Farewell
to the Funny Man
“You're
only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.”
Robin
Williams
I'm
not going to eulogize Robin Williams here. That's been done by
greater minds than mine. He was a fantastically funny man with a
great heart. The fact that news of his death superseded the news of
wars and violence in the world speaks to his universal appeal. He's
mourned around the planet, and joins the pantheon of the lost
gifts—Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, John Belushi, Janis Joplin,
Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jimmy Hendrix,
Marilyn Monroe, and on and on—the list reaches all the way back to
Vincent Van Gogh and beyond. So sad it feels as though laughter has
left the world.
Now
that he is gone, however, I celebrate his freedom from the twin
demons that dogged his days—depression and drug addiction. The same
demons have dragged so many other gifted people into an early grave.
We should be happy that we had him, and them, for as long as we did,
and that they blessed us with their singular gifts. I'm sure there
was a crowd of happy witnesses waiting to greet him at the pearly
gates yesterday, and that the angels are laughing their halos off
right now. God speed, Robin.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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