Dead People

So it appears to be a bad week for famous people. First Ed McMahon and that doctor from Antarctica. Now Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

I don't have a lot to say about this really. I don't have much emotional connection to any of these people or their work. (Growing up in a pop culture vaccuum will do that for you! Thanks, Mom!)

But it did occur to me that as the year goes along, it's useful for me to keep track of famous people that die because at the end of October, I have to put together a litany for our All Saints Day Memorial service. I usually include notable public figures who have passed in the last year. People like Coretta Scott King and Mother Teresa and Studs Terkel.

But as I thought about it, I don't think anyone from this week is going to make that list. God will welcome everyone home, but for these folks as for most of us, our legacy is too ambiguous to evoke pious gratitude by mere mention of our name. Oh well.