18 years ago I was finishing up my MFA at the YSD. I had a job lined up at the Williamstown Theater festival which started shortly after I graduated. I was doing my last work study as stage crew for "Pygmalion" at the Rep. It was a Wednesday and we had a matinee for school kids. I can remember standing in the green room and hearing the news. I went up to the deck and had a good cry. Various people who knew how much Jim meant to me came up and checked on me.
During the memorial service they read a letter that Jim wrote before he died to be opened and read after his death. The line I will always remember was
Please watch out for each other. Love and forgive everybody. It's a good life. Enjoy it.
I walked out of that service feeling better about my self and the world. Jim may have passed but I knew that his legacy would live on into the ages. And since then I have been trying to be an ambassador for puppets and puppetry. I have tried to educate people about puppets and what they can do. I have taught adults and children. I have created a bunch of people who know how to operate a basic hand and rod puppet. I am trying to pass on my love of puppetry to another generation who won't know a time when Jim Henson was alive.
I have met a lot of people through my love of all things Henson. I have made some serious friends through my work in puppetry. Puppetry has been my touchstone for as long as I can remember and Jim Henson made it shine for me in ways I never thought about.
We still miss you Jim and we honor your memory with our work.
I am grateful that I have people I can talk to about Jim who get the same far away look in their eyes when talking about him and his work.
Posted by Kathleen David at May 16, 2008 10:39 AM | TrackBackIt was my senior year in college -- the last week of classes. I came home and my apartmentmate was looking rather glum.
"Did you hear about the death?"
"Sammy Davis, Jr? Yeah, kind of a bummer."
"No, not that one."
"Huh?"
"Jim Henson."
The rest of the day is a blur.
A little of a year later Lisa and I helped celebrate Jim's life in our own way, by incorporating aspects of "The Rainbow Connection" into our wedding ceremony and the recessional.
And "Turn the World Around" is still a guaranteed pick-me-up in the Lynch house.
Thanks for reminding us all, Kath. And Jim? Still missin' you.
TWL
I remember his death coming around the same time as the unexpected death of a family friend (similar situation, and only 35), though I can't remember who passed first. The events are somewhat linked in my mind. The news was a shock enough, but when I started thinking about the scope of his work, it kind of sent me reeling. I think it was TV Guide (I could be wrong) that had the most wrenching commentary, and that was a cartoon of his best-known Muppets, from Big Bird on down, voiceless, and it made me cry.
Posted by: Susan O at May 18, 2008 09:30 AM