Another sad marker
Two quite different but wholly admirable people left us yesterday. Yelena Bonner, the loyal and heroic wife of the hero of freedom Andrei Sakharov, has died; and Clarence Clemons, the unforgettable sax player of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, did not survive the after-effects of a stroke.
Heaven knows where the E Street Band goes from here. In fact, even though the two were different in every way, there is one thing that may be said of both: that they achieved glory - and I do mean glory - as part of a lifelong partnership that in some ways achieved the impossible. Before the steadfast and luminous heroism of the Sakharovs, impassibly defiant and loud in the face of the most monstrous repressive machinery the world has ever known, one can do nothing but reverently bow; and Clarence was virtually the other face of the E Street Band, the Boss' lifelong deputy, and their music will endure for as long as music is heard. The worst I know about him is that he collaborated with Lady Gaga, but what does that matter? For forty years, he was part of one of the greatest music machines the world has ever known, and the pleasure and inspiration he helped give to hundreds of millions of music lovers is beyond reckoning. May they both rest in peace in the light of the Lord of freedom and of beauty.
Heaven knows where the E Street Band goes from here. In fact, even though the two were different in every way, there is one thing that may be said of both: that they achieved glory - and I do mean glory - as part of a lifelong partnership that in some ways achieved the impossible. Before the steadfast and luminous heroism of the Sakharovs, impassibly defiant and loud in the face of the most monstrous repressive machinery the world has ever known, one can do nothing but reverently bow; and Clarence was virtually the other face of the E Street Band, the Boss' lifelong deputy, and their music will endure for as long as music is heard. The worst I know about him is that he collaborated with Lady Gaga, but what does that matter? For forty years, he was part of one of the greatest music machines the world has ever known, and the pleasure and inspiration he helped give to hundreds of millions of music lovers is beyond reckoning. May they both rest in peace in the light of the Lord of freedom and of beauty.