young, Sam Fleming, Louise Kennedy, GM Charlie Kravetz, the Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, and the Boston Book Festival's Deborah Porter.