Robert Duffy, associate editor of the Beacon, began his career in the news business in 1955 when he took a job delivering the Arkansas Gazette in his hometown, Little Rock.
He joined the staff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1973 and worked there, with one brief interruption, for 32 years. He served as a reporter, critic, columnist, editorial writer and editor during his tenure at the paper, and spent time in every department of the newsroom except sports. He was a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes for photography in 1978 and ’79. In addition to the Post- Dispatch, articles by him have appeared in national magazines such as U.S. News and World Report, Smithsonian and Modernism, and he has contributed essays or chapters to several books on architectural and urban-design subjects.
Bob is a member of the faculties of University College and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, and is a 1967 graduate of the University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Email: rduffy@stlbeacon.org
An extraordinary exhibition at the Bruno David Gallery is comprised of photographs, prints and a large installation piece. With art to direct our attentions, we see how easy it is to become complacent and to assume that what we take for granted is permanent rather than subject to radical and destructive change.
The feeling is openness, with soaring, airy spaces planned for easy and logical circulation and planned to reveal art not only to its best advantage but also appropriately and respectfully. Still, the building is notable more for its architectural reticence than its audacity.
But simply believing that going to college or university is a good idea is not enough, the chancellor said. What we need, more than ever, is to communicate and to market that value. It is work all involved in a civilized society must do.
On this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dale Singer sits down with Robert Duffy, Robert Joiner and Mary Delach Leonard to talk about changes at the top at SLU, charges varying across the region's hospitals, military sexual assault in the news and an exhibition of Donald Judd coming to the Pulitzer.
Co-founder remembers performances, conversation and tackling the tough issues among his five favorite Beacon memories.
The Duruflé Requiem had been prepared by Christ Church Cathedral’s choir for Palm Sunday, only to be put on ice, as it were, by the snow storm. It will now be performed there this Sunday evening, featuring Sarah Bryan Miller and Daniel Zipperer.
From the initial shock to Friday's lockdown as the manhunt continued for a bombing suspect, they talked of concern over possible future attacks but also praised the area's indomitable spirit.
In this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dick Weiss, Dale Singer, Robert Joiner and Robert Duffy sit down to talk about what's happening with the Zoo-Museum district, a survey that says Missourians are for health reform and a BBC video about the Delmar Divide.
Associate editor Robert W. Duffy takes the reins of the Editor's Weekly this week to report on a conference on community health coverage in Los Angeles. While many praised the Beacon for its health coverage, Duffy found much to inspire him -- and us.
The work that has been done on the Cass Gilbert landmark meets the philosophy of Paul Spencer Byard: "In each creative act, the old and the new are inextricably entwined and inescapably beholden to each other."
Beacon Roundtable · 2012 SLU governance dispute · Human Interest · Pritzker Prize for Architecture · Thought Revolution · Editor's Weekly · Health reform · 2012 Missouri History Museum controversy · High Fives · Social Issues
David Robertson · Corinne Winters · Sarah Bryan Miller · Rodney Hamilton · Stephen Sondheim · Rev. Michael D. Kinman · Esley Hamilton · Todd Epsten · Robert W. Duffy · Daniel Cottier
Bruno David Gallery · St. Louis Art Museum · St. Louis · Missouri · Great Britain · New York City · North Union Boulevard · Church of the Messiah · Citygarden · Central Library
St. Louis Symphony · Opera Theatre Of St. Louis · Pulitzer Foundation For The Arts · Southampton Neighborhood Association · University Of Missouri - St. Louis · Ballet Hispanico · Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis · Mizzou New Music · Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Eastern Missouri · Forest Park Forever
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Meeting in St. Louis next week, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will have its first opportunity as an assembled group to consider what to do after the Vatican issued a mandate for change this spring. It calls on the conference to reorganize and more strictly observe church teachings.
When a family of four goes to the St. Louis Zoo, they can be forgiven for not knowing it will cost them $60, $72 if they park. If they can't pay, the alternative is to tell the kids they can't do what kids do at the zoo.
Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley gave reporters less than a half-hour’s notice today when he announced that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh’s sculptured bust will be formally installed in the Capitol at 1 p.m.
The world seems eager to learn more about Pope Francis, so learning that he admires St. Philippine Duchesne and her spiritual daughters — Argentinean nuns who have been under Francis' spiritual direction as they live among the poor — adds to understanding.
The celebration in Sikeston will reunite residents of the community which was destroyed in May 2011 when the Army Corps of Engineers opened the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway to alleviate flooding on the Mississippi. Residents are still hoping for a FEMA buyout so they can relocate their village.
The Newman Money Museum at Washington University has a quirky pseudo-robot Ben Franklin in the basement that is essentially a TV screen projected into a plastic shell head.
The Beacon's Mary Delach Leonard and Rob Koenig extensively covered flooding in 2011 in Missouri. Now this coverage is compiled in an iBook. Read the stories.
"Lost Egypt," at the St. Louis Science Center, combines real images shot in Egypt with art and artifacts as well as interactive and family-friendly features and explanations of the science used to uncover the ancient world. The exhibit will run through Sept. 2.
Opera is for snobs. Country music is for rednecks. Everybody loves Chuck Berry now that he's been around for a few decades, but what about Nelly? Why can't we simply respond to what's before us without dragging preconceptions and prejudices into play?
Organizers aren't trying to replace the rib fest, but music lovers will be able to find tangy sustenance as they listen to such greats as Mavis Staples (pictured), Big George Brock, Trombone Shorty, Kim Massie and Marquise Knox take the stage.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's arts and features editor. You can contact her at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.
Developers on the south side come in all shapes and sizes, with ambitions that vary from single buildings to entire city blocks. In the first of a two-part story, Jason Deem talks about building community.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Twenty winners will split a million dollars and a wide array of professional services after this year's Arch Grants competition. Victors will also see one-on-one business mentoring in their prize package. The diverse group includes everything from biotech concerns to fashion enterprises.
Innovation and entrepreneurial activity are on the rise in St. Louis, especially in bioscience, technology and alternative energy. The Beacon's InnovationSTL section focuses on the people who are part of this wave, what they're doing and how this is shaping our future. To many St. Louisans, this wave is not yet visible. InnovationSTL aims to change that. We welcome you to share your knowledge, learn more about this vibrant trend and discuss its impact.
The Academy of Science-St. Louis hosts tours of EarthDance, an organic farm, and the Monsanto Agronomics and Breeding Facility May 21-22. The workshop is meant to prompt discussion and answer questions about these two competing philosophies of food production.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Vernon Bowman's challenge to Monsanto Co.'s patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds was billed as a David vs. Goliath contest. Goliath won and won big. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that an Indiana soybean farmer had violated Monsanto's patent on its genetically engineered soybean seeds.
Sally Altman is the Beacon's Health and Science editor. You can contact her at saltman@stlbeacon.org.
Opera is for snobs. Country music is for rednecks. Everybody loves Chuck Berry now that he's been around for a few decades, but what about Nelly? Why can't we simply respond to what's before us without dragging preconceptions and prejudices into play?
You have to know your audience: McDonald's regulars don't need free-range chicken or a certain breed of beef; a second-chance high school needs personally motivated students as opposed to people ordered to attend and low-income Democrats by and large don't want a cigarette tax.
Last week, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura sacrificed his crown as the King of America. He faced an individual decision to play against the best in the nation or the best on the planet. Find out what happened at that world-level tournament.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's Voices editor. You can contact her and submit opinion pieces for possible publication at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.