January 10, 2004
We lost a lot of true stars during 2003.
Long-time critic and reviewer of American culture Rex Reed pens an elegaic farewell to the many great cultural figures who passed away during 2003,
Final Farwell to Friends and Icons, in the
New York Observer. Very nicely done. He's right, there sure were a lot of them, some that are household names, some that you hardly ever heard of. An excellent slice of Americana.
Frank Sinatra used to say, "Growing old can kiss my ass." Nobody ever said it cruder or better. Just take a look at the long and sobering list of celebrity farewells who matured and signed off in 2003, and you know whoever called them the "golden years" must have been auditioning for a straitjacket. Now 2004 is here—but before we can properly usher in that new kid with his year to grow, could we just pause, join hands and share a moment of silent reverence for the folks we lost in the lousy old year just ending?
He really feels 2003 was a rotten year. I had a pretty hard year myself, but I still don't think it was that bad. I think America's just getting old, and like many old people in their final years, prefers to look back on its youth as the "golden years", and claim that "things just aren't what they used to be." The end of America is really the best thing to happen to the world in a long time, in a very, very, very long time. It's senility in its old age is hard to bear, and painful to all those who loved it, but that's nothing new. That's not the fault of the young. America had a grand run, but everything passes, everything changes, and I'm sure that what replaces it will be a thousand times better.
I'm glad though that he takes a moment to remember what was, and to give credit where credit was due. Bob Hope may have stopped laughing finally, but I still smile when I think of him. And always will.
