Too many deaths this year. It really hit home, literally, on June 3, when my father died suddenly – nine years to the day that my mother had passed away. It was as if he chose the date. Two days after my father’s funeral, my beloved dog Mongo died suddenly.
During the week in advance of my father’s funeral, Bo Diddley died. Then Tim Russert. Then, George Carlin. Later, Bernie Mac. Isaac Hayes. Steeler legends Dwight White and Fats Holmes. CMU Professor Randy Pausch (“The Last Lecture”). The great redneck-hillbilly-outlaw genre actor Jerry Reed. My longtime friend Mickey McGovern, Irish leprechaun and possibly the funniest person I’ve ever met.
Now, Paul Newman. A superb actor and outstanding humanitarian/philanthropist who donated an estimated $250 million to charity from the salad dressing/popcorn business he started as a joke. And, Behind Blue Eyes, he was colorblind. Like me.
“If we are to have faith and justice, we have only to believe in ourselves. And act on behalf of ourselves.”
– Paul Newman, “The Verdict”
Rest in peace, all.
(Addendum: Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls plan to write in more detail about some of these folks at a later date. Hopefully, we won’t die first.)
Excellent Link: Sunset Gun
Favorites, in no particular order:
- The Verdict
- Cool Hand Luke
- The Sting
- Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
- The Hustler
- Slap Shot
