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It is with great sadness that I share news of the death of our dear Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Sept. 18. It is difficult to write this without crying. Not only do Iconsider myself fortunate to have lived in the same world as RBG, but I have been blessed to be in the same room with her several times. I've written of my many trips to the Glimmerglass Festival, and on at least two occasions I was fortunate to see programs where she introduced opera scenes that had to do with the law. I was to have seen the opera based on her correspondence with Antonin Scalia--although politically opposed, they were apparently great friends--but was prevented from going to Glimmerglass that year. Best of all were the several times I was in the auditorium at Glimmerglass, and she entered to enjoy the evening's opera as an audience member. Every time she entered the auditorium there was an explosion of applause and everyone stood. If the US had royalty, This great lady definitely deserved to be counted among them.
What follows is picked up directly from Wikipedia's article about the dear lady:
Ginsburg has been referred to as a "pop culture icon".[164][165][166] Ginsburg's profile began to rise after O'Connor's retirement in 2006 left Ginsburg as the only serving female justice. Her increasingly fiery dissents, particularly in Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 2 (2013), led to the creation of the Notorious R.B.G. Tumblr and Internet meme comparing the justice to rapper The Notorious B.I.G.[167] The creator of the Notorious R.B.G. Tumblr, then-law student Shana Knizhnik, teamed up with MSNBC reporter Irin Carmon to turn the blog into a book titled Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.[168] Released in October 2015, the book became a New York Times bestseller.[169] In 2015, Ginsburg and Scalia, known for their shared love of opera, were fictionalized in Scalia v. Ginsburg, an opera by Derrick Wang.[170]
Additionally, Ginsburg's pop culture appeal has inspired nail art, Halloween costumes, a bobblehead doll, tattoos, t-shirts, coffee mugs, and a children's coloring book among other things.[168][171][172][173] She appears in both a comic opera and a workout book.[173] Musician Jonathan Mann also made a song using part of her Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. dissent.[174] Ginsburg admitted to having a "large supply" of Notorious R.B.G. t-shirts, which she distributed as gifts.[175]
Since 2015, Ginsburg has been portrayed by Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live.[176] McKinnon has repeatedly reprised the role, including during a Weekend Update sketch that aired from the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.[177][178] The segments typically feature McKinnon (as Ginsburg) lobbing insults she calls "Ginsburns" and doing a celebratory dance.[179][180] Filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen created a documentary about Ginsburg, titled RBG, for CNN Films, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.[181][25] In the film Deadpool 2 (2018), a photo of her is shown as Deadpool considers her for his X-Force, a team of superheroes.[182] Another film, On the Basis of Sex, focusing on Ginsburg's career struggles fighting for equal rights, was released later in 2018; its screenplay was named to the Black List of best unproduced screenplays of 2014.[183] English actress Felicity Jones portrays Ginsburg in the film, with Armie Hammer as her husband Marty.[184] Ginsburg herself has a cameo in the film.[185] The seventh season of the sitcom New Girl features a three-year-old character named Ruth Bader Schmidt, named after Ginsburg.[186] A Lego mini-figurine of Ginsburg is shown within a brief segment of The Lego Movie 2. Ginsburg gave her blessing for the cameo, as well as to have the mini-figurine produced as part of the Lego toy sets following the film's release in February 2019.[187] Also in 2019, Samuel Adams released a limited-edition beer called When There Are Nine, referring to Ginsburg's well-known reply to the question about when there would be enough women on the Supreme Court.[188]
We have lost a great lady and a great voice for educated, enlightened people. All the fear I had about the future is now increased tenfold!
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