Art Buchwald RIP
I guess I missed this one, but famed satirical columnist Art Buchwald died a few days ago at age 81.
Buchwald received the Pulitzer Prize for Outstanding Commentary in 1982 and in 1986 was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Buchwald in his own words:
* Every time you think television has hit its lowest ebb, a new program comes along to make you wonder where you thought the ebb was.
* People are broad-minded. They'll accept the fact that a person can be an alcoholic, a dope fiend, a wife beater and even a newspaperman, but if a man doesn't drive, there's something wrong with him.
* Just when you think there's nothing to write about, Nixon says, "I am not a crook." Jimmy Carter says, "I have lusted after women in my heart." President Reagan says, "I have just taken a urinalysis test, and I am not on dope."
* People ask what I am really trying to do with humor. The answer is, 'I'm getting even.' ... For me, being funny is the best revenge.
* Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got.
And true to form in his final days he humorously stated:
* I just don't want to die the same day Castro dies.
What others said about Buchwald:
The bad boy tweaking the nose of the Establishment [with] the countenance of a Jewish leprechaun.
- Ervin S. Duggan, Washingtonian (January 1985)
* What Art had was the gift of laughter ? that's a rarity today. He could take simple ordinary things and make you laugh. God knows all of us need that. I've been with him in all kinds of situations, good and bad, triumph and tragedy but Art always was able to see a little wisp of humor in everything.
- Jack Valenti, Associated Press (January 18, 2007)
* Art was the Mark Twain of our time. For decades there was no better way to start the day than to open the morning paper to Art's column, laugh out loud and learn all over again to take the issues seriously in the world of politics, but not take yourself too seriously. The special art of Art Buchwald was to make even the worst of times better.
- Ted Kennedy, Associated Press (January 18, 2007)
* The joy of his column was not that it was side-splitting humor, but that he made you smile.
- Ben Bradlee, as quoted in The New York Times (18 January 2007)
* Three of us ? Bill Styron, he and I ? suffered depression simultaneously, so we walked around in the rain together on Martha's Vineyard and consoled each other... He did the best to make life palatable, to help you be optimistic, to let you know he believed you would beat it. We both did, and so did Bill. We named ourselves the 'Blues Brothers.'
- Mike Wallace, as quoted in The New York Times (18 January 2007)
RIP Art Buchwald,
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