Ring of fire*

The DearHusband called this morning right after he'd left for work a little after 7:15,

"Did you hear Johnny Cash and John Ritter died?"

I was in the shower when he left, and was still dripping water, having just gotten out of the shower when he called, and I wondered where he thought I might have heard that between getting out of the shower and answering the phone, but instead of something smart-assed, I said,

"Oh no, I hadn't heard that!"

It made me profoundly sad to hear that news.

I liked John Ritter's most recent show, "8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenaged Daughter." I remember watching "Three's Company" as a teenager and thinking it was silly but if I had to be anyone, I wanted to be the Joyce DeWitt character because even then I realized that Suzanne Summers was a ditz.

As an adult I didn't think he was a great comedic actor a la Robin Williams or Jonathon Winters or Jackie Gleason. I did enjoy him and Billy Bob Thorton on their short-lived show on CBS. I don't think any of the obits I heard, or read, today even mentioned his role in Sling Blade. Instead all they talked about was a silly show where he wore women's clothing a lot and pretended to be a gay man. What a way to be remembered.

John Ritter dying also upset me because he seemed so young. He was older, at 55, than I thought but at 40 with a 46-year-old husband, it is a little too close for comfort.

As for Johnny Cash, I am not a big music fan. I can't remember the last time I actually bought a CD or cassette. I readily confess I don't have any Johnny Cash in my meager but eclectic music collection. I do have some Persuasions sings the Grateful Dead but that's for another time.

I do, however, recognize and appreciate the passing of a legend. There really aren't many of them left. His work managed to cross over into pop culture; he had 11 Grammys and nearly 50 songs on the top ten pop charts. I read that in 1969 his work outsold the Beatles and that year his records accounted for 5 percent of all record sales in the United States. That's pretty impressive.

I remember when his wife died several months ago wondering how much longer he would be with us. It didn't take as long as I thought.

I guess it also struck me as sad that he and John Ritter died on the same day. Johnny Cash's death has overshadowed John Ritter's if the bar association news group is any indicator of the public's grief. But it seems like if you have to go, you ought to at least have people sad about YOU and not have these mixed feelings about you and someone else.

RIP

M&Co.