UNTIMELY...

During my second year in broadcasting, an aging hippie at the station reminded me of something so deceptively simple: "Any death is untimely", he said. I believe this is true of anyone with human dignity and worth. The deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson inevitably remind us about our own mortality because each was a significant part of our culture in the United States.

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FARRAH FAWCETT: It is tragic that we lost someone so lovely as Farrah Fawcett. I was a teenager when she burst onto the international scene and grown men flipped over her incredible beauty. How brave of her to become a replacement for Susan Sarandon in the West Side Arts Theatre's Off Broadway production of "Extremities", written by William Mastrosimone. A gritty play about violence and retribution, audiences in 1983 were left with no doubt that the gorgeous blonde we men came to worship was a force with which to be reconned with as a gifted actress. Farrah could tackle characters with a complexity and depth. "The Burning Bed" earned Farrah her first of three Emmy nominations and her second Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

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As an adult, I was smitten with her beauty and her grace; she captivated me. It is nothing short of heartbreaking for such a lovely lady who was so vibrant and young to be taken from a world that had become comfortable just knowing Farrah Fawcett was among us. Her bravery went beyond career risks. Her selfless desire to share her personal battle with cancer on television reached into the hearts of millions and provided untold numbers of cancer patients with the Hope and Determination to live life as fully and richly as possible. That is certainly a part of her magnificent legacy.

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MICHAEL JACKSON: Michael Jackson's death is tragic because he was only 50. Public figures whose lives are amplified, particularly when there are serious emotional issues can be handled a couple of ways. In the worst case scenario, television programs such as TMZ feed like piranha's on cheap sensationalism, and this was the case with Michael from 1993 to the present. I detest these programs and they cast a blemish on good broadcasting. In the best case scenario, my Eastern European upbringing taught me never to speak ill of the deceased, and if there was something positive about the person, that fact should become the focus. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album was most definitely a time line marker of the 1980's. It can never be said that Michael Jackson lacked talent, ambition, dedication and creative genius. The considerations of his private life and his financial status is fodder for others to debate. To me, he was a human being who died young and his death is sad. That's all I really have to share for today. I'll be resuming where I left off next week after I have finished visiting your sites and getting caught up. Thank you for taking the time to catch up with me!

Michael