Friday, September 12, 2003
Epochal endings
Two men died today, John Ritter and Johnny Cash.
Ritter died suddenly and unexpectedly, in the prime of a career revival and Cash died after a long history of illness and poor health.
The news outlets I read all have a large story, with picture, about the life and career of Johnny Cash, legend. He was, indeed, a monumental figure. His music was and is amazing, not so much for its musicality as for its lyrics. Man, Johnny Cash CDs are made for road trips and cloudy days and bad moods. I love the gravel in his throat, the warble, the way he sometimes just said his words in rhythm to his guitar.
But I loved John Ritter, too. I grew up with Jack Tripper and his slapstick, antic humor. I loved watching him fall over the back of that couch. I can still see his trademark facial contortion--you know, the one where someone slapped/kicked/punched him in one room, but he couldn't scream because someone in the other room would hear? So he'd twist his cheeks and lips and curl into a standing fetal position. It still makes me smile and giggle. So I guess that's why I'm sad to see that John Ritter's death isn't being met with a little more shock, a little more utter bewilderment, a few more why's.
I mean, I have to say that when I heard on NPR this morning that Johnny Cash had died, I thought, how sad. But then I thought, well, he was old, and ill, so I guess it's not that surprising. Still sad, though.
But when Noah Adams followed it with the news of John Ritter's death, I gasped. Literally. Out loud, I gasped and put my hand over my mouth. How tragic! Oh my God, what a loss! I thought to myself.
Maybe it's just that the death of someone young, or at least vibrant, is so much harder for me to take. Old people die--it happens. Ill people die--and you are always somehow prepared for that. But men in the primes of their lives don't usually pass so suddenly from the world. Jack Tripper. Man, I loved that show.
I don't have a quote today, just musing thoughts on death. And I know Johnny Cash was probably a much more important person than John Ritter in the overall picture. But we all expected The Man in Black to pass on someday soon. John Ritter's seems to be the more upsetting death.
Ritter died suddenly and unexpectedly, in the prime of a career revival and Cash died after a long history of illness and poor health.
The news outlets I read all have a large story, with picture, about the life and career of Johnny Cash, legend. He was, indeed, a monumental figure. His music was and is amazing, not so much for its musicality as for its lyrics. Man, Johnny Cash CDs are made for road trips and cloudy days and bad moods. I love the gravel in his throat, the warble, the way he sometimes just said his words in rhythm to his guitar.
But I loved John Ritter, too. I grew up with Jack Tripper and his slapstick, antic humor. I loved watching him fall over the back of that couch. I can still see his trademark facial contortion--you know, the one where someone slapped/kicked/punched him in one room, but he couldn't scream because someone in the other room would hear? So he'd twist his cheeks and lips and curl into a standing fetal position. It still makes me smile and giggle. So I guess that's why I'm sad to see that John Ritter's death isn't being met with a little more shock, a little more utter bewilderment, a few more why's.
I mean, I have to say that when I heard on NPR this morning that Johnny Cash had died, I thought, how sad. But then I thought, well, he was old, and ill, so I guess it's not that surprising. Still sad, though.
But when Noah Adams followed it with the news of John Ritter's death, I gasped. Literally. Out loud, I gasped and put my hand over my mouth. How tragic! Oh my God, what a loss! I thought to myself.
Maybe it's just that the death of someone young, or at least vibrant, is so much harder for me to take. Old people die--it happens. Ill people die--and you are always somehow prepared for that. But men in the primes of their lives don't usually pass so suddenly from the world. Jack Tripper. Man, I loved that show.
I don't have a quote today, just musing thoughts on death. And I know Johnny Cash was probably a much more important person than John Ritter in the overall picture. But we all expected The Man in Black to pass on someday soon. John Ritter's seems to be the more upsetting death.
