Donna Summer, Yes, Carlos Fuentes, No?

My good friend suggested earlier this week that I start another blog, analyzing obituaries. As I may have mentioned in these pages before, one of my favorite games is guessing where someone's obituary will land in the Times -- on A1? above or below the fold? There's little greater confirmation of the value of one's life than knowing that one's death becomes one of the next day's six most important stories in the world's most prestigious newspaper. My friend says I could comment on the famous and quasi-famous, and expand beyond the Times to scan how small towns treat their local community leaders and captains of industry, such as in Dubuque, Iowa (which is apparently a much more livable place than I'd expect). He recommended for titles frontpageobits.com and somebodycooldiedtoday.com.

This week turned out to be a rich one. Not only did an obscure, one-term senator from South Dakota, James Abdnor, die, prompting the question of how it played in the Argus Leader (here's coverage of the memorial service). But Carlos Fuentes, the Mexican man of letters, and Donna Summer, the Dorchester (who knew?) queen of disco, also died on successive days, prompting an interesting comparison. Fuentes' life, though remembered lengthily, only landed on B14; meanwhile, Summer's obituary is on A1 today, below the fold, in the spot typically reserved for very famous artists and pop cultural icons.

That Summers was featured so prominently, but Fuentes wasn't, surprised me. Now, I'm not such a pretentious cultural elitist that I can't appreciate the lowbrow value of pop (after all, I'm in a rock band), and I now realize Summers sold millions upon millions of records. But was her imprint on the cultural landscape really so profound, or even that much more profound than that of Fuentes, who was an author of great novels, a frequent contender for the Nobel prize, and one of the last public intellectuals? She was a very popular musician during the late '70s and early '80s, but didn't leave a huge legacy in subsequent generations of pop. If she's below the fold, then Madonna is certainly above it, if not one of that day's two biggest stories, which strikes me as a little overblown. I mean, shouldn't the lede and counterledes be saved only for heads of state and the like? Where are your standards, New York Times?