A Moments Contemplation for a Fellow Human Being

Ryan Larkin is dead. My roommate told me this as we shared a pitcher last night sitting at the very table in the very bar that Ryan used to drink at all the time,(Copacabana). I pondered this, remembering the day I walked by the bar and saw him sitting right there with clutching the academy award that was won for the film based on his life. I felt sad at first. Then I felt a great sense of appropriateness being where I was when I heard the news. For those of you who don't know who Ryan Larkin is, he was a ground breaking animator who inspired a generation of animators,(Wikipedia for more). He fell on hard times and I first met him panhandling outside of Schwatrz's deli. I don't claim to have know Ryan at all. I tossed him a few quarters once. I still felt sad upon hearing of his passing. It made me mad that a guy who was just starting to put his life back together again would get snuffed out right when things were starting to go his way. Last time I saw an interview with Ryan he had just completed his first animation in decades and he seemed genuinely happy and hopeful of the future. When I really think about it though. His timing wasn't that bad. Sure he never got a chance to be nominated for another Oscar or make any more substantial animation, but he did make it to the other side of the worst part of his life. It makes me think. The only difference between a happy ending and a sad ending is where you decide to put those two little words, "The End".