And the Rest
A sad farewell to Russell Johnson - the Professor on Gilligan's Island - who died yesterday at the age of 89. He was my first celebrity crush - maybe my first crush of any kind - and I enjoyed anything I saw him in (even if it did end up on MST3K!). Everything I've ever read about him states that he was a kind and gracious person and his co-stars on Gilligan's Island always said he was a smart as Professor Roy Hinkley himself. (Yes, that was the character's full name.) He received a purple heart in WWII and tells a harrowing story, in his autobiography, about sitting with other survivors in a lifeboat, watching an American ship headed toward them from one direction and a Japanese ship from the other and wondering who would reach them first. About 20 years ago, I read Russell Johnson's autobiography and afterward wrote to him. He wrote back and included a photo and a copy of his CV since I'd mentioned - this was long before IMDB - that it could be difficult finding out what he'd appeared in. I know he lived a good long life, but I'll still miss him, as much as one can miss a person they never actually knew. And it's another part of my childhood gone, which always makes me a little sad. (And a second part disappeared yesterday too, since Dave Madden from The Partridge Family also died.)