An eclectic book reader and collector, I used to own a copy of English as a Second F*cking Language but I recently sold it along with other rarely-read books on my shelf.
I still own The F Word, a combination dictionary, thesaurus, and reverse word dictionary of perhaps the most tabooed word in any language.
In the wake of recent pop culture deaths of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, musician Bo Diddley, special effectician Stan Winston, and TV journalists Jim McKay and Tim Russert, I learned last night that comic great George Carlin died Sunday at age 71 from heart failure.
He was booked to perform next month at the North Shore Music Theatre. Tickets will be refunded.
If it wasn’t for Carlin’s notorious 1972 “7 dirty words” bit, it’s fair to say the book industry would have far less shelves than they do today.
With his death, laughter dies.
I never saw him in concert but I wish I had. He was always one of my favorite comedians, along with Steven Wright (who I did see). His epitaph may be the seven words that led to Supreme Court and FCC action that changed the face of primetime TV, but I fondly remember his comic routines comparing different sports and religions.
Along with, I presume, thousands of Americans, I watched Larry King’s show on CNN last night and saw live heartfelt tributes by Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Lewis Black, Roseanne Barr, Hugh Hefner, with phoned-in remarks by older brother Patrick Carlin, and daughter Kelly Carlin-McCall (who apparently has an in-need-of-an-update blog).
“He never forgot to be funny,” said Steve Martin through King. “George Carlin was a comedy hero.”
The New York Times today, on the 10th anniversary of Carlin and widow Sally Wade, publishes a Seinfeld-written op-ed, titled, Dying is Hard. Comedy is Harder.
He writes, I know George didn’t believe in heaven or hell. Like death, they were just more comedy premises.
Rest in peace, George. Give my regards to the man who lives in the clouds.
The above photo is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license by Point-Shoot-Edit.
No related posts.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
We saw him live a couple of times, once at the Hampton Beach Casino. I still think his best bit was “stuff”, and based on many comments on many blogs, I was not alone.
He first came to my attention on the Ed Sullivan Show as Al Sleet, the Hippie-Dippy weatherman. Al’s most famous line was, “Tonight, it’s going to be … dark.”
On another Sullivan show, I saw him do the “Wonderful WINO” radio DJ bit. It was almost as funny.
He will be missed.
I LOVED “STUFF!” I saw him live a couple of times and read his books. He was a genius.
Thank You for the nice tribute.
“He will be missed.” I second that.
Dick: Isn’t it funny when it gets dark at night? People laugh at the most obvious lines because they never thought of it themselves!
Andy: Thanks.