R.I.P.

      I can't say I knew him well (his time on television long before my own as a watcher of it), but Jack Paar's passing yesterday was unfortunate, especially because he represented, among other things, an age when conversation was something more than a vague term for people talking at one another. A shame, really. This blog would also pause to think that only Sir Peter Ustinov, it seems, survives of the semi-regulars from Paar's show.

      I like these words from Paar: "I'm complicated, sentimental, lovable, honest, loyal, decent, generous, likable and lonely. My personality is not split, it's shredded." Selah.

      Check out, too, this piece from Dick Cavett -- former writer for Paar-- from the New York Times. Curiously enough, Jack Paar is probably one of the few people for whom even Cavett couldn't come up with an anagram.