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For many people, this is a terribly sad week with the passing of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, a pair of performers who helped define a generation, each in their own unique manner and talent.

As someone who in their childhood and teenage years listened to a lot of country music, Dolly was a fixture in my universe that was always constant. As a man who never fell into the hard rock, acid rock, or other intense musical genres but instead was always drawn to the romantic, Dolly was a natural fit for my inclinations. Here You Come Again is a tune that I shall never not want to hear. (Though I will confess that I prefer Olivia Newton-John’s cover of Jolene to Dolly’s original.)

Tim Curry, I came to through The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a film that I have spoken of many times here on my blog. It was on the sidewalk outside of the Ken Theater that I really learned to socialize with the fans and ‘cast’ waiting for the midnight shows to begin. Of course, Curry’s career is so much more than just Rocky and that man worked with some of the best filmmakers of our generation.

I am not to one to become maudlin over the death of celebrities. Everyone dies, the great and not great, the famous and the forgotten, the just and the unjust, that final end is waiting for all of us and my early experience with it has hammered into my personality an acceptance of that which cannot be avoided. But I want to recognize them and honor the gift that they left this poor world with their charm, their love of life, and their acceptance of everyone is soemthing we might learn from.