You're not on the list Mr. Rather.

Unfortunately, I did not get to add Dan Rather to the list of prominent people who I have shaken hands with (Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Robert Ballard-"Titanic guy", Ken Burns-"insert joke here", and Doris Goodwin Kearns), BUT I was within 50 feet from him and he seemed like a very endearing man. To make up for my disappointment, I ate three spiced salmon sandwiches at the reception next door at Boston University, which pretty much made my evening.

On the way home on the T (where, in my opinion, I do my best thinking), I started thinking about the bizarre correlation between rock stars and plane crashes and just how many times these two things have crossed paths. Think about it: Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper; everyone knows about them. But after doing some scholarly research on Google, here are some of the most (in)famous victims:
Patsy Cline
Otis Redding
Glenn Miller
Lynyrd Skynyrd (select members only)
Jim Croce
John Denver
Stevie Ray Vaughn

There's just something bizarre about the whole thing. Maybe it's the concept of dying young and full of talent in a fiery crash on a dark night with rock music blaring from the smouldering woods as if it were a movie. I don't know where I'm going with this. Maybe it's the appeal of going out with a bang. Literally.

H.