I was watching the end of a 1987 tribute to James Stewart, hosted by Johnny Carson, the other day, and this was the last question that Johnny asked. Stewart’s answer was pretty forgettable, but it set me to thinking.
I would like to be remembered occasionally, quietly (I hate fuss) in people’s inner mind and heart. I would like such a memory to trigger a small inner smile, based on a memory of some interaction or event that they enjoyed. And then they would move on with the next thing in their life.
I like to think I leave most interactions with the other person feeling a little better about himself of or at least his day. I would like to be rememebered as someone who they were usually glad to see.
As someone who tried. As a father, husband, friend, business manager and leader, guitarist. I tried to understand and own my human frailty and be a student of life in ways that others saw and valued. That would be wonderful.
My name shall echo throughout the cosmos for eternity; hearing it shall make bold men tremble and mighty kings fall to their knees in despair. Men of God will call me Hell-spawned, men of the sword will call me genius, those I spare as witness shall call me nightmare. My blood-soaked legacy shall leave scars upon entire galaxies. I am Regallag the Axe, brutal destroyer of worlds!
I’d also kind of like to be remembered in my profession. I aspire to a “small but serious reputation”, as John Irving might phrase it (The World According to Garp). My profession is fast changing, and whatever I’ve done will be obsolete not long after my death, but I guess I can dream. My work has been cited in at least one actual paper book, so I guess my name will hang on there for a while.
Anyway, that would be nice. But, mostly, my answer is still:
Well, if you were Regallag The Sword, maybe. An axe, though? Clumsy weapon. Something you see in the hands of farmers and other conscript rabble. A sword, now, is a weapon of finesse and sophistication. Men of the sword will more likely call you “unexpectedly deft” or “better with an agricultural tool than one might expect.”