Goodbye Harold Ramis

I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Harold Ramis. I fell in love with him and the characters he created when he was Bill Murray's best friend, Russell, in "Stripes." He was just the intellectual type I go for in real life. He was a writer and member of the cast of "SCTV." This was the show that employed John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis et al. It was hilarious and I loved to watch it. SNL was funny, but SCTV had it's own unique appeal like no other. The last role I saw Harold Ramis play was that of a doctor on the movie, "As Good As it Gets," with Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, and Jack Nicholson. He played a physician who still did house calls. He visited Helen Hunt's character to care for her son. He had a special way about him, confident, with a dry wit that made you feel like he was always up for a prank, or ready to punk one of his friends. His writing was superlative. He was one of the good ones. As Pete Townsend would say, one of "my generation's" finest entertainers, off and on the screen. So, in the scene from "Stripes" where Russell was ineffectively teaching English to as a second language, let us sing together: "There she was just a walking down the street, singing Do Wah Ditty, Ditty Dum, Ditty Doo!" Go in peace Harold. Join John Candy and the others that went before you. I will be wanting to see the show when Heaven calls and I enter the next life.