David Simmonds

Well, I was going to write about “how to Vacation Rent your home” in Mexico today, but my slippery mind keeps focusing on the news this morning of George Carlin’s death yesterday from a heart attack. So I’m going to depart from the Mexico theme today.

I’m not into idol worship, real or imagined, but I was a huge Carlin fan. He was a stand-up comedian, but more importantly, a stand-up guy. I have a short list of writers and public/private figures who have influenced and educated me.  The real education, the kind that shapes who you are and how you treat others. They range from my dad, to Steinbeck, Kerouac, Whitman, Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Hunter Thompson, Bob Dylan, and surely, George Carlin. With certainty, no other person was able to make me laugh out loud and search my soul in the same sentence. He was the rare brave patriot with the courage to loudly criticize our shortcomings because he thought we were better than we often acted. There wasn’t a muzzle strong enough silence George, and on some level we knew he always told the truth…even his detractors, of which there are many.

John Nichols of The Nation has a wonderful tribute to Carlin here http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/331953.  Or check out some of his concerts and appearances on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/. The dude was a genius and will be very hard to replace.