Kurt Vonnegut died last night at 84, which reminded me that I forgot to post an item on the death of Abe Coleman. I mentioned him back in 2005, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, an impressive feat considering many contemporary wrestlers die of heart attacks before they reach 40.
I still await the day when I’ll be referred to as The Jewish Tarzan.
I remmeber the insufferable Terry Gross interviewing Vonnegut on Fresh Air. After an exhaustive set of questions, she asked the big one: Do you have any tips for an aspiring writer. There was a vast silence, then Vonnegut answered in his gruff and considered voice: “Avoid semi-colons. Nothing good will come of them.”
Sigh..
Well, according to Andrew Sullivan’s post today, KV once remarked, “When Hemingway killed himself he put a period at the end of his life; old age is more like a semicolon.”
I’m hoping that in a couple of days we find out it’s actually Mary Schmich who died.
At least that sunscreen-piece of hers inspired the great Chris Rock tune, “No Sex in the Champagne Room.”