Bye, George...
I try not to let celebrity deaths get to me too greatly. I mean, I didn't know them, they were just well loved. Sorry if that makes me seem harsh. But, sometimes someone I greatly admired dies and it affects me more. George Carlin was a legend, a rebel, and a beloved figure in the world of comedy and the Morgenstern household. I learned even more about him, recently from a great book, "Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America" by Richard Zoglin (cue theme to “Reading Rainbow,”) a book I highly recommend.
He started out a comic on the straight side of things. Then, even beyond the age of the average hippie he grew his hair out and changed his image, and, against the odds parlayed that into comedy success.
Not to take the story away from my mother, but she loves to tell how she and my dad saw the not yet hugely successful Carlin at a coffee house near the University of Miami, opening for someone who he was superior to. (Did I tell it right, Mom?)
I remember going with my family to see him years ago in Lake Tahoe. Now, as a self-proclaimed student of comedy I have become a bit jaded. At this show, however, I literally had hoped that he would stop for a second at some point so I could catch my breath. I genuinely was afraid I might pass out. -An accomplishment never since duplicated by anyone.
My dad said there's a void now in comedy and joked that I should go fill it. I could only wish.