The Death of George Carlin, by Ellen Louise Kahne

[The following was written by my mom]

Let it be noted that the death of one of America's most effective social critics and humorists of our last century (and this one) was announced this morning.

While all are out there building parks and lionizing the recently deceased host of "Meet The Press" (not to minimize Tim Russert's contribution or his death), probably no park, no street or highway, no airport, no football stadium, not even a sanitation broom dump will ever be named for George Carlin.

Why? Because George Carlin held up a rather uncomfortable and unpopular mirror to our human behavior and inconsistencies, frailties and irrationalities in ways that few (if any) could do over a long period of time--his professional lifetime.

He was uniquely American and knew where all of our pertinent hot buttons were located and pushed them regularly and consistently over time.

He made us stop and think, and to look at the dark side of our nature in a lighter way (which was really a clarion call to climb out of those non productive places and make the conscious decision to change).

In his (powerful) way, he was a defender of our rights and liberties of our U.S. Constitution and George Carlin holds a place in legal precedent in defending our rights to freedom of speech.

He came out of the classic tradition(s) of Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and especially Lennie Bruce, who galvanized Carlin to become the social critic and performer he developed into. And, Carlin was sooooooooooooooo New York (may Joe Pesce bless him, as he called the non "deity" he claimed to have worshiped in one comedy routine).

He had the genius of the common person turned inside out--he was "us" and he thought about everything we think about, yet may never bring to the surface in the company of others (but unlike many, he could not be controlled, conditioned or programmed in any way). His work was an "ode to common things."

He let us all in on what he was thinking, and if any of us were thinking this (too) we saw all of our logical inconsistencies laid out before us in his "comedy" routines, which were so much social commentary and story telling; we understood the illogic, the progression to conclusion, and we suddenly "got" it, even though we may not have agreed with him 100%, we laughed at ourselves.
George Carlin's anger and righteous indignation (at the pathetic human condition) was tempered with deep tolerance. He exposed and deflated bigotry and bigots with the humorist's lance.

What Carlin did was very real magic, prestidigitation with words and ideas. His acuity in rapid fire word thrusts was genius, pure poetry, and legendary. His stand up was "in your face" and made his audience uncomfortable (just listen to the laughter and where it occurs--folks were caught off guard and squirming in their seats). Fortunately, some of his most controversial material is on YouTube and you can sample this.

May his memory be for a blessing to all who really care what becomes of us (the human race), and those who care about this nation, and of our place in the world, which is humbled, tarnished and less than it was seven years ago (funny thing about that).

Tomorrow, I'll be cleaning my fridge, checking the Tupperware for "meatcake" to discard in Carlin's honor. Then, I'm going to dig out my VCR tape of Outrageous Fortune and laugh 'til I cry. I think that's as good a way as any to celebrate and memorialize Carlin's life and work. Even if he doesn't get so much as a dog run named after him, I'll never forget him. And, perhaps, you won't either.