It’s like this – hearing of his death set my mind spinning back to the past 2+ years of writing in this space and it inspired me to review the various tributes I’ve recorded here. Let’s see – I’ve written tributes, serious or otherwise, to Richard Pryor, Marcel Marceau, Ingmar Bergman, Robert Wise, David Lean, Robert Altman, Don Ho, Stanley Kubrick, Dennis Weaver, Chris Tilger (ex-boss), Kathy (friend), Beatrice (acquaintance), Tick-Tock (cat), Brownie (also cat), my mother (close relative), and The Berghoff.
Yes, the list is weighted heavily towards actors and directors. Connect the dots.
Then I thought of Garrison Keillor’s line from the film A Prairie Home Companion – “I’m at an age where if I started to do them, I’d do nothing but eulogies.” Mr. Keillor is 17 years my senior, but the point is still a good one.
My point is this – I think it’s time for me to stop waiting for people to die in order to give myself permission to talk about how wonderful they are. So sometime before Thanksgiving, I will give thanks in this space for some of the living individuals who make this world a wonderful place. I may even tell some of them to their faces (just call me impetuous).