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'Brian's Song,' 'Roots,' 'Purple Rain' writer dies at 83
LOS ANGELES โ William Blinn, a screenwriter for the landmark TV projects โBrianโs Songโ and โRootsโ and the Prince film โPurple Rain,โ has died. Blinn died Thursday of natural causes at an assisted living community in Burbank, California, his daughter, Anneliese Johnson, said Saturday. He won Emmy and Peabody honors for the 1971 TV movie โBrian's Song," which dramatized the friendship of Chicago Bears players Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. Last month, Hall of Fame running back Sayers died at age 77. Blinn and Albert Magnoli wrote 1984โฒs โPurple Rain,โ which Magnoli directed.
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15 epic books you may finally have time to read now
Now might be the moment to dust off that book you've always vowed to read but never had time for. Yes, we all read these seven books years ago. There are classics and then there are classics, like these epic poems -- still read, taught and turned into Brad Pitt movies more than 2,500 years after they were written. Why not relive that epic series by going back to the source material -- the fantasy novels that put Westeros on the map? Two more books -- plus more seasons of the show -- are coming, which should keep โOutlanderโ fans fogged up through at least 2026.