Oh, shazbot!

I wanted to write a post about Robin Williams. He was to me, as he was to so many, an icon, one of the true greats of comedy and drama. But what more can I add to the many, many tributes that have been made today? Mork has returned to Ork, and that is that. A great and kind man, by all accounts, cut down by this most terrible illness. Even now, a day after his death, some people are attacking him for his "selfish" action of suicide. This makes me incredibly angry. Perhaps it's because of my own struggles with depression, or perhaps it's the sudden number of deaths with similar causes that have affected those I hold dear. Or perhaps it's just because it's an inane, ignorant, cruel thing to say. Already, though, there has been a perfect rebuke to the attacks by people like Shep Smith, a Fox News arsehole. By Dean Burnan at the Guardian, it's the best description of depression I've read in a long time.

For now though, let's remember the wise, troubled clown who made us smile so many times. His films were a fundamental part of my childhood. He was even pretty good in Fern Gully.

Robin Williams, you truly were the Pan.