Monday, September 04, 2006

All's Silent in the Outback ...

Well, as I sit here anticipating / dreading the end of the long weekend and the beginning of the work week, I'd like to take a second and reflect on two tragic events that occurred this weekend.

First of all, I'd like to send my condolences to the family of Jamie Garfield. I know this blog isn't really the ideal way to express that, but I just want to express my sincere regret with regards to Jamie recently passing away. Jamie was one of the first people I remember meeting when I started my freshman year at Kingswood-Oxford, and we had many classes together, and were on a lot of teams together. I'll remember Jamie as a guy who was very witty, with a very dry sense of humor. He always seemed a very intelligent, bright guy, one who had a lot of spirit, and I'm sure he would have gone on to do many great things. I can't say I knew him as well as a lot of others, but there were a relatively small number of us who graduated from the K-O Class of 2000, and it's a tragedy that one of us is already gone.

On a much different and less personal note, I have to say I was absolutely shocked last night to hear that The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, had passed away. I saw Steve Irwin in person many times thanks to my job as an NBC Page, and even when he got bad press for various reasons, I always maintained the belief that he was not only one of the nicest, most genuine people around, but thanks to his work helping so many environmental causes, I counted him as a truly great man. Every single time he came on to the Tonight Show, Steve was a joy for the audience to watch. His love for the animals he handled was contagious, and he was so full of energy, joy, and life, that I honestly can barely imagine him no longer being with us. I think it's a testament to how amazing a character he was that I've heard people almost trying to put a positive spin on what happened - "well, he went out the way he would have wanted to." I can't imagine that being the case, but I can imagine that The Crocodile Hunter would have wanted to people to talk about him with smiles and fond remembrances, and to not dwell on the tragedy of his passing. If you go through the archives of this blog you'll find several times where an otherwise hard, trying day at work was made brighter because I got to see Steve Irwin in person, and on those days I always was reminded how lucky I was to be working in entertainment, because I knew I'd get to witness one of the true, great entertainers and educators that we had in showbusiness. I will fondly remember greeting him one day as he came to the Tonight Show, and remember shaking his hand and thinking how he seemed like such a good guy. His shows on TV were always a guaranteed deterrant to channel-surfing. Man, I even remember sometime in high school or college, I was in CT and went to see his movie in the theater with some friends. We went in with the teenager mentality that we were going to sit there and mock the film, but I remember getting a real kick out of it. The fact is though that Stever Irwin was funny, genuine, amazingly down to earth and humble, and someone who will truly be mourned by the entire world.

I have a lot more to say about various subjects, but I'll wait until tommorow and let this column stand on its own.

For now, we should all feel lucky to be where we are and never take a moment for granted.

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