Passings

A couple of passings to note. First, what is it about the demise of all my favorite mystery writers? Tony Hillerman, Donald Westlake...and now Robert B. Parker has passed away, victim of a heart attack while he was "in the saddle" (at his desk). Parker is best known for his "Spenser" series of 38 or so novels; he also made the protagonists Jesse Stone and Sonny Randall real, and tossed a few westerns in the oeuvre, too. I'd say Parker was a "less is more" writer, keeping it simple, telling the story with lots of dialog. Interesting stylistic factoid: When a character spoke, he always used the verb "said". "Do you have a gun", she said. Never 'she asked'. Or 'he exclaimed'. I'll miss those breezy, easy reads.
The other passing is of the Conan O'Brien version of the Tonight Show. Yes, I am guilty of enjoying (most of) Conan's approach to humor, and I know that, like anything else in our society and polity today, everyone lines up around one camp or the other and has little to do with anything else. Well, although I enjoy Letterman, and I think Leno probably carries on the "Carson" persona the best, I was on Conan's wavelength more often than not, and appreciated the bit of an edge he put on his work. I realize that the mainstream masses, which really don't exist anymore anyway, would probably coalesce around a more middle-of-the-road show. And that's my loss.

Anyhow, the final show last night was a piece of fine work. Tom Hanks was a good guest, Steve Carrell provided a one-joke piece as an NBC functionary assigned to do Conan's exit interview, and the venerable Neil Young (the real one; not Jimmy Fallon) sang a simple and heartfelt "Long May You Run". Then it was time for Conan to make his parting homily, whereby he took the high road, thanked NBC in so many words, and told his listeners that with hard work and avoidance of cynicism, amazing things can happen.

The show closed with a seven-minute "Free Bird", which has somewhat appropriate lyrics for the occasion, led by a shaggy blond wigged Will Ferrell on vocals and, yes, cowbell (and that was his extremely pregnant wife that he was smoochin' on between verses). Supporting in the effort were Max Weinberg and the band members, Beck, Billy Gibbons, and Ben Harper taking care of the slide portions. Best of all, Conan joined the fray on his own guitar, soloing admirably for a few bars. It was a heck of a wake, and I suspect this is just one more chapter coming to an end, with another one appearing later this year.