Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Elvis Presley’s grandson dies at 27
The son of Lisa Marie Presley has died. He was 27.
Presley’s representative, Roger Widynowski, said in a statement Sunday to The Associated Press that she was “heartbroken” after learning about the death of her son, Benjamin Keough. He is the grandson of the late Elvis Presley.
TMZ reports that Keough died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday in Calabasas, California.
“She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter Riley,” Widynowski said in the statement. “She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.”
Presley had Keough and actress Riley Keough, 31, with her former husband, Danny Keough. She also had twins from another marriage.
Nancy Sinatra tweeted her condolences to Presley, writing, “I have known you since before your mama gave birth to you, never dreaming you would have pain like this in your life. I’m so very sorry.”
Whitehead honored:
Colson Whitehead keeps winning awards. Already this year’s recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the Orwell Prize for political fiction, Whitehead is now being honored by the Library of Congress. On Monday, it announced that he had won the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.
Whitehead, 50, is the youngest winner of the lifetime achievement prize, which the library has previously given to Toni Morrison, Philip Roth and Denis Johnson, among others. He is the first author to win Pulitzers for consecutive works of fiction — “The Underground Railroad” and “The Nickel Boys,” for which he won in April.
“As a kid, I’d walk into great New York City libraries like the Schomburg and the Mid-Manhattan, on a field trip or for a school assignment, and feel this deep sense of awe, as if I’d stumbled into a sacred pocket in the city,” Whitehead said in a statement. “I hope that right now there’s a young kid who looks like me, who sees the Library of Congress recognize Black artists and feels encouraged to pursue their own vision and find their own sacred spaces of inspiration.”
New fiction goes audio only:
New fiction from Andre Aciman, Tayari Jones and Rufi Thorpe will be available this summer as audiobooks only. The producer-distributor Audible announced Monday that Jones’ “Half Light” and Aciman’s “The Gentleman from Peru” will be among five original stories going on sale in August. The others are “The Getaway” by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen; Courtney Maum’s “This is Not Your Fault”; and Thorpe’s “Everyone’s Happy.”
Armie Hammer and wife split:
Actor Armie Hammer and wife Elizabeth Chambers are splitting up after 10 years of marriage and 13 years together. Both parties posted the same message on their respective Instagram accounts Friday, writing that they have decided to “turn the page and move on” from the marriage. The couple share a 5-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. They exchanged vows in May 2010.
July 14 birthdays:
Actor Rosey Grier is 88. Actor Vincent Pastore is 74. Actor Eric Laneuville is 68. Actress Jane Lynch is 60. Actor Matthew Fox is 54. Singer Tameka Cottle is 45. Singer Jamey Johnson is 45. Actress Phoebe Waller Bridge is 35. Singer Dan Smith is 34. Singer Dan Reynolds is 33.