Monday, July 20, 2009

Flies...

Is it just me, or does it seem like some famous folks are dropping off in rapid succession lately? The latest loss of any significance to me - while MJ was okay in the 80's, and Cronkite has been around for decades - happened this weekend. Frank McCourt passed away on Sunday, after contracting Meningitis while battling/recovering from treatment for Melanoma. He was 78.

Now, why does this matter to me? He was a writer who wrote three memoir books, one of which won the Pulitzer,and one children's book. Of the three, I have only read one, Teacher Man, where he discussed his teaching career in New York high schools. I managed to land on a taped reading of him a couple of years ago, from when Teacher Man was coming out, and if it weren't for the fact that the reading ended, I could have kept watching. He struck me as a man, through the little bit that I read, that I would have like the chance to sit down and talk with had the opportunity presented itself.

It's not a personal loss, as it is for the family, but a general sadness at the loss of a skilled man of letters.

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