Hillel Italie, Author at Valley News

Poet Amanda Gorman recites one of her poems during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)

Video: Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman: ‘Even as we grieved, we grew’

by Hillel Italie AP National WriterJanuary 20, 2021

NEW YORK — The country has a new president and may well have a new literary star. In one of the inauguration’s most talked about moments, poet Amanda Gorman summoned images dire and triumphant Wednesday as she called out to the world “even as we…

FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, file photo, Carol Burnett arrives at the "The Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special" at the CBS Television City in Los Angeles. For at least one night, Burnett was a writer among writers: The beloved entertainer was among three panelists Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, for “An Evening of Memoir,” presented in Manhattan by the MacDowell artist colony. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

Burnett feels at home among writers

by Hillel Italie AP National WriterOctober 25, 2019

A copy of the 1951 novel "The Catcher in the Rye" is part of a J.D. Salinger exhibit being installed at the New York Public Library, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, in New York. The exhibit, titled "JD Salinger," opens Friday and draws from archives made available by the author's family and helps mark the centennial of his birth. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Exhibition offers glimpse into J.D. Salinger’s life and work

by Hillel Italie AP National WriterOctober 25, 2019

FILE - In this May 29, 2012 file photo President Barack Obama awards author Toni Morrison with a Medal of Freedom, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. The Nobel Prize-winning author has died. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf says Morrison died Monday, Aug. 5, 2019 at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. She was 88. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Nobel laureate Toni Morrison dead at 88

by Hillel Italie AP National WriterAugust 6, 2019

CORRECTS THAT BARTHOLOMEW IS AT LEFT, NOT RIGHT. - FILE - In a Dec. 10, 1999 file photo, Fats Domino, center right, shakes hands with Dave Bartholomew, left, amid a crowd of former colleagues at the 50th anniversary observance of Domino's first recording session in New Orleans. Bartholomew, a giant of New Orleans music and a rock n' roll pioneer who with Fats Domino co-wrote and produced such classics as "Ain't That a Shame," ''I'm Walkin'" and "Let the Four Winds Blow," died Sunday, June 23, 2019 in a hospital in a New Orleans suburb, his eldest son Dave Bartholomew Jr. told The Associated Press. He was 100 years old. (Jennifer Zdon/The Times-Picayune via AP, File)

Dave Bartholomew, co-wrote ‘Ain’t That a Shame,’ dies at 100

by Hillel Italie Associated Press, and Rebecca Santana Associated PressJune 23, 2019

FILE -- In this March 5, 2003 file photo, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, right, gestures toward Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin during a Capitol Hill news conference. Merwin, a prolific and versatile master of modern poetry who evolved through a wide range of styles as he celebrated nature, condemned war and industrialism and reached for the elusive past, died on Friday, March 15, 2019 at his home in Hawaii. A Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate, Merwin completed more than 20 books and ranked high in the pantheon for decades, from early works inspired by myths and legends to late meditations on age and time. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

W.S. Merwin, prize-winning poet of nature, dies at 91

by Hillel Italie AP National WriterMarch 16, 2019

FILE - In this May 14, 2004, file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful Lyndon LaRouche Jr. campaigns in Montgomery, Ala. Fitting for a man who saw so much darkness in the world, LaRouche died on the fringes Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, his name little known to anyone under 50, his death rumored online a day before mainstream outlets confirmed it. His influence, however, will surely outlast him. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

Analysis: Lyndon LaRouche’s conspiracy mindset lives on

by Hillel Italie AP National WriterFebruary 16, 2019

FILE - This Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, file photo shows copies of J.D. Salinger's classic novel "The Catcher in the Rye" as well as his volume of short stories called "Nine Stories" at the Orange Public Library in Orange Village, Ohio. In comments which appeared Friday, Feb. 1, 2019 in The Guardian, Matt Salinger, son of the famous author, confirmed longstanding reports that his father had continued to write long after he stopped publishing books and that he and Salinger’s widow are “going as fast as we freaking can” to prepare the material for release. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

Salinger kept writing in seclusion

by Hillel Italie AP National WriterFebruary 7, 2019

FILE - In this March 13, 1972 file photo, Aretha Franklin holds her Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blue performance of the song "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," in New York. Franklin died Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018 at her home in Detroit. She was 76. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff, File)

‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin, Unrivaled as an Icon, Dies at 76

by Hillel Italie AP National WriterAugust 16, 2018

FILE - In this Jan. 19, 1993 file photo, singer Aretha Franklin performs at the inaugural gala for President Bill Clinton in Washington. Franklin died Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018 at her home in Detroit. She was 76. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin Has Died

by Mesfin Fekadu Associated Press, and Hillel Italie Associated PressAugust 16, 2018