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The past few days have been horrendous at AAA with the cold temperatures. Friday we handled over 800 calls that day. I had been saving up the newspapers to skim over since Wednesday. Ruth gets most of her news online so she missed the entry Wednesday and I only read it last night. To great sadness.

Actor Patrick McGoohan passed away Tuesday, age 80. Another part of my childhood has gone into infinity.

A quick survey at work among the young ones disclosed their appalling lack of knowledge of him. His role as Longshanks in Braveheart was the only thing they remembered. The dinosaur grumbled now fully aware that when I die 30 years of pop cultural knowledge goes with me--unmourned.

For me McGoohan was famous for three things:

(1) Secret Agent/Danger Man John Drake from the British TV series. My kids got me our first DVD player for Christmas a few years back solely so I could watch the show. The beginnings of my DVD collections.

(2) Walt Disney's Scarecrow of Romney Marsh--alas only three episodes that aired opposite the Ed Sullivan Show when the Beatles first appeared on US television and thus doomed it to a quick ending. (To be fair Disney rarely gave any of their live action characters a fair amount of episodes. I believe Texas John Slaughter had the most followed by Swamp Fox--not excepting Zorro of course and even he ended over some inter-office politics.)

(3) The Prisoner (Number 6). Seventeen wonderful episodes that have been passed down TV history to cult status. I LOVED this show. I would hum the theme music endlessly. The mystery of the Village, the Rovers, #6's escape atttempts, etc. Was he really John Drake from Secret Agent--fans argue these things for years. McGoohan always wanted people to make up their own minds what to think.

All these were from the 1960s. When television was experiencing growing pains and becoming aware of the magic great writing and characters could be. McGoohan was a strong moral force in his shows and a well respected professional actor. He was a hero to me as a child I have never forgotten or forsaken.

Now I was reading some of the obituary notices online as things were settling down at work tonight and decided to see if comicbook and screen writer Peter David had anything to say on his blog. His wife had an entry with comments from others when I discovered

that

John Mortimer died on my son's 26th birthday Friday at age 85. He was the creator of the Rumpole of the Bailey books and short stores and also wrote the screenplays for the TV series aired on Mystery. I first saw Rumpole on TV simply because TV Guide praised it so well in their write-ups (this was in the 1980s when TV Guide actually gave good viewing advice before they became hucksters). Rumpole is a defense attorney in the old fashioned way. Innocent until proven guilty. Often his personal life takes a hit as a result of defending his clients--not all who are without sin it must be mentioned. I have all the novels and recently a two part short story was published in the Strand magazine and Mortimer was working on a new book that will probably never see the light of day now--not finished enough. Sigh.

One footnote to all this. In The Prisoner Number 6 is kept captive in The Village where everyone has a number. Each week a new #2 would run things and bedevil him. Actor Leo McKern played #2 in three episodes--a record. He even escapes with #6 from the Village in the last episode. Sorry about the spoiler but anyone seeing the last episode--please explain it to me. (People that have seen it will understand what I mean.) McKern also played Rumpole. He passed away several years ago and is still missed.

There is certain irony to me in McGoohan and Mortimer dying the same week because of this nebulous connection.

Literature and film have seen the passing of giants and the world probably does not know how much their shadow passed over them.