goodbye blue monday

Kurt Vonnegut has died.

Any of you who know me know that I'm a huge Vonnegut fan. His books have been really influential to me, in several ways. He's among my favorite authors ever -- not just because he's written great books, but so many great books. I've dreamed of having a grandfather like Kurt Vonnegut. I thought about naming one of my sons Kurt, in no small part because of Kurt Vonnegut. And now he's dead.

I told Greg, and he said, "Well, everyone dies." I know. I guess if I'd ever thought about it, I'd have realized he'd die someday, obviously. But I guess it's always a shock when living legends die. And now I can no longer hope that he'll write another book. Now I can never hope to meet him. Not that I could ever realistically have hoped for that, but maybe I could have seen him give a speech somewhere. And now I never will.

But I'm glad that I found his books. And I'm grateful to him for his impact on my thinking. I guess it's appropriate to end my little tribute here with a Vonnegut quote, from Isaac Asimov's funeral: "Isaac is in heaven now, that was the funniest thing I could have said to a crowd of Humanists. God Forbid, should I pass on sometime, may all of you say that Kurt is in Heaven too."

If there is a heaven I'd like to believe he's there.