Curt Gowdy Is Gone

You know you are getting older when the icons of your youth begin dying. Three such icons, and I probably am overlooking three or four others, crossed the river in recent days.

One was Curt Gowdy, the famed sports broadcaster. He, more than Joe Namath or Weeb Eubank, or their kindred spirits, gave legitimacy to upstart American Football League, now the American Football Conference.

If Curt Gowdy believed in the league, then it had to be legitimate, at least in my mind.
Years later, I rediscovered Mr. Gowdy as the narrator of "Where Are They Now?" -- a segment of HBO's "Inside The NFL"

Then the powers that be revamped the show and the segment and Gowdy were jettisoned. I have never felt the same about the program, although I still watch it.

The second icon to depart us was actor Darren McGavin. His role as the newspaper reporter Kolchak in "The Night Stalker" always broke me up. Mr. McGavin was fine in any role he portrayed, but Kolchak was endearing and enduring.

Then was Don Knotts, alias Barney Fife, the bumbleheaded, skinny and lovable nerd who portrayed Deputy Barney Fife in "The Andy Griffith Show" in the 1960s. Mr. Knotts was the creator of classic stuff that still makes me laugh.

God, rest their souls. They enriched their fellow human beings through their work and art.