A moment ago, I was reading the Wikipedia article on police procedurals when I came across a reference to the master of the genre, Ed McBain. The reference spoke of the great Hunter as if he were still alive (he died earlier this year), so I edited the article accordingly. As I added an explanation to the talk page, I felt moved to add, “and then I cried because Ed McBain was dead.” ;j
Mostly I was just being a smart-ass. But I did grieve a bit over Ed McBain, and I can easily imagine being very bummed if I had been alive when C. S. Lewis died, or if I had been a Tolkienite when J. R. R. died. So naturally I wonder – what other artist (I’m using the term to cover authors, painters, musicians & actors as well) might I (and fellow dopers) mourn the most?
5 names off the top of my head:
Robert B. Parker, author of the Spenser, Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone series, and other detective and non-crime novels. True, he’s not as brilliant as he was in his prime – but his best books always seemed like affective, sparse prose poems on violence, honor, and grief.
Valerie Martin, author of A Recent Martyr, The Great Divorce, and several other brilliant books. Of course, no one has ever heard of her but me – but she’s so incredibly talented that her novels leave me simultaneously emotionally exhausted and envious of her gift.
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. No, they’re not great actors. But they’re a big part of my childhood; my brothers and sisters and I were all *Star Trek * fans, and the image of s gathered around the television at 1500 every weekday afternoon to watch the adventures of the Enterprise is precious to me.
M. Night Shyamalan. *Signs * remains one of my favorite movies of all time. The alleged plot holes don’t bother me because it’s not really about the alien invasion; it’s about God. (Some other time I’ll discourse on why Signs’ plot holes aren’t what they seem.)
Next?