Corrections on The New York Times' Gore Vidal Obituary Are Amazing

AP
Connor Simpson 21,163 Views Aug 1, 2012

He did have sex with him; he called him a crypto-Nazi, not crypto-fascist; and he wasn't related to Al Gore. The corrections on the New York Times' Gore Vidal obituary are so perfectly Vidal. The Times' posted their four page Vidal obituary late last night after the news of his death was announced on his website (and caused it to crash). Apparently they made a few mistakes, but they might be the funniest mistakes attached to an obituary, ever, and they fit so well with the stories we've heard about Vidal. They were first brought to our attention by the Times' Michael Roston, who called them "epic," and after reading we were inclined to agree. Take it away, Times

An earlier version misstated the term Mr. Vidal called William F. Buckley Jr. in a television appearance during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. It was crypto-Nazi, not crypto-fascist. It also described incorrectly Mr. Vidal’s connection with former Vice President Al Gore. Although Mr. Vidal frequently referred jokingly to Mr. Gore as his cousin, they were not related. And Mr. Vidal’s relationship with his longtime live-in companion, Howard Austen, was also described incorrectly.  According to Mr. Vidal’s memoir “Palimpsest,” they had sex the night they met, but did not sleep together after they began living together. It was not true that they never had sex.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at connorbsimpson at gmail dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Related Articles   More by Connor Simpson

Breitbart Meets His Match in Kennedy Twitter War

George McGovern, Congressman, Senator, Liberal, Dies at 90

679 Women at the IMF Protest New York Times Coverage

 

Yahoo! Promises 'Not to Screw It Up' on Tumblr

Teens Are This Excited About Yahoo! Buying Tumblr

Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App