Saul Bellow has died. Just a day or two after Prince Rainier of Monaco. Who passed just after the Pope. Who faded right after Terry Schiavo, whose feeding tube was pulled not long after a host of other luminaries and bright lights were extinguished. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t remember so much death dotting the news ever before. I can’t pull up the morning papers without seeing the Arthur Miller or Susan Sontag or Ronald Reagan have passed on. It’s unbelievable. Why all the death?

Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.