I decided not to blog about my 30th anniversary of going vegan during the regularly-scheduled break in updates between chapters, since I don’t normally do that while there’s no comic updating. I considered it, but decided against it. I’m glad I did, because everyone was in mourning last week.
Last week, over the course of three consecutive days, we learned of the deaths of Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen.
I did not expect to get overly emotional over news of the passing of three elderly celebrities, but I did.
When I was growing up in the 80s Dolly Parton was, to kids my age who didn’t listen to country music, mostly referred to as a joke regarding the size of her chest. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I learned what a phenomenal songwriter and humanitarian she was, with the latter being the thing that really floored me. Every time she came up in the news she was doing something amazing with her wealth, from giving back to her communities to funding vaccines to giving free library books to children. Dolly Parton may not have been a big influence in my childhood but she was a figure of great admiration in my adult life, and I mourned her passing in the way you respect the loss of someone who gave so much of herself because it was the right thing to do.
Tim Curry’s death hit me much harder. I may not be a big fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show but I respect what it represents to a lot of people. For me, my first exposure to him was as the Lord of Darkness in the first fantasy film I ever saw, LEGEND. That performance is a milestone in the early growth of my love of the fantasy genre. His laugh after hearing “I want to kill the unicorn” is forever etched into my mind. Of course I also loved him in Clue and Muppet Treasure Island, as well as always being delighted when he showed up in countless other shows and cartoons (special nod to his brief role in Over the Garden Wall). He’s finally escaped to the one place uncorrupted by capitalism.
I was not prepared for how stung I was by the news of Peter Cullen’s death. His name may not be a household one, but his most famous and enduring role is: Optimus Prime. Transformers was one of the formative Saturday morning cartoons of the 1980s, and the voice of Optimus Prime was synonymous with leadership and heroism for my generation. It wasn’t until much later that I learned how both versatile and recognizable his voice was, and that he lent that voice to many other cartoon characters of my youth. But, to me and many others, he will forever be Optimus Prime. That, more than the others, felt like I was truly bidding farewell to a piece of my childhood.
A songbird and a philanthropist.
One of the most versatile, influential, and beloved performers in the world.
The voice that embodied nobility and courage across decades.
It’s no wonder we were all in a state of mourning last week, but also in celebration the gifts they all left behind. We should all be so lucky as to be as fondly remembered in our passing as they were.