The Trials of Living In a Cultureless Society -- Umberto Eco's Death

The death of Umberto Eco on February 19th was no big event in the United States.  I did not hear anything in the news.  It was not even covered in "The New York Times Book Review" for that week.  In this society, entertainment is valued over culture, and, hoping not to sound like a long-nosed snob, I dare say we, as a society, are doomed because of it.  I just learned that Umberto Eco died; it's been almost two months since his passing.

I was always a big fan, and will remain so forever.  Years ago, I tried to explain to people who fell in love with a certain (unmentionable) novel about Knights Templar and obscure mysteries, that almost the entire affair had been "plagiarized" from "Foucault's Pendulum."  Most of the people I told this admittedly conspiratorial theory seemed interested and told me they would read the book, since the topic was so fascinating and anything dealing with it would no doubt be engaging... most came back telling me the book was "too long."  The fact that I am not a lawyer puts me in a position of advantage.  I can make these accusations about plagiarism as easily as I can declare Paul Auster the best writer in the world, pound for pound.  Sue me.

I also read much of Eco's non-fiction.  I did  have a particularly difficult time with "Kant and the Platypus: Essay on Language and Cognition," but enjoyed "Serendipity" and "Five Moral Pieces" tremendously.  Believe it or not, I have not read "The Name of the Rose," which will be top on my list in 2017.

The day that Gabriel Garcia Marquez died, it seemed the entire world went on mourning.  The front page of most European newspapers online were dedicated to his passing for a week or more.  "El Mundo" in Spain kept a picture of Garcia Marquez on their home page for a month.  Of course, Garcia Marquez was a Nobel laureate... Umberto Eco was not.  But Eco had a different aura, an in-depth facility of making highly intellectual and academic topics palatable to the common reader  (most which are so elevated by their proponents that the rest of the world is excluded).  Umberto Eco was a minor celebrity in Italy and most of Europe, but not in the United States.  As a nation we are losing something important, something irreplaceable.  I remember one of my professors in graduate school saying that the day James Baldwin died she felt a terrible sadness knowing she could never again pick a new book by her favorite author.  Her statement never left me.  It is the same with me, I suppose, with some of the authors I hold in high praise.  Death takes everything with it... everything.  Rest in piece, Maestro Eco.

Robert Stone, 1937-2015

I read "Bear and His Daughter" in 1998, shortly after it was published.  It was the very first book I purchased the Saturday immediately after finishing graduate school, and one of the very first books I read for the pleasure after the "torturous" experience of writing a thesis.  Later I went on to read everything by Stone, among which "A Flag for Sunrise" is one of my great favorites.  I never failed to go to the "S" at the bookstore to see if I could find something by this great writer.  Rest easy, brother.

The Sad Side of Being Billy Crystal

I normally do not write about celebrities, but something occurred to me recently and I felt I wanted to write about this topic but from a very singular angle. Many of the people that have worked with Mr. Billy Crystal in over 10 films have died, many of them quite young. I don't know Mr. Crystal's age, but I believe he's still a young looking man. It must be very difficult to lose so many friends so early. I think first, of course, of Bruno Kirby who died of cancer a few years ago. I have no idea what it must be like to work on a movie set, but by the same token I can't think individuals can simply forget or feel indifferent if a large number of their "co-workers" at a "place of employment" died in rapid succession. Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal were absolutely perfect in "Running Scared." Mr. Hines was not only a great actor, but an excellent tap dancer as well. About a decade ago, there was a tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr. (thankfully before he died), and Gregory Hines and Mr. Davis did a tap dance number together. As with most tap dance routines, they squared off imitating each others steps. Towards the end of the routine, Sammy Davis, Jr.'s tapping was so complex that Mr. Hines got on his knees and kissed Sammy Davis, Jr.'s shoes. Now, anyone with a cynical side would say it was all for show; however, there was something about Gregory Hines' sincerity in the act of bowing to a superior that was far too genuine to fake. His tears spoke for themselves. A few months later, Sammy Davis, Jr. was dead--cancer.

Billy Crystal has had to endure the loss of friends such as (the aforementioned three), Andre the Giant, Anne Ramsey, Jack Palance, John Spencer, Carl Ballantine, Joe Viterelli, Carroll O'Connor, Nancy Walker, Pat Morita, John Fiedler, Tom Pedi, Ted Bessell, Walker Edmiston, Jean Le Bouvier, Fred Sadoff, Henry Wilcoxon, Stephen Roberts, Steve Allen, Foster Brooks, Ray Goulding, William De Acutis, George Carlin, John Candy, Estelle Getty, Buddy Hackett, Madeline Kahn, Henny Youngman, Brother Theodore, and perhaps some more I did not list here. (Also Mickey Mantle with whom Mr. Crystal did not work, but was very good friends with). For a relatively young man, by any measure, I happen to find this "statistic" quite outrageous.

Let's not say here that working with Billy Crystal is an occupational hazard--far from it, Billy Crystal is the comic's comic. He has given the world so much laughing material and I bet the odds of him winning the Presidential Medal is nearly a certainty. Beyond the sad side of his incredible career I bet it's awesome to be Billy Crystal.