# Day of Mourning **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 1999, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036 "1999-12-13T20:06:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/1 "1999-12-14T06:41:00Z")
Just a note that last night, Joseph Heller–not my most favorite author, but the author of my most favorite book, Catch-22–died of a heart attack. Se me muerte! Makes me want to go back to my old BBS handle: “Yossarian”. Might do it. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/2 "1999-12-14T06:46:00Z")
I just read of his death on [Cnn.com](http://Cnn.com) My memories of Catch 22 were from baby sitting every New Years Eve and for at least two NYE in a row (before cable) Catch 22 was always on after Midnight. It took me reading to book ( once for school and once on my own) to completely grasp what the movie was all about. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 1999, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/3 "1999-12-13T20:06:00Z")
I read _Catch-22_ after watching an episode of _Room 222_ (I had a crush on Karen Valentine, okay.) where an upstart teacher assigned the book. It taught me some interesting lessons I found to be still true when I went in the navy. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleCrackwhore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@PurpleCrackwhore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleCrackwhore)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 1999, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/4 "1999-12-13T20:38:00Z")
I once knew a Yossarian… but alas that was a lifetime ago! \ * * * I really try to be good but it just isn’t in my nature! ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 1999, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/5 "1999-12-13T23:27:00Z")
That’s some catch. A moment of silence, in memoriam. ---
**Author:** ![Konrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f475e1/32.png) [@Konrad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Konrad)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/6 "1999-12-14T00:06:00Z")
You’d think this kind of thing would be big news, yet this is the first I’ve heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/7 "1999-12-14T00:10:00Z")
Now I have to read “Something Happened” and “God Knows” I have them sitting here and haven’t gotten around to it. I love is work. I heard about it on the news this morning. I think they quoted Vonnegut as saying. “This is a calamity for men of letters” pat ---
**Author:** ![Pixoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pixoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixoid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/8 "1999-12-14T01:29:00Z")
Also the first I’d heard, but I’ve been holed up studying. _Catch-22_ is one of my favorite books. I’m still in shock, kinda. * * * Question authority–just not mine. ---
**Author:** ![Sylence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Sylence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylence)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/9 "1999-12-14T01:53:00Z")
I just heard about it now. May he rest in peace. – Sylence * * * I don’t have an evil side. Just a really, really apathetic one. ---
**Author:** ![NonTarheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@NonTarheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NonTarheel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/10 "1999-12-14T01:59:00Z")
Man is matter… that was Heller’s secret. My favorite book. Farewell. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/11 "1999-12-14T03:35:00Z")
Thanks to Mr. Heller for giving us a catchphrase (unforgettably branded in the skullbones after the read) that succinctly describes the worst of our bureaucratic mindfucking. ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/12 "1999-12-14T04:14:00Z")
This is the first I’ve heard of it, as well. Looks like he finally flew his eighty-five missions, and got sent home. * * * “That’s entertainment!” —Vlad the Impaler ---
**Author:** ![JBENZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@JBENZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBENZ)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/13 "1999-12-14T10:30:00Z")
> [@](#): > > That’s some catch. It’s the best there is. 🙂 Remembering back to re-reading “Catch-22” after a year in the Air Force…and discovering it wasn’t fiction. “We just want you to…like us.” Did 18 months in Minot, ND (the longest 5 years of my life). We couldn’t get leave because we were “short of manpower” but every Friday morning we had…a PARADE!. I’ll be happy to discuss this further. Please feel free to make an appointment for anytime I’m not in. * * * JB Lex Non Favet Delicatorum Votis ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 1999, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/14 "1999-12-15T06:18:00Z")
Wasn’t it “Ripeness is everything” ? Anyway, I got some Egyptian cotton at an excellent price, here. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 1999, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/15 "1999-12-15T06:19:00Z")
And eggs are still five cents apiece. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 1999, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/16 "1999-12-15T06:27:00Z")
Did y’all know today is the bicentennial of George Washington’s death? * * * “There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.” ~P.J. O’Rourke~ ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 1999, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/17 "1999-12-15T06:34:00Z")
Another “Handle We’d Like To See Here”: Major Major Major Major Deftly portrayed by Bob Newhart in a movie that otherwise didn’t even come close to doing the book justice. If I may share my memory of the first time I read Catch-22: Enthralled, I was approaching the last few pages starting to regret strongly that the book was about to end. And then: the ending. It stunned me. It floored me. I was litterally dumbfounded. I read the last paragraph five or six more times before I could finally stand up… it was a couple of weeks before I could even pick up another book–the weight of Catch-22 was too strong! Has anybody read Heller’s sequel? I’ve always preferred to leave it to my immagination on whether or not Yossarian made it… ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/18 "1999-12-14T19:44:00Z")
Of course, if he ever shows his face around here, he will be cremated on the spot. * * * “That’s entertainment!” —Vlad the Impaler ---
**Author:** ![NonTarheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@NonTarheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NonTarheel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/19 "1999-12-14T23:56:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Has anybody read Heller’s sequel? I’ve always preferred to leave it to my immagination on whether or not Yossarian made it… The sequel is kinda two books in one. The chapters alternate between a narrative of two people growing up and living in Brooklyn, and Yossarian, Milo and a few other C22 characters living in modern-day Manhattan. If you liked the original C22 the sequel is worth reading, but I suggest you consider reading only the chapters dealing with the original C22 cast. **Uke** , the exact phrase is “Ripeness was all”, from the very end of the “Man is matter” paragraph in chapter 41. The way the novel reads so playfully for 400+ pages, then slams you with the Snowden chapter is just one of the million things I admire about the book. ---
**Author:** ![JBENZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@JBENZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBENZ)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 1999, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036/20 "1999-12-15T08:35:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyway, I got some Egyptian cotton at an excellent price, here. and > [@](#): > > And eggs are still five cents apiece. And everybody gets a share. “His arents don’t need the money. They’re rich.” “Then they’ll understand.” * * * JB Lex Non Favet Delicatorum Votis [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/day-of-mourning/12036.md?page=2)