"Culture's worth huge, huge risks. Without culture we're all totalitarian beasts. "

Another great of the "New Journalism" movement has been lost.

Norman Mailer, writer of "The Executioner's Song" among many others, died yesterday in New York at the age of 84.

Perhaps more sad than Mailer's death is that in today's climate, it doesn't seems like there's anyone who could even start to replace him. Much like Hunter Thompson, it seems like great journalism (in the non-traditional sense) is gone. Perhaps it's because of the way communication has evolved, but it's sad to say that we'll never read anything new from Mailer again. But even more so, we may never read anything new LIKE Mailer again.

Also, because I'm a stickler for these things, the last line of the CNN article is just awful editorializing. Worst of all it's unnecessary; we know that Mailer did a lot with his life, you just said it in the rest of the story. See what I mean about how we've lost the great journalists?