The Paper Chase

      It seems that Brian Linehan has passed away at the age of 58. Any of you reading this outside of Canada may not recognize Linehan, but he developed a very particular reputation within Canada, and within the Hollywood community. Within the Hollywood community, he became the interviewer everybody sat down with, even more elusive types like Madam (she who ordains the world with her presence) Streisand, in part because he would give intensive interviews, and he would constantly stun his subjects with the depth of his research. In Canada, he was often described as -- dare I say it?-- the gay Don Cherry. Linehan's questions were notorious (see Martin Short's spot-on imitations of him from SCTV) for their length and their complexity, questions that would have made Dick Cavett seem like Geraldo Rivera. The irony, though, is that because of Linehan Canada got to see aspects and dimensions of major celebrities that were very seldom seen in American coverage. Linehan was the ultimate name-dropper, but say what you will, he managed to do some damned good interviewing, especially in the late 1970s. R.I.P., Brian.