newsmakers
newsmakers
Anti-war activist Schell dies at 70
NEW YORK
Jonathan Schell, the author, journalist and anti-war activist who condemned conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq and warned of a nuclear holocaust in terrifying detail in his galvanizing best-seller, “The Fate of the Earth,” has died at age 70.
Schell’s companion, Irena Gross, told The Associated Press that he died Tuesday at their home in New York City. The cause was cancer, she said Wednesday.
With a hatred of war shaped in part by his eyewitness accounts of U.S. military operations in Vietnam, Schell wrote for decades about the consequences of violence — real and potential — with a rage and idealism that never seemed to wane.
He wrote several books, notably “The Village of Ben Suc” about Vietnam and “The Fate of the Earth,” published in 1982 during an especially tense moment of the Cold War.
New startup offers wealthy a chance to invest in movies
NEW YORK
A new startup is offering wealthy investors a chance to finance movies starring Tom Hanks, Kate Winslet and Casey Affleck.
The San Francisco-based Junction launched Wednesday. It’s a twist on the crowdfunding that has helped movies such as “Veronica Mars” get made. It’s open only to those who make $200,000 a year or have a net worth of more than $1 million.
Junction investors share in potential profits, like normal film financiers. Contributors to projects on crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter receive rewards, such as a copy of the script.
Associated Press