2017 Starts With a “Hat Trick” From The Grim Reaper

There IS that old saying, "Death comes in threes". It did this weekend.

Losing someone is never easy. But if we're going to take that whole "Glass half full" optimism all the way; then, I'm the type of person that believes someone dying young, when they have their whole life ahead of them is much, much more tragic and devastating than someone who's lived a full and long life.

I say this, even though I'll stop in the middle of whatever I'm doing whenever a memory of my dad catches me. He was a really friendly, outgoing guy. He always had a coffee cup in one hand and an open handshake for everybody he met. He spent his last few years bragging about his son, the radio personality. He passed away on Mother's Day, 2000 at 70. He lived a long, full life. He had a good run.

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka died yesterday at 73, at the end of his battle with cancer. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996. The nickname "Superfly" came from his signature move of jumping off the top rope onto his opponent. That was a pretty big deal in the '70's and '80's. He once jumped off the top of the cage onto an opponent at Madison Square Garden!

William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist died last Thursday at 89. He wrote the original novel in 1971, then the screenplay for the 1973 horror flick. He won an Oscar. He had nothing to do with The Exorcist 2: The Heretic. He did write Legion in 1983 which was a sequel to the original novel. Then, he wrote and directed The Exorcist 3 in 1990. Stephen King Tweeted,

RIP William Peter Blatty, who wrote the great horror novel of our time. So long Old Bill."

Dick Gautier, best known as Hymie the Robot from Mel Brooks' classic '60's sitcom, Get Smart died Friday at 85. He was nominated for a Tony for playing Conrad Birdie on Broadway in the musical Bye, Bye Birdie. That was about Elvis going into the army. He worked with Brooks again in the '70's on a parody of Robin Hood. It was a short-lived sitcom called When Things Were Rotten. Fun Fact: There was even a time when he stood in for Adam West as Batman with Burt Ward as Robin and Yvonne Craig as Batgirl for an equal pay PSA. Hey, it was the '70's.