Blogcritics: Comments on The Sad Sound of Silence

Comment by Natalie Davis

Mon, 11 Aug 2003 01:03:30 EDT

Good question. My daughter and I went back and forth on that earlier today. Neither of us had any clue that Hines had contracted cancer, and we were just stunned that he died so suddenly and so young. Let's see, using age 60 as a cutoff point, we've had some youthful losses in the past six months (from Dead or Alive: Barry White (58), Noel Redding (57), athlete David Redding (44), Little Eva (59), journalist David Bloom (39), journalist Michael Kelly (46), Edwin Starr (61; a bit over the cutoff, but deserving, I think, of mention), Leslie Cheung (56), Michael Jeter (50), Lynne Thigpen (54), and motorcyclist Barry Sheene (52). D&A puts the lie to the notion that only the good die young, but lots of the good indeed do die young.

Comment by Mac Diva

Mon, 11 Aug 2003 00:28:11 EDT

Thanks for the news, Natalie. I had missed it somehow. Say, is it just me or do other folks think a lot of relatively young talented people are dying of late? (I don't mean people like Bob Hope. They have nothing to complain about in the longevity department.)

Comment by Natalie Davis

Sun, 10 Aug 2003 23:52:15 EDT

Thanks, Steve, for the NPR link. Coincidentally, I just learned that my former pastor, whom I've known my entire life, passed away yesterday as well. Listening to the Hines interview made me feel happy and sad all at once, but on the whole, it helped me feel a little better.

Comment by Steve Rhodes

Sun, 10 Aug 2003 21:34:21 EDT

Yes, thanks for that. Tavis Smiley did an interview with Hines which I hear last year. He talks glowingly about Savion Glover (who I saw in Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk).

Comment by Eric Olsen

Sun, 10 Aug 2003 17:49:35 EDT

Thanks Natalie, I'm so glad you got to this story before I did because your take is so much more personal and better-informed than mine would have been, although I thought he was exceptional as well. I still find tap magical.